Choosing a Touring Bike - Newbie Help

[Von Fourche]

Ok, I'm posting this for my brother. He turned 49 recently and has
decided to start exercising. He's in very good health but has never been
much of an exerciser. Anyway, he lives out in the country and he started
riding a bike every other day and on weekends for the exercise and also for
the pure enjoyment. His current bike is a seven speed bike his wife bought
him off ebay or something. When he rides he does between six to fifteen
miles a day. Most of the terrain is flat/mostly flat with some small hills.
Typical roads you fine in the mid-west. No big mountains or anything.

So, he has now decided to get a new bike. He says he wants a touring
bike. He's been in two or three bike stores in our area and looked at
their bikes. He does not want or need a top of the line bike. He went into
one bike store a few days ago and one of the attendants tried to sale him a
bike for $1,400 The guy said by brother could easily do 100 miles a day if
he wanted to on this bike and yada yada yada. The guy pointed out the bike
had really thin tires which means less resistance which would result in my
brother being able to ride further for easily.

Anyway, I am no bike expert and neither is my brother. He wants
opinions on the type/brand of bike he should get and the price he can get a
good bike that will suit his needs.

He wants a good bike. He's willing to spend the money. But he does not
need anything fancy. Comfort is probably important than anything else. I
was not with him when he went to the bike store but I assume the sales
people there tried to up-sell my brother. No, my brother does not need a
Greg LeMond Tour de France bike. He wants a very nice touring bike that
will let him do his six, ten, maybe twenty miles on something a little nicer
than what he is riding now.

So, any recommendations I can give him? How about a price range? Can
he get a good touring bike for $800.00 or $1,000? Are there certain brands
he should look at and ones he should avoid?

Much Thanks!

 

[R Brickston]

On Tue, 04 Jul 2006 03:27:50 GMT, "Von Fourche"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>
> Ok, I'm posting this for my brother. He turned 49 recently and has
>decided to start exercising. He's in very good health but has never been
>much of an exerciser. Anyway, he lives out in the country and he started
>riding a bike every other day and on weekends for the exercise and also for
>the pure enjoyment. His current bike is a seven speed bike his wife bought
>him off ebay or something. When he rides he does between six to fifteen
>miles a day. Most of the terrain is flat/mostly flat with some small hills.
>Typical roads you fine in the mid-west. No big mountains or anything.
>
> So, he has now decided to get a new bike. He says he wants a touring
>bike. He's been in two or three bike stores in our area and looked at
>their bikes. He does not want or need a top of the line bike. He went into
>one bike store a few days ago and one of the attendants tried to sale him a
>bike for $1,400 The guy said by brother could easily do 100 miles a day if
>he wanted to on this bike and yada yada yada. The guy pointed out the bike
>had really thin tires which means less resistance which would result in my
>brother being able to ride further for easily.
>
> Anyway, I am no bike expert and neither is my brother. He wants
>opinions on the type/brand of bike he should get and the price he can get a
>good bike that will suit his needs.
>
> He wants a good bike. He's willing to spend the money. But he does not
>need anything fancy. Comfort is probably important than anything else. I
>was not with him when he went to the bike store but I assume the sales
>people there tried to up-sell my brother. No, my brother does not need a
>Greg LeMond Tour de France bike. He wants a very nice touring bike that
>will let him do his six, ten, maybe twenty miles on something a little nicer
>than what he is riding now.
>
> So, any recommendations I can give him? How about a price range? Can
>he get a good touring bike for $800.00 or $1,000? Are there certain brands
>he should look at and ones he should avoid?
>
> Much Thanks!
>
--Trek 520, used.

 

[Kevan Smith]

In article <[email protected]>,
"Von Fourche" <[email protected]> wrote:

> So, any recommendations I can give him?

Trek 520. Classic touring bike.

--
*Help Animals, the Earth and Your Health! *
*Find out how:* www.VeganStarterPack.com <http://www.veganstarterpack.com/>

 

[SMS]

Von Fourche wrote:
> Ok, I'm posting this for my brother. He turned 49 recently and has
> decided to start exercising. He's in very good health but has never been
> much of an exerciser. Anyway, he lives out in the country and he started
> riding a bike every other day and on weekends for the exercise and also for
> the pure enjoyment. His current bike is a seven speed bike his wife bought
> him off ebay or something. When he rides he does between six to fifteen
> miles a day. Most of the terrain is flat/mostly flat with some small hills.
> Typical roads you fine in the mid-west. No big mountains or anything.
>
> So, he has now decided to get a new bike. He says he wants a touring
> bike.

A touring bike is defined as a bike for doing multi-day tours while
carrying all your stuff with you.

It sounds as if he really wants a sport-touring bike, one which is made
for long day rides, but not really for touring, though it could be used
for short tours in a pinch. It's between a racing and a touring bicycle.
True touring bicycles are actually quite rare these days, and good ones
are very expensive.

Look at:

1. Trek-Lemond Poprad, which has a street price of about $1000-1200.
http://2006.lemondbikes.com/2006_bikes/poprad.shtml

2. Bianchi Brava, street price of around $650-750.
(http://www.bianchiusa.com/06_brava.html)

3. Canitrom, a classic, but costs $1900.
"http://rivbike.com/html/bikes_cantirom.html"

> He wants a good bike. He's willing to spend the money. But he does not
> need anything fancy. Comfort is probably important than anything else. I
> was not with him when he went to the bike store but I assume the sales
> people there tried to up-sell my brother. No, my brother does not need a
> Greg LeMond Tour de France bike. He wants a very nice touring bike that
> will let him do his six, ten, maybe twenty miles on something a little nicer
> than what he is riding now.

If comfort is a big concern, he should be sure to stay away from road
bicycles with the "compact" geometry. He'll also be better off with a
chromolly steel frame, than an aluminum frame. Ensure that the
handlebars can be high enough for a more comfortable riding position,
since on many road bikes they cut the steer tube too short, though this
can be remedied with an extender (with a weight penalty). With the
Cantirom, it's no problem to get the handlebars high enough (they even
harp on this in their description).

 

[SeattleBiker]

I would recommend a hardtail mountain bike with street tires. I use
Continental
Sport Contact 1.6 with Mr Tuffy Liners. 26" wheels, tires and parts are
easily
found worldwide. Mine has a front shock (limited travel) with a Old Man
Mountain
rack on the front and Jandd's best rear rack. # of Gears aren't that
important however
he would want a 32 or even 34 on the cassette with a 22 - 32 - 42
front. Personally
I have an 11-32 8 speed rear and a 22 - 32 -42 front and have never
needed the 34
cassette I bought just in case. A butterfly handlebar or bar-ends on a
straight bar
will allow enough hand positions. I prefer steel however there are good
aluminum
hard tail mt. bikes that will give excellent service. So many good
brands, so just
buy from a reputable shop and he should be set to go. A good seat is
always a
plus, so have him check a Brooks Brothers.

Von Fourche wrote:
> Ok, I'm posting this for my brother. He turned 49 recently and has
> decided to start exercising. He's in very good health but has never been
> much of an exerciser. Anyway, he lives out in the country and he started
> riding a bike every other day and on weekends for the exercise and also for
> the pure enjoyment. His current bike is a seven speed bike his wife bought
> him off ebay or something. When he rides he does between six to fifteen
> miles a day. Most of the terrain is flat/mostly flat with some small hills.
> Typical roads you fine in the mid-west. No big mountains or anything.
>
> So, he has now decided to get a new bike. He says he wants a touring
> bike. He's been in two or three bike stores in our area and looked at
> their bikes. He does not want or need a top of the line bike. He went into
> one bike store a few days ago and one of the attendants tried to sale him a
> bike for $1,400 The guy said by brother could easily do 100 miles a day if
> he wanted to on this bike and yada yada yada. The guy pointed out the bike
> had really thin tires which means less resistance which would result in my
> brother being able to ride further for easily.
>
> Anyway, I am no bike expert and neither is my brother. He wants
> opinions on the type/brand of bike he should get and the price he can get a
> good bike that will suit his needs.
>
> He wants a good bike. He's willing to spend the money. But he does not
> need anything fancy. Comfort is probably important than anything else. I
> was not with him when he went to the bike store but I assume the sales
> people there tried to up-sell my brother. No, my brother does not need a
> Greg LeMond Tour de France bike. He wants a very nice touring bike that
> will let him do his six, ten, maybe twenty miles on something a little nicer
> than what he is riding now.
>
> So, any recommendations I can give him? How about a price range? Can
> he get a good touring bike for $800.00 or $1,000? Are there certain brands
> he should look at and ones he should avoid?
>
> Much Thanks!

 

[Art Harris]

SeattleBiker wrote:

> I would recommend a hardtail mountain bike with street tires.


> he would want a 32 or even 34 on the cassette with a 22 - 32 - 42
> front.

I don't think we have enough info about what he's going to do with the
bike to recommend something like that.

For one thing, he rides mostly in level terrain, so he may not need
those super low gears you recommend unless he's doing heavy duty
touring in the mountains.

And if he aspires to do longer rides of 75-100 miles (or even 50-60
miles) a mountain bike wouldn't be the best choice.

Art Harris

 

[Richard B]

"Von Fourche" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

SNIP

> He wants a good bike. He's willing to spend the money. But he
> does not
> need anything fancy. Comfort is probably important than anything
> else. I was not with him when he went to the bike store but I assume
> the sales people there tried to up-sell my brother. No, my brother
> does not need a Greg LeMond Tour de France bike. He wants a very nice
> touring bike that will let him do his six, ten, maybe twenty miles on
> something a little nicer than what he is riding now.
>
> So, any recommendations I can give him? How about a price range?
> Can
> he get a good touring bike for $800.00 or $1,000? Are there certain
> brands he should look at and ones he should avoid?
>
> Much Thanks!
>
>


See:
http://www.bicycletouring101.com/

Specifically see the sublink:
http://www.bicycletouring101.com/BikeStuff.htm
---------------------------------------------------------------------
REI sells the "Randonee", it is specifically designed for loaded
touring, just under $1000.

I have a randonee and I would not hesitate taking it on a transcon.
This is not the finest, top of the line bike, but it does its job well.
I shopped around quite a bit and compared different touring bikes
(Specailized Sequioa, Trek 1200 and others), the randonee seemed to have
everything I needed and at a slightly lower price than the others.

The only problems I have had are a rim failure due to a crash and I had
to replace the bottom bracket after 6000 miles.

Rich B.

 

[Rich Clark]

"Richard B" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...

> REI sells the "Randonee", it is specifically designed for loaded
> touring, just under $1000.
>
> I have a randonee and I would not hesitate taking it on a transcon.
> This is not the finest, top of the line bike, but it does its job well.
> I shopped around quite a bit and compared different touring bikes
> (Specailized Sequioa, Trek 1200 and others), the randonee seemed to have
> everything I needed and at a slightly lower price than the others.
>
> The only problems I have had are a rim failure due to a crash and I had
> to replace the bottom bracket after 6000 miles.

Watch for REI's periodic holiday sales if considering a Randonee. I got mine
six years ago for 20% off by buying it just before Labor Day and then
getting the 20% refunded on a "price guarantee" when the sale started. I've
been very happy with mine, too.

RichC

 

[Richard B]

"Rich Clark" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

>
> "Richard B" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>> REI sells the "Randonee", it is specifically designed for loaded
>> touring, just under $1000.
>>
SNIP
>
> Watch for REI's periodic holiday sales if considering a Randonee. I
> got mine six years ago for 20% off by buying it just before Labor Day
> and then getting the 20% refunded on a "price guarantee" when the sale
> started. I've been very happy with mine, too.
>
> RichC
>
>
>

I got my Randonee on sale also at about a 25% discount.
I bought mine in September or October of 2004 when after 2005 model came
out, the only difference was the 2005 model was root beer brown instead
of blue so I saved $250 because the color changed (I liked the blue
better anyway).

The 2006 model is kind of a UPS truck brown/yellow color scheme and they
changed some of the components (gruppo). The 2007 models should be coming
out soon so the 2006s should go on sale in the next few months.

Rich B.

 

[Patrick Lamb]

On Tue, 04 Jul 2006 03:27:50 GMT, "Von Fourche"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>
> So, he has now decided to get a new bike. He says he wants a touring
>bike. He's been in two or three bike stores in our area and looked at
>their bikes. He does not want or need a top of the line bike. He went into
>one bike store a few days ago and one of the attendants tried to sale him a
>bike for $1,400 The guy said by brother could easily do 100 miles a day if
>he wanted to on this bike and yada yada yada. The guy pointed out the bike
>had really thin tires which means less resistance which would result in my
>brother being able to ride further for easily.
>
> So, any recommendations I can give him? How about a price range? Can
>he get a good touring bike for $800.00 or $1,000? Are there certain brands
>he should look at and ones he should avoid?

Most of the time such a question gets asked around here, the answer is
31 flavors of "Get a bike just like mine." So with that in mind...

I've got a 2006 Novarra Randonee from REI. If there's an REI store in
your neck of the woods, it's not a bad bike for $950. Get the wheel
tension checked by a good wheel builder (which is almost as hard to
find as a touring bike, but I digress), since my rear wheel started
popping spokes at 500 miles.

Touring bikes are hard to find in many parts of the country. Some of
the more common models are the Trek 520, Cannondale T800 or T2000,
Fuji Touring Series, and Jamis Aurora. Prices range from $800-1300
for these production models.

Skinny tires aren't all bad. There's a couple of categories between
touring bikes and TdF bikes, like the so-called "sport touring" bikes.
I'd suggest your brother check out some of the sport road bikes, like
the Trek 1000/1200, Specialized Sequoia, etc. If he finds one he
likes, get it.

Test rides are the key to finding a bike you (or your brother) like.
A bike the rider likes is more likely to get ridden than some perfect
ideal bike that just isn't fun to ride. Tell him to find one he
likes, buy it, and ride it. It's really just that simple.

Pat

Email address works as is.

 

[Smokey]

Let me cast another vote for the Poprad. I have a 2001 model that I've
ridden a lot since I bought it and it has been a great bike. The new
ones have some improvements, like the STI shifters. If he has the money
to spend, I think the Rivendell CantiRom would also be a good choice.
One nice thing about both these bikes is that they have plenty of
clearance for larger tires. I run 35mm tires with full fenders on my
Poprad with no problems.

Smokey

SMS wrote:
> Von Fourche wrote:
> > Ok, I'm posting this for my brother. He turned 49 recently and has
> > decided to start exercising. He's in very good health but has never been
> > much of an exerciser. Anyway, he lives out in the country and he started
> > riding a bike every other day and on weekends for the exercise and also for
> > the pure enjoyment. His current bike is a seven speed bike his wife bought
> > him off ebay or something. When he rides he does between six to fifteen
> > miles a day. Most of the terrain is flat/mostly flat with some small hills.
> > Typical roads you fine in the mid-west. No big mountains or anything.
> >
> > So, he has now decided to get a new bike. He says he wants a touring
> > bike.
>
> A touring bike is defined as a bike for doing multi-day tours while
> carrying all your stuff with you.
>
> It sounds as if he really wants a sport-touring bike, one which is made
> for long day rides, but not really for touring, though it could be used
> for short tours in a pinch. It's between a racing and a touring bicycle.
> True touring bicycles are actually quite rare these days, and good ones
> are very expensive.
>
> Look at:
>
> 1. Trek-Lemond Poprad, which has a street price of about $1000-1200.
> http://2006.lemondbikes.com/2006_bikes/poprad.shtml
>
> 2. Bianchi Brava, street price of around $650-750.
> (http://www.bianchiusa.com/06_brava.html)
>
> 3. Canitrom, a classic, but costs $1900.
> "http://rivbike.com/html/bikes_cantirom.html"
>
> > He wants a good bike. He's willing to spend the money. But he does not
> > need anything fancy. Comfort is probably important than anything else. I
> > was not with him when he went to the bike store but I assume the sales
> > people there tried to up-sell my brother. No, my brother does not need a
> > Greg LeMond Tour de France bike. He wants a very nice touring bike that
> > will let him do his six, ten, maybe twenty miles on something a little nicer
> > than what he is riding now.
>
> If comfort is a big concern, he should be sure to stay away from road
> bicycles with the "compact" geometry. He'll also be better off with a
> chromolly steel frame, than an aluminum frame. Ensure that the
> handlebars can be high enough for a more comfortable riding position,
> since on many road bikes they cut the steer tube too short, though this
> can be remedied with an extender (with a weight penalty). With the
> Cantirom, it's no problem to get the handlebars high enough (they even
> harp on this in their description).

 

[SMS]

I think the original poster's brother is a little confused with
terminology, as says that he wants a touring bicycle, but he's
describing a road/sport-touring bicycle. He may have simply wanted to
say that he didn't want a mountain bike!

For the type of riding he described, the Poprad would be ideal in the
$1000 price range.

Since comfort is important, a steel frame, that is not compact geometry
are no-compromise criteria. Judging from the picture of the Poprad,
he'll need to do something to get more handlebar height, either a stem
extender, or a SpeedLifter, unless the picture is not representative of
how the bike ships.

The Poprad isn't really suitable for areas with a lot of hills, at it
doesn't have a triple crankset.

The ideal bike would be the Rivindell Cantirom, but that's very pricey.

Smokey wrote:
> Let me cast another vote for the Poprad. I have a 2001 model that I've
> ridden a lot since I bought it and it has been a great bike. The new
> ones have some improvements, like the STI shifters. If he has the money
> to spend, I think the Rivendell CantiRom would also be a good choice.
> One nice thing about both these bikes is that they have plenty of
> clearance for larger tires. I run 35mm tires with full fenders on my
> Poprad with no problems.