Hello,
In October I plan to try the bicycle road named Elberadwag, from Dresden to Wittenberg, fully equipped. The path is with asphalt most of the way, but other pavements and off-road intervals occur every now and then.
At the moment I have Specialized hybrid with no front shock absorber, and Merida mountain bike with hard tail. I thought that both will not fit to this journey, so I headed for consultation in local bike shops.
In one of the shops I was offered to buy Merida Speeder, but after telling them about the off-road parts they cancelled the offer. Later they have offered me some GT model that looked really cheap, and I gave up. In another shop they introduced me the Marin Kentfield, which looked really good, and in the same price zone (around 600$). This one had front shock absorber and even a shock absorber for the sit.
I'll detail my needs: I would like to travel about 200km with many towns on the way, in about 4 days (and 3 nights), fully equipped: that is, bike equipment, food for half a day, 2-3 litres of water, a light tent and a light mattress, sleeping bag, some clothes, etc. I suppose that in total I'll carry with me around 10-12 kg weight (excluding the bike and the bags), which I plan to split between the panniers (and maybe a little bit on my back as well?). The weather will probably be cold and rainy.
In the internet I've read about another model of Merida, which is called "crossway'. I have not found it in any shop here, but I've read about someone who has bought it recently.
Another thing which bothers me is the panniers - the one shop who had such wanted about 300$ for the panniers (and that thing where they sit on). Isn't that far too much?
What do you think? What should I look for?
Thanks in advance!