cosmicsurfer

I'm planning a serious ride and I need a serious touring bike for it.

What is the best expedition bike out there?

kayakdiver

This is like asking what the best road race bike is................ good luck with getting a straight answer.

Speedo

Co-Motion Americano.

No, wait, Bruce Gordon Rock-n-Road.

No, no, it's the Salsa Fargo.

Or, it could be the Rivendell Atlantis.

Or perhaps a Thorn Sherpa.

Cannondale T2? Surly LHT?

Rocky Mountain Sherpa 30?


What's important to you? How much do you want to spend? What color paint do you like?

Speedo

raphael88

Thorn Raven Nomad is what I'd buy. All £2100 of it.

bgcycles 

Bruce Gordon Cycles makes both Rock n' Road Tour and California BLT's in 26" and 700c wheels.

Also we are having a version of the BLT from Taiwan.
The Taiwan BLT will be 26" wheel in the 2 smallest sizes - 700c in the larger sizes.
Check them out a: https://bgcycles.com/BasicLoadedTouring.html

Regards,
Bruce Gordon

jeffpoulin

By "expedition" bike, do you mean something you can ride to China and back over dirt roads? For that kind of riding, I think the Giant Expedition 1.0 is a very good bike. Well, more like a tank than a bike. Very heavy and very durable. If you don't mind riding 8 mph everywhere you go as you haul 80 lbs of gear, this bike will get you there every time without breaking down. That's my idea of an expedition bike. The other bikes listed are touring bikes.

BengeBoy 

Welcome to BF. One thing I've noticed is that you've started three threads asking (basically similar) questions in the past day. It might be easier to get more directed help if you consolidated your questions in one thread and offered a little more for the folks here to go on --

-- what's your budget?
-- where are you going?
-- what bikes have you liked/disliked in the past?

LeeG

the one you can afford. People have been cycling for a long time, getting the latest and most expensive equipment doesn't have a direct correlation with having a successful trip.

xyzzy834

This couple rode 4000 miles across the US in 7 months on $129 Wal-Mart bicycles.

That's probably the low end of acceptable bikes. Others have spent in excess of $6000 on custom built expedition bikes. I really couldn't say which was the more successful touring bike.

lighthorse

I am waiting with bated breath for this answer.

kayakdiver

fixed........... i'm bored.

Ranger Dan

You may be baiting us, and we're drifting off topic, but the correct word is "bated.

DukeArcher 

Mine is

kayakdiver

But I like fishing

robmcl

An expedition bike usually refers to a touring bike designed on a rigid MTB frame with 26" tires as compared to road style 700cc tires. Generally, the chain stays and the wheel base is longer then a typical MTB but the BB height is slightly higher then a road style touring bike like the LHT. The framed is designed to handle a load with out shimming, something that may be a problem with a converted MTB tourer. Many times these bikes come with trekking bars and disk brakes and are designed for rougher terrain but not necessarily hard core technical MTB riding. For what ever reason this style is more popular in Europe. The only mass produced expedition bike in the US that I am aware of is the Novara Safari but even that is being produced in 700cc tires in larger sizes.

Cave

The Cannondale offroad tourer is quite nice. I like the headshock. Feels fine on the road, haven't taken one off road but it is good on cobblestones and jumping off curbs (DON'T tell the bike shop I did that on a test ride...). I prefer it over the Koga Miyata, which is also nice, but they wouldn't let me test ride it in Cairns...

Al Downie

MINE!!!



See https://www.gurdon.cam.ac.uk/~ad327/i...8/kitlist.html for details.

Niles H.

Can you tell us what you mean by "best" -- in what way or ways, exactly (or at least more specifically)?

John Nelson

I cringe every time I see the word "best" in a question. I just know that we're not going to get anywhere with it. What's the best shoe? What's the best pencil? What's the best car? What's the best dog? What's the best bread? What's the best beer?

BengeBoy 

That's the "best" post so far in this thread.

BTW, in terms of "best dog," the answer is Springer Spaniel. Just thought I should clear that up.

Al Downie

British working cocker, surely...

enjoythesun

Hi Cosmicsurfer - the others make a good point as the answer for the best bike is not easy... assuming you are looking for a serious tourer in terms of long term reliability, check out the german company tout terrain. they are sold by peter white https://www.peterwhitecycles.com/tout-terrain.asp and are specialized on touring bikes and make suspended and unsuspended models of touring bikes.

Henke

I think everyone knows Avaghon makes the best expedition bikes.

jeffpoulin

Wow, those truly are bikes you could ride to China and back over dirt roads. I've never seen a rear rack built into the frame like that. Very interesting. And not as heavy as I thought. It's a specialized application, though. If I were to embark on a 3-year journey around the world or something ambitious like that, then I'd want one of these (with the Rolhoff hubs, of course). On the other hand, if I just wanted to go across the country on paved roads and use it for commuting to work when not on tours, I'd choose one of the many fine versatile touring bikes listed above.

combatdecoy

I think Thorn makes the coolest expedition bikes.
If I were to buy another bike for touring or in general
actually I would buy a Thorn. Great reviews and relatively
affordable.

The best beer is probably Fat tire, at least where I'm at.

The best dog is a absolute tie between my Belgian Malinois, and my Miniature Poodle.

At least thats what "I" think!

Which doesn't ammount to more than thought...
Mark