I have seen some bikes listed specifically as "Touring" bikes... but other then a rack on the back of them, I don't really see much different about them from your average road bike. Could someone please fill me in in the difference?

Touring bikes are beefier all around and have longer chain stays than road bikes for heel clearance vs panniers. Any road bike can become a touring bike by hooking a trailer to it and redoing the drive train for lower gears so you don't have to push it up steep grades. For ultimate DF comfort, for climbs, for headwinds, add aerobars. Wouldn't leave home without them on my uprights.

I wouldn't put an aerobar on my bike esp. a touring bike with panniers. But yeah, a touring bike is designed to take a load and still handle well. Think old school Cadillac. The bike won't be zippy but it will be comfortable and tough.

You can consider touring the activity , then any bike you ride for more than a day or 2 is good ..

But wanting to carry weight of your home away from home in your panniers , will make too light a bike feel like a wet noodle ..

hence adding stiffness to the whole frame design ..

like your road bike , want to ride it in a straight line for a few days , rather than loop home every night?

you're touring..

I toured with a department store bike but it was really a frankenbike. I suspect it was a product of the Canadian Peugeot factory, and basically left overs.

The frame had the proper brazeons for rear racks and fenders, but not the front fork. The wheels were nice Wolber Super Champion, 27 x 1", way too narrow for the purpose. But I managed to do thousands of kilometers. I used a rear rack, rear panniers and large front handlebar bag. Sleeping bag and tent in a waterproof bag on top of the rack, panniers held clothes, handlebar bag held wallet, camera, riding snacks etc.

A purpose built touring bike will have a long wheelbase for a comfortable ride, the right braze ons for racks and fenders, often cantilever brakes to stop a heavily loaded bike, wide wheels with lots of spokes. Touring bars are often wider and flare out for more hand positions. Touring tires are more focussed on puncture protection and durability. Touring bikes often have triple cranks for climbing hills with gear, and wide rangng cassettes.

Some people look at cycle cross bikes for touring, and if they have the right braze ons they can work.

Whats the difference between and corvette and an SUV. They both have tires and an engine.

Seriously though here is a basic list of differences between two bikes I own. A Trek Madone (race bike) and my Surly Long Haul Trucker (touring)

Both have tires and a saddle that I sit on.
Trek has 23mm tires pumped to 100psi. Can only fit a maximum of 27mm tires and that would be pushing it.
LHT has 35mm tires pumped to 65psi. can fit up to 45mm tires if needed. This means I can haul more stuff with the wider tires.

Trek has 3inches of drop from the saddle to the bars. Allows me to be lower to reduce wind resistance.
LHT has 2inches of reverse drop from saddle to bars. Nice upright ride, don't have to "look up" to look ahead.

Trek has a 50/34 double crank and a 12/25 cassette. Fine for pretty much anything as long as the hills aren't too steep or long. Would not be good gearing at all if I had 50lbs of gear.
LHT has a 48/36/26 triple with a 12/32 cassette. A really nice low gear with that 26/32 combo. I can climb anything and keep my heart rate below 150 if needed. Even with extra baggage.

Trek weighs 16lbs. Can haul a small saddle bag with a repair kit. lol. Anything else and I would be breaking the rules.
LHT weighs 30lbs but can haul probably 100lbs more.

Trek has no eyelets for racks or anything.
LHT has a bazillion eyelets for more racks than you'll ever need.

Trek is a simple pleasure to ride.
LHT is a simple pleasure to ride.

I would add that touring bikes tend to have thicker and/or bigger frame tubes for rigidity in carrying a load. They also tend to have lower bottom brackets, which results in the seat being a bit closer to the ground and some people say it affects the bikes stability in a positive way. Touring bikes also have slacker angles that result in a more comfortable position for riding long lengths of time where a road bike has steeper angles for agility, at some expense of comfort.

A nice post from start to finish. Sums up the differences by using practical experience.

Vexxer, Here's a visual comparison:



Both are old 'new build' photos in the middle of adjusting fit.

Brad

I find the useful things on a touring specific bike are these:
3 braze on mounts for waterbottles
Front and rear rack mounts (preferably front mounts that can handle something like the Tubus Duo rack)
Front and rear mounts for fenders
Mounts for disc brakes
A nice comfortable geometry that can accommodate panniers and me not hitting them.
Triple cranks (give me my Granny Gear or give me death) or a good quality internal hub
Steel frame for a great ride (but chuck out the Hi-Ten)
Drop Bars for multiple hand positions (or trekking/dumbo bars)
Wheels that have plenty of spokes and can handle fully loaded touring

Obviously there are other things I might add to the list but for a "off the shelf"/"from the catalog" sort of bike this is important. Good accessories are important but the basics are above at least for me.

touring bikes are just like road bikes except for the frame, the wheels, the tranmission and the accessories.

Rear axle width on a touring frame is MtB std 135mm not road std 130mm.
the frame-tube wall is thicker to support the racks without cracking
Fork is beefier with more stable geometry.
Longer chains stays formed for MtB crank clearance with small rings.
Full set of threaded eyelets
Wider tyre clearance and wider brakes or disc rakes.
Stronger, wider rims, 36 spokes, MtB hubs

I agree with most every thing else that has been posted. However they have all missed why a touring bike has a longer wheelbase. Avoiding hitting the panniers with your feet is important but the long wheelbase lets you carry more of the weight between the axles rather than cantilevered off the (usually) rear of the bicycle. The more load that is behind the axles, the more effect it has on the stability of the bike. A heavy load cantilevered off the back of a bike becomes a tail that wags the dog.

The front center distance (from the center of the bike to the axle) is also longer longer which slows the steering and makes the bike more stable with the load.

Finally, the heavier frame isn't just a strength member. It helps with handling loads on downhills. Road bikes with thin tubed frames can develop a harmonic flexure at certain speeds called a "death wobble". A death wobble on an unloaded road bike will happen, if it happens, at higher speeds of 40 to 50 mph. A load lowers the speed to much lower speeds. The heavier frame of a touring bike can also develop a death wobble but the frame isn't as flexible and it doesn't occur with a load until some really stupid speeds.

Yep.

Having the weight centered is a really big deal when it comes to stability. It's also important to keep the weight low. A pretty common touring set up at one time was heavy rear bags and a pretty large front handlebar to distribute the weight fore and aft. The handlebar bag though rode high and was a negative in terms of handling. Low riders were a big improvement in terms of handling and in allowing you to distribute the weight more evenly over both wheels.

I have no idea at what speed you get a wobble on a touring bike. I do know when touring on my old school 1983 Trek 720 with a 43 inch (!!) wheelbase and low riders, it is solid as a rock coming down mountain passes at 50 mph plus. Low riders really help the bike hug the road as well.

A death wobble on a touring bike can occur but it depends on the bike, the load and the way the load is distributed . My daughter's Fuji Worldtour starts to wobble at around 40 mph. I had a Miyata 610 that wobbled at 48 mph. I could probably ride my current touring bike...a Cannondale T800...no handed at 50 mph.

Please post pics. You could then change your handle to cycotourist!

It should also be noted that if you're talking about listings for used bikes, some sellers are idiots and will call anything with a rack fitted to it a "touring" bike.

Just a little tip about the dreaded speed wobble. If it happens, on a road bike or even a loaded tourer, press one knee or thigh against the top tube to dampen the wobble/vibration while you try to slow down. It has worked for me, YMMV.

I just took my new touring frame to the river, with a saddle bag and two low riders in the front, hit over fifty on a couple downhills into the valley with nary a wobble. It was to curvy to try for the no hands thing, but I did do that once on my Miyata1000, fully loaded on a strait road, probably for a mile, top speed 35. Probably wont try it again though.

In praise of added weight.

https://www.adventurecycling.org/defa...t_Schubert.pdf

Everything said here applies. In practice my bikes break down like this:
My road bike (an old TREK) is using 25mm tires and is good for 17-19mph club rides of 25-30 miles on asphalt,
My hybrid is a little heavier, uses 32 mm tires and is good for 15-17mph metric centurys including some gravel if need be,
My touring bike is 30 lbs, uses 50mm Big Bens and is good for 10-15mph doing whatever, whenever, all day, on any surface I've run across.

Marc

Sure, a bike that has to carry dead weight on the frame over the rear wheel has a different set of loads than a bike where the main load is on the pedals and seat.

if you owned a Honda Accord it could theoretically carry a 1000lb payload of four passengers and luggage that doesn't mean it should carry it on the roof whereas a truck could carry it safely enough in the bed.

I think touring frame drop is all over the map. I have had some stock bikes that were in the 12 inch range. Felt like riding on stilts. Didn't really hurt much until I attempted a dismount on a slopping shoulder. Of course that can be handled with top tube adjustments also.

I recently bought a touring frame that when decoded, was basically an MTB frame with green paint and some changes for 700c wheels.