touring Bike wanted for 5ft 8 man

[LozDog]

Hi All . Am about to embark on a tour around india, nepal and tibet. If any of you have a touring bike in decent condition then i have a budget up to £450.

Thanks in advance

Laurence

 

[Dave Davenport]

That's a fairly tight budget for an 'expedition' tourer. If that really is the most you can afford a second hand steel mtb frame then get some decent wheels and kit on it would probably be your best bet.
You say 'about to embark' when are you actually going?

 

[Brains]

Does your £450 budget include rack, panniers, etc ?

 

[simon_adams_uk]

If £450 is all you can afford then definitely look at a mid-90s steel MTB - they go for peanuts really. Stick on good, strong wheels and you should be fine. The key thing is that the bike fits!

Edit: follow my link below to see what I used in the Himalaya - an Orange C16R that I picked up for £130 in near mint condition. With a trailer it was a fantastic ride and got me over several 16,000ft+ passes.

S

 

[LozDog]

Thanks All . Have managed to con a mate into using his evans cycle to work scheme vouchers so am going to get a dawes horizon. cheers.

 

[simon_adams_uk]

Be careful with the strength of the wheels on the Horizon (I'm assuming they'll be 700c). This is especially the case if you're carrying a lot of weight in panniers and using poor quality roads. It might be worth seeing if Evans can supply some wheels that are beefier than standard...

S

 

[monkeyjo]

Be careful with the strength of the wheels on the Horizon (I'm assuming they'll be 700c). This is especially the case if you're carrying a lot of weight in panniers and using poor quality roads. It might be worth seeing if Evans can supply some wheels that are beefier than standard...

S

I'll second that. I have a 2008 Horizon and although I'm still using the supplied wheels (entry level Rigida ones) now, I wouldn't like to be doing anything too serious on it. A week touring around Cornwall not long after I got it left the rear wheel in quite poor shape. The tyres supplied were rubbish too but that's usually the case at that price range.

The new Horizon's a horrible colour too

 

[Headgardener]

I'll second that. I have a 2008 Horizon and although I'm still using the supplied wheels (entry level Rigida ones) now, I wouldn't like to be doing anything too serious on it. A week touring around Cornwall not long after I got it left the rear wheel in quite poor shape. The tyres supplied were rubbish too but that's usually the case at that price range.

The new Horizon's a horrible colour too

On my 2009 model the tyres and wheels have been inproved and they now have Schawlbe Marathons on WTB Dual Duty XC rims so may be able to stand up a bit more abuse.