Touring bike recomendations

"Jo" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I have been asked to recommend a good tourer by a friend. He is an ex keen
cyclist, wanting to get back into it. he says his budget is £500 - £1000. I
reckon he could be persuaded to up that a bit if need be. I have suggested
looking at Roberts, Orbit, George Longstaff, Mercian for starters. Any
other suggestions?

I'm sure that he'll need to up the dosh a bit for some of the bikes that
you've recommended.

What about the Dawes Galaxy and Super Galaxy?

there's some bargains to be had at Spa Cycles www.spacycles.co.uk

vernon

Jo said:

I have been asked to recommend a good tourer by a friend. He is an
ex keen cyclist, wanting to get back into it. he says his budget is
£500 - £1000. I reckon he could be persuaded to up that a bit if
need be. I have suggested looking at Roberts, Orbit, George
Longstaff, Mercian for starters. Any other suggestions?

I've got a Claud Butler Dalesman and I'd definitely recommend it.
It's very similar to a Super Galaxy but at a slightly lower price.

Chris
--
Chris Eilbeck

In article <[email hidden]>

Jo said:

I have been asked to recommend a good tourer by a friend. He is an ex
keen cyclist, wanting to get back into it. he says his budget is £500 -
£1000. I reckon he could be persuaded to up that a bit if need be. I
have suggested looking at Roberts, Orbit, George Longstaff, Mercian for
starters. Any other suggestions?

The Thorn Club Tour looks like a good all-rounder at a very reasonable
price.

Hi Jo,

Also try Hewitt, the Cheviot http://www.hewittcheviot.co.uk/ I've got one
and it seems like a good buy.
Also Thorn http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/ lots of choice there. Maybe you
could streach your budget a little to afford the Rolhoff equiped one (I
couldn't!!)
And what about Moulton TSR 27 http://www.tsr.uk.com/ many like these and
this is the new "latest" model.

Good luck with your search
SW

"Jo" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I have been asked to recommend a good tourer by a friend. He is an ex keen
cyclist, wanting to get back into it. he says his budget is £500 - £1000. I
reckon he could be persuaded to up that a bit if need be. I have suggested
looking at Roberts, Orbit, George Longstaff, Mercian for starters. Any
other suggestions?
Jo

Jo said:

I have been asked to recommend a good tourer by a friend. He is an ex
keen cyclist, wanting to get back into it. he says his budget is £500 -
£1000. I reckon he could be persuaded to up that a bit if need be. I
have suggested looking at Roberts, Orbit, George Longstaff, Mercian for
starters. Any other suggestions?
Jo

Roberts, Orbit, George Longstaff, Mercian likely to be £1k ish if not
more. It's not obvious that you get much more for the money compared to
Dawes Galaxy nearly half the price - and some cash left over for kit.

cheers
Jacob

normanwisdom said:

Jo said:

I have been asked to recommend a good tourer by a friend. He is an ex
keen cyclist, wanting to get back into it. he says his budget is
£500 - £1000. I reckon he could be persuaded to up that a bit if
need be. I have suggested looking at Roberts, Orbit, George
Longstaff, Mercian for starters. Any other suggestions?
Jo

Roberts, Orbit, George Longstaff, Mercian likely to be £1k ish if not
more. It's not obvious that you get much more for the money compared
to Dawes Galaxy nearly half the price - and some cash left over for
kit.

What you get with Roberts (and I guess Longstaff & Mercian) is the frame to
order for your own body size, and some careful choice of components rather
than stock groupsets (so you upgrade the bits which give the most bang for
the extra, rather than selecting "everything expensive). Whether its worth
the substantially higher sum is down to the buyer.

For the OP, most of the suggestions are well over 1K, more realistically
1.5K or more.

Thorn do a few in the price range, there is the Dawes Galaxy and the Hewitt
Cheviot. The Hewitt's I've seen look very good bikes. AFAIK, all of the
sub-£1000 tourers use frames from mass-production factories outside the UK
(nothing wrong with them per-se, but might be an issue if purchaser thinks
they are getting a bike made by a UK craftsman).

- Nigel

--
Nigel Cliffe,
Webmaster at http://www.2mm.org.uk/

Rob Morley said:

In article <[email hidden]>

Jo said:

I have been asked to recommend a good tourer by a friend. He is an ex
keen cyclist, wanting to get back into it. he says his budget is £500 -
£1000. I reckon he could be persuaded to up that a bit if need be. I
have suggested looking at Roberts, Orbit, George Longstaff, Mercian for
starters. Any other suggestions?

The Thorn Club Tour looks like a good all-rounder at a very reasonable
price.

They are good value (frame welded in Taiwan, very well) although the two
colours are deeply uninspiring and you don't get a full choice of crank
lengths except with the XT model.

Jo said:

I have been asked to recommend a good tourer by a friend. He is an ex
keen cyclist, wanting to get back into it. he says his budget is £500 -
£1000. I reckon he could be persuaded to up that a bit if need be. I
have suggested looking at Roberts, Orbit, George Longstaff, Mercian for
starters. Any other suggestions?
Jo

I doubt you would get any of those mentioned fully kitted out for £500 -
£1000. At that budget, I would look at something like this:
http://www.bikes-dolan.uk.com/en-us/dept_106.html
and budget some extra for a good rack (I like the tubular stainless
steel ones from Tortec) and any other touring bits and pieces you're
going to need.
or this which seems very good value at the moment:
http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m1b1s21p168

--

JimP

" " - John Cage

Jim Price said:

Jo said:

I have been asked to recommend a good tourer by a friend. He is an ex
keen cyclist, wanting to get back into it. he says his budget is £500
- £1000. I reckon he could be persuaded to up that a bit if need be. I
have suggested looking at Roberts, Orbit, George Longstaff, Mercian
for starters. Any other suggestions?
Jo

I doubt you would get any of those mentioned fully kitted out for £500 -
£1000. At that budget, I would look at something like this:
http://www.bikes-dolan.uk.com/en-us/dept_106.html
and budget some extra for a good rack (I like the tubular stainless
steel ones from Tortec) and any other touring bits and pieces you're
going to need.
or this which seems very good value at the moment:
http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m1b1s21p168

I have passed on all the suggestions - thanks for them all. I know my
suggestions were over his stated budget, but I am fairly confident that
he is able and willing to pay more if he sees what he likes. From what
he has told me he is likely to be quite fussy about frame geometry,
preferring something a little closer to racing geometry, but definitely
in a touring frame.
Jo

in message <[email hidden]>, Jim Price

(') said:

Jo said:

I have been asked to recommend a good tourer by a friend. He is an ex
keen cyclist, wanting to get back into it. he says his budget is £500
- £1000. I reckon he could be persuaded to up that a bit if need be. I
have suggested looking at Roberts, Orbit, George Longstaff, Mercian
for starters. Any other suggestions?
Jo

I doubt you would get any of those mentioned fully kitted out for £500
- £1000. At that budget, I would look at something like this:
http://www.bikes-dolan.uk.com/en-us/dept_106.html
and budget some extra for a good rack (I like the tubular stainless
steel ones from Tortec) and any other touring bits and pieces you're
going to need.

While I ride a Dolan bike - and adore it - I don't think you'll find one
with fittings to mount a rack. Apart from his 'winter training' frame I
doubt you'll even find one with mudguard clearance. Dolan is strictly
about race bikes, not tourers. Beautiful race bikes, but without
compromise.

You might get him to make you one as a special, but it wouldn't come
cheap.

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

;; better than your average performing pineapple

Simon Brooke said:

in message <[email hidden]>, Jim Price

(') said:

Jo said:

I have been asked to recommend a good tourer by a friend. He is an ex
keen cyclist, wanting to get back into it. he says his budget is £500
- £1000. I reckon he could be persuaded to up that a bit if need be. I
have suggested looking at Roberts, Orbit, George Longstaff, Mercian
for starters. Any other suggestions?
Jo

I doubt you would get any of those mentioned fully kitted out for £500
- £1000. At that budget, I would look at something like this:
http://www.bikes-dolan.uk.com/en-us/dept_106.html
and budget some extra for a good rack (I like the tubular stainless
steel ones from Tortec) and any other touring bits and pieces you're
going to need.

While I ride a Dolan bike - and adore it - I don't think you'll find one
with fittings to mount a rack. Apart from his 'winter training' frame I
doubt you'll even find one with mudguard clearance. Dolan is strictly
about race bikes, not tourers. Beautiful race bikes, but without
compromise.

You might get him to make you one as a special, but it wouldn't come
cheap.

I run mine with 32mm tyres with plenty of clearance. It has a basic
minimum of fittings, but those do include rack and mudguards.

--

JimP

" " - John Cage

Quoted message said:

I have passed on all the suggestions - thanks for them all. I know my
suggestions were over his stated budget, but I am fairly confident that
he is able and willing to pay more if he sees what he likes. From what
he has told me he is likely to be quite fussy about frame geometry,
preferring something a little closer to racing geometry, but definitely
in a touring frame.

What is it about the touring frame he likes? If he just wants mudguards
and a rear rack+panniers then something like the Dawes Audax sounds
perfect.

Mark Thompson said:

Quoted message said:

I have passed on all the suggestions - thanks for them all. I know my
suggestions were over his stated budget, but I am fairly confident that
he is able and willing to pay more if he sees what he likes. From what
he has told me he is likely to be quite fussy about frame geometry,
preferring something a little closer to racing geometry, but definitely
in a touring frame.

What is it about the touring frame he likes? If he just wants mudguards
and a rear rack+panniers then something like the Dawes Audax sounds
perfect.

Yes, an audax bike would probably be ideal. I don't think he is likely
to tour with a full camping load.
Jo

In article <4496eee9.0@entanet>

Zog The Undeniable said:

Rob Morley wrote:

<snip>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

The Thorn Club Tour looks like a good all-rounder at a very reasonable
price.

They are good value (frame welded in Taiwan, very well) although the two
colours are deeply uninspiring

Paint is only there to keep corrosion at bay :-)

Quoted message said:

and you don't get a full choice of crank
lengths except with the XT model.

I really don't think that makes much difference for the majority of
people from 5 footish to 6 footish. If you want to get into the finer
points of sizing cranks to the nearest 2.5mm then by all means go ahead
- I can happily ride anything from 155mm to 180mm (and maybe longer).

Simon Brooke said:

in message <[email hidden]>, Jim Price

Quoted message said:

I doubt you would get any of those mentioned fully kitted out for £500
- £1000. At that budget, I would look at something like this:
http://www.bikes-dolan.uk.com/en-us/dept_106.html
and budget some extra for a good rack (I like the tubular stainless
steel ones from Tortec) and any other touring bits and pieces you're
going to need.

While I ride a Dolan bike - and adore it - I don't think you'll find one
with fittings to mount a rack. Apart from his 'winter training' frame I
doubt you'll even find one with mudguard clearance. Dolan is strictly
about race bikes, not tourers.

The bike in the photo on that page does have mudguards. But not, as
far as I can see, rack mounts, in spite of being called "Touring Bike".

(http://www.bikes-dolan.uk.com/en-us/dept_57.html is "Winter/Touring".
Again, possibly not what other people would think of as a tourer.)

Quoted message said:

(http://www.bikes-dolan.uk.com/en-us/dept_57.html is "Winter/Touring".
Again, possibly not what other people would think of as a tourer.)

Absolutely nothing to do with this thread, but:

BLING!

<www.bikes-dolan.uk.com/en-us/dept_71.html>

dribles....

Rob Morley said:

Quoted message said:

and you don't get a full choice of crank
lengths except with the XT model.

I really don't think that makes much difference for the majority of
people from 5 footish to 6 footish.

Not if you are at the taller end of the scale. I ride 165mm cranks and
find 175mm uncomfortable, especially over distance. But I do have short
legs (29" inside leg) and am about mid range on your scale. My knees
hurt less with shorter cranks.

Quoted message said:

If you want to get into the finer
points of sizing cranks to the nearest 2.5mm then by all means go ahead
- I can happily ride anything from 155mm to 180mm (and maybe longer).

I can ride them, the question is for how long and in what degree of
comfort.

...d

in message <[email hidden]>, Mark
Thompson

('pleasegivegenerously@warmmail*_turn_up_the_heat_to_reply*.com') said:

Quoted message said:

(http://www.bikes-dolan.uk.com/en-us/dept_57.html is "Winter/Touring".
Again, possibly not what other people would think of as a tourer.)

Absolutely nothing to do with this thread, but:

BLING!

<www.bikes-dolan.uk.com/en-us/dept_71.html>

dribles....

Indeed. Or this one:

http://www.bikes-dolan.uk.com/en-us/dept_104.html

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

Age equals angst multiplied by the speed of fright squared.
;; the Worlock

In article <[email hidden]>

David Martin said:

Rob Morley said:

Quoted message said:

and you don't get a full choice of crank
lengths except with the XT model.

I really don't think that makes much difference for the majority of
people from 5 footish to 6 footish.

Not if you are at the taller end of the scale. I ride 165mm cranks and
find 175mm uncomfortable, especially over distance.

As we were talking about touring bikes I was assuming a 170mm crank as
standard - maybe 175mm is more common these days. My former GF was
short and found 165mm a significant improvement over 170mm on her road
bike, but she'd already knackered her knees as an over-enthusiastic
junior racer - I don't think she'd have had the same problems if she'd
stuck to twiddly touring.

Quoted message said:

But I do have short
legs (29" inside leg) and am about mid range on your scale. My knees
hurt less with shorter cranks.

Quoted message said:

If you want to get into the finer
points of sizing cranks to the nearest 2.5mm then by all means go ahead
- I can happily ride anything from 155mm to 180mm (and maybe longer).

I can ride them, the question is for how long and in what degree of
comfort.

I think technique and gearing plays a bigger part than crank length -
the range of crank sizes normally used is significantly less than the
range of rider sizes by proportion, and most people seem to adapt pretty
well. If 175mm is standard on smaller frames these days I can see that
might cause problems for the 5 footers.