Bike for touring in Europe

[praveens]

Hi all,
I'll be going on a summer tour through Europe, and am looking at different bikes right now. My budget is about $800 for a bike, and I was wondering what was recommended? One bike I liked that seemed like it would be good is http://www.marinbikes.com/bicycles_2005/html/bikes/bike_specs/specs_larkspur.html
I'm planning on using a trailer, so pannier mounts aren't that important to me. I'd be most interested in some low gears to make climbing easier, and enough comfort to avg 40 or 50mi a day. I currently have a road bike, but feel like the gears wouldn't be low enough, especially with with a trailer attached to it.

Thanks for any advice,
Praveen

 

[EmmCeeBee]

Marin makes good bikes in my opinion (I'm riding a 10-year-old Eldridge Grade mtn bike as a daily commuter).

First off, may I suggest you search these boards for similar questions -- look for "best bike" or "choose" or "comparison". The threads might not tell you the ideal bike to buy, but they'll give you lots of ideas what to look for (riding position, shifters, components, etc). Check this recent one: http://www.cyclingforums.com/t208375-.html

If this is going to be your all-around bike after this summer's tour, then it might be the right choice. But if you're really intending it to be your touring bike, it's not an ideal choice: low-end components, upright geometry, lack of braze-ons (if you're committing to touring, you should at least give yourself that option). For example, Altus/Acera are Shimano's lowest end shifters/derailleurs/hubs, which means not as trustworthy. I'm not familiar with the crankset, but usually the low-end bikes have stamped & rivetted chainrings, which means you can't swap 'em out for better gear ratios. Again, this is a low-end city bike, you can tour on anything and have a great time. Just sayin' that a bike designed for touring will beckon you back next summer and for years afterward. (That said, the 36 spoke wheels are a definite plus...)

There are some good touring bikes right at the $1000 point. Or you could get a used one in good condition for $600, say, and put $200 into it for new wheels/gears/whatever. Or simply move up the Marin line to their $800 range, if your eventual purpose is a city bike.

A note on the "trustworthy" comment, if you're from the US: I haven't been to Europe, but I gather you won't have any problem with repairs, as cycling is much more prevalent. You'd still have to fix stuff that didn't hold up, but you wouldn't be stranded one county away from the nearest shop. One summer in Europe on low-end components would be OK; I wouldn't want to head across Wyoming like that though...

-- Mark

 

[endcat]

A Bianchi Volpe would be a better choice. It's geared lower and is built beefier than a typical road bike (they call it a touring/cyclocross bike). If you really don't want drop bars, then check out a Novara Safari at REI - it's a "mountain touring" bike very similar to what Europeans call trekking bikes. It has weird shaped handlebars that offer multiple hand positions and is spec'd fairly decent. Whatever bike you decide on, stay away from the cheaper bikes. The first thing I check when I look at a bike is the rear derailleur. If it isn't Shimano Deore or higher, walk away. (Deore, LX, XT, Tiagra, Ultegra = good. SRAM X7, X9, XO = good, Anything else = not so good). If it has front suspension and it isn't a mountain bike, it is most likely a so-called comfort bike and is ****. Flat bar road bikes like the Specialized Sirrus line are okay. The Jamis Coda is a nice steel flat bar road bike.

That said, why buy a new bike at all? Depending on what kind of road bike you have, you could change the gearing for less money. If it is a 9-speed rear with a triple chainring in front then all you have to do is slap on a Deore XT rear derailleur, XT 11-32 cogset, a new chain, and replace the 30 tooth granny with a 24. This gives you an amazing gear range that can climb anything and still has a big gear for grinding away at high speeds. I run this setup on my touring bike and it works great as long as you avoid the big/big gears (which you should anyway) and maybe once in about 30 downshifts it drops the chain (something that you can fix with the addition of a chain keeper device).

 

[gclark8]

I am picking up a Felt Trevisa (link below) on Thursday. It is a trekking bike with very low gears and a strong frame, they should still be available in Europe.
http://felt.com.hr/MODELI_frameset_TREKKING.htm

 

[praveens]

Ok,
So I'm looking at a couple of used bikes:

-A Miyata 1000
-A model called "Shula" designed by the Jitensha Studio in Berkeley, CA and made by Toei

These both seem to be good bikes - would one be substantially better than the other?

Praveen