Touring - Bike for crossing U.K to Australia

Hello all,

I will be undertaking a tour through Europe on the 5th of July, and i have a bicycle for that already, a Trek 520 2007. The thing is, when I arrive in the U.K, I will be cycling from there overland to Australia and I don't know if the 700c wheeled Trek is a suitable bike for expedition touring.

I have had my eye on a Thorn, but quickly banished that I idea due to price (I simply cannot afford it). Has anyone any experience with a 'VSF Fahrrad Manufaktur T-400' (http://www.bikefix.co.uk/index.php?unique=b9bb831607121b2553ad9d41a7f91c1b&get_ol_id=2&get_gl_id=13&get_sgl_id=36#a13) ? The price is 970 Euros/US$1,295. The bike is a dedicated touring Cro-mo frame, Deore LX Drive, tubus racks, B&M dyno lights and Schwalbe Marathon XR tires. Is it just me or is this an excellent deal?

If money is an issue, aren't you better off sticking with the bike you have? Sure, it's a road tourer, but it should still be OK on gravel or dirt roads. I think you can get 35-38mm tyres to fit on a 520. You could start of on your 520, see how much weight you end up carrying, test ride the above bike in the UK or Germany, and decide once over there which you like better. While in Qld try a bit of off road riding on your current bike - see how it goes.

Thanks for the info. I have 32mm tires on it now, but if I put any wider tyres the fenders wont fit. If I do like the German bike, I would probably sell the 520 second hand and make a few bucks as it is a current year model. But I will try the 520 on some rough roads in the meantime. Another factor is finding replacement 700c rims and tires in developing countries...

If you're really worried about the dirt, just make sure you get some real small gearing. I've used my hybrid (35mm tyres at the time) on some pretty rocky dirt roads, and some pretty steep ones. The small gearing allows you to pedal along at a sufficiently slow pace to be a cautious as you like, and the higher cadence helps with weight distribution to prevent any crash-related problems. In fact, I'd just about rate this as a bigger factor than the tyre width.

Don't worry about the fenders not fitting. I a) am surprised fenders won't fit on a 520 since it's supposed to be a regular touring bike, and 38s are a regular touring tire; b) you can always fit fenders. Usually the worst place to fit them is under the fork. Just cut them in half and attach them with a piece of angle each, and then to the crown mount. That way they aren't in the under fork crown area at all; c) dump the fenders, they are a very sound idea, but a lot of trek types don't use them, often by the time the objectives get that rugged the racks and gear are sufficient to catch most of the splash, maybe with the addition of one of those downtube deflectors. And often the risk of mud buiild-up has consigned them to the trash. I love my fenders, but you shouldn't have to trash a good bike over it.

Here is a picture of a Reacharound being used to get by a pair of brakes:

http://www.rivercitybicycles.com/images/split3_lg.jpg

Hello all,

I will be undertaking a tour through Europe on the 5th of July, and i have a bicycle for that already, a Trek 520 2007. The thing is, when I arrive in the U.K, I will be cycling from there overland to Australia and I don't know if the 700c wheeled Trek is a suitable bike for expedition touring.

I have had my eye on a Thorn, but quickly banished that I idea due to price (I simply cannot afford it). ?

thorn still have some runout models of their nomad range ... very strong stable expedition touring bike, and there is the sherpa as well, which is also a very strong solid bike ...
hewitt cycles make a relatively inexpensive 26" expedition touring biek as well, suitable for the country you are thinking of touring on ...

talk to dave mcleod in hervey bay, he has toured over all sorts of country on his 700C wheeled hybrid, and can give you some good advice on that ... you can find him on the crazyguyonabike website too ...

teh book 'long ride for a pie' is a story about a kiwi who biked from england back to nz on an over the counter 700C wheeled bike and had no issues ... can't recall the brand from memory, but it was like a relatively cheap dawes or somethign similar ...

i have a trek 520 with 700Cx37mm schwalbe marathon tyres on it, and it seems to handle the gravel ok ... the 32mm conti tyres i had on there previously were a bit scary ...
my thron nomad is much better at all types of terrain though, and i wouldn't hesitate to recommend one of these for your trip ...

You'll be fine with what you have. Just put slightly wider tires with more aggressive tread on them when you leave "civilization". The roads get a bit bumpier. But they do have roads too.

I have 32mm tires on it now, but if I put any wider tyres the fenders wont fit.


You'd rather buy a new bike than new fenders??? I guess money isn't really an issue then.

Continental Travel Contact - slim for a 35mm, slick in the middle, knobby on the sides. Fit under my Plante Bike fenders.... or as someone said above, just ditch the fenders, unless you are going to be north in the wet season.

Oz ain't exactly a third world country. If your wheels are in bad shape you can get them fixed up in one of the major cities, before you head out into the outback. Melbourne has a pretty amazing roadie scene.

<snip>... when I arrive in the U.K, I will be cycling from there overland to Australia and ...<snip>


Actually, what I meant to say, is you are going to need a new BOAT.

(sorry)

oh yeah, and +1 on the smaller gearing. I rigged mine with mountain cranks.

Mark and Ju Mclean carried out an expedition like the one you're planning: http://www.mark-ju.net/

Mark wrote: "The one thing we had most trouble with was obtaining good quality tyres. We under-estimated how bad the roads would be in Eastern Europe, and the effect of snow, and struggled a lot with either poor quality local tyres or Panaracer Hi-Road 26 x 1.75" slick tyres when these were unsuitable for the conditions. If we had our time again we would ride slicks in Western Europe and then swap to Marathon XR for the rest of the journey, or even just ride Marathon XR the whole way."

Actually, what I meant to say, is you are going to need a new BOAT.

(sorry)

oh yeah, and +1 on the smaller gearing. I rigged mine with mountain cranks.

The only water I will be crossing is the English Channel and the small amount of Island hopping in South-East Asia...

Thanks for the suggestions. I have tried to put larger tires with my fenders, but they wont fit. It seems that I'll have to cut the fender in half like that picture. No big deal really :)



You'd rather buy a new bike than new fenders??? I guess money isn't really an issue then.

Becnal, my main issue is repair and replacement of 700c wheels in countries like Mongolia, China and SE Asia, Not the fenders. Thats just a small problem.

Mongolia !

What route are you taking ?

If you are doing Russia overland then you need to read some serious books - the more coventional route is the Rhein/Danube route across Europe to Istambul, Kurdistan, Iran, Pakistan, India, Thailand, Singapore Indonesia, Australia

There's no reason you should have any problem with 700c wheel repair in other countries.

Oh yeah, I've been reading plenty of books all right! I work in a library ;) I have personally ordered something like 10-12 cycling related books to add to our collection.

Like the others, I'm sure the Trek 520 will get you there. The 26" vs 700c issue is not that bigger deal. If the worst comes to the worst you can always get new tyres/wheels shipped out.
To answer the original question, I met a couple of German guys in Kyrgyzstan last year on T400s and they certainly looked like serious bikes. The only reservation I have is that they have hydraulic brakes which might be difficult to fix if they went wrong in Mongolia.