Touring - S Touring

Does anyone make a sporty touring bike? I need details!

William

Try looking a Audax bikes. Thorn do them and I have seen others about but can't remember the names (I think Dawns do to). They split the difference between a racing bike a touring bike quite well.

Does anyone make a sporty touring bike? I need details!

William

Yes they do, you're talking about a sport tourer, audax or randonnee bike. You can fit luggage on these, they have clearance for wider tyres than 25mm and their geometries and halfway between a racer and a full on tourer.
On a mid-sized (say 56 cm) bike,look for chainstays around 43 mm, 72 deg head angle, clearance for up to 32 mm tyres, they often use long reach caliper breaks.

Examples would be

Bianchi Volpe
Heron Ranndoneur
Rivendell Rambouillet
Thorn Sport Tourer
Mercian King of Mercia

lots more

Surly Pacer
Gunnar Sport
Waterford (I forget the model, but it's very similar to the Sport which they also make)

Merciian's King of Mercia is a full touring bike, but they have others and are very flexible.

http://www.dawescycles.com/dawes/audax-sport.htm

Surly Pacer
Gunnar Sport
Waterford (I forget the model, but it's very similar to the Sport which they also make)

Merciian's King of Mercia is a full touring bike, but they have others and are very flexible.

http://www.dawescycles.com/dawes/audax-sport.htm

Maybe we are dealing in semantics as Mercian will build any frame to your spec., but the KOM geometry quoted on the Mercian website is not that of a full on tourer like the Surley LHT. To get into the tourer category I'd want to see longer chainstays and bigger tyre clearances. Still the KOM is Mercian's tourer and with a few tweaks it could be made in to a full on tourer

Maybe we are dealing in semantics as Mercian will build any frame to your spec., but the KOM geometry quoted on the Mercian website is not that of a full on tourer like the Surley LHT. To get into the tourer category I'd want to see longer chainstays and bigger tyre clearances. Still the KOM is Mercian's tourer and with a few tweaks it could be made in to a full on tourer

The KOM is a "full on tourer" and always has been. The "Vincitore" is a step above this and can be supplied with a reinforced BB shell which gives more rigidity to the frame. They also do an Audax machine with choice of groupset.

Urbanite, or at the other end of the spectrum quite a few Mariposas.

The KOM is a "full on tourer" and always has been. The "Vincitore" is a step above this and can be supplied with a reinforced BB shell which gives more rigidity to the frame. They also do an Audax machine with choice of groupset.

I think the definition of the KOM as a full on tourer is right if you're in the UK as the UK style of touring tends to be a bit lighter weight. I'd call most UK built tourers closer to sport tourers, then they jump up to the full on expedition bikes like the Thorn Nomad and Exxp. I'm not sure of the exact geometry of the Dawes Galaxy or the Thorn Club Tour, but they don't look to have long chainstays. Bikes like the LHT, Trek 520, Heron Wayfarer, Rivendell Atlantis, Cannondale Touring, Bruce Gordon, Litespeed Blue Ridge take the sport touring frame, stretch the chainstays out to 44 cm plus, have a slack head angle and lots of fork offset, so they have long wheelbases. They also have canti brakes and lots of tyre clearance. That geometry is very different from the KOM.

Of course someone might say that if you want a serious touring bike it should have 26" wheels........

I think the definition of the KOM as a full on tourer is right if you're in the UK as the UK style of touring tends to be a bit lighter weight. I'd call most UK built tourers closer to sport tourers, then they jump up to the full on expedition bikes like the Thorn Nomad and Exxp. I'm not sure of the exact geometry of the Dawes Galaxy or the Thorn Club Tour, but they don't look to have long chainstays. Bikes like the LHT, Trek 520, Heron Wayfarer, Rivendell Atlantis, Cannondale Touring, Bruce Gordon, Litespeed Blue Ridge take the sport touring frame, stretch the chainstays out to 44 cm plus, have a slack head angle and lots of fork offset, so they have long wheelbases. They also have canti brakes and lots of tyre clearance. That geometry is very different from the KOM.

Of course someone might say that if you want a serious touring bike it should have 26" wheels........

No, I'm afraid you're wrong there. The Dawes Galaxy you mention plus the Super Galaxy plus the Mercian touring bikes are full tourers and have the chain stays, frame geometry, luggage racks and gearing to match. I've owned all of them and have used them for long-distance touring carrying full camping kit. In fact I'm always a bit taken aback when I see a Cannondale tourer which is geared in a way that we associate with an Audax bike. The Galaxy in particular has been, since its inception, the Gold Standard for a proper touring bike and many cyclists still hold to that today.

Machak, my Marinoni Ciclo is classed as a sport-touring bicycle. I've used him for everything from commuting, to century rides, to long races, to long randonnees, to loaded touring.

At the risk of being flamed, how about a Specialized Tricross?

No, I'm afraid you're wrong there. The Dawes Galaxy you mention plus the Super Galaxy plus the Mercian touring bikes are full tourers and have the chain stays, frame geometry, luggage racks and gearing to match. I've owned all of them and have used them for long-distance touring carrying full camping kit. In fact I'm always a bit taken aback when I see a Cannondale tourer which is geared in a way that we associate with an Audax bike. The Galaxy in particular has been, since its inception, the Gold Standard for a proper touring bike and many cyclists still hold to that today.

Do you have the geometry for the Galaxy I'd be interested to see the chainstay lengths and head tube angles. Going by the 43mm chainstays of the KOM on the website I would class it as a sport tourer, obviously a Mercian can be what ever you want it to be, but the geometry they quote is not a full on tourer by my definition, I think we'll have to agree to disagree. The Cannondale comes with something like 48-36-24 rings and an 11-34 cassette which is a bit high and could go lower, so I agree that it could be useful on an Audax bike, but a bottom gear of 20" is in the touring range. What I think really makes a bike a full tourer is the geometry, tyre clearance and the thickness of the tubing used. Again what's the geometry of the Dawes I don't know myself and I'd be interested to learn.

I've had a look for these details but can't find them. The Dawes Galaxy as I remember, and this goes back a long way, was always described as having traditional touring geometry along with a relaxed head angle. This remains the description "Touring geometry".
http://www.dawescycles.com/dawes/galaxy.htm

Co-Motion Nor'wester.

I've had a look for these details but can't find them. The Dawes Galaxy as I remember, and this goes back a long way, was always described as having traditional touring geometry along with a relaxed head angle. This remains the description "Touring geometry".
http://www.dawescycles.com/dawes/galaxy.htm

I agree that's what I remember too. I have a 1977 Claud Butler Majestic in my mum's loft back in the UK, I road it all through college. That was described as a tourer, but I don't remember the chainstays as being that long so I have the impression of British touring bikes being a bit sportier that their US equivalents. I think it may be that touring in the UK could mean anything form a day out with a saddlebag to a full camping trip so the bikes are more sport tourers that I would describe as having something like 73 to 72 deg head angles and chain stays around 43mm

Bilenky Tourlite would be another.

The IF Club Racer is another candidate.
The caliper brakes of CX style bikes allow wider tyres but 28mm + fenders is sufficient and you can provide clearance using long drop calipers. This setup is easier to maintain and has a lighter touch.