Tag: touring bikes

Touring VS Bikepacking Bikes: What Are The Actual Differences?
How is a bikepacking bike different to a touring bike? Is it just the bags? Or is there something unique about the bikes themselves?

I can already sense the keyboard warriors informing me that you can go touring or bikepacking on any bike. While that’s 100% true, it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t optimise a bike for our purposes. After all, you could drive a Ferrari around the world, but is that really the best car for the job at hand?

This article will be a comprehensive overview of the eight bike distinctions that separate a touring vs bikepacking bike.

Bikepacking Bikes Are Less Overbuilt

Touring bikes are designed to handle very heavy loads. The safety test protocol for most touring and bikepacking frames is usually around a rider and equipment weight of between 125 and 136kg – but this testing sets a floor, not a ceiling. While bikepacking bikes are designed closer to the minimum, top-tier touring bikes are regularly designed to handle more weight – even if the manufacturer doesn’t state it anywhere.

That said, we’ll soon see touring bikes advertising higher maximum weights, as bike testing companies are now providing certification right up to 180kg/400lb.

A bike designer not only needs to engineer their frames for the heaviest expected load of any of their customers, but they need to carefully select components that will not break too. As the wheels are the most likely component to fail on a touring bike, you will usually see very heavy-duty rims and higher spoke counts than on a bikepacking bike.

The downside to an overbuilt bike is that it’s heavier. Most bikepacking bikes are in the 10-14kg range, while similarly priced touring bikes are 14-17kg.

It’s worth noting that the components of your bike don’t really care whether you weigh 50kg and carry 40kg of luggage, or whether you weigh 80kg and carry 10kg. However, the location of weight does matter. If your equipment load is high, your frame needs to be stiff too.

Bikepacking Bikes Usually Have Less Frame Stiffness

Co-Motion uses the biggest diameter steel tubing available to maximise the frame stiffness of their touring lineup.

Frame stiffness usually goes hand-in-hand with an overbuilt bike. The top tube and down tube are the most important frame tubes, as they are the medium that resists most of the twisting forces between the front and rear luggage.

Touring bikes regularly use the largest-diameter, thickest-wall tubing. As the loads are more minimal on a bikepacking bike, frame designers can opt for lighter frame tubes, which aren’t as stiff but result in a more ‘lively’ ride when you go out pedalling without any of your luggage.

I characterise ‘liveliness’ as a frame that has noticeable but very minor amounts of frame flex. Optimising the liveliness of a bike requires a look at the riding style, power output and weight of the rider. It’s essentially impossible to create a ‘lively’ feeling bike that is also stiff enough to carry a heavy front and rear load. You can, however, use a lighter built frame, and carry a load at just one end, or you could carry your gear in a trailer instead.

Bikepacking loads can also be very heavy, especially if you’re carrying food for a week and 10 litres of water. If this is the kind of riding you do, you’ll want to make sure your bikepacking rig is just as stiff as a touring bike.

Bikepacking Bikes Have Different Mounts

The mounts are usually different between touring and bikepacking bikes, but the lines are getting pretty blurry these days.

A touring bike will always have rack and fender mounts, while a bikepacking bike will only sometimes have them. A bikepacking bike will almost always have a few cargo cage mounts, while a touring bike may not.

Additionally, bikepacking bikes can have mounts for a direct-mount frame pack and top tube bag, along with occasional mounts on the seatstays and chainstays too.

It’s pretty rare to find a kickstand mount on a bikepacking frame, but that’s ok – it’s easy to lean your bike to its handlebar with narrow bikepacking bags. A bike with panniers doesn’t lay down well, so that’s why kickstands are commonplace on touring bikes.

Bikepacking Bikes Have Shorter Chainstays

A touring bike has long chainstays for three reasons:
1. There is usually a significant rear weight bias due to the larger rear bags, and longer chainstays help to shift the centre of mass further forward.
2. By extending the wheelbase, you get a stability boost at speed with a heavy load.
3. To make sure your heels don’t strike your panniers when you ride.

In comparison, bikepacking bikes usually have 20-30mm shorter chainstays. Given the differing bag designs and low expected load, a bikepacking bike shouldn’t have any problems with heel strike or ride stability. The shorter chainstays will make the bike feel a bit more nimble and it will also be easier to lift your front wheel over obstacles.

If you’ve ever heard people say that short chainstays make a bike accelerate faster, well, it could be true when you factor in a handful of grams saved from the frame – but generally, it’s a pretty nonsensical claim.

Bikepacking Bikes Are Usually Intended For Off-Road Terrain

My Bikepacking Bike Buyer’s Guide bike categories:
Gravel & All Road Bikes – with 700C Wheels
Gravel & All Road Bikes – with 27.5″ Wheels
Off-Road Adventure Bikes – with 29″ Wheels
Off-Road Plus Bikes – with 3.0″ Tyres
Full Suspension Bikes – with 2.2-3.0″ Tyres
Fat Bikes – with 4.0-5.0″ Tyres

Just a quick look through the categories in my Bikepacking Bike Buyer’s Guide, and it’s clear these bikes are generally more purpose-built for off-road terrain. I classify bikepacking bikes based on the wheel specification because this is a key factor in determining how capable a bike will be on off-road terrain.

That said, bikepacking bikes can be purpose-built for the road too. Many of the gravel bikes in my book are really just fat tyre road bikes, which makes them the speediest option for a lightweight road tour.

My Touring Bicycle Buyer’s Guide bike categories:
Long Distance Touring – with Drop Handlebars
Long Distance Touring – with Flat Handlebars
Long Distance Trekking – with Flat Handlebars
Off-Road Touring – with Drop Handlebars
Off-Road Touring – with Flat Handlebars
Light Touring / Bikepacking / Gravel – with Drop Handlebars
Step-Through Touring – with Flat Handlebars

In comparison, a typical bike tour is conducted on much less varied surfaces (predominantly smooth roads), so the handlebar type is usually the best place to start when you’re choosing a touring bike.

There is a lot of crossover between bikes! Heavy-duty off-road bikes feature in both of my books, and provided gravel bikes have the mounts for racks and fenders, they often work their way into the “light touring” section of my Touring book too.

Bikepacking Bikes Have Higher Gear Ratios (Sometimes)

A touring bike should ideally have a climbing gear of around 20 gear inches or less. A bikepacking bike can get away with a higher climbing gear, as you are likely to be carrying less weight up a hill.

That said, bikepacking bikes are often focussed around off-road riding where the gradients are both steeper and more slippery. As a result, the best bikepacking bikes will have the equivalent climbing gears as a touring bike, and sometimes less.

Bikepacking Bikes Use 1X Drivetrains More Often Than Not

Across the majority of bikepacking bike categories in my book, 1X drivetrains are definitely the most popular option (42%, 66%, 36%, 70%, 100%, 95%). The notable exceptions are 700C gravel bikes, which are often built around road riding too, and strangely, 29″ off-road bikes.

1X drivetrains offer more tyre clearance and shorter chainstays when compared to a front derailleur setup. While they have larger gear jumps between each gear, on steeper terrain, you won’t need to make fine gear adjustments like you do on the road.

Bikepacking Bikes Use Less Field-Serviceable Components

The expected bikepacking trip duration is often shorter than a touring trip. This typically means that you spend more time around bike shops, so if something goes wrong, you can send parts in for warranty, obtain spares, or get a professional repair.

It’s common to find press-fit bottom bracket bearings, suspension forks, hydraulic brakes, integrated shifters, and titanium or carbon fibre on bikepacking bikes, but these are much less common features on a dedicated touring bike.

A touring bike usually has the simplest parts available, which require the basic tools found in shops anywhere in the world. That said, more complex parts such as integrated shifters and hydraulic brakes have recently proven to be quite reliable, so expect to see more of them on touring bikes in the coming years.

Can A Bike Be Designed For Both Bikepacking and Touring?

Absolutely!

The Co-Op Cycles ADV 4.2 is an excellent example. The bike uses overbuilt components that are kept somewhat simple (thumb shifters!). It has super low gear ratios (16″ climbing gear!), is very off-road capable (3.0″ tyres!) and has provision for touring racks and fenders, or cargo cage bags.

The build is tough, and it shows, with its 16kg/35lb weight. The frame geometry is much closer to a touring bike, with a long wheelbase and upright handlebars. You could set the bike up with panniers for a long tour, or alternatively, as a lighter and faster off-road setup.

Touring vs Bikepacking Bike Summary

TOURING BIKES:
- Tougher frames and components
- Stiffer frames to handle higher loads
- Ride great with luggage
- Lower gear ratios on average
- Rack and fender mounts at a minimum
- Simple components
BIKEPACKING BIKES:
- Less overbuilt frames and components
- Reduced frame stiffness for lighter loads
- A more ‘lively’ ride unloaded
- Slightly higher gear ratios on average
- Cargo cage mounts at a minimum
- More advanced components
Which Bike Should You Use?

I need to reiterate: you can use whatever bike you want for touring and bikepacking!

But if you want to optimise your setup, you should consider your total load, the surfaces you will ride, the steepness of the terrain, the bag setup you prefer and whether you will have access to spare parts or workshops with the appropriate tools.

A decent bikepacking-touring hybrid is an off-road bike that’s overbuilt, has generous tyre clearances, and mounts for racks, fenders and cargo cage bags.
July 8, 2020
What’s the Difference Between Cyclocross and Touring Bikes?

People ask me all the time whether they can go bicycle touring on their cyclocross bike – after all they don’t look all that different to a touring-specific bike. But how well will a cyclocross bike travel compared to a long-distance touring bike? Let’s take a closer look.

There are three areas which I’ll examine that will determine how well a cyclocross bike will tour. The first is the frame geometry: this will compare the bikes handling and feel. I’ll then discuss frame construction and the details your frame may need for a bike trip. Then I’ll look at part specification choices and how they may affect your travel experience.

For an overview of all of the different types of touring bike, head to THIS resource.

Frame Geometry and Ride Characteristics

To learn about frame geometry in detail, head to Understanding Bicycle Frame Geometry.

Steering: In order to compare the steering characteristics between touring and cyclocross bikes we need to look at ‘fork trail’ – the product of the head tube angle and the fork rake. This measurement gives us an idea how the bike will steer; lower trail equates roughly to a faster steering response while higher trail tends to dull the steering. Touring bikes often vary in trail between 64-74mm with the tendency to be on the higher side, while cyclocross bikes often sit between 66-70mm with the tendency to be on the lower side. Given the fork trail overlap between between cyclocross and touring bikes, steering (on average) is largely similar.

Headtube Length: Cyclocross bikes often have 20-40mm shorter headtubes than touring bikes – this is due to cyclocross racing being a shorter and more aggressive event than going on a bicycle trip. If you would like a more upright handlebar, headtube and steerer length will be an important factor in your decision.

BB Drop: A cyclocross bike has a 5-15mm higher bottom bracket than a touring bike so that cx racers can pedal through corners. This results in a slightly higher centre of gravity, but the reality is a largely unnoticeable difference when travelling with panniers.

Chainstay: Cyclocross chainstays are 20-40mm shorter than on a touring bike. The main issue with short chainstays is shoe clearance to your rear panniers, especially if you wear size US10 shoes or larger. Keep in mind it’s possible to get your panniers to sit further back with well-designed racks (check out the Tubus Logo) and adjustable panniers (check out Ortlieb’s options).

Wheelbase: A cyclocross bikes wheelbase is shorter overall by about 40mm due to the reduced fork rake and chainstay length. The overall effect works out to be slightly less stability at high speeds.

Frame Construction

Frame Stiffness: Stiffness is particularly important if you’re wanting to use both front and rear panniers – less stiff frames can sometimes result in ‘shimmy’ aka speed wobble. Touring-specific frames use larger diameter and often thicker-wall tubing in order to keep the bike rigid with loads. This adds weight to the frame, but allows the bike to handle heavy front loads very well. Cyclocross frames are often optimised to be lighter in weight, which can result in less-than-adequate frame stiffness when using front and rear panniers.

Frame Eyelets: CX frames can sometimes offer one bidon mount, no rack mounts and no mudguard eyelets. Make sure the cross bike you’re looking at touring with has the eyelets you need for your adventures.

Fork Eyelets: CX forks don’t always have eyelets for a front rack and mudguards, especially if the fork is made out of carbon. If you’re planning on using panniers and mudguards, check for fork eyelets!

Comfort: You will find very little difference in terms of frame comfort between a cyclocross and touring bike. Bike comfort is mostly a product of tyre width, seatpost flex and saddle choice. You can read more about comfort seatposts HERE and about the different frame materials and comfort HERE.

Parts Specification

Gear ratios: Perhaps the most limiting factor on a cyclocross bike is the narrow gear range. The range is fine with light loads or for touring in flatter locations, but can be problematic with heavy bags on steep roads.

Wheels: Cyclocross wheels are often just lightweight road wheels with low spoke counts and narrow rims. Bicycle touring demands heavy-duty wheels – especially if you’re carrying decent loads. If you’re planning on long distances and heavy loads, make sure the wheels are up to scratch.

Tyres: Cyclocross tyres are best suited for dirt, and won’t offer much in the way of puncture protection or speed on sealed surfaces. This is obviously quite a quick and easy swap-out.

STI shifters: Integrated brake/shift levers are great until something goes wrong – but take note, there’s actually a really low chance of this. That said, in order to maintain simplicity, you’ll find most touring bikes are specced with barend or MTB shifters.

Conclusions

If you’re carrying a light load across flatter terrain you will definitely benefit from travelling with a cyclocross bike. They are often 30% lighter in weight than a touring bike, and are better across multiple cycling disciplines: commuting, road riding and of course cyclocross racing. Cyclocross bikes are a true jack-of-all-trades machine.

You’re better off using a touring-specific bike if you are:
– Carrying front and rear panniers (stiffer frames)
– Looking for a very upright position (longer headtubes)
– Hauling a heavy load (stiffer frames)
– Concerned about part durability/reliability (simple shifters, bombproof wheels)
– Riding up steep hills (ultra wide gear range)
– Looking to carry lots of water (more bidon mounts)
– Have really large feet that could interfere with panniers (longer chainstays)

When it comes to frame geometry alone, cyclocross bikes will actually handle the demands of bicycle touring very well. With the occasional exception of chainstay length (for riders with large feet), the rest of the angles and measurements will likely go unnoticed. As I mentioned above, there are racks and panniers available that will clear your heels on cyclocross frames, even if you have boats for feet.

Frame construction is a more important factor, especially if you’re planning on using front and rear panniers. With more than 10kg up front, a stiff frame is essential; I’ve experienced speed wobbles on frames which are not built to handle loads. Again, check that there is provision for your racks and mudguards on cyclocross bikes – not all manufacturers offer them.

The biggest reason for choosing a touring-specific bike is for the part specification. You’ll get a much lower ‘granny gear’ for taking your equipment up steep hills, you’ll get heavy-duty wheels that will stay true and maintenance free, you’ll get kevlar-lined tyres with hardwearing rubber compounds, and you’ll get simple parts which are easy to adjust and fix, like barend shifters and cable disc brakes.

August 13, 2015
Understanding the Different Types of Touring Bike Available

Touring bikes are not all designed with the same purpose in mind, in the same way that cars can be optimised to suit high-performance (sports cars), off-road tracks (4x4s) or utility (vans).

Yep, like cars, there are lots of subcategories of touring bike that are all optimised for slightly different purposes. By getting the bike that best matches your needs, you can make your bike tours easier! It took me a while to understand each category, but having written extensively about touring bikes for a while now, I will explain them all to you.

Other Linking Articles:
– I discuss frame geometry in this article for those who are unfamiliar with what it all means.
– If you’re interested in the different touring bike manufacturers, check out the Complete List of Touring Bikes Available.

Long-Distance Touring Bikes

The Latest Surly Disc Trucker long-distance touring bike.

Characteristics
These touring-specific bikes are designed around long-distance bike travel, making them very capable at handling heavy loads on all types of terrain. Most often, steel long-distance frames are stiffer than anything else available because they use heavier frame tubing in larger diameters.

Long Distance bikes have a wide range of gear ratios to get you up the steepest hills, provision for a front rack, comfortable seats, three bidon cage mounts, long chainstays for ample heel clearance of your rear panniers, and a long, stable wheelbase. In addition, you will be able to mount touring specific tyres over 40c (700c) or 2.0″ (26″) in size. Long Distance touring bikes are what I recommend for big tours.

Geometry
The geometry charts show slack head and seat tube angles, high trail, long headtubes, long chainstays and low bottom brackets.

Example: Surly Disc Trucker

Light Touring Bikes

The Specialized Sequoia light touring bike.

Characteristics
Light tourers use a tweaked road bike geometry to produce a fast bike that takes racks and panniers. Given the narrow tyres and lightweight nature of many of the parts, they are best suited to road-only use. Typically you will find 700c wheels with narrow tyres, similar geometry to a road bike and higher gear ratios – all of which are perfect for sealed roads. Be aware that there is often limited space for wide tyres/mudguards, and that there is often no small chainring ratio for steep climbs.

Geometry
The geometry charts show that almost all measurements (head angle, seat angle, chainstay length, fork trail) are somewhat halfway between that of a long-distance touring bike and a road racing bike. They share a lot of geometry characteristics and handling features with cyclocross/gravel bikes.

Example: Sabbath Silk Route

Trekking Bikes

The Stevens Soverign SX R14 trekking bike.

Characteristics
Based on a ‘hybrid’ bicycle, this style of bike is most popular with European brands. They are often designed around light loads, equipped with a rear rack only, a suspension fork, an aluminium frame and gear ratios suited to sealed roads and bicycle paths. Trekking bikes can be as fast as ‘light touring’ bikes, but with the added bonus that they are more upright.

Geometry
The geometry charts show slack head and seat tube angles, high fork trail, long headtubes, long chainstays and low bottom brackets.

Example: Stevens Sovereign SX

Full-Suspension Touring Bikes

The Tout Terrain Panamericana full-suspension touring bike.

Characteristics
This touring bike subcategory is essentially a full-suspension mountain bike with tweaked angles and a higher front-end. With racks built above the suspension, it allows your pannier weight to be ‘sprung’ with you. The result? Suspension dampening that works effectively.

Example: Tout Terrain Panamericana

Long-Tail Cargo Touring Bikes

The Surly Big Dummy long-tail cargo bike.

Characteristics
Long-tail cargo bikes are great for big loads, carrying oddly shaped objects, or transporting children. You can squeeze two children’s seats on the back tray as well as loads of gear! I’ve seen cargo tourers carrying para gliders, surfboards, or simply cycling with extra panniers.

Example: Surly Big Dummy

Recumbent Touring Bikes

The Nazca Pioneer touring recumbent.

Characteristics
No sore bottoms, sore backs or  sore shoulders? Sounds pretty good to me. There are disadvantages to riding recumbent too: when climbing steep hills you cannot use your body weight to push the pedals down, riding in traffic you are far less visible to cars, and it can be harder to obtain spare parts.

Example: Nazca Pioneer

Folding Touring Bikes

Bike Friday New World Tourist folding bike.

Characteristics
Folding bikes can make brilliant touring bikes. There have been many times where we’ve needed to use trains, get in trucks or hitchhike where we wished our bikes just folded up. Dealing with public transport is without doubt the most stressful time when we’re travelling.

Example: Bike Friday New World Tourist

Tandem Touring Bikes

The Co-Motion Equator touring tandem.

Characteristics
I originally ignored the idea of touring on a tandem with my partner, but the more we rode regular touring bikes separately-but-together, the more we wanted to switch to a tandem. Tandems are faster, more social, good for inexperienced cyclists (at the rear) and great for couples with a large difference in speed/ability. Note: Tandems also come as folding, recumbent and semi-recumbent bikes.

Example: Co-Motion Equator

Other Categories – Road Touring

Cyclocross Bikes
A bicycle marketed at ‘cyclocross’ can make a great touring bike, as the geometry is almost the same as a ‘light tourer’ – albeit with shorter chainstays. Cyclocross bikes are best used with light loads given they have lightweight parts and a gear range that lacks low end gears. Many people swap out the drivetrain to something with a wider gear range. Example: Kona Jake the Snake.

Gravel Bikes
Over the past couple of years, the bicycle industry has created this “new” category. Gravel bikes essentially have the same geometry as ‘light touring’ bikes, and some even have eyelets for a rear rack. The thing that makes them different is that they’re built lightweight, and hence aren’t reinforced for heavy pannier loads… so again, light loads only. Example: Co-Motion Klatch.

Randonneur/Audax Bikes
Given that you can ride a brevet/randonee/cyclosportive event on almost any bike, randonneur/audax bikes as a marketed product aren’t too common. In fact, most bikes found with this name attached are custom builds. The current trend is to use 650b wheels and wide tyres to maximise rider comfort. Example: Soma Grand Randonneur.

Road / Endurance / Sportive / Gran Fondo Bikes
Road bikes (and their subcategories) can be great for lightweight road touring. You can use bikepacking bags to support a minimal load if you need to. ‘Sportive’, ‘Endurance’ and ‘Gran Fondo’ marketed bikes include minor design and geometry changes to optimise comfort over a ‘race’ road bike, and even have a nice wide spread of gears. Example: Cannondale Synapse.

Other Categories – Off-Road and Adventure Touring

29″ Touring Bikes
This relatively new category of touring bike is essentially a 29er (700c) mountain bike with a higher front end and provision for racks, lights and water bottle cages. The advantage with these bikes is that you can fit 2.4″ mountain bike tyres (great on rough roads) and still have lots of clearance for mud. Examples: Salsa Fargo, Surly Ogre, Co-Motion Divide.

Mountain Bikes
A typical mountain bike, most noticeable by its front suspension fork, can be used as a dedicated touring bike. But be aware that mountain bike frames and parts can be designed around strength-to-weight, rather than outright stiffness, so light loads are recommended. Example: Jamis Dragon 650b.

Expedition Bikes
Expedition bikes are as close as touring bikes get to mountain bikes. They are specially designed to take on the worst conditions (snow, ice, mud, sand, corrugations) in the most remote environments. Although almost any long distance touring bicycle can be considered an ‘expedition’ bicycle (given their relatively bombproof part spec), expedition rigs take it up a notch again. They typically use 26″ wheels, 2.00″+ tyres, flat handlebars and sometimes Rohloff hubs. Example: Thorn Raven Sterling.

Fat Bikes and Plus Bikes
What started off as a novelty has really taken off in the last few years. Fat and Plus bikes are most notable by their 3.0-5.0″ tyres which are capable of snow and sand riding in places that haven’t been explored by bike before. They are now being picked up by those adventurous enough to take on deserts and snowfields! Example: Surly Moonlander.

For More Examples of Touring Bikes, Check Out The Complete List of Touring Bicycles Available.

January 29, 2014
A List of Touring Bikes Available in Australia (2016)

As an Australian, I like to keep a list of touring bikes that are currently available in our stores. Unfortunately we have a pretty slim range compared to North America / Europe / the UK – but you should be able to find something you like!

Allegro T1

The Allegro T1 is made by an Melbourne-based company with a passion for environmentalism and fair work. It is constructed using steel tubing and features v-brakes, bar-end shifters, a rear rack and fenders. I generally find that double cranksets like the one featured on this bike do not achieve a small enough gear for steep climbs (especially with heavy panniers). You may want to look at this resource for ways to achieve smaller gear ratios HERE.

Price: $1599 AUD
Best suited to: Loaded touring on-road.

Fuji Touring

This Fuji is the best value touring bike in Australia. It employs a steel frame/fork, bar-end shifters and 36 spoke wheels to keep it simple. This touring bike comes with a good climbing gear too (26-34t / 21 gear inches). You can read more about the Fuji Touring in my resource HERE.

Price: $1299 AUD
Best suited to: Loaded touring.

Kona Sutra

The Kona Sutra has been improving year on year for almost a decade. This steel frame and fork is setup with a great geometry, the gear ratios are wide (22-119 gear inches), there’s barend shifters and it even comes with a Brooks B17 saddle!

Price: $2049 AUD
Best suited to: Loaded touring, on or off-road.

Salsa Fargo

Price: Fargo 2 ($2650 AUD), Fargo 3 ($1875 AUD)
Best suited to: Off-road travel.
Pros: Mountain-bike geometry to take it properly offroad, steel frame/fork, wheels, thudbuster post, tyre clearance, bidon cage mounts everywhere.
Cons: Bike geometry not the best on-road, STI shifters can be problematic on remote tours, crankset doesn’t offer many bigger gears.
Fargo Titanium also available

Salsa Vaya

Price: Vaya 2 ($2395 AUD), Vaya 3 ($1795 AUD)
Best suited to: Loaded touring, on or off-road.
Pros: Steel frame/fork, Sram gearing, wheels.
Cons: Road double crankset does not achieve small enough gear for steep climbs with gear, STI shifters can be problematic on remote tours.
Vaya stainless steel with couplers also available

Soma Saga

Price: $TBD
Best suited to: Loaded touring, on or off-road.
Pros: Steel frame/fork, touring crankset, wide gear range, barend shifters, mounting provision for everything that you need.
Cons: It’d be nice if the Saga Disc complete bike was available.

Soma Wolverine Frame

Price: $899 AUD
Best suited to: Loaded touring
Pros: Steel frame/fork, belt drive compatible, sliding dropouts, Rohloff compatible.
Cons: Short chainstays and headtube given it’s not a dedicated tourer.

Surly Long Haul Trucker

Price: Long Haul Trucker ($1799 AUD), Disc Trucker ($1949 AUD)
Best suited to: Loaded touring, on or off-road.
Pros: Geometry is perfect (in our opinion) for long haul touring, 26″ and 700c wheel size depending on rider height, steel frame/fork, 3x bidon mounts, Shimano XT derailleur and hubs, barend shifters, eyeleted 36h double-wall rims, wide gear range.
Cons: No kickstand plate behind BB, cantilever brakes are average at best (LHT). Read my review HERE.

Tout Terrain Silk Road

German manufacturer Tout Terrain put together some fantastic steel touring bikes with all the right parts. A Rohloff 14s hub provides maintenance-free gear shifting and the Carbon belt drivetrain will reduce the need to lube anything (and will run completely silent for 20000km+!). Added features include fenders, a built-in rack, a Brooks saddle, a Supernova dynamo hub and lights and The Plug III USB charger. This is actually quite a good value option when you consider what it comes with.

Price: $4999 AUD
Best suited to: Loaded touring, on or off road

Vivente

Vivente is another Australian brand making touring bikes. The owner of this business, Neil, tours a lot – he’s able to design the bikes to the way he likes. You can get your steel Vivente with drop bars or flat handlebars, with barend or STI shifters and with derailleurs or a Rohloff 14s internally geared hub. All the Vivente touring bikes come fully featured with dynamo hubs and lights, rear Tubus racks, fenders, a kickstand and a horn.

Price: Anatolia, Deccan, Patagonia ($2199 AUD), The Gibb ($3699 AUD)
Best suited to: Loaded touring, on or off-road.

Wayward Bike Co

A third Australian touring bike company! The Wayward touring bikes are both steel, the key difference in terms of components is the choice between rim and disc brakes. Like most good touring bikes, the Waywards use barend shifters and have a great climbing gear of 26-34t. The fenders and racks complete the rather affordable package. The only thing to note is the rather obscure Shimano Octolink bottom bracket type – it may be hard to get spare parts for in the future.

Price: Nullarbor ($1399), Cape York ($1599)
Best suited to: Loaded touring, on or off-road.

October 13, 2011