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?