Which road bike for both commuting and long distance touring?

[Hazza88]

Hi, after owning a mtb for many years, im looking to get a new road only bike. Me and a friend have decided we want to cycle from bristol to berlin in august this year so im looking to get something that is capable of the journey without spening as much as a touring bike costs. Id also use this bike for daily 3-5 mile rides. Im looking to get something used and my budget is 500. I was looking at the giant defy 3 as from what i read it seems to be a good choice for both short distance and long distrance rides. We will be camping along the way so i i guess it needs rack mounts although i did hear about some sort of clips that you can get that are just as good as rack mounts. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers

 

[Drago]

Pinnacle Dolomite? Not one for badge snobs but rides well and has rack and guard mounts.

 

[Fubar]

Hi, after owning a mtb for many years, im looking to get a new road only bike. Me and a friend have decided we want to cycle from bristol to berlin in august this year so im looking to get something that is capable of the journey without spening as much as a touring bike costs. Id also use this bike for daily 3-5 mile rides. Im looking to get something used and my budget is 500. I was looking at the giant defy 3 as from what i read it seems to be a good choice for both short distance and long distrance rides. We will be camping along the way so i i guess it needs rack mounts although i did hear about some sort of clips that you can get that are just as good as rack mounts. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers

I have a similar bike to this from Edinburgh Bike Coop:

http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/pro...explorer-14?bct=browse/bicycles/touring-bikes

Slightly over-budget though I have the Country Traveller which was cheaper - I use it for commuting and touring, it is heavy but that's not an issue if you are not in a rush. Also might be worth looking 2nd hand? I'm sure there will be a lot of touring bikes out there, unused.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

i i guess it needs rack mounts although i did hear about some sort of clips that you can get that are just as good as rack mounts.

Rack mounts and clips are not the same thing. Rack mounts are pretty much essential for touring. But, and this is the big but, brake bosses or p clips are interchangeable (with each other but not with rack bosses), though it is better, more stable and less likely to damage the bike if you have brake bosses (there is a small chance of your or someone else over tightening p clamps and damaging the seat stay).

Rack mounts/bosses support the pannier rack and bear most of the load weight, the brake bosses stabilise the rack and stop it falling forwards or backwards and allow you to mount the rack horizontally.

Have you considered an audax bike? It would meet your requirements for both touring and commuting.

Or this Ribble winter audax which my husband has, slightly over your budget thought at £620 or this version of it which starts at £590.

 

[vickster]

Spa have a couple of Dawes options in budget, and a few others in that ballpark

http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m1b0s21p0 (filter by price low to high)

If looking at retailers, always check whether they are in Quidco as you could get a few quid back

 

[derrick]

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/products/images/bbuilder/LP7005AudaxWinterLarge.jpg
A mate of mine has one of these, A nice bit of kit for the money,

 

[Nebulous]

I have a similar bike to this from Edinburgh Bike Coop:

http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/products/revolution-country-explorer-14?bct=browse/bicycles/touring-bikes

Slightly over-budget though I have the Country Traveller which was cheaper - I use it for commuting and touring, it is heavy but that's not an issue if you are not in a rush. Also might be worth looking 2nd hand? I'm sure there will be a lot of touring bikes out there, unused.

Good shout, especially at that price. I had the traveller and did a lot of miles on it, then it was written off in an accident with a car. The main problem I had with it was the cantilever brakes, so the addition of discs would resolve that.

 

[HLaB]

I still haven't used one yet for touring but when I bought my first Kinesis (my current mounts are the T2 and Gran Fondo Ti) I bought it with touring in mind, as they've got plenty of clearance for guards/wider tyres and eyelets for mounting a rack and they ain't no slouch either, I use them for leisure (long distance day rides) and commuting. They're great bikes but you'd have to go 2nd hand to get them to come into your budget.

 

[DaveReading]

I had the traveller and did a lot of miles on it, then it was written off in an accident with a car. The main problem I had with it was the cantilever brakes, so the addition of discs would resolve that.

I agree, the Country Traveller is/was a great value entry-level tourer. Mine has the cantis too, but I found that braking was transformed after I replaced the original blocks with Koolstops.

 

[MikeW-71]

Hi, after owning a mtb for many years, im looking to get a new road only bike. Me and a friend have decided we want to cycle from bristol to berlin in august this year so im looking to get something that is capable of the journey without spening as much as a touring bike costs. Id also use this bike for daily 3-5 mile rides. Im looking to get something used and my budget is 500. I was looking at the giant defy 3 as from what i read it seems to be a good choice for both short distance and long distrance rides. We will be camping along the way so i i guess it needs rack mounts although i did hear about some sort of clips that you can get that are just as good as rack mounts. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers

The Defy 3 will do light touring, it does have rack mountings, but it depends how much you want to carry. If you're going to be loading up with 15Kg+, then it's not suitable really. 5 or 6kg or so and you'd be fine. The only other thing is that you'd be restricted to 23mm or 25mm tyres.

Then you've got CX's. They are typically a bit beefier and can fit wider tyres, which is nice for touring. I used a CX with 28mm slicks for a lightweight tour (carried about 6kg on a rack), and it was excellent! It could have carried more, but that was everything I needed for 3 nights.

Or you've got the options that others have posted as more "proper" touring bikes.

How much do you want to compromise? The Defy would be quickest on normal unladen riding, then the CX, then the Tourer.
Would you be touring regularly?

 

[Hazza88]

Ok, thanks for the replies so far guys, very imformative! I guess im not completely against the idea of a touring bike, i just thought it wouldnt be great for nipping to the shops on but then i think im being to picky. we will be camping and i suspect were be carrying between 10 and 15kg each, so i guess the defy isnt going to cut it. An audax bike sounds a pretty good in-the-middle option.

 

[KneesUp]

What is your current bike like? The frames of bikes such as Thorn and Oxford Bike Works aren't so different from old mountain bikes. You could possibly use your current frame with some nice upgrades to get a very nice bike indeed.

 

[Nebulous]

How much do you want to compromise? The Defy would be quickest on normal unladen riding, then the CX, then the Tourer.
Would you be touring regularly?

I'd disagree with this. My tourer that was written off was surprisingly quick. A few of my strava segments had me posting my best times on it with flat pedals, rather than my road bike with spd-sls.

I replaced it with an Edinburgh bike cx bike, with disc brakes and I cannot quite make up my mind about it. It is definitely slower. Fitting slicks might help, but for commuting I tend to think the traveller was better.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I'd disagree with this. My tourer that was written off was surprisingly quick. A few of my strava segments had me posting my best times on it with flat pedals, rather than my road bike with spd-sls.

agreed.

Tourers tend to be heavier, not necessarily slower. There was an time on our world tour early on when we were in northern Ireland when I was caught by a Sunday morning club ride. They were impressed with the speed I was holding, but what it took out of them to catch and keep up with my husband was more fun to watch. He was on a 22kg expedition bike with enough kit to cycle around the world. We never met anyone even in eastern Europe who could lift his bike. They took the best part of 5 minutes to closer the gap between myself and my husband which was probably no more than 200m. When they caught him up, they actually asked him if he was on an electric bike. He kept with them until he realised I had dropped out of sight completely.

They are just slower to get going. Holding a decent speed on them is not difficult once you get going.

 

[Drago]

And a decent tourer is all day quick because it's all day comfy.