Tour / Road bike compromise

[dawesboz]

Hi All.
Firtsly, i stumbled across this site on Tuesday night and love it!
Lots of great advice, and new info to digest.

I'm going to build a new bike this winter that will allow me to train on the roads at the weekend and also load up for touring when i get the chance. I have spent the last year glued to my Dawes horizon and managed to take it to the Outer Hebrides for a week and numerous wild camping trips.

I am in a quandry about whether to look for a good road bike frame with excelent strength / weight ratio..or to buy a Galaxy frame and load it with lightweight gear, Shimano 105 set etc. Problem is I can't find a dealer who will sell me a Galaxy frame only.

Your advice is most welcome!
Dawesboz

 

[Tim Bennet.]

Welcome!

'Lightweight' when it come to tourers usually relates to the load you plan to carry.

The split is really if you plan to carry camping gear, etc. With those sorts of loads you will probably need wider tyres that necesitate canitlever brakes to give adequate clearances. If you're not carrying camping loads then you may be happy with a bike that takes 28mm tyres as a maximum. Frames of this type are normally desegnated 'Audax' but be careful, some only take 23mm tyres with mudguards, which are a bit skinny for any sort of loads.

The are lots of suppliers of these frames which are every bit as good as anything Dawes might suppply. Hewitt (and others) sell a similar type frame plus Audax frames, as do Thorn, etc.

If you want a full tourer, don't be too optimistic about how light you can make it. The wheels and tyres dictate how light a bike 'feels'. Shimano 105 isn't anything special and won't transform a touring frame into a 'roadie'.

Probably the most versatile 'jack of all trades' bike is a titanium Audax frame with guards and rack. But actually unless you do lots of Audax rides, it might equally be regarded as a 'master of none' (and expensive to boot).

One thing to consider, is to refine your current bike for touring and then buy a roady, where something for £500+ would be far more fun to ride than any dual role bike.

 

[dawesboz]

Cheers

Thanks for the reply.
You may be right about the two bike option, wheel clearances and widths are something i need to look at more closely if i am going to be stubborn.

My current horizon is essentialy the first bike i have used since I started considering Cycling my main sport. I have done a full year of commuting, training and touring on it and have really appreciated the strenghts of the bike for multi purpose use. The reason i want another multi purpose bike is that I love the affinity you get with a bike you use every day and for a variety of reasons. The bike i want next needs to be able to do summer and winter training on the roads, and be able to handle a heavy load. I am happy to put up with the additional weight and reistance i might face when training on an unloaded tourer.

I will keep my horizon for the rush hour commute, but i am intrigued by your reference to audax bikes. Have actually never heard of this before !

much to think about.

Thanks!

 

[HLaB]

I've been thinking a cyclocross bike might offer this adaptability but I've no idea.

 

[rich p]

I've been thinking a cyclocross bike might offer this adaptability but I've no idea.

I wouldn't have thought it would give you low enough gearing for loaded touring but someone who knows will be along soon!

 

[andym]

Within reason any frame with mudguard eyes should do what you want. I'd go for steel (or titanium if you can afford it) something like a Planet-X Kaffenback or an audaxwinter training frame.

I don't understand why you don't just hang onto your Horizon and get a bike for bombing around on.

 

[dawesboz]

I don't understand why you don't just hang onto your Horizon and get a bike for bombing around on.[/quote]

I would like to upgrade from the horizon for next years camping trips so would be a bit miffed if i shelled out a grand on a road biike then had to leave it at home when i wanted to head to the hills with panniers on.

From doing a wee bit of research today i am impressed with the design of some of the audax bikes out there. Looks like I'll be scouring through some bike porn tomorrow at work .

 

[Alves]

I wonder if your decision should be to retire the Horizon (a fairly heavy bike, I used to have one till Noodley got it) to commuting duties and get a better and lighter tourer for all your riding and touring. That would be a bit of a compromise as a tourer loaded for camping needs to be robust and low geared.
OR keep the Horizon for touring and commuting and get a fast road bike for day rides. That will certainly put a smile on your face and be a real contrast to the Horizon. Personally, I would do the latter. Having variety in your bike stable is best imho!

 

[dawesboz]

Horizon for commute.
Perhaps this for everything else. http://www.merciancycles.co.uk/frame_audax.asp
Or something similar.
I think i might be an audax heid!

 

[Tim Bennet.]

That would make a light tourer, but again 'light' refers to the loads it will handle, not its built weight.

Note that it comes in two options for 28mm tyres with 57mm drop brakes and a version that will only take 23mm tyres with short drop brakes. The larger tyre version is the only one that will offer you the versatility for light touring as well. Make sure you compare like with like when you're shopping around.

Paul Hewitt ( www.hewittbikefitting.co.uk ) has his Chiltern which is significantly cheaper and you get a good fitting service and choice of any amount of custom braze-ons.

Finally just be careful in your choices. Like all 'compromises' these bikes have a down side; they are not as good at full on touring as a tourer and not as fun / fast / responsive to ride as a road bike.

 

[faterse]

Good advice on the chiltern dawesbaws. Horizon for the Glasgow doom, new build for everything else. Dae it!

 

[dawesboz]

Thanks for the link Tim, the customer reviews are quite impressive but the web site could do with an upgrade. I take onboard the point about whel size / drop brakes. I am happy to put up with not having a super fast road bike (that is lighter than the horizon!), but would be concerned if the bike couldn't cope with two full panniers and a small tent on board. Surely a reynolds 631 frame with 28mm tyres could cope well with a typical touring load? The iron horse horizon managed it!

 

[Tynan]

a second vote for two bikes, otherwise it's going to be neither

 

[dmb]

I think it is possible to have a bike that will do both things well Van Nic Amazon with two sets of wheels would fit the bill

 

[GrahamG]

I'd vote for two bikes on the basis that I've seen some serious bargains on ebay and the classifieds both on here and on the CTC forum for tourers - they're just not fashionable and this ends up being reflected in the price. I've been tempted sooo many times but don't have the room!