Originally Posted by
Bearonabike
Also posted to the touring bike section:
I have been back into biking for about 2 years after a MAJOR accident (me vs. car- car won) and a 20 year refrain from biking. Two years ago, I bought a Trek MultiTrack hybrid and LOVED it. I'd forgotten how much fun a bicycle was. About 6 months ago, I bought a Trek fitness bike to help accelerate the weight loss. Right now, I can push the hybrid (without bike shoes) 40 miles with minimal stop time and many friends tell em its time to get a "real road bike" and leave the beefier frames for commutes and short more intense rides.
This gives me 2 choices, racing or touring bike.
I'm leaning toward touring for a slightly longer wheel base as I'm a pretty big guy, even with the weight off (I'll NEVER drop out of the CLYDESDALE class).
My question is: What should I look for in a good touring bike under $1000? If you have a specific brand/model, that's fine, I'd like to hear it. If you simply have a set of features I should definitely get or something I should definitely avoid, that's fine too. There's lots of thinking through to be done, my problem is, I don't even know north from south when it comes to this bike type and how they perform
With touring you actually don't want something new.
There are very real and important reasons why most people serious about touring prefer 8 speed drivetrains. For unsupported loaded touring (cross-continent quests outside Europe or the Americas) 9 and 10 speed would be a nightmare. The chain, cogs, rings are thinner and weaker. The shifting is finicky and responds very poorly to road grime, dust, water etc. 8 speed is bombproof and reliable.
I'd encourage you to look for a used vintage Cannondale touring bike. They were sized in inches (as are many touring bikes) unlike their regular road bike lineup.
The late 80s and early 90s bikes were some of the lightest, strongest, and stiffest frames ever made (including modern carbon stuff). You just absolutely could not go wrong.
If you're lucky you'll stumble onto a bike that has been upgraded with Phil Wood hubs and 48 spoke wheels.
Mavic t520 or a719 rims are a sign of a quality touring wheel build. Peter White builds the best touring wheels around if you want to send him hubs for a new wheelset. The frame and the wheels are the bike.
You could build yourself a better touring bike than you buy today.
For those in the know, Mavic 8-speed mountain bike SSC kit is the best touring group ever made. The components are completely field serviceable (everything comes apart with circlips). The stuff was bombproof. Sean Kelly won Paris-Roubaix on Mavic SSC and Greg Lemond won a Tour de France.
The mountain bike group was essentially the road group with a longer cage rear derailleur. With Mavic SSC there was no "second best way."
You can mount any downtube shifters (like Mavic 821 8speed levers) on the bars with Kelly Take-Offs. You don't want integrated STI levers for touring. Dedicated brake levers are much better when braking with a heavy load (and lighter believe it or not, including barend or whatever shifters you're using).
However Mavic 8 speed would end up costing you more than even the highest end touring bike on the shelf.
The point is there is good stuff out there, believe it or not, better stuff than is currently available. People serious about touring have a supply of 8 speed NOS barends, etc.
Good luck. Enjoy, but don't forget how dangerous riding on the shoulder of a road is.
You can't get enough lights on your bike (red blinkies) even in the day.