Touring - Which bike shall I choose

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Henriques
07-31-04, 03:19 PM
Hello:

First of all, sorry for my english.

I´m planning to do a small trip by bike along the portuguese cost (on the road of course). It will take us around 7 days, which is the time we have for our holidays. Since it´s the first time we´ll do this, we ask your help in suggesting the kind of bike that we should buy.

Thank you

José Henriques (Portugal)

photojtn
07-31-04, 07:45 PM
Hello:

First of all, sorry for my english.

I´m planning to do a small trip by bike along the portuguese cost (on the road of course). It will take us around 7 days, which is the time we have for our holidays. Since it´s the first time we´ll do this, we ask your help in suggesting the kind of bike that we should buy.

Thank you

José Henriques (Portugal)

Hi Jose, My choice is the tried and true Trek 520 touring.
MichaelW
08-02-04, 11:43 AM
For a 7 day trip, you can use just about any type of bike with low gearing. Most hybrid, MTB and "comfort" bikes use 3 chainwheels, and give very low gearing, suitable for carrying luggage up hills. You need a bike which has threaded holes on the frame for a luggage rack, and 2 water bottles. This excludes suspension MTBs.
With any bike, you can swap the factory tyres for something better and more efficient, which is the best value upgrade possible.

The Trek 520 is a good bike for serious touring and for daily use, but is expensive and probably hard to get in Portugal. What brands do your local bike shop stock?

AndrewP
08-02-04, 01:34 PM
If you are staying in hostels you will not be carrying so much luggage, so a sport touring bike like some Bianchis might be what you want. They still have bosses for mounting racks but have more lively handling. Dawes in the UK also make good touring bikes. I expect there are also good Spanish ones but I dont know any names.