Touring Bikes

The levers do need changing.

#bikepedant

I might be able to splurge on a new bike in the next couple of months. I had my heart set on a Roberts, but I don't really think I'll be able to afford the whole thing if I get the custom frame. So I'll have a budget of +/- £1k. First question: will I get best value from an otp bike? Or will buying f+f and speccing myself (quite an attractive option) come out on top? I'd probably be buying all new kit as I've been buying second hand for some time now.

I've been doing a bit of research, hoping to test out some bikes over the next couple of weeks. What I want is a bike primarily for road but that would also be fairly comfortable on bridleways of varying quality. I definitely want to be able to feel comfortable off-road - given I have not much experience here this is the aspect I feel least capable of evaluating. I doubt I'll be carrying tons and tons of kit - I'll most likely use it for 3-4 day trips, and hopefully some longer stuff.

I'm not sure I'm too bothered about groupset/shifting options. Obviously the higher end the better, but most of the top bikes are specced with some deore/sora/tiagra combo which seems reliable enough to me.

Brakewise: Discs appeal but are they worth the extra over v's/cantis?

The Ridgeback panorama and the Jamis Aurora (the 2013 looks even better) seem prime candidates. The Genesis Croix de fer also appeals for off road capability but is probably not really made for load carrying.

Any other otp suggestions, or F+f? LHT is on the radar. I was quite keen on the Singular peregrines for versatility but they seem to be out of stock.

Jamis Aurora definitely, package wise it's already ready to run, even thought the Ridgeback is a very decent bike, the Aurora is better for the money, especially with budget but reliable component.

(AFAIK, the 2013 version have almost identical specification to the oddly expensive 2012 one).

The only problem is the shit mudguard which need to be changed for a good SKS one.

The problem with the Jamis (according to the internet) is the gearing. It comes stock with the 105rd, and the 12-30t is already the largest cassette cog that deraileur can take. The smallest chainring you can get with those cranks is the 30t that it comes with. So options are curtailed wrt upgrades for lower gearing, without replacing everything. I have no idea what my climbing ability will be like under load but it would make sense to have the option of being able to gear a bit lower.

I'm definitely no expert on touring bikes, but 30/30 is 27" on 32mm tyres, which the Jamis has, surely that would be fine, even loaded? The Jamis definitely seems a better package to me, disc brakes and more thoughtful/better choice of components (such as DA shifters) where you'll notice them.

The 2013 looks like it will go faster, cos it's red ;)

What proportion of bridleways are you talking about roughly? Or what sort of stretches at a time?

I wouldn't worry about the load carrying ability of the Croix de fer personally, other people don't seem to:

My Pearson has rear rack mounts so at some point I'm planning on sticking a rear rack on that mounts on those and the brake boss and doing a bit of light touring, now that isn't really made for load carrying!

30/30 is more than enough but the heavyweight tourer, the fact it got a triple is worthwhile enough that if you want moars range, you can get a 11-32 with Deore MTB derailleur.

On my light tourer, I had 28/30, which was just about enough to lugged two small panniers up 25%.

The Genesis is fine for touring, it's lighter than the Jamis, but got also got all the necessary brazed on for front and rear rack, plenty of people tour on a Genesis and they were happy with it but the stock gearing weren't idea for a loaded tour, so you may have to change the rear for an MTB 10 speed 11/32 cassette which are expensive.

Also the newer Croix de fer mean the 10 spd road may not work with the 10spd MTB, unless proven wrong.

Actually scratch that - the Jamis have a 26t small ring.

Perfect for heavy duty touring then.

Edit - are you talking about the Bosanova rather than the Aurora?

Does it, says 30t on the Evans website?

Scratch that - I'm talking about the standard Aurora with the stronger group set and cantis, very hard to get connection while in a moving car.

Interesting info on the Croix de Fer here, with lots of changes for touring. Changed to a shimergo setup which is (I think) how Roberts spec a lot of their road touring bikes.

I don't know whether those DA bar end shifters have friction and indexed modes? Will probably try one out next week. I guess like ed says, with the bar end shifters in friction mode (if they have it) there's more choice for mtb/long cage deraileurs.

I still think the ridgeback panorama is pretty good value. Comes with two proper racks and three bottle cage mounts and proper touring gears. Swap out the shifters for some campag ones with internal gear cable routing and it looks pretty smart. Just no discs. Why is no one making that bike?

All the current production of shimano bar end shifter have friction and index mode, as well as the Microshift one which are pretty good for a budget offering.

how come you don't see mudguard that often on those modern touring bikes? I think the loaded back is not
so bad but isn't it uncomfortable to get your shoes soaked at the front on long rides?

Because it rains less on the internet.

Despite being in the UK, you cannot believe how many people actually refused to get mudguard but the smallest and most pathetic mtb kind.

Even more dumbfounded when the fitting of a full mudguard is free with a new bike.

People often forget about mudflaps, many mudguards nowadays still leave a fair amount of exposure to allow spray to get your feet wet. Tradional style guards can still be bought with these which all but eliminate the problem and for those behind you too.

I've just modernised an early 80s 531ST into a 30 speed tourer cum audax. 50/36/26 & usually a12-25 for all but the most heavily laden/hilly stuff then I'd swap out for a 27 or 28.sprocket. I managed to bag a NOS 500LX front derailleur which works well with STI's and can handle the quite large capacity. Was quite hard finding an older looking FD that fitted the 28.6 tube that would also work with the STI's..