Touring - Choosing a new ride

Bet you have received a million posts like this!

I am new to this Forum and am hoping to get some good advice on selecting my new bike, and other things.

I am currently riding an old (15yrs) Fuji Odessa (very unlike the current model). This is a "hybrid" bike. Though pretty frequently used, I have never really liked the bike. I don't think it was properly fit for me to begin with, and the componants are pretty shoddy stuff.

Anyway, I am about to buy a new bike and could use some advice. I have not shopped for a bike in a long time and the options are mind boggling. Of course, like everyone else, I want a "do-everything" bike. My requirements/issues are:

1. The bike will be used for shortish touring on both paved and dirt/gravel roads. At this point my touring would be in the maximum 50 mile range, though I may do longer rides at some point.

2. I also will be using the bike as my transport to backroad photo locations so I need to be able to carry some stuff. I need the ability to mount a rack and possible some panniers.

Bike shops have variously reccommended "Comfort", Touring, Hybrid and Cyclocross bikes to me.

I am doing a lot of research into componants, but at I realize that I need to decide on a bike style before I can do any specific reseach

I have looked at road bikes (Novara and Bianchi so far) but am concerned that they won't do well on my back roads. It also has been a long time since I used drop handlebars. That will take some getting used to and I am wondering if a more upright bike with straight bars would be better for my purposes. It is my understanding that a mountain bike will not do well on longer rides on pavement, though they would be great on the rutted dirt and gravel roads. Cyclocross looks like the most promising, but it is hard to find any stores that stock them - and they have those drop bars with no suspension.

Any advice to at least narrow my focus would be appreciated.

Thanks

ACK

I would go with a cyclocross personaly, it will be abe to handle the trails well and perform well on the roads. A mtb with slicks will do fairly well on roads, but the more uprigth position is not as comfortable on longer rides and actualy the drop bars give you alot more hand positions. You can get levers to mount on the top of the drop bars so you can have your hands on top and break, ride in the drops or also ride on top of the levers. I know I recently bought the fuji cross, it has a carbon fork and absorbs alot of the road vibration etc. A rigid fork wont' be be at all on trails. There are some suspension forks for 700c tires now to but they add weight so that is the main drawback.

There is a style of bike that you wont see in the shops, but is very popular with tourists who ride trails. It is a touring bike based on MTB wheels.
You can read more about the style at :
http://www.sjscycles.com/thornbrochure.asp

In the US, one of the best builders of touring bikes is Bruce Gorden. He makes his Basic Loaded Tourer (BLT) in 700c and 26" versions.
http://www.bgcycles.com/blt.html

The differences in efficiency between a touring bike and an MTB are very small. Mostly it is down to the choice of tyres. You can get comparable slick and semi-slick tyres for both, just avoid the fat knobbly ones.
The riding position of an MTB is not always upright, sporty ones are very stretched out and low, and some touring bikes are quite upright dispite the drop bars. Drops give you a choice of positions to relieve your hands and to get more serodynamic into a headwind. If they are positioned correctly, they are more comfortable than flats on long rides.
I cant comment on suspension, that is a personal choice, but beware rear suspension, it interferes with luggage.
If your budget does not stretch to a Bruce Gorden, then there are several production touring and touring/cyclo-cross bikes worth looking at.
Novarra, Fuji, Bianchi, Jamis, Trek, Canondale.

Maybe you should find a good bikeshop who know about touring bikes.

I think a lite touring bike is your best bet. You can get wider tires with some traction to handle the dirt roads. On the dirt roads you don't really need any suspension. The wider tires with lower pressure do just fine.

The drop bars are going to give you many more positions and much more efficiency when you are on the road. Also some put you in a more upright position than a road bike would. Much closer to a hybrid position. One thing you need to ask the bike shop about is room for fenders and racks. Touring bikes should have no problem with this. Most cyclocross bikes I have seen didn't look like they would handle them very well.

Anyway that is just my biased opinion. I have a bianchi volpe and have done many long dirt road rides on it. Recently just did a 50 mile ride on dirt roads. A lot of mud and wind that day and I had no problems. Also on the road it is much better than a hybrid woud be. I mostly use it for commuting and do have it loaded with a rack and panniers. I carry my laptop and a change of clothes and have no problems on my 32 mile roundtrip commute.

On one other note make sure you do some more research when it is time to put panniers on whichever bike you decide on. The right or wrong panniers can really affect your trip. The first ones I had were hard to attach and often would bounce off either partially or totally when I hit bumps. I switched to Arkel panniers and couldn't be happier. My point here is not to sell Arkel but just make sure you check out the attachment system before you buy the panniers.

Good luck on your search.

Steve

Like Michael said, the 26" version of the Bruce Gordon BLT could be just the ticket. With higher-pressure touring tires mounted, it would be perfectly roadworthy, yet it would also be quite at home on rougher terrain. You could carry a ton of gear on it.

Much less expensive, the Novara Safari could be an interesting choice (www.rei.com). The unique handlebars offer many hand positions during a long ride, although not as aero as drop bars. There is a sale currently in progress -- 20% off for members.

Most other touring bikes -- Fuji Touring, Novara Randonee, Bianchi Volpe, Trek 520, Cannondale T800/T2000, etc., would also be suitable. Any of these bikes can be fitted with front and rear racks and fenders; that's what they're designed for.

IMO the most critical consideration is that the wheels be properly built, and with a mass-produced bike that comes with machine-built wheels (eg, almost all of them) buying from a shop that understands the need to hand-prepare the wheels is very important. With well-built wheels you could mount whatever tires would be most suitable for the tour you plan, and you'd be good to go.

The most common failing of mass-market touring bikes is gearing that's too high for loaded climbing. The bike shop can swap parts as needed to provide suitable gear ratios.

Cyclocross bikes are an alternative, but I don't see an advantage over touring bikes in your application. 'Cross bikes rarely have front rack braze-ons, and they're commonly geared even higher than touring bikes. You can always put cyclocross tires on a touring bike if such tires seem appropriate to your needs.

RichC

Thanks for your responses. Interesting that there is not a strong recommendation for a cyclocross bike. Wonder if I would get a different response in the Cyclocross Forum :D

You have gotten me more interested in a tourer. I will want to mount racks etc. and have been concerned about this on the cross bikes. Also, most of the cross bikes only come with a double crankset which concerns me. They are also impossible to find in stock to try out.

Regarding the Novara bikes - I am an REI member and did try a Randnonee but found the ride too cramped in the drops. Could be a sizing issue, but the bike otherwise felt ok. The Safari looks very interesting, but neither of the REIs near me stock it and I would have to pay for oversized shipping just to get it to the shop to try. The handlebars, while interesting, look a little weird in the brochure.

I did visit the Bruce Gordon site. The bikes look great but I am looking to keep the price to under $1,500. (gotta draw the line somewhere!)

Those Thorn bikes look great, but where do you get one in the US?

I will take a look at that Bianchi Volpe and try and find others like it.

Thanks.

I know this is late:

But here is a strong endorsement for a cyclocross. I have the Bianchi Axis and it is great.

A good quality touring bike with good components (shimano 105 or better) will be optimized for loaded touring. There will be features and braze-ons that you may not want or need. This makes the bike more expensive than it needs to be.

The cyclocross is a great choice because the components are good quality and the frame is solid. The bike should be less expensive than a full up tourer. The less expensive tourers may not have the quality of components you want.

ACK, it seems you have received some good advice so far! I would like to add that front panniers low riders may help keep your bike balanced if you hit loose gravel. In addition, some touring bikes may not handle wider tires, so check the specifications if you plan to put on a wide 2.1" town & country type of tire. I went through the same process a few months ago and ended up converting an old MTB to a commuter/tourer.