Steel touring bike

[All uphill]

I agree with the comments above.

A 1990s steel hybrid will make a great basis for a tourer. My 1995 Marin Stinson has carried me for thousands of miles; along the way I have built new wheels, given it a respray, changed to drop bars and bar end shifters.

Shame I can't go anywhere.

 

[Gunk]

Thanks for all the advice guys!



Up to around £400 depending on the bike I think...

I’d look for a 1990s Raleigh Classic, sold one last year for around that price.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

Up to around £400 depending on the bike I think...

Secondhand prices are abnormally high ATM, but unless you are looking for something of a very specific model in mint condition, there is no need to pay big bucks for secondhand bikes. The Royal and Pioneer pictured above cost me £55 for the pair and I would estimate in today's money they would be a total of at least £1,500 new.

I’d look for a 1990s Raleigh Classic, sold one last year for around that price.

The Classic was a rare machine, and absolutely top of Raleigh's range as an off-the-peg tourer in its time. The Royal was one level below it in spec, and cheaper both new and used. You got a good price for it, but that was in very well sorted and well presented condition, way better than the state of the typical used bike purchase.

 

[HobbesOnTour]

For commuting you might like to consider decent puncture resistent tyres. Lights most likely. Mudguards. Basic tools, pump, puncture kit. Probably a rack. And a decent lock or locks.
Touring will most likely require a rack too (unless going for a more bikepacking style) and some bags/panniers.
Maybe some cycle clothing too? Gloves? Rain gear?

So if you don't have any of those or a prospective bike doesn't, you'd probably want to build them into your budget.

It may sound like a lot, but it really isn't.
I picked up a €45 MTB for commuting and could have toured on it too.
I tour on an old MTB.

If you've never commuted before it's a fantastic thing to do! And touring? It's even better!

Good luck!

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

If you've never commuted before it's a fantastic thing to do!

Its not fantastic when it's pissing with rain. Arrive at work wet, stay wet and are still slightly moist by knocking off time. Ride home and get wet again. Arrive home with a dripping wet bike, a dripping wet self, and have to get some dry stuff on before you can even have a cup of tea. No thanks. been there, done it, worn the wet gear all day. Don't miss bike commuting one little bit.

 

[HobbesOnTour]

Its not fantastic when it's pissing with rain. Arrive at work wet, stay wet and are still slightly moist by knocking off time. Ride home and get wet again. Arrive home with a dripping wet bike, a dripping wet self, and have to get some dry stuff on before you can even have a cup of tea. No thanks. been there, done it, worn the wet gear all day. Don't miss bike commuting one little bit.

As I said, I thought it was fantastic. I changed my clothes, though!

 

[rogerzilla]

The Surly Long Haul Trucker has been pretty much the touring bike standard for a few years now (worldwide, that is; the Dawes Galaxy had a big share of the UK market). Both are gone from the ranges as of 2021, although you can still buy a Surly Disc Trucker, which is a LHT with (you guessed it) disc brakes.

A used LHT would be a good buy but they are never cheap. The brand has more cachet than Raleigh's.

 

[MLOwen]

I'm going to try out a 56cm 2012 raleigh clubman and see what the fit feels like. I'm used riding a bike that's too big for me and I think with some stem adjustment I could be okay on a 56.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

A used LHT would be a good buy but they are never cheap. The brand has more cachet than Raleigh's.

It's a brilliant piece of Surly marketing to repurpose an old school rigid MTB frame design with an extra set of bottle mounts, promote it as a heavy duty tourer, and convince the public to pay a premium price for the privilege. Meanwhile, back in the real world of limited cycling budgets, enterprising tourists simply bought an old secondhand Raleigh 26" MTB in a sensible size, added a rack, mudguards and swapped their knobbly tyres for Schwalbe Marathons, and still had several hundred quid left over as spending money.
The Surly frame is no better than something like this cro-moly Raleigh one:-

 

[Blue Hills]

From memory the LHT wasn't always premium priced but was often a sensible choice for folks looking for a sensible tough tourer.
Did the price hikes maybe start about a decade ago?
By the time this supposedly down to earth no nonsense thing thing went 10 speed in the standard build I reckon it was time to look elsewhere.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

The LHT is not a model I was familiar with years ago, I have only really become aware of them fairly recently. You can call me a cynic if you will, but I'm of the view that there's very little in cycling that's genuinely new or innovative, but a lot of marketeering that tries to "relaunch" existing well proven genres and aims to give them a new name and convince buyers they are actually something novel. Like "gravel bikes" or "expedition tourers".....
I'm too jaded and grumpy to just lap up this nonsense and I just regard "gravel" bikes as tourers with half their gears missing and no mudguards, and bikes like the LHT as old MTB's in all but name.
I would also avoid 10 speed derailleurs. I can only just about accept the idea of 7 on the back, and still prefer 6 x 3 transmissions to anything else.

 

[Blue Hills]

t a lot of marketeering that tries to "relaunch" existing well proven genres and aims to give them a new name and convince buyers they are actually something novel. Like "gravel bikes" or "expedition tourers".....

I'd defend Ridgeback against the charge though - pic of the Ridgeback Expedition I went for intead of the LHT when I discovered it had gone 10 speed and would take a lot of work to spec a more sensible build - 9 speed, V brakes, passable wheels, decent frame with 3 bottle mounts. Cost me £700 new complete with mudguards, nice bar ends, and a rear rack.

Confession - that pic was taken on a daytrip only expedition on a glorious day to the biggest spoons in the world but I had ridden it from London to Thanet with a ton of junk to a campsite near Manston. Have also ridden it nonstop loaded to the heavens from south London to Caister on Sea.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

The Ridgeback must be virtually unique now in having a practical sensible spec at an affordable price. They are very much a niche thing, and the only similar alternative I can see is something like a self-build based on a Spa touring frame. Out of the Expedition or the LHT i would have done the same thing as you. I like the attributes of touring bikes even though I don't use them for touring - its the durability and comfort that appeals to me.

 

[All uphill]

I like these kinds of bikes and could be tempted by a Spa Wayfarer at just over £1000 new - half the price of a Genesis tdf 30 or similar. One of them would see me to the end of my cycling days!

 

[Gunk]

I like these kinds of bikes and could be tempted by a Spa Wayfarer at just over £1000 new - half the price of a Genesis tdf 30 or similar. One of them would see me to the end of my cycling days!

For £1000 I’d rather buy this (which I did!) it’s 10 years old but immaculate. Titanium frame, canti brakes, mixed Ultegra and Dura Ace groupset with Easton EA90 wheels, it’s like an updated, exotic Dawes Super Galaxy.