Road Cycling - touring vs. road

What is the main difference between the two? It seems that they're pretty much the same, except for the 1 degree diff in seat/head tube angle, and longer wheelbase. Does that make a big difference? Can you ride as fast on a touring as you could on a road bike (all things considered)? What's more comfortable to ride over the long haul? Why? What if you ride mainly paved trails and open roads, where quick handling is less of a factor? Is efficiency lost on a touring frame?

In general, touring bikes have additional braze-ons for racks, lower bottom bracket, are able to accept wider touring tires, and are usually spec'd with mountain drivetrain components....

more comfy over long distances because of less aggressive geometry & body positioning

if you mount the same tires on both bikes they'll be more or less equal in straight line speed

if you ride trails its better to get touring bikes as you can fit wider tires on them

There are really 3 classes of touring bike. Light-touring, club touring, and expedition. LTs are built on racing-weight frames some luggage facility and fender clearance. Used for century rides and supported touring. Club touring bikes are usable both loaded and unladeden, for day rides, commuting and for anual camping trips. Expedition bikes are the kind specifically designed for extended camping-style tours.

The speed of a bike is dependant mainly on the tyres and the aerodynamics of the rider, so you can rig a touring bike for a time trial, and go pretty fast.
Generally, touring bikes have more robust and thicker tubing, more braze-ons, a geometry suited to load carrying, an extended rear triangle for heel/pannier clearance, and components designed for both reliability and fixability in the field. Modern race bikes may be reliable, but they are often not so fixable.

If you are looking for a good all-round bike for fitness, day rides occasional trips, the odd time trial, commuting and a bit of shopping, then a light touring bike is ideal.

sjscycles.com have a wide range of styles, from ultra-light to expedition, and some good readings.

Iv'e got an old touring bike from the glory days of the touring bike (1983). It's got the full front and rear braze ons sealed HS, Cantilever center pull breaks and so on. It's a great bike. Ive never road raced it but I could ride it fast. It of course has a triple which I believe is 32/42/50. So I put a 53 on it and a 12 cog instead of the 13 that came with it. Stock it was not as fast as a racer but with those mods it comes pretty close. I've recently got a new racing bike and I definatly am faster on it. It is much lighter and definatly stiffer and I can feel the difference but I'm pretty sure I would do OK with the touring bike too. Actually I use the tourer now as a CX bike and race that in the fall and winter.

That's interesting... it seems that a touring bike also has a lower bottom bracket than a racer... so you guys think that's a disadvantage under normal riding conditions? The thing is, I just got a used touring bike (cheap!) thinking it was a racer; so far it's been pretty quick, a nice handling bike, fits me well, and it's in great shape. Actually, it was a great bike until I realized it was a touring bike (ignorance is bliss). I just started road biking, and was wondering if I should sell this one and go for a conventional road bike, with more aggressive geometry? I just plan on riding a couple times a week, a few long ones thrown in, and maybe even a century or two down the road.

That's interesting... it seems that a touring bike also has a lower bottom bracket than a racer... so you guys think that's a disadvantage under normal riding conditions? The thing is, I just got a used touring bike (cheap!) thinking it was a racer; so far it's been pretty quick, a nice handling bike, fits me well, and it's in great shape. Actually, it was a great bike until I realized it was a touring bike (ignorance is bliss). I just started road biking, and was wondering if I should sell this one and go for a conventional road bike, with more aggressive geometry? I just plan on riding a couple times a week, a few long ones thrown in, and maybe even a century or two down the road.
Your right it does have a lower BB for stability. In your case the tourer sounds like a great set up, now criteriums otoh mabey not b/c pedaling out of corners could be tricky.

lower bottle bracket allows for more stable, albeit slower handling. its a trade off you have to live with. my sport touring is like that... its more comfy and id much rather do a century with it than my normal sport racing bike

Hi,
IMHO, you lucked out. You said "it was a great bike". What changed? Nothing. It's a great bike, ride it. You can train for races on it. If you decide to race (or just go on fast club rides) you can always pick up a racer later. Used to be people had two bikes. They had an every day bike for riding and training; and then they had a racer for racing. Congrats, you got your every day bike.
Start saving for your dream bike.

That's interesting... it seems that a touring bike also has a lower bottom bracket than a racer... so you guys think that's a disadvantage under normal riding conditions? The thing is, I just got a used touring bike (cheap!) thinking it was a racer; so far it's been pretty quick, a nice handling bike, fits me well, and it's in great shape. Actually, it was a great bike until I realized it was a touring bike (ignorance is bliss). I just started road biking, and was wondering if I should sell this one and go for a conventional road bike, with more aggressive geometry? I just plan on riding a couple times a week, a few long ones thrown in, and maybe even a century or two down the road.

if i remember, lemond won the tour on a touring bike.

sd

Even when you get a lightweight race bike, you will need that tourer to use as an all-weather training / commuting / shopping / tour bike.
You can adjust the gearing to suit. People fit tourers will any gearing, from MTB, road triple, road double, low-ratio (cyclo-cross) double, 1x8, to fixed.