Giant for touring?

Jack said:

I've been convinced by my local bike shop to get a Giant for a few
weeks touring (followed by commuter use). Budget is about £500. But
Giant don't sell any bikes billed as tourers, just road bikes.

Anyone got any experience of touring on a Giant SCR, or can make
alternative recommendations? I've toured on ancient mountain bikes,
but I'd really like a drop handle bar bike which will take mudguards
and a rear pannier. Am worried that the tyres are too narrow on these
Giants.

Thanks for your help. Jack

Jack, take a look at the Revolution Country Traveller from the
Edinburgh Bicycle Co-op. It was very well rated by CyclingPlus
magazine and is under �400. Will do all you need at a very, very good
price.

Quoted message said:

Anyone got any experience of touring on a Giant SCR, or can make
alternative recommendations? I've toured on ancient mountain bikes,
but I'd really like a drop handle bar bike which will take mudguards
and a rear pannier. Am worried that the tyres are too narrow on these
Giants.

I've toured on a full-on road bike before (rack bodged on with P clips).
Narrow tyres weren't too bad (but wider tyres would have been more comfy).
The main problems were that the short wheelbase and steep head tube angle
made for rather twitchy steering.

The Giant SCR has (compared to a full on road bike) a longer wheelbase and
slacker head tube angles so the steering is more stable. The bars are also
a tad higher so you've a less aggressive position. It's got fixings and
clearance for proper mudguards, has a triple chainring and can take a rack.
It'd make a great bike for fast audaxers, fast tourers, fast commuters or
peeps that want to go fast without the twitchy steering of a full-on road
bike. Apart from the triple, the differences between the relaxed SCR and a
racing geometry are subtle.

If you're going to go fast, putting plenty of power down through the
pedals, the bike will be great. If you're more of a trundly -slower, less
power through the pedals-, wanting front panniers (front and back gives
better handling than rear only), want wider tyres for comfort/bad
tarmac/bridleways etc then something like these two are great:

<www.edinburghbicycle.com/ebwPNLqrymode.a4p?f%5FProductID=7897&f%5F>
<www.edinburghbicycle.com/ebwPNLqrymode.a4p?f%5FProductID=7113&f%5F>

One is the Country Traveller suggested by Bill, and the other is a Dawes
Horizon. Your local bike shop will be able to order the Dawes in for you,
but wont be able to get the Country Traveller so forget it if you're not
near a branch of EBC - ALWAYS get a test ride before you buy!

There're quite a few bikes in that price range that will do the job, so
something suitable that the LBS stocks will prolly be better - nice long
test rides are essential if you're on the borderline of two frame sizes.

in message <[email hidden]>, Jack

(') said:

I've been convinced by my local bike shop to get a Giant for a few
weeks touring (followed by commuter use). Budget is about £500. But
Giant don't sell any bikes billed as tourers, just road bikes.

Anyone got any experience of touring on a Giant SCR, or can make
alternative recommendations? I've toured on ancient mountain bikes,
but I'd really like a drop handle bar bike which will take mudguards
and a rear pannier. Am worried that the tyres are too narrow on these
Giants.

SCR will sort-of do but isn't ideal. The SCR 2 has long drop brakes so will
have clearance for mudguards, and the components are not at all special
even at that price. The SCR 1 has adequate componentry - and also has
mudguard clearance - but still doesn't look special for the money. On
either of these you can fit somewhat wider tyres; but it's always going to
be a compromise and not ideal for either of your purposes. Is the problem
that the bike shop only stock Giants? Is there a problem with using an
alternative bike shop?

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
;; If God does not write LISP, God writes some code so similar to
;; LISP as to make no difference.

Thanks for all the advice.

Mark, that sounds like really good advice: I think I fit into the fast
tourer/fast commuter category very well. I think I'd only ever have
rear panniers.

Giant have been consistently recommended for outstanding build quality
and components/price, but it sounds like this isn't universally
agreed... I just haven't got the knowledge or time to figure out all
the details, so I thought I'd pick a good brand first. Afraid there is
no hope of the EBC.

The last bike I toured on was a heavy old mountain bike with 21 gears,
and I'm definitely more interested in getting the fresh air, than
saving a few grams of weight. However, I ride a pretty good racing
bike, so I would appreciate good kit, but can't go significantly above
£500.

Simon, I think the sort-of-do but not ideal will be my place since
I'll want this for lightening fast commuting, too. My main worry now
is whether there will be enough clearance for big enough tyres. But,
then Mark has toured on a full-on road bike, presumably with very
narrow tyres. Looks like SCR can take 28mm: with lots of air will this
be enough? Should I contemplate disk brakes? Is it likely I'll have to
fit a smaller chainring?

Thanks again,
Jack

Simon Brooke said:

in message <[email hidden]>, Jack

(') said:

I've been convinced by my local bike shop to get a Giant for a few
weeks touring (followed by commuter use). Budget is about £500. But
Giant don't sell any bikes billed as tourers, just road bikes.

Quoted message said:

Anyone got any experience of touring on a Giant SCR, or can make
alternative recommendations? I've toured on ancient mountain bikes,
but I'd really like a drop handle bar bike which will take mudguards
and a rear pannier. Am worried that the tyres are too narrow on these
Giants.

SCR will sort-of do but isn't ideal. The SCR 2 has long drop brakes so will
have clearance for mudguards, and the components are not at all special
even at that price. The SCR 1 has adequate componentry - and also has
mudguard clearance - but still doesn't look special for the money. On
either of these you can fit somewhat wider tyres; but it's always going to
be a compromise and not ideal for either of your purposes. Is the problem
that the bike shop only stock Giants? Is there a problem with using an
alternative bike shop?

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke)http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
;; If God does not write LISP, God writes some code so similar to
;; LISP as to make no difference.

in message <[email hidden]>, Jack

(') said:

Simon, I think the sort-of-do but not ideal will be my place since
I'll want this for lightening fast commuting, too. My main worry now
is whether there will be enough clearance for big enough tyres. But,
then Mark has toured on a full-on road bike, presumably with very
narrow tyres. Looks like SCR can take 28mm: with lots of air will this
be enough? Should I contemplate disk brakes? Is it likely I'll have to
fit a smaller chainring?

Come to think of it I've toured on full on racers, as well - with a
trailer. And that's a very good solution. A trailer will cost you £125
from Edinburgh Bicycle Co-op, or about twice that from anywhere else. The
EBC trailer is not much more than the price of a decent rack and a pair of
panniers.

http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/ebwPNLqrymode.a4p?f%5FProductID=6176

23mm tyres are fine for touring, if you're carrying the luggage in a
trailer, unless you want to go off tarmac.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

The trouble with Simon is that he only opens his mouth to change feet.
;; of me, by a 'friend'

in message <[email hidden]>, Jack

(') said:

But,
then Mark has toured on a full-on road bike, presumably with very
narrow tyres. Looks like SCR can take 28mm: with lots of air will this
be enough? Should I contemplate disk brakes? Is it likely I'll have to
fit a smaller chainring?

Sorry, second followup to the same post.

(1) why on earth would you want disk brakes? What advantage do you think
they'd have?

(2) I've never toured with a triple. Any SCR - even the 'LTD' and the C4
which come with compact doubles - has far lower gears than I've ever
toured with.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; When all else fails, read the distractions.

Jack wrote

Quoted message said:

Anyone got any experience of touring on a Giant SCR, or can make
alternative recommendations? I've toured on ancient mountain bikes,
but I'd really like a drop handle bar bike which will take mudguards
and a rear pannier. Am worried that the tyres are too narrow on these
Giants.

No direct experience but...

I have a Giant OCR2 'racer' for commuting and day rides - most
impressed with what you get for the money. In the winter I use a Dawes
Horizon which is very sturdy and also good value.

I recently bumped into a chap on the train with a Giant SCR in touring
setup - rack/panniers, mudguards & 28mm tyres. Again, used mostly for
commuting but with a bit of short touring. It looked very fine and I
could be tempted myself as the Dawes gets more scruffy looking...

Cheers,
MikeF

Quoted message said:

Simon, I think the sort-of-do but not ideal will be my place since
I'll want this for lightening fast commuting, too. My main worry now
is whether there will be enough clearance for big enough tyres. But,
then Mark has toured on a full-on road bike, presumably with very
narrow tyres. Looks like SCR can take 28mm: with lots of air will this
be enough?

I toured on 23mm tyres - 28 would be luxury! 🙂 Seriously thobut, for
touring go for the widest tyres you can possibly fit. You might also want
to avoid slicks, as they make wet bridleways a little too interesting.

Quoted message said:

Should I contemplate disk brakes?

No. Mechanical disc brakes are:
a: A little heavier
b: No better than good V brakes (but a little better than cantilevers, and
significantly better than dual pivot calipers).
c: More prone to damage (oh look, I've just bent the rotor)
d: Attract theft
e: More expensive

Quoted message said:

Is it likely I'll have to fit a smaller chainring?

If the bike has a triple then it's fine - if you can't get up something on
the granny ring it's not the bike, it's your legs.

If it's just got a double, make sure it comes with a compact double (e.g.
50-34 teeth instead of, say, 52-42). This'll get you up most stuff, as you
sound like a powerful rider. You'll still struggle up a fair few hills
when you're touring thobut.

If it doesn't come with a compact double or triple, consider looking at
another bike rather than getting things changed - anything with a 52 double
is prolly not going to have the right frame geometry for your needs.

Push the budget a bit and you're within Specialised Tricross, which look
gorgeous.

In news:[email hidden],
Mark <pleasegivegenerously@warmail*turn_up_the_heat_to_reply*.com.invalid>
tweaked the Babbage-Engine to tell us:

Quoted message said:

No. Mechanical disc brakes are:

Quoted message said:

c: More prone to damage (oh look, I've just bent the rotor)

Feh! The only rotor trouble I've had was when the poncy laser-engraved disc
on the front of the Speedmachine had worn to the point where it was no
longer able to sustain flatness[1]. I suspect that the fact that the twonk
in charge of Hope's laser-engraving machine had put the disc in backwards
may have had something to do with it.

1 - this is not something one likes to discover when one is in Aberystwyth
and eleven o'clock on a Saturday night. Especially if one's motorcar is in
Stockport.

--
Dave Larrington
<http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk>
Like Kant, it is my wish to create my own individual
epistemology. But I also wish to find out what is for pudding.

Simon Brooke said:

in message <[email hidden]>, Jack

(') said:

But,
then Mark has toured on a full-on road bike, presumably with very
narrow tyres. Looks like SCR can take 28mm: with lots of air will this
be enough? Should I contemplate disk brakes? Is it likely I'll have to
fit a smaller chainring?

Sorry, second followup to the same post.

(1) why on earth would you want disk brakes? What advantage do you think
they'd have?

wet performace at least up to the grip the tires have at least.

thought the more complicated nature might put be off if i thought i
would tour away from bike shops etc.

Quoted message said:

(2) I've never toured with a triple. Any SCR - even the 'LTD' and the C4
which come with compact doubles - has far lower gears than I've ever
toured with.

certinaly just doing shopping having some lower gears is useful. fully
loaded up might be prudent to have lower gears depending on what and
where you intended to go.

roger
--
www.rogermerriman.com

Thanks for all the advice. In the end I got a Specialized Allez
Triple, simply because the Giant would have taken too long, and it
seemed just as good. The riding position was good, and this was
difficult to get right as I'm 6'2'' and seem to fall between L and XL
frames.

Incidentally, the reputation and advice from the bike shop which sold
everything but Giants made a difference... (Beeline in Oxford)