Hi All,

I'm looking to buy a new touring bike. I've done a tour of a few week before on my Trek road bike with a seatpost rack but would like to carry a bit more of a load next time so am looking for a designated touring bike. However, if I'm going to be spending $1-2k on a new bike, I'd like to also use it for commuting. So my aim for this bike is something I'll be able to tour comfortably (hilly, paved roads) on but also that's zippy enough for enjoyable commuting. The two bikes I've been looking at are the Jamis Aurora Elite or a Vivente World Randonneur.

I like the frame (631 Reynolds steel) of the Jamis and the components are good quality although I'm unsure about whether the gearing will be low enough for touring - it does have a triple crankset but they are road components and 50/39/30, 12-30. I'm also not too keen on the bar-end shifters for commuting. The vivente on the other hand has what seems to be better tour gearing and STI shifters which appeals to me for commuting, however I'm not sure how it handles for the lightly loaded commuting.

Does anyone have experience with these bikes?

Thanks

No personal experience with any of the bikes on your short list. Touring bikes, however, generally make good commuters. You can easily attach panniers to carry your laptop, important docs, food and clothes. Just looking at the specs for both bikes, I vote for the V.W.R. Looks very nicely spec'd.

I think either one would work fine, the chain rings could be swapped out on the Jamis for very little money. To me a tour is less about the bike and more about the attitude. I tour on bikes that some people wouldn't ride around the block

Aaron

ballan, Welcome to the forum.

For me bar end shifter were easy to become accustomed to, however they're not everyone's cup of tea. Either bike will work fine touring, though both may, or may not require modifications to suit you. If you have the opportunity to test ride either, pick the one that fits best.

"Zippy" isn't a word usually associated with an expedition lever tourer's handling. No way around it as a tourer is more focused on stability even with an excessive and/or improperly balanced load. While the frameset does weigh more than a road bike's the differences are frame geometry and wheelset/tire weight. That said I use my tourer for most of my riding and keep the roadie and mountain bike for what they do best.

Brad

There are plenty of good touring bikes available in your price range. Picking the features and equipment list will be your biggest problem. As I have gotten older, my gearing has gone down. These days I use compact MBT cranks with 9 spd clusters. I like 20 or 22, 32 and 42 for rings with 700c wheels and a 12-36 cluster. That provides nice low gearing for that end of a hot day, long steep hill. If you are much younger and lighter, you may not feel gearing that low is appropriate.

One questing that is now an issue is rim brakes or disks. I have used cantis for many years, but recently got my first disk brake bike, a Salsa Vaya. I am really happy with disks. There are several frames that are available separately or as a factory assembly with disks and lots with cantis.

One question you will have to answer for yourself is how hard core you want to go on the touring bike if you also intend to use it for commuting. Really hardcore touring bikes tend to be a bit heavy and shall we say stogy. That may not be what you want to commute on every day, but a lighter bike that is great for commuting may be not as capable as a touring bike.

I don’t know about you, but I really like barcon shifters. I have been using them for many years; recently I switched to indexed barcons. I wouldn’t use anything else.

Good luck.

Given the two choices I'd go with the vivivente just on the lowering gearing alone. I also like the dynohub on the vivi since I bought the same hub for my commuter, I wouldn't want to go back to battery lights. I don't run disc brakes on my touring/commuter and I ride in the snow and rain a lot. I'm a bar-con user but that's because I am cheap, I think any new STI would last for a while.

Thanks for all the replies.
Clem Y - I'm 24yo, 6'2'' and 75kg. The last touring I did was road geared with 50/39 and I got to the bottom of that very quickly. That being said we made it over all the hills we had to, although I am planning a more heavily loaded tour this time, although still relatively light (aiming for <15kg). Both bikes have disc brakes (vivente only on the front) so this isn't really a factor. The Stogy factor of touring bikes is the major drawback to me of the vivente. I only tour once ever couple of years but I commute every day so I do want something that will be an enjoyable ride and the reviews I've seen for the Jamis have been quite favourable in this regard.
I've never used bar-ends so am just a little cautious of ordering a bike and then finding I really dislike them and facing a costly upgrade. I have a local store that stocks the vivente's but the Jamis I would need to order online

You're only 40 yrs. younger and 100 lbs. lighter than me. When I was that age I did my riding on a 14-24 5spd freewheel with 42-52 rings. As I got older, my gearing got lower.

The similarly-equipped Surly Disc Trucker is probably a better tourer than either of these bikes and costs less.

https://surlybikes.com/bikes/disc_trucker

Also the Raleigh Sojourn is similar to and cheaper than the JAE or VWR.

The JAE has 44cm chainstays, the VWR 45cm, the SDT and RS 46cm. Guys with big feet and rear panniers do not work well with short chainstays, due to heels striking bag as you pedal.

Bike designers put bar end shifters on tourers because many tourists prefer the perceived reliability advantage of bar cons over STI/Ergo brifters. In truth, it's done because barcons cost the bike mfg $50-70 vs >$200 for brifters. So they can either take the profit or cut the MSRP to attract more sales, or a little of both.

One advantage of bar cons for a commuter is it reduces the bike's appeal to thieves.

If you get a bike with bar cons from a LBS and then decide you don't like them it will cost you at least $150 to upgrade to brifters (Tiagra).

In Australia, the LDT/RS/VWR and JAE all retail for the same price - roughly $1900. I was looking at the JAE/VWR because they seemed to be a bit better specced than the SDT and would need less upgrades (ie. less money). I've had panniers on bikes before and haven't had a problem with heel stirke (small feet I guess) but I'll look out for it when I go into the local store to have a look at the VWR.

Considering that most of the riding you plan to do is of the type that you desire something like a sport touring bike for - or at least that sort of a feel, I might look at some other options like tri-cross bikes. The geometry of touring bikes provides all day comfort, but not necessarily a zippy feel when riding. A cyclocross bike like a Specialized tri-cross would sort of be somewhere in the middle. Perhaps it would provide the kind of ride you want for the great majority of your riding, and yet it would be capable for touring. I've heard nothing but good things about the Bianchi Volpe. I do like the Vivente though, and as others have said, touring bikes are good for commuting, just not so zippy. I have commuted on touring bikes for years though, and find them perfect.

This guy got a lot of Touring miles logged on a 3 speed https://www.heinzstucke.com/..

Irish Author and long traveling cyclist Dervla Murphy chose a single speed bike for simple reliability.

https://www.dervlamurphy.com/

How about building up your own Surly Cross-check? That seems to be the go-to light touring bike around these parts. It just depends. IF you are commuting everyday then that should be your priority with the build but if you also want to do long, multi month heavily loaded tours then you may have to sacrifice a little "zip" on your commutes and go for a full on touring bike. You could also build a Long Haul Trucker from the frame with lighter wheels and STi shifters to make for a zippier ride.

Look at the Trek 520 also.

I agree, Trek 520 is a great touring bike to have.

god forbid, you could even look at an alu framed bike, like my Specialized Tricross, which I love as a light tourer, all around fun to ride zippy bike that can take wider tires, fenders, etc.

re gearing, the mentioned 50/39/30 with a rear cassette of up to 30 or 32 teeth is a minimum you'd want. There are not lots of bikes that come with smaller cranks (like a 48-36-26) but that would be ideal.

another reference, my bike with the 50/39/30 and 11-32 cassette gives a 25 gear inch low gear. If I were to load it up with over 30lbs or more, I would want to change the granny gear 30tooth chainring to a 26 tooth, to get down to 21 gear inches for steep stuff.

I had a Jamis Aurora Elite and found the steel frame rather flexy, even without a load. Also it had road gearing and rather short chainstays, at least my 08 did. Can't imagine touring with one but the guy I sold it to rode it all the way to Mexico and down the Baja peninsula, so what do I know? I suspect he was pushing the limits, but also he was lighter than me (I'm 180 lbs). In any case I think a Trek 520 is a much better bike if loaded touring is part of the equation.