Im Clueless

Hello all,

I was hoping to get some advice on what brands/bicycles people suggest I look at when deciding on a touring bike
Any comments/suggestions are much appreciated.
Also apologies for my very non-technical criteria, I only learn what I must about bicycle mechanics, and much prefer riding than nerding out over technical details!

My Criteria:
- I would like to be able to do multi-day/week expeditions (tours).
- I am very much a roadie and I don't see that changing, but I would like the bike to be able to cope with light gravel/offroading. Although I don't think I'd ever be needing to fit wider than 35mm tyres on it.
- I would like the bicycle to be reasonably fast, with (almost) as much focus on speed as comfort, and I will not be loading it with large panniers, but rather just a saddlebag, handlebar bag, frame bags, and fork bags.
- Preferrably it would cost no more than £3,000-£5,000
- I would like the bike to 'beautiful' - peferrably racing red - bonus points if the bicycle is made in Britain!

I have been looking at steel bikes with carbon forks, and have so far come across the Stanforth Conway and the Fairlight Secan 2.5. My heart pulls me towards the Stanforth Conway, but I can't seem to justify the extra £1,000 it costs over the Fairlight. Is that money just going towards the custom sizing, or is there more to it? (although I know the importance of a good bike fit shouldn't be underestimated)

I do only have limited experience of touring so far, having done 5 or so multi-day road-trips on my carbon road racing bike. But I am very limited on how much luggage I can take with me, and it's not the most comfortable bike to ride after long stints in the saddle.

Thank you!

ironwood

I'm not in Britain, so I'm not too familiar with what's available there now, but I'm pretty sure that there are a lot of old steel bikes available that would make great touring bikes after a tune up, and the addition of racks. Steel can take a lot more mistreatment than carbon fiber. One other thing is tire width. 42mm wide tires allow you to go places skinny tires can't take you comfortably.

Im Clueless

I'm really looking to get myself something special, as it'll be a present to myself for my 30th!

My road bike is made up of Dura Ace components off my wife's brother's old bike, and the frame was pulled out of storage after 8 years (got given it for free). So (selfishly) I'd love to get myself something new this time!

Just making sure I don't rush into the purchase, so I can be as sure as I'll ever be that I'm definitely making the right decision.

That's not to say if I didn't see a second hand bike that was absolutely perfect for me that I wouldn't go for it....I'd be stupid not to.

CliffordK

I like the concept of 853 steel. That should be TOUGH.

Personally I do mainly rear loading, but a distributed front/rear loading would be somewhat more stable. With that in mind, you might consider a STEEL fork. If I was spending a ton of money on a "touring" bike, I would certainly want that as an option.

I think your Fairlight has a Thru-Axle. I can't tell for sure, while the Stanforth appears to have Quick-Release. I like the dependability and availability of the Quick Release. But there may also be benefits of the Thru-Axle that may be more stable. Especially with disc brakes. Anyway, that would be worth researching.

30th birthday, or 30th anniversary? Buy what you want to ride for the next 50 years.

Include your wife?

GamblerGORD53

The Stanforth with Rohloff14 would be my suggestion. TRP Spyre cable brake on the rear.
For an everlasting front hub, SA XL-FDD dyno drum brake is supreme. My first one has 29,000 miles with a bearing change.
I've done fine with 700c x 36 mm on Velocity Dyad rims. Even climbed wet clay hills in China as well as a guy on a loaded MTB with knobby 26er tires. LOL. I have 38 mm tires on another bike with 650B. Wouldn't mind trying 38 mm on my tour bike. Swept bars are my ONLY choice.
Maybe 650B tires if you are not tall, a shorter bike is easier on buses and such. No toe overlap either.
1" slope on the TT is best, IMO.
======
1x 12 and thru axles are just laughable fads. Lawyer lips with a snug washer has no chance of ripping anywhere.
Both of my hubs are nutted anyway. My R14 has the long torque arm that also braces the chain stay.
>>> And for God's sake DON'T get the Whistler's Mother gearing suggested, 39 x17T. LOL.
42/16T = 20 GI to 104.6 is plenty low enough.
My last tour was with 46/16T, a bit high even with my standards. It has been 44/ 16T this year, just at home doing centuries.

Nyah

If you feel the need for disc brakes, make sure the frame/fork have thru-axles. If you can't afford/find such a bicycle, then you're best off limiting your attention to bicycles that facilitate V-brakes. Quick-release skewers were not designed for disc brakes and really shouldn't be used with them.

Tourist in MSN

Thorn Audax may be an option, but there has been quite a revolution in bikes in past few years and the Audax is more dated with using older style components. Those are usually built up based on customer specifications, but the frames are off the shelf so not really custom.

A lot of the newer bike designs might lack mudguard fittings and that might be something you might want. Because some of the options you look at may lack that capability, I think you should decide first if you might want mudguards or not since that may preclude some options.

staehpj1

FWIW, I own a bike with discs and QRs. I have owned it long enough to have worn out two set of pads. It isn't a touring bike. It is a hard tail MTB and has seen 90% of it's mile on trails. A good portion of the trails had long and/or steep descents (I owned the bike before I moved to Florida and have ridden it elsewhere since I moved here.)

I think I read where you mentioned something about that combination causing brake squeal. I can say I have not experienced any of that beyond a very minimal amount that might occur with any style of brakes. The vast majority of the time they are silent.

There is a tendancy for hub braking to want to torque the axle out of the dropout. A properly tightened QR has been able to retain the axle just fine in my experience. It seems to me the demise of QR for disc setups is as much about manufacturers protecting themselves from legal actions when folks inevitably failed to properly tighten QR skewers.

Don't get me wrong, Through axles make sense for everyone that isn't getting wheel changes in a race and they are stuck using what their sponsors want to sell. I think the pro racers would use QR, but if Remco Evenepoel et al had QRs it would be hard to sell $7000 carbon fiber bikes with thru axles to overweight middle aged guys to tool around on on the weekends. Personally I wouldn't mind eirther way if my new bike were to have through axle or QR. These days probably wouldn't have much choice and it would be through axle. I'd be fine with that. I am also fine with my current bike that is QR and has discs.

Tourist in MSN

I have disc on the rear on my light touring bike. And quick release. The frame was designed to be either through axle or quick release, I chose quick release. And I have no problems with quick release. I have no idea why a skewer would not work, because mine works fine.

Some people have complained that they had trouble getting their wheel aligned right in the dropouts for disc and would have brake rubbing if they had quick release. I have had no trouble at all with brake pads. But if they are having trouble aligning a wheel, I wonder how they ever got their rim brakes aligned right before discs became available.

veganbikes

For instance my Riese and Muller Supercharger all 70 pounds of it has a Rohloff hub so quick release it was since they really don't make anything for actual thru-axles and the bike came set up for quick release and I have had zero problems in 3000 miles with the disc brakes and QR. My touring bike which is much lighter but also QR and disc also hasn't had issues.

Sure I do agree that a thru-axle is really nice for disc brakes it makes install super easy and make that connection point potentially more secure and stiff. But I don't think QRs and disc brakes are always a problem, I think the cheap stuff is and people not knowing how to use a QR is but that is the same for any bike with any brakes.

Also I am doubting that Rohloff is going to come out with a proper thru-axle version and while I think Kindernay looks cool I want my e-shift and I am quite sure the E-14 is not compatible with Kindernay hubs. Plus the company who made that bike isn't making one for thru-axles yet which is a good telling sign that probably not an issue.

Yan 

Check out this website. It's run by a very experienced full time bike tourist who makes his living from his website and YouTube videos. I looked at his content and he is very good.

https://www.cyclingabout.com/best-to...-can-buy-2022/

I would not necessarily choose from one of the bikes in his list. Read the whole website and learn what to look for in a bike. Then make your own decision. Your needs may be different from his top list.

mstateglfr 

I have a Fairlight Secan frame for my gravel bike.

It is extremely well designed and finished.
The 853 shaped main triangle is strong since it isn't lightweight 853. The dzb downtube could hold up a skyscraper.
The updardd fork with mounts is really nice.

Between the R and T frame sizes there is surely a frame to fit each person from 5' to 6'6.
The paint is quality, the updated rear dropout is improved and quality, the whole thing is really excellent.
Just so well designed, even the lighting options have been considered.

rivers

Check out the Orro Terra S- it's a gravel bike, but I have the carbon version and it's no slouch on the road (I use mine for winter/wet weather riding/commuting and as a gravel/bikepacking bike in the summer months). If I were in the market for a new bike, I would definitely be looking at the steel version, which wasn't available when I bought mine in 2021 (I was replacing a stolen bike and needed something to replace it with quickly and it was on the shop floor in my size. If you're Bristol/Bath area based, I would check out 73 degrees in Keynsham).