Suggestions for buying a touring bike in London?

[deepakvrao]

Never done touring before but am planning a tour in the UK and France next year. I now ride a CAAD9 road bike and my wife rides a Bianchi road bike.

Did a lot of research and narrowed down to:

Jamis Aurora-my first choice till now
Bianchi Volpe
Surly LHT
Cannondale Touring

Jamis looks the best for us, as the Volpe has short chain stays and the Surly has bar end shifters which [while I have never tried], looks not that easy to use. Also the Surly may be overkill for our planned light touring.

We will not be doing fully loaded touring but about 80-100km a day and staying in B&Bs.

We live in India so the only locally available [with difficulty - no test ride and we just have to pay and order] touring bike is the Cannondale Touring bikes which are aluminium, and designed I think for heavier riders and loaded tours.

We could buy the Jamis on a US trip, but our next trip is to the UK. So, any suggestions for UK touring bikes that would be around 1000 USD? Something that we could buy in London and start our tour directly?

Any other suggestions? We are totally unaware of whats available in the UK.

Regards,

Deepak

 

[andrew_s]

Neither the Jamis nor the Bianchi are available in the UK as far as I know

One thing you should be aware of is that bike prices are lower in the US than in the UK - eg for the Surly LHT, taking the top hits from a google search give a US price of $1095=£680 (Jenson), a UK price of £1000=$1590 (Triton). Similarly, the Evans price for a Cannondale Touring is more like £1200.
There is a difference in that US prices exclude sales taxes, but UK prices include them, so as a foreigner, exporting the bike, you'd get a refund/reduction of the VAT, so the end cost of the Surly would be more like £870=$1380
Allowing for the VAT refund, $1000 = £725

If your price limit is $1000 ish, and you want to buy a ready to ride bike in London, all that comes to mind is the Dawes Horizon

 

[andym]

Just a footnote to Andrew's advice: prices quoted in the States usually don't include sales tax (IIRC 8 percent of so - though I haven't been to the States in a long time) - so make sure you don't get hit for that, or that you can get a refund.

I know that the Surly seems to have a very good reputation in the States and I doubt that its frame is very much heavier than the frame for a 'light tourer' (250g - he said, guessing). Bar end shifters are really simple to use.

As far as London is concerned there is (are) Condor Cycles. very central and well-regarded steel framed tourers. Obviously check with them about lead times for buying a bike from them.

Condor are very central, but if you don't mind a short train ride, you could go to Bike Plus out in Croydon who are touring specialists. Specialist bikebuilders Roberts Cycles are also out there.

 

[Brains]

The other place to get a very good (and expesive) touring bike is Thorn Cycles. They post bikes all over the world, (jncluding London) and the web site is very good for specing your own personal bike and getting the sizing right.

 

[dellzeqq]

As ever the best bet is to buy a bike from a local bike shop close to where you live - if you're satisfied that they know what you're doing. You can assess the service offered by the shop (which should include one free service after three months or so) and test ride the bike - which is vital. And, to be brutally honest, I wouldn't touch Condor with a ten foot pole.

 

[andym]

We live in India so the only locally available [with difficulty - no test ride and we just have to pay and order] touring bike is the Cannondale Touring bikes which are aluminium, and designed I think for heavier riders and loaded tours.

....

 

[Crankarm]

As ever the best bet is to buy a bike from a local bike shop close to where you live - if you're satisfied that they know what you're doing. You can assess the service offered by the shop (which should include one free service after three months or so) and test ride the bike - which is vital. And, to be brutally honest, I wouldn't touch Condor with a ten foot pole.

DZ - Any substance behind your slander?

 

[samid]

To the original poster: barends are really easy to use, and a very popular choice for tourers as they are basically very simple (hence reliable) and offer friction shifting in a pinch.

 

[rich p]

DZ - Any substance behind your slander?

Libel, surely!

 

[Crankarm]

Libel, surely!

I'd say!