Another (ho hum) which bike thread...

[Gretah65]

Hi All,

I'm not a newbie to cycling but I will be a newbie to touring (France) (on my own) this Summer. I have decided to upgrade to a touring bike and have searched this forum for advice on which one to buy. Question is: (As much as I would like to) do I need to spend upwards of 1000 pounds or can I get something suitable for around 600-700 quid? I am currently drawn to the Dawes range.

Thoughts anyone?

Thanks,
Gretah

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

Hi there was a recent thread on reasonably priced tourers, and as far as I recall some CCers were very satisfied with these. Good luck!

 

[Fiona N]

I've done a lot of solo touring in rather remote places for which absolute reliability and robustness are essential so it's worth spending appropriately on a bike. However, for touring in more populated areas where a couple of broken spokes, say, are inconvenient but not disastrous, I'd be happy with a bike under £1000 from a reputable maker. After all, the main differences for most people between tourer and road/race bike are gears (lower) and possibility to fit a carrier and maybe mudguards.
Extra strength in a frame may be a question if you're going to carry heavy camping gear and need to ensure you won't have frame flex when you get out of the saddle. But under £1000 it's not as though you'll be looking at super-lightweight carbon frames and oversize Al-tubed frames are pretty robust.

 

[Gretah65]

Thanks for the replies so far...I will be carrying lightweight camping gear but nothing too heavy. :-)