Think I want a touring bike?

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Does anyone else seeing this think how nice it would be to have a touring bike? comfy ride, gears, proper gentlemens kit. sweeping through Europe with tent, the open road mmmmmmmm think i need to invest.

Did I saw that bike in Cavendish Cycles on Monday?

Don't know its Hassanr's in 'current projects' thread. something very homely about it-
mudgaurds,rack etc

Don't know its Hassanr's in 'current projects' thread. something very homely about it-
mudgaurds,rack etc

probably because it's inside a house?

joking aside, it's a BJ, anything BJ is gonna look very right, methinks you should get a BJ frame and slowly built it up, the benefit is that if you end up not liking the ride, you can easily sell it for a shitload of money if built carefully.

Not only that though, but a bike frame being used for its purpose a relitive workhorse without any deep v multi coloured nonsense, that would give so much more pleasure than a lo-pro aerospoke,up riser bar load of balls. Its a bike for a liftime, and if its a BJ all the better. woud love a Mercian

I thought I wanted a touring bike. Then I bought one. Now I want to ride my touring bike!

btw, Thorn FTW!

'Thorn FTW' heineken cannot translate?

I also want a touring bike but right now it a bit much to considered, but go for it, seriously, try and built the most reliable and bombproof touring bike as much as you can.

the only thing here is simply time - how soon do you want it?

In no hurry especially, just like the idea. Looking to do some touring of some vinyards of France next year and a bike like that would be the perfect way. Cycle/Drink/Tent/Cycle/Drink/Tent etc

then take your time, if you like, get the frame custom-built for you (cue Mercian).

thorn practically invented the touring bike

FTW = for the win

forget that bob jackson, it's got centrepulls for a start. try stopping a laden bike with tinned peaches, you'd have more luck than centrepulls

I got one of these OTP

then what is the airspeed velocity of a laden bob jackson?

Ahh I used to lust after a Sutra but got a Smoke instead, I just didn't have the extra £600 at the time.

the newer Sutra even have the proper gear for touring;

Wet finger into the wind time? rural france holds no records for track standing or skids..du vin du pain etc. 2 hour break for lunch. my mate rode Bordeaux to Marseille leisurely in week and a half..loved every minute apart from entering Marseille and getting rocks thrown at them in the outer lying ghetto suburbs..

you know, now that you mentioned it, now I feel like getting a touring bike and get from London to Sete with my dad.

Pint of real Ale awaits dear boy.

real ale in the sarf of france? are you having a bubble? I'd go north for them, Great Gable Ale from the Wasdale Head pub in the Lake District would be a perfect pints.

oh Wherry or Adnams in East Anglia-but surely this is another thread in itself...

a whole other thread to put it mildly!

After being around fixed gear bikes tourers look rather over loaded. I have the urge to strip off all those parts every time I see one, declutter !

I'm dreaming of next summer when I have to stop working due to visa running out. I'm setting up a tourer at the moment and when work ends I'm going to hit the road. I've been reading blogs about touring across Europe, a few friends have just finished London to Istanbul, it just all seems to exciting. Hopefully I'll have enough gear to start doing weekend away trainin trips in the next few weeks.

Oh yes and I'm not doing it fixed, triple crankset with granny gear FTW.

thorn practically invented the touring bike

FTW = for the win

forget that bob jackson, it's got centrepulls for a start. try stopping a laden bike with tinned peaches, you'd have more luck than centrepulls

what! cantilevers stop brilliantly, way better than calipers, more versatile than v brakes (less cable to pull and work with more lever systems), definitely work better than mechanical discs, and aren't the maintenance hell that can be hydraulic discs. especially when you have to carry all your tools with you.

what! cantilevers stop brilliantly, way better than calipers, more versatile than v brakes (less cable to pull and work with more lever systems), definitely work better than mechanical discs, and aren't the maintenance hell that can be hydraulic discs. especially when you have to carry all your tools with you.

I half agree with you in that cantilevers (not centrepulls) work pretty well and are good for touring in that they're so simple to fiddle with, but this I really don't agree with this bit:

definitely work better than mechanical discs

Have you used BB7 road brakes on the same bike as cantis? I have and they stop much better in all conditions, but especially when the rims are wet or muddy. Once you set up a set of BB7s then they're very easy to use - just twiddle the dials as the pads wear, which is pretty slowly if you're using sintered ones. I think the only real disadvantage of discs for touring is that the frame needs careful design to allow guards and racks to be fitted. But the Kona posted above manages it as does the Singular Peregrine.

Already gave Mr Hassanr some props for that fine piece of bike. I would love something like that. Next cycle scheme bike will be going on a tourer me thinks! Either that or a bit of Slavery.

true and fair point, bb7's do work fairly well.

but most racks (as far as i'm aware) that can accomodate discs have lower weight allotments since they're aluminium not steel.