Touring - Japan, USA or the UK?

Hi, I am new to touring and hoping to get my first bike soon. I live in Osaka Japan. I really don't know much about bikes. I am trying to decide whether to go for a holiday in the UK and get a Dawes Sardar or maybe a more expensive Thorn Nomad. The thing is at the moment the dollar is pretty weak so am now considering a trip to the States and the Trek 520 or a BG BLT.
Sardar and Trek are now evenly priced as is the BG and the Thorn.
The thing is though that usually things are always better value in America compared to England. If this is the case with bikes too and especially now due to the exchange rates then I guess that the American bikes are better value and even more so now. What do you think?
Hope this all makes sense. Just trying to get the best bike for my yen. Of course if anyone knows that Japanese bikes are even better value and has a similar recommendation I would be happy to buy here as well.
Asking alot I know.:-)

Hi, I am new to touring and hoping to get my first bike soon. I live in Osaka Japan. I really don't know much about bikes. I am trying to decide whether to go for a holiday in the UK and get a Dawes Sardar or maybe a more expensive Thorn Nomad. The thing is at the moment the dollar is pretty weak so am now considering a trip to the States and the Trek 520 or a BG BLT.
Sardar and Trek are now evenly priced as is the BG and the Thorn.
The thing is though that usually things are always better value in America compared to England. If this is the case with bikes too and especially now due to the exchange rates then I guess that the American bikes are better value and even more so now. What do you think?
Hope this all makes sense. Just trying to get the best bike for my yen. Of course if anyone knows that Japanese bikes are even better value and has a similar recommendation I would be happy to buy here as well.
Asking alot I know.:-)

Hey whatever you do get enjoy your tour. But I would recommend Fuji. I have always found them to be of superb quality and a good price. I toured for years on a Fuji s-12-s and now have a Fuji Touring. It is true though, that given the dollars' weakness American bikes are cheap for foreigners.

Exchange rates or not, the US is cheaper than England. Camping is cheaper (often free out west, and even in the east if you are creative; food is cheaper; fuel for your cookstove is cheaper (I use regular unleaded gas); restaurant meals are cheaper. The difference is primarily taxes, be it VAT or whatever.

The difference between the USA and Japan is even greater. You may wish to fly to the US and completely equip yourself at american prices; the difference in price for camping equipment and other gear will put a big dent in your costs. Maybe if you have friends on the west coast you can order everything online and have it waiting when you arrive.

roughstuff

(I use regular unleaded gas)
What stove? I have never heard of anyone using unleaded unless it is an emergency and that it doesn't burn that well (in a MSR Whisperlite International stove) compared to whitegas. Do things get stinkey using unleaded? Fill me in.

I think Roughstuff is right about buying everything you need here, sign up at REI, pretty much a one stop shop. America probably gives you the greatest number of options in reguards to environments and terrain to choose from, veil gluck.

What stove? I have never heard of anyone using unleaded unless it is an emergency and that it doesn't burn that well (in a MSR Whisperlite International stove) compared to whitegas. Do things get stinkey using unleaded? Fill me in.

I use unleaded gas in an MSR Dragonfly stove. No problem. It doesn't burn as cleanly as white gas, but it's much easier to buy in small quantities (like just enough to fill a fuel bottle).

What stove? I have never heard of anyone using unleaded unless it is an emergency and that it doesn't burn that well (in a MSR Whisperlite International stove) compared to whitegas. Do things get stinkey using unleaded? Fill me in.

Well, I have always used no-lead in all my stoves. Why pay 5 times as much for 'white gas?' or whatever? It burns fine once the system has warmed up enough to provide the automatic vaporization that these stoves depend on. You need to get a stove which has a 'spike' pop up from below/inside to ream out the fuel hole. The Whisperlites have one inside that you shake to clean out any grit, if I recall.

My first cross country tour in 1980, I had a one-half liter bottle for my cook stove: an optimus 99! I used to walk up to a gas station, lift up the hose and sometimes fill the thing up almost half way just from the fuel trapped in it. On the other hand, if I filled it up it might cost me 20 cents. That much fuel lasted 3 to 5 days for me. I used to cook up stews/meat with fresh vegetables, which was such a pleasant distinction from the Gorp and bagged "Mtn House" crap I saw so many others use.

I never had any problem with it. One day I accidentally bought high-test and the stove sounded like the space shuttle while it was cooking.

roughstuff

Yeah the Whisperlites have a self cleaning spike, it sounds like unleaded lasts longer than whitegas from what you are saying, next trip out I'm gonna give some high occtane a try. I love the space shuttle sound and visual effects given of by a whisperlite, on the AT we had four of them going in our group at once and it was like you entered the first circle of hell. Whisperlites are so much fun, I never set myself on fire (as much) before I owned one.

What stove? I have never heard of anyone using unleaded unless it is an emergency and that it doesn't burn that well (in a MSR Whisperlite International stove) compared to whitegas. Do things get stinkey using unleaded? Fill me in.
yep. there is some kind of US marketing or whatever so that in the US for years i only used White Gas --- which was a major pain when flying for a trip b/c it's illegal to fly and i'd go through the pain of finding a place to buy it...

here in Europe almost nobody uses White Gas - just fuel from the gas pump. yes, it's a little stinky and a little dirtier (creates more soot on your stove) and you have to clean the jet maybe twice as often... but it's way easier since gas pumps are easier to find than white gas (and cheaper).

I used to cook up stews/meat with fresh vegetables, which was such a pleasant distinction from the Gorp and bagged "Mtn House" crap I saw so many others use.
I hate those prepackaged $7 dollar a pop MREs what a scam. I like to dehydrate KFC or Popeys chicken for long trips and rehydrate (boil) it out on the trail, that always gets people drooling.

I hate those prepackaged $7 dollar a pop MREs what a scam. I like to dehydrate KFC or Popeys chicken for long trips and rehydrate (boil) it out on the trail, that always gets people drooling.

Yes...they are designed for MTN climbers, god bless their crazy souls! What I generally do is buy 1 or 2 sausages, an onion, a small tomato, and maybe a potato. I fry up the sausage, add a bit of water for steam/juice, turn the heat down real low and add the veggies and cover it all up. I write in my journal for half an hour or so, and when you are done ya have a basic, spiced stew.

This will not work if you are a vegetarian of course, but I enjoy it immensely. I get my carbos from a big hunk of Vienna bread. I figure I burn off all the fat and cholesterol while I am riding.

roughstuff