LisainLisbon08

Hi everyone! Need some advice on touring bikes.

My friends and I are planning some chilled bike tours - 10 days along Algarve coast. Next year I plan to do a Eurovela route.... maybe 20 days max.

Anyway, I feel totally overwhelmed at the amount of bikes out there. I have done some research and see that the Kona Sutra is a great but - but I am unsure if I need to spend 1700 euros on a bike! (It's a lot for me!)

There is the Trek Dual Sport 2, The Trek Verve, Fuji LTD, Kona Sutra, Kona Dew.... aaarrrggghhhh! Thing is, when i read reviews on the bikes, I get very influenced and get put off bikes like the trek dual sport 2. But maybe this is not required for someone who will not spend A LOT of time on a bicycle.

Can i spend only 700 - 900 euro on a touring bike and be happy?

Thank you for your help

fishboat

You may want to have this thread transferred to the Touring forum.

Click on the red button below your username in your thread and ask the mods to move it.

Also..you may want to followup with your location and size of bike you're looking for.

Iride01 

Touring on a paved road? Why wouldn't you have looked at Touring bikes. Many manufacturers have that as a specific category bike. It's frame is usually designed for having racks, panniers, fenders and stuff mounted to them.

Personally I wouldn't want to ride long on a bike with a flat bar. As have some of the bikes you mentioned. Others apparently do it with few issues. I don't know how they can stand the limited hand positions when riding for hours on end.

You do realize the word "touring" when used in describing your bicycle or bicycle riding implies traveling long distances carrying everything you need with you sometimes including camping gear.

Germany_chris

https://www.fahrradmanufaktur.de/en/...-hs11-885-2021

Or really any VSF you can afford.

Ayrton980

I use Surly Long Haul Trucker I recommend it.

Germany_chris

Surly's are a bit hard to get right now especially in Europe.

indyfabz

And Surly has discontinued the LHT. Only the (redesigned) Disc Trucker is offered.

ClydeClydeson

I wouldn't choose the Dual Sport, but only because it has a suspension fork which I think is unnecessary for road touring. A suspension fork adds weight, complexity, maintenance, and cost that could go to better quality components, wheels, or frame. All other bikes listed likely are fine. Choose the one that fits you best.

kirbyx

I rode down the west coast of the US, from London to Bilboa, and from London to Barcelona on a regular road bike ( more or less a race bike, Litespeed titanium, drop handlebars, 28mm tires) pulling a Bob trailer... worked out great!... low center of gravity, less air resistance, easy to pack, and a road bike gives you a 'power position'. Did an efficeincy test with other touring cyclists who had the regular touring bike + panniers setup once...we freewheeled down a long hill to see whose bike would reach the bottom first. The road bike with the Bob won. https://www.bobgear.com/yak-bike-trailer.
If I had to choose a conventional touring bike, I'd pick the Trek 520, as its been in production for years, and has had all the problems ironed out.

pdlamb

@LisainLisbon, as you can see, there's a lot of recommendations. Most quick knee jerk responses tend to be "Buy what I bought!" Rather than jump on the train early, perhaps you can consider answering a few questions first.

1. Are you planning to camp out or stay in B&Bs or some other indoor lodging?

2. Are you planning to cook, or eat in diners and/or buy foods for lunch like cheese and bread?

3. How far are you planning to ride, on average, each day?

4. Are you going to ride on hard surface roads, or perhaps ride on dirt or gravel paths?

veganbikes

THe Dual sport and Verve aren't touring bikes they are cheap-o hybrids. Yes you can tour on anything but I wouldn't want to ride a heavy clunky bike with added suspension that I don't need. The Sutra is a capable touring bike and really the only one on that list. The Dr. Dew from Kona is a steel bike that could be used for touring it is a flat bar bike but with the Koga Denham bars and a decent rack and some other parts and you could have a sweet comfortable touring set up.

If you are actually touring a touring bike makes a lot of sense. If you are just doing a one time trip you could do it on just about anything but it sounds like you are interested in it and want to go out for longer periods so a bike designed to carry all your gear and be comfortable over the long haul is important. Yes it may cost more than a cheap hybrid but a good bike can last a long time and a comfortable bike that works better and can carry lots of luggage will be a lot easier to ride while touring. I am sure you can find some other neat bikes in Europe for touring, Tout Terrain and Koga come to mind but I am sure there are others at different price points just don't go for the bargain bin because it doesn't sound like that is the bike you really want because it sounds like you are interested in touring.

People are correct there is a touring sub-forum and if you are interested in touring you should get involved. Some excellent threads have been started or continued recently and might help you out a bit and get you started.

Trevtassie

Deffo need more info.... how you are going to tour, camp, hotel etc and which Eurovelo, north where it might be cooler and you need more stuff, south warmer.
You are lucky, however, you have access to all the cool cheap German Trekking bikes, like https://www.bike-discount.de/en/buy/...ery_country=48 put some Koga Denhams or butterfly bars on that and you'd have a good cheap tourer for taking in the scenery.

MarcusT

There are a number of European manufacturers. Take a look at this website. I am not recommending the site, but it gives you an idea of what is readily available in Europe
lhttps://www.bikester.co.uk/bikes/touring-bikes.html