harvillo

New here. I currently ride a 56 Synapse that I love. I’d like to purchase a long haul trucker. I see 26” cm 700 c options what’s the standard for touring (other than the size). 26” or 700c? I didn’t see the 56 size either (went as high as 54). Is the disc trucker a better choice?

Any thoughts on the Marrakesh?

fietsbob

They are both products of Maxway Ltd TW*, imported and deistributed by QBP each brand has a little different design details. both do the job.

*Maxway is a huge company contract manufacturing several brands for various Importers.. , their workmanship seems excellent..

robow

Not sure which Synapse model you own but it looks likely that the non disc 56 cm LHT will have an effective top tube length that is about 1 cm longer than your Synapse, not a big deal but you might possibly need a shorter stem for the LHT. The 56 LHT seems to be still offered in both 26" and 700C. The reasons for owning a 26" wheel while touring have greatly diminished over time, that is, the greater strength and greater tire and tube availability of the 26" are not as valid they used to be. Personally, I like the ride of the larger 700c wheel better and would have kept my 56 LHT around had I chosen the 700c wheel originally. YMMV

Tourist in MSN

I agree with Robow on importance of the differences between 26 and 700c has diminished over time. To explain that further, it used to be that good tires wider than about 37mm width in 700c were almost impossible to find, but that is no longer the case. Tire availability in less developed countries (example, S America) in the past was a more critical factor than it is now. Etc.

I have toured on 700c and 26 inch. Generally, I prefer 26 inch for off road, but my 26 inch touring bikes take tires that are 50 or 57mm wide. But the 700c bikes I toured on only took up to 37mm width. Not sure about the frame width for the current 700c bikes that you may be looking at. For on pavement, I think the two wheel sizes are about the same because you can buy good tires in the 35 to 40mm width in both wheel sizes.

But, all of my 700c bikes that have fenders have toe overlap, none of my 26 inch bikes do. Is that a big deal? I notice it, but I would not let it drive my decision making, I think it is a minor factor but important enough to mention.

It is unclear how good tire availability will be in the future in 26 inch. My opinion is that you should be able to buy good 26 inch tires for decades to come, but you might not be able to buy them at the local store. I suspect that within a few years it might be prudent to carry a spare 26 inch tire when you tour if inability to buy a replacement tire off the shelf at the local bike shop could be a problem.

Disc trucker recently has been completely redesigned, there may be older ones and newer ones to choose from, they are different enough that I think you can't just say one is better than the other, a lot of that will be personal preference and you could consider them to be two different models because they are so different.

Some people feel that disc brakes are a must have item for touring. Most of my touring is on rim brakes and I find that to be adequate. One of my touring bikes has disc rear and rim brake front, from that I can clearly say that disc is better in rain but in dry conditions I think they are comparable.

The best bike for you is the one that fits best. If you can't adjust a bike to fit you by buying a different stem or different seatpost, that is a bad bike for you. When you spend most of the day on the bike, and then do that again the next day, and the next, any minor problems with bike fit stop being minor.

phughes

I have a 56 with 26" wheels, non-disc. I prefer the 26 inch wheels. Personal preference, but after riding both, I find the 26 inch wheel version to be more agile, and I can mount my Topek Road Morph between the rear wheel and the seat tube. Overlap problems are nonexistent too.

Steve0000

We bought 26" disc LHT and have not regretted it. Brakes are far better than the rim brakes we had used for a decade or more. Tyres are not an issue any longer but at the time, easier to get wide tyres both road and mtn bike tyres.

veganbikes

I had a 26" Disc Trucker, eventually I wanted to go 700c and I wouldn't want to go back aside from wanting to fit wider tires. At the time skinny tires seemed like the right thing but now I have realized wider is so much better so I maxed out my Co-Motion with 700x38s and am generally pretty happy on that.

If I was world touring I probably might consider the ability to run potentially knobbier tires but I think you can probably find tires most anywhere in 700c and if not you may have to order anyway because a 559 ISO tire could be tough (26" MTB)

I would most certainly recommend the Surly Disc Trucker. It is a great bike and QBP brands make some decent stuff having used a bunch of it over the years. Maxway in Taiwan does a good job and sure the bike is not a comparison to my US made Co-Motion it is certainly not a bad bike in the least.

I will say the new Disc Trucker is maybe not my favorite but then again anytime someone changes a touring bike significantly usually looses my vote. The Trek 520 was one of the few Trek bikes I liked and then they went and roooned it with al-you-mini-yum forks. Touring bikes that are good rarely need a change. Maybe a different shade of British racing green or a bottle mount under the top tube but nothing really major.

DropBarFan

I have a 56cm 559mm (26")-wheel Disc Trucker--I really like the option of being able to use 50mm-wide tires along with fenders. I bought the wider tires for a comfier ride but also found they helped on bumpier descents: Trucker fork is rather springy & with ~38mm tires the front end could bounce a lot, felt rather unsafe at times. Personally the Trucker's long top tube fits great; I assume they still come with excess steer tube which can be a big help to get a good handlebar position.