ukz

I am interesting in acquiring a "touring" bike though to be honest I don't know exactly what that means, like what makes the Surly Long Haul Trucker a "touring" bike?

I plan to start doing rides with a group of friends that go for a week at a time, once I build up stamina, so they have all their belongings rigged.

Would appreciate guidance on how to track down the best bike for me.

ironwood

A touring bike is a bike designed for traveling long distance while carrying a load, which might include camping gear; it might be built with slightly heavier tubing than a racing bike; it might have lower gearing and longer chainstays; it might have brazed on eyelets for racks and three water bottles. However a specialized touring bike is not necessary to tour. My first tour was with a simple ten speed that I used to ride to work. I simply added a rack for rear panniers and a handlebar bag and rode up from Boston to Portland and took the ferry to Nova Scotia and toured.

I've met touring cyclists who rode English three speed roadsters, racing bikes, Schwinn Varsities, mountain bikes and other bikes.

Don't worry about the equipment, just ride and have fun.

fietsbob

'best' might blow off the top of your budget.. how much are you willing to spend ?

where are you located, and have you found a shop you like? what brand lines do they sell?

boomhauer

1) Touring bikes have the handlebars higher than the seat for comfort. Racing bikes have the handlebars lower than the seat.

2) Touring bikes have 3 rings on the crankset. Not just two. If you live near mountains this is especially important.

3) Tires are usually wider. Sometimes you have to go down a gravel road to camp or thru road construction that lasts for a mile (or more).

wahoonc

This sums it up!

I tour on a variety of bikes, depending on where I am going, how long I am going to be gone and what I plan to do along the way. Last tour was on a vintage Raleigh Twenty folder. It is a 3 speed with 20" wheels. I rode about 150 miles over a period of 5 days and stayed in Bed and Breakfasts. Tour before that was on my expedition bike, which is a converted MTB, on that trip I rode 90 miles in 4 days and it was all off road, carried camping equipment and food.

Aaron

Cyclebum

All excellent answers. Consider: is touring going to be my 'thing?' The problem is you won't know 'til you do it. The LHT has good resale value. Safe bet just in case the touring bug doesn't stay with you long. Same goes for Ortlieb panniers. Yeah, you'll lose some money if sold, but you'll have 'rented' the best.

I started out cheap, couldn't cure the bug, and have since invested a lot. Wish I'd done it the other way. Live and learn.

egear

Truth be told 75% of the bikes on Craigs list could be used for touring duty. If you can mount fenders and a rack you are good. Think about how/what you would like to ride 26" 29" road or mtn bike, Drop or flat bars. Make sure it's got enough gears / gear inches to climb hills with a load and you should be set.

boomhauer

I'm just now learning this lesson. I wish I could reverse the clock and start all over again.

ukz

I would like to get it under $2000 if possible. I live in Texas. So at first most rides are going to be flat/hill country but I plan to travel eventually once trained more.

Something with solid resell value and something that is going to be a solid buy as not being a super experienced bike mechanic, I want something dependable with stock components built to do long distance rides out of the box.

I can drive an hour into Austin to a bike shop. Usually cheaper to order offline.

PolarBear007

Yep, there are a couple of great "out-of-the-box" bike solutions that easily fit your budget. It's pretty important to get the bike that fits you and your physical size *best*. Most new touring bikes have great components so you won't have to worry about quality.

By the way, do a Forum Search for what others are saying about any bike before posting a new thread - this is a very common question and hundreds of threads already exist about these bikes.

For a little more than half what you want to spend, there is the REI Novara Randonee:
https://www.rei.com/product/816068/no...onee-bike-2014

Certainly the Surly Long Haul Trucker:
https://surlybikes.com/bikes/long_haul_trucker

and in Texas, dealers can be found:
https://surlybikes.com/index.php/dealers/region/TX

The Trek 520 has a good reputation:
https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes...ouring/520/520

and in Texas:
https://locator.trekbikes.com/search/...e=&search_term=

Also, there is a bike by Windsor called the "Tourist" and has met some good reviews:
https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/...Fa9cMgodNl8ARQ

I hope this helps.....

headloss 

My suggestion is to read all the links/pdfs at Adventure Cycling. https://www.adventurecycling.org/adve...-buyers-guide/

The only thing that really matters is that you have brazeons for a rack in the rear (front fork too, but only if you are really packing like a mule). The point of longer chain-stays is that you have heel clearance for the panniers. You can make just about any bicycle work. Only consider a dedicated touring bike as a necessity if you plan to go long distances without support while carrying a lot of weight. I have a Trek 520 and it's more than I need for a week long tour, to be honest.

Pedal_Inn

All good thoughts and the basic wisdom is any bike can be used for touring. I used my 70's Peugeot PX-10 that I had muscled a $30 Planet Bike rack that I got at REI. Probably had some of the best tour riding I've ever had on that machine. Was out of the saddle a bit, but felt real strong with panniers on that bike. I've also toured on a dedicated tour, a Soma Saga. Touring bikes, dedicated ones like the Saga, are stout and designed to carry lots of weight for thousands of miles, over rough terrain in environments where reliability of the frameset is paramount. That said, dedicated tourers are heavy (how my Saga is soooo heavy with top quality parts is beyond me) and not the most responsive bikes around.

Touring bikes share common attributes, aside from their stout frames and significant capacity. Namely they can fit larger tires, 38mm+ is a general rule. Also, I would say that a dedicated tourer can handle a variety of road conditions with ease. I take my Saga on gravel and fire roads with panniers. Touring bikes will be more solid with a pretty significant weight in the panniers. A wide gear range is also a defining feature I would say. I recently switched from a triple with a 24t small ring (which i didn't really use) to a double with a 30t small ring. Of course I've got a 12-36t in the back. Quite a bit of range. Don't really want to be out of the saddle on that beast.

That said, as others have said too, is use what you've got. Buy a cheap rack and a set of panniers from REI, so you can return them if need be. See if you like bike camping / touring (we hope you do, who doesn't???) and then buy what you think is worth it for you. I wouldn't scrimp on a rack and like other have suggested, some of the better/popular equipment (ortlieb and tubus, come to mind) have pretty solid resale value. If you really want a good value in a bike get a complete bike and better yet a used bike that has been tuned up by a mechanic.

happy adventuring!