Which touring bike?

[antnee]

What about the Trek Range as my one as lots of fittings for front panniers and has two bottle fixing places though it is an ali frame. But in the end you will have to mike up your own mind.I had all the kit apart from front panniers for just under £500.00

 

[Recycle]

I have done many miles on my Dawes ultra galaxy and I'm generally happy with it. The components are robust and the bike has never let me down. One caveat. If you stand on the pedals when the bike is under a heavy touring load there is noticeable frame flex. I have never toured with front panniers so I don't know if a more balanced load will resolve the problem.

 

[Bodhbh]

being reliable enough.

I think this is the key and my feeling. Most systems that get endlessly chewed over on forums are "reliable enough".

The only two issues I've had that became showstoppers in the field are: broken spokes, and a alu frame snapping (these things always seem to go wrong pretty much right at the end, thank god). So, I like steel and handbuilt rear wheels. After that, pretty much anything goes at least for touring in Europe.

It does mystify my why say Thorn are so evangelical about the Rohloff on one hand, and so absolutely dead against hydraulic discs on another - both seem to me the height of fit and forget and both difficult to repair in the field. What's the difference?

Steve, to stop the thread derail and ask a question to yourself - are their any brands of tourers popular in over there you're also considering? Just wonder if there's some other brands/options that are not well known over here.

 

[Avro]

Hello

Have a look at Rose.de Pro Activa touring bikes and VSF bikes.
Unlike British bikes they come complete with all equipment ready to tour, also if they have XT ALL the
associated equipment is also XT NOT a cheaper mix like UK bike companies.

Cheers,
Robert

 

[lulubel]

My current bike is Trek lexa SL. Yes I know it is a ladys bike Said the ex army welterweight boxing champion.

I use it for light touring and it is an excellent bike for me. It feels to be a fraction shorter than bikes I have had in the past and so I sit up more and I like that position. The reason I think I need a dedicated touring bike is that I will be pulling a trailer on our trips before long.

I've come a bit late to this, and I'll admit to only having skimmed some of the thread, but as an ex-Trek owner (1.2 WSD, which later became the Lexa) and a current Surly Crosscheck owner, I think I can confidently say you'd be very happy with a Crosscheck. The frame geometry is very similar to the Trek, apart from the bottom bracket being higher and the option to create longer chainstays by putting the wheel right back in the horizontal dropouts - basically, it's very easy to create the same pedals/saddle/bars relationship. The steel makes for a more forgiving ride than the aluminium of the Trek (and my Trek did have carbon forks), and it's also tough enough to handle heavier touring loads. I bought mine as an "everyday" bike that I could tour on in the future, and I couldn't be happier.

 

[Alun]

Have a look at trackstermans experiences if you want an "expedition" style bike rather than a "touring" bike

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=1&doc_id=3525&v=6l

 

[psmiffy]

It does mystify my why say Thorn are so evangelical about the Rohloff on one hand, and so absolutely dead against hydraulic discs on another - both seem to me the height of fit and forget and both difficult to repair in the field. What's the difference?

I dont think thorn are against disc brakes per se - just against them on the from forks from a strength point of view - I ve never tried them - but almost every long distance tourer ive met on the road with them has when I have admired their disc brake setup replied that they wish that they had not gone for that option - spend too much time fiddling with them and getting spares mailed to them.

 

[Blue Hills]

My tupensthworth, really just passing on the expertise of someone else. I fairly recently bought a tourer from Paul Hewitt - I asked about disc brakes and was leaning towards them but he advised against them because of the apparent fork issues. I did have one or two very slight issues with some of his spec advice on the bike but have no reason to think he wasn't giving me anything but his best advice on the disc issue. I have no particular personal insights on the matter - I'm not that technical.

 

[lulubel]

I dont think thorn are against disc brakes per se - just against them on the from forks from a strength point of view

I fairly recently bought a tourer from Paul Hewitt - I asked about disc brakes and was leaning towards them but he advised against them because of the apparent fork issues.

What are the fork issues? I'm asking because I'll probably be in the market for a tourer at some point, and a Surly Disc Trucker is right at the top of my list at the moment.

 

[psmiffy]

What are the fork issues? I'm asking because I'll probably be in the market for a tourer at some point, and a Surly Disc Trucker is right at the top of my list at the moment.

I have never seen a detailed explanation - just statements that "the forces from disc brakes are different from that from 'V's" - as an engineer I have difficulty coming to terms with these statements - however, unlike those who make these statements I am not a frame builder of many years experience so at present I must take it as the gospel

(it would seem it is to do with the rake of the conventional touring fork - no idea why that should be - some builders have tried to get around the issue by using straight forks - I suppose ala the old Kona sort of thing -(the argument against being - how much do you value the use of your hands after riding a bike equipped with one) others by beefing up one blade of the fork (the argument against being if you hit an obstruction the wheel is going to veer off line due to the difference in elasticity of the fork blades))

 

[Crankarm]

Well Surly use over size tubing for their solid front disc forks. Have you seen the Surly Troll front fork? It's extremely robust. The LHT fork is similar I think. I looked at the Kona solid disc fork, P2 I think, I wasn't impressed as it looked too weedy for my liking. Alternatively go for a quality sus fork with lock out which is what I have. I was going to swap it for a solid Surly Troll disc fork but have never bothered. I nearly did but the LBS in Cambridge who do Surly refused to accept cycling club discount so they lost the sale and I left it at that. I would have thought a standard road bike fork with a disc mount welded on would be rather too thin. But this is just a common sense approach rather than applying maths or mechanics to the various types of fork. I am more than happy with my susser fork on lock out which can be unlocked for really rough terrain. Also it can more than handle a low loader front rack and panniers.

 

[willem]

It really is quite simple: the braking forces are applied at the hub rather than close to the steerer. So the fork has to cope with rather more. An ordinary fork will not be strong enough for this. Make it stronger, and you have an uncomfortably stiff fork.
Willem

 

[lulubel]

Well Surly use over size tubing for their solid front disc forks. Have you seen the Surly Troll front fork? It's extremely robust. The LHT fork is similar I think.

I haven't seen one in real life, but judging from the pictures I don't think I'd be concerned about the strength of the Troll fork. The Troll is also on my shortlist of touring bikes, and might actually be better than the Trucker in some respects. I've just compared the Disc Trucker and the LHT side by side, and the Disc Trucker fork might be a bit heftier, but it's hard to tell when they're in different colours and have different components on them.

I wouldn't really be concerned about anything from Surly, to be honest. They're not known for making delicate bikes. And I weigh so little that even me plus a heavy touring load would be less weight to stop than a lot of blokes!

 

[Blue Hills]

Question from lulubel above - Paul Hewitt did say it was something to do with braking forces and the strength of fork needed. I know there is the P2 fork though as referred to above.

As psmiffy says, I bowed to his expertise.

I know that Paul Hewitt has built tourers with discs for folk who asked - maybe with the P2? Maybe he did it after cautioning them.

I don't pretend to have enough expertise to really offer a comment/judgement on the issue.
(edited for typo)

 

[P.H]

Make it stronger, and you have an uncomfortably stiff fork.
Willem

That doesn't seem to be the opinion of people who have used them. The last two round the world record holders used disks, 200 miles a day on an uncomfortable fork, I don't think so. Has anyone actually tested these things to see just how much flex is lost? I'd be surprised if it was as much as would be gained by going up a tyre size and lowering pressure 5psi.

It really is quite simple: the braking forces are applied at the hub rather than close to the steerer. So the fork has to cope with rather more. An ordinary fork will not be strong enough for this.

The larger problem is that the force is only applied to one fork blade, it's the twisting affect that requires most of the extra strength. There are some prototype disks which operate on both sides of the wheel, the extra strength needed would be minimal.