I've checked the Touring thread but thought I would ask in this one.

Any thought on using the hybrid bike for touring? Do any of you do it? Is it too much for these bikes. We are considering lower to mid level bikes like the trek FX series.

My wife and I currently ride Trek 4300 Disk mountain bikes but at 48 years old we now keep them to the streets. We do longer rides anywhere from 30 - 60 miles at a time, several days per week. We have also done a week long tour and would like to do more. We want touring bikes but the cost is a bit much for us and frankly 80% of the time we will be using them locally

When we do tour, any problems loading these with heavier panniers? We have a Burley Nomad so I don't see us overloading the bikes though.

Anyway, your thoughts are appreciated. Sorry if this has been answered in the past. I just don't want to have problems with the bikes if we load them once in a while, or decide to flip the bird to the man and ride across the country and see what this journey holds for us. (a real possibility... lol)

Thanks

I can't see you having any problems with doing some touring on those bikes. I did a month long tour of the central and panhandle areas of Florida about 7 years ago on a Raleigh hybrid, I rode about 1200 miles over 28? days. I used both front and rear panneirs on racks I bought from "Old Man Mountain" company. It was a self supported camping tour. I think I was carrying about 50 - 60 pounds of gear over all. People tour on all kinds of bicycles. Check out crazyguyonabike for tons of touring info. Good luck if you decide to tour, honestly I can say I had a blast doing it, I will do some more touring someday when I have the time and less obligations.

Put some 28 to 38 mm tires on and go. Cheap, fun, effective, and you both already know your bikes. Get out and enjoy the world!

do get a hybrid with a trekking gearset, like a deore or apex 26-36-48 front, rather than a 34-50 'compact' crank... That way you have granny gears for hauling that weight up that long grade at the end of the day .. get a hybrid with a relatively long wheelbase, that helps greatly with stabilitiy when you're carrying a load, plus it keeps your heels from clipping the rear panniers. skip anything with suspension. I'd want 36 spoke wheels, with strong rims suitable for 28-32c puncture proof road tires like Gatorskins, Schwabe Marathon.

I've been wondering the same thing. I have a Wheeler Trekking Lite 3700 (aluminum frame) with 700 x 40C tires on 36 spoke wheels, 28-38-48 crank, and 11-32 cassette. I also have a Topeak Super Tourist rear rack. It works great for commuting, but with cool weather arriving I've really been wanting to get out for at least some overnighters or weekend trips. Also contemplating a longer trip during winter break.

Thanks for the responses. Still doing some research. Although relatively inexpensive, I like what I am seeing with a steel frame Jamis Coda Sport. I was considering their touring Aurora but can't swing the cost for 2 bikes (wife). My thought is better ride quality and stability when loaded being steel. The 32 spoke wheels kind of bother me. But like I said, I do have a Burley Nomad so I won't be over doing it on the bike (I don't think). It does not look overly heavy either. I am hoping it is lighter than the 2010 Trek 4300 Disk I use now. I occasionally ride a 60 mile round trip commute to work. My mountain bike is slow at about 14-15 mph ave speed for the trip and I think this might speed things up a bit. Choices choices.

Thanks Again

Hi,
Have done some touring with our Giant "Cypress" alloy frame hybrids. My most recent trip was from Boston Pa. to Cumberland Md. on the GAP.
My wife and I are in our sixties, and find that the hybrid type cycles are fine for roads and trail alike. I have a "croozer" trailer. The croozer is a little heavy but has huge capacity for everyday hauling.

That looks like a pretty good set up. I would bet you can haul a fair amount of gear in your trailer, so I would guess that you camp tour? How does the loaded trailer feel on hills, I've never towed a trailer on a bike.

That has me wondering; do they make trailers with electric assist drives for chugging up those hills/bluffs with a trailer-load?

Yes they do here at ridekick

The trailer can haul more than I would care to haul up a long hill! I haven't used the trailer for camping yet. I normally equip the Cypress with rear panniers and axiom top bag for overnighters. Longer trips have been supported by credit card. Next year I will be giving it a try.

The trailer was purchased in the spring for a couple of very specific duties, but it has proven quite versatile. I use it to take my inflatable sea kayak to Lake Erie about 5km (3 miles). The kayak and gear weigh about 60lbs. The trailer is 25 lbs. With 85 lbs behind the bike i find myself a gear or two lower than normal. Lighter loads are only noticed on hills or acceleration from a stop.

It also sees lot of use for getting groceries, yard sales etc. At $225 CDN, not a bad deal.

The key to bike camping is to be totally minimalist. I didn't carry a tent, I had a ground cloth I could convert to a bivvy. one friend I traveled with carried a hammock with a fly cloth 'roof', something like this...

Yeah I tend to agree with you, but I had a one man shelter, it weighed about 3lbs packed down, so still pretty light. I think most people carry way to much bike stuff when touring, I have read journals of people that carried a whole spare drive train! Really? WOW, I mean do you really need a spare triple chainring set?

When I last toured, I was carrying a couple spare tubulars, hahahahah, glue, a good Silca frame pump, and a campy 't-wrench'. that covered pretty much ALL my needs.

I just thought I'd show you that a "Jamis Coda Sport" doesn't have any problems handling a LOAD! I use my Coda Sport as a utility/everyday bike and I don't own a car! Their a tough machine and the 32 spoke wheels, have held up great and I'm 230lbs. and usually carry a 12 pound rack bag all the time!

Perfect. Thanks.

I've done all my touring on hybrids, including one trip where I towed a full size sea kayak on a trailer. People use all kinds of bikes. One of the most toured guys around, Heinz Stuecke, used a 3 speed IGH bike for tens of thousands of km's.

that's one way of looking at it. It's not as crucial as when you carry everything in your back though (hiking, xc skiing).

--J

More people tour on everyday, hybrid bikes than do so on specialist "touring bikes". People have ridden hybrids just about everywhere you can ride a bike. The wider tyres >35mm are good for off road trails and you can slim down if you are mostly riding well surfaced tarmac.
The chainstay length of FX is 44.5cm compared to 45 for the touring Trek 520. It is plenty long enough to handle a load well.
Hybrids lack a selection of handholds so you can add bar ends or aerobars or replace the flat bars with trekking style butterfly bars.
Modifying a hybrid to take drop bars not worthwhile.

As stated I use my Coda Sport for "utility/every day, dirt paths, ect. type riding". Now for lighter touring or longer distance rides I use a Jamis Allegro 1 with "trekking (butterfily) bars". They are SO much for comfortable for distance than "straight bars", even with bar ends, jmho. I had them on the Coda Sport but they are a bit, "twitchy" feeling, in DIRT so I went back to straight bars and bar ends. FYI. PS: As the Allegro 1 has a Alumn. Frame, I'd not feel comfortable hauling a heavy loaded trailer with it BUT, maybe something like a BOB trailer that puts the "load" on the axle might be ok for touring, ymmv.

I took my first tour this fall on my hybrid. It's a Trek DS 8.4, and I toured on the Ohio & Erie towpath. 90 miles / 35 miles / 75 miles. No problems, and had a good trip. The one thing I am glad I did was add some bar ends onto the handle bars. I didn't add them to the end, however. I put the on the inside, which gave me a nice "2nd options" for my hands.

I have a 2001 Coda that I would not hesitate to ride on a long fully loaded camping trip, and a 2012 Quest that I want to credit card trip this summer. The Coda is a tough, reliable ride- I added Cane Creek bar ends, Ergon grips, a Brooks saddle with Nitto seatpost, and a Topeak rack. Mudguards this fall to cover the gatorskins...

I do it all the time. Here is my long-haul bike: my '93 Specialized Crossroads. I bought it new, and it has never let me down.