BTwin Trekking

[2Loose]

Once upon a time I had a slicked tyred mtb with a rack and panniers which was great for shopping and various other smaller journeys. Since then I have a Defy road bike which is great for the longer, faster journeys, but as they say never the twain shall meet. It is rather hilly around here and I can just about manage on the road bike, but chuck loaded panniers into the mix and its a no go, but on the old Giant Escape I managed ok, if slower.

I have been looking for another road based mtb\hybrid framed machine to take panniers as a utility\urban bike and have spotted the Decathlon Trekking Riverside 7 which has pretty much everything already fitted. Mudguards, lights, dynamo hub, rack etc.

It appears heavy at 16.5Kg, but can anyone suggest any alternatives...I think a Tourer may have the same functionality, but I really don't want to spend much more than this and I know a good tourer can cost the earth.

 

[Zoiders]

Sod the weight, with that level of kit and the intended use it's not an issue.

You would only end up adding stuff to bring it back up to that weight , that spec for that money is not to be sniffed at, Kalkhoff for instance or Cannondale would quite happily have your pants down for twice that amount.

Tourers are not especially light when fully kitted out with racks, guards, dyno hubs etc etc and that's before you even load them up, IIRC an unloaded Dawes horizon is around the 30lb+ mark.

 

[Alan Whicker]

I've got a Trek 7.3fx which i've pimped with decent grips, rack and mudguards - there are several people around the web who've used it as a tourer. I wouldn't hesitate to use it on a big journey.

That riverside has suspension forks doesn't it? Can't imagine they'd help with the weight much.

 

[Alembicbassman]

I bought one of the B'Twin Rockrider 5.2 MTBs for £180. Nice alloy frame with Altus groupset. Pretty lightweight too.

I have added Schwalbe Slicks, better saddle, better grips, SPDs and a computer.

It'll take a rack and mudguards as it has all the braze-ons and threaded mounting points

Would work out cheaper than the Riverside.

 

[2Loose]

The Trek fx range has more 'road' oriented gearing, fully loaded up hill climbing doesn't look great imo, although no doubt a great commuter.

Taking a Rockrider and adding mudgaurds\ rack\ dynamo etc. could be a plan, although quite a lot of grief. Much better to get get a bike designed with it in mind in the first place.

Ultimately a drop barred tourer with a very wide range of gears (I have a 16% hill outside my door) and long stays would be ideal, but like I say, they tend to cost.

 

[Alembicbassman]

Try the Kona Dew Drop

http://road.cc/content/review/17391-kona-dew-drop

 

[Norm]

It's a touch (£200!) more but I reckon it would be worth going for the Trek SOHO DLX, hub gears, belt drive (with trouser guard), BB5 disk brakes, rack and mudguards... it is, IMO, the perfect shopper & commute.

OTOH, I've spent today riding round town, farm and about 15 miles of tarmac in between on my old Giant Coldrock. 21 years ago, it was considered an MTB but, with no suspension, a steel frame and City Jet tyres, together with rack and guards, it's now the perfect beater. It looks like a 20 year old POS but it has all the ride of a steel-framed bike and it is a lot of fun to ride.

 

[Zoiders]

The maguara hydraulic rim brakes on the decathlon are a selling point, sure they aren't discs but they beat most cable discs hands down.

The shimano dyno hub is well worth the money as well and the LED dyno lights you can run with it such as the "IQ fly" are a good long term upgrade, as I said, for an around town bike it's hard to beat the decathlon.

http://www.dotbike.com/p/4015

Belt drive - nice in theory, try getting spares 3 or 4 years down the line.

 

[albion]

"It appears heavy at 16.5Kg, "Those tyres will weigh 1.7KG to 1.9KG in total.




Remove the hydraulics, mudguards, dynohub, rack and its almost anorexic.