Look at the European trend, European brands, European "Touring Bikes"
 

After trying to find a decent tourer (which I can use for commuting) I've realized the trends here are completly different than elsewhere. I don't know why, but traditionally good companies and touring bikes like Surly, Kona , Co-motion etc are impossible to find .. Especially in Middle-Europe. However know I know which bikes do european tourers use, here real touring bikes like the Surly LHT (rigid frame,bent bar) are not a common thing.... the closest to it is the Ridgeback world series, and Kona Sutra, cyclocross bikes are more available tough.But for touring the trend is "trekking" or cross trekking bicycles, which has a straight bar , completly different frame style,and prices too. Here are some bikes in the upper trekking category which are made for long tours.

CUBE Delhi men metallic red (1100-1200 usd ) I'm a noob in specs, how good are they?
top touring bike of this german manufacturer

CUBE Touring Pro men black grey orange still good, but cheaper

CUBE Travel Pro men metallic blue anthrazit white entry level tourer


Hercules Ebikes und Fahrräder im Detail



I'm just wondering why us style touring bikes are very rare in this region... Still I'm curious what you say about them, would you go on a month long tour with one of these? By the way integrated lamps are good for touring? I can image it can break or go blind .

Also they make it with a front telescope which is good for lighter terrain

the Taiwanese manufacturers ship world wide to many branding companies in many countries.

in many cases they are shipped to regional distributors , direct from the port of Taipei.

though the brand owner is based in another country entirely ..

a small individual PRODUCER of A bike frame and assembled bicycle

would have to ship it from where they make them to you, on a per bike shipment basis.

not a Whole container load to RotterDam or Bremerhaven or etc.



for all I know Cube goes to the same TW companies and has a different build list ..

It's all in the contract specs when jobbing the work out to a contract builder.

Most touring cyclist would avoid a suspension fork if touring on pavement. A suspension fork absorbs pedaling input. They also add weight. Other than that, the bikes look good.

Yes but that way you can't try out these bikes.... I understand anything is possible, but I rather not spend a fortune on shipping rates and buy something without trying it.

The suspension fork disallows a simple front pannier mounting , so then its all rear load , which already bears 60% of the rider's weight.

get what you can get, and get out and go somewhere on the bike ..

I understand I'm a bit silly in these things. Thanks I didn't know that. Fourtanetly it has a rigid version CUBE Delhi RF but I can't find where I can fit pannier racks above the front wheel

I'm not quite understanding your starting comment in the thread. Are you looking for a good European made touring bike? If so, look at Koga (from Netherlands) and Thorn (from UK). Amazing bikes, but a bit $$$$

http://www.sjscycles.com/thornpdf/Th...adBroLoRes.pdf


Koga // Bikes > Trekking > Collection

These are available: Cinelli Bootleg Hobo 2014 Touring Bike | Evans Cycles

Where is "here"?

My "here" is Australia ... where's your "here".

Surly etc. are American brands. You're not likely going to find them outside America. But there are lots of good options besides Surly ... it isn't THE touring brand worldwide. It's just one of many options. It didn't even rate when we were considering new touring bicycles.

Very quickly we narrowed our selection to Marinoni and Thorn ... and then settled on Thorn.

But I've heard that Cube is a good brand.

I think it is just a cultural thing. Most of the older riders tended to be a little more "dignified" than us here in the U. S.:)

I agree that suspension forks are not necessary, although they are popular in Europe. I've also observed that the trekking bikes are very popular there, as are straight bars. The "touring" bike that most of us are familiar with here in the U. S. fit more the type you depicted as touring. I did a very non-scientific survey while riding in several European countries, and about 90% or more of the touring cyclists used straight bar bikes similar to the trekking bike you show. About once every couple of weeks, if we were in an area with a lot of cyclists, I would count the first 100 bikes that passed us from the opposite direction. I would categorize the bikes based on whether they had panniers, type of bars etc.

These are pretty typical of the bikes we saw. However there were dozens of styles of bikes folks were touring on, including a 1946 German made bike.

Germany
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/y...33fdbe8ae6.jpg

Germany-
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/y...439fa876c2.jpg

The Netherlands- This Dutch couple were long-distance/camping type of riders
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/y...5fa55d2362.jpg

Yes ,still i dont understand why. A bike reviewer here in hungary said that for the price of a entry level US style touring bike,you get a very good straight bar trekking bike with good quality parts.i'm a bit confused,why do you get better spec for the same money in the trekking category?

In another thread I theorized the reason being that in the USA, cities are further apart than in Europe. Trekking bars are more comfortable for shorter trips, but for the really long days, drop bars are more efficient.

http://www.bikeforums.net/touring/89...l#post15738537

Another UK brand to check out is Dawes. Big German cycling net shop Roseversand have their own line of bikes, touring bikes too. Depending on where you are, they might be easier for you to visit in person.

For what it's worth, I pretty much hadn't even heard about Surly before joining these Forums. And drop bars for touring are not the "trend" in many parts of Europe. If you want more hand positions, a butterfly bar is usually offered instead of straight bar (see last pic in Doug64's post above).

Aerodynamics... depends on your kind of touring of course. I know that with the stuff I haul around, advantages are marginal at best. And I feel I'm more inclined to "smell the roses" with a straight bar setup.

--J

I don't understand your question ... any of your questions.

Are you saying that in Hungary (where you are), you can get an good European touring bicycle for the same prices as you would pay for an entry level US touring bicycle?

And you're wondering why?


If that's your question ... my response is ... why not? The US doesn't necessarily have the best of everything (best price, best quality stuff) many times other countries do. But you won't discover that until you travel to other countries.

And as others have mentioned, sometimes other groups of people like different styles and types of things.

I could almost guarantee that the 10% of bikes without flat bars had English cycle tourists on them.

And that German bike is wonderful for its balanced proportions and angles.

The OP is talking about 'continental Europe' where the straight-bar/butterfly-bar is king. In the UK and Ireland touring cyclists still think of a touring bike as primarily a drop-bar like the Dawes Galaxy.

Touring Archives - Dawes Cycles Touring Tandem and Sportif bikes

He shouldn't be puzzled by what bike shops tell him about their stock being better value than what they don't stock. It makes perfect commercial sense to the shop.

And The port of entry from Taiwan of bikes for European brands is closer (the EU likes lower wage Asian Labor & overhead, too)




you ask the dealer you buy the bike from , they will help you sort that out..

I see a mid fork braze-on for lowrider racks, a Blackburn MTN-F will also use that bolt hole

and low ones on the dropout. 4 points..

I believe that you are correct, although it was hard to tell. We usually greeted people we passed in the language of the country we were in. I suspect many of them did the same, so it was hard to tell.

It was a nice bike for the age. I actually had the chance to ride one! My LHT leaning against the tree.
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/y...b583ddbbc2.jpg