Travelinguyrt

I'm planning a 6-8 week trip to Europe later this summer, prob August and Sept. can't leave earlier, and have to return to Ft Lauderdale before end of Oct
Would appreciate ideas for a touring bike, under 1000$ that would be appropriate for use there, plus a possibility I may be moving to California at the end of the year and want it to be suitable for use there also
Plan to do camping, hostels and anything else on the cheap, but not enthused about cooking, I do breakfast and snacks but have no interest in other cooking so don't need to carry much cooking gear

Additionally, are bikes allowed in hostels at the evening?
I plan to fly into Frankfurt, anyone know if it is possible/practicable to assemble the bike at the airport and start riding there or better to take a train to a smaller city/town nearby and start there?

cyclezealot

Travel Guy.. I live in California and have toured in Europe. But in Europe we had sag suppport... Will be tough to get a touring bike under $1.000...I have one..A Fuji tourer.I am happy with it..Couple others under $1,000.
Don't know about hostels in Europe...We did Bed and breakfasts..They more than welcomed cycle tourists.
A touring bike will work both in California and in Europe. Seems I recall cyclists in Europe talking about staying in hostels..Seems I recall some problems with theft there however.... The times, I have had to assemble my bikes at the airport in Europe, I did not have that much to do..JUst put on the pedals and straighten out the handlebar.
Careful how you pack it. ONe airline in particular beat the hell out of one bike..
Yes, touring bike is the right choice, I think for your kind of cycling.
Want to know about tour routes in California..I suggest "Peddling . com"
Most rides out here are race/one day fun rides. Some tours are available in Napa.
One of most popular bike tour routes is either in Central Coast area from Santa Barbara to Monterey..Or else up in Redwood country.
Check out some web sites for California cycling that I will tell you of when I get a chance.

valygrl

I'm very happy with my Trek 520 - They retail around $1100, but you might get lucky like I did and find a store with one that they need to move. Two complaints about the 520, the gearing is not appropriate for full loaded touring (need to replace with lower gears) and the rack is a bit flimsy. You will need to add front racks, too, but that can be reasonably cheap.

I rode mine a couple thousand miles in New Zealand and a few hundred miles here in CA so far.

Lots of people in NZ were touring on cheapy mountain bikes, but after trying it myself last year, I wouldn't go that route if you're going to buy a bik - not enough hand positions and you may have to do some stupid things to mount racks on it.

Cheers,
Anna

sakarias

The one hostel we stayed in, last summer was listed as not having space for bikes. But, they told us to put our bikes under that stairs, anyway.

Here is the AYH/IYH web site. https://www.hiayh.org/ You'll need to be a member. They'll also have info on all the hostels.

We used Trek 520s, last summer and were happy with them. They seem to be a good general purpose bike, too (recreational riding, commuting and such).

Travelinguyrt

Thanks to you folks for the FAST reply
If the market does a fast run up this summer I'll expand my bike budget
I was sent another post of a family who traveled to Frankfurt from CharlotteNC and who detail their arrival and lengthy trip. It shows them assembling bikes at the airport, and also indicates that the bike trail into Frankfurt begins at the door of one of the terminals so that takes care of that
I've been to Europe before ,not biking, but this will be my first bike trip.