specialized allez suitability

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ThomasFearn

New Member
Hi, I'm a newbie on this so bare with my lack of knowledge of all the rules and what not,

Basically looking to get into road cycling a bit more seriously, following a tour through eastern Europe with some friends who were obviously keen into it but thought i'd be able to hack the tour

anyways, i managed to borrow a bike (specialized allez sport, a few years old), which obviously saved me finacnially
although this bike wasn't really suited to the trip, i bought i seat-post pannier rack and away i went.

now i'm looking to buy my own bike and have had the specialized allez recommended (http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/allez-16-2010-road-bike-ec019545).

i think this would be a decent starter bike, but would it be suitable for another longish distance tour as well as my proposed, regular weekend excursions????

also will it be compatible with a standard pannier rack (attached to the frame as opposed to the seat-post which was awkward)

thanks
 

Ivan Ardon

Well-Known Member
As an Allez owner, I'd say there are far better bikes for touring on.

You can get a rack on there, but there is very little in the way of clearance for guards at the back. The 23mm tyres aren't really suited to loaded touring, and you may struggle to fit bigger tyres due to the lack of clearance between the tyre and seat tube.
 

willem

Über Member
If you also want to tour, I would either go for a steel audax bike such as the Dawes Sportif or the Thorn audax III, if you want to carry only very little and will ride on good roads. These will deal with worse roads than full out road bikes as they can take wider tyres and have amore relaxed geometry. They are only barely slower than 'real' road bikes. If you want to carry more than, say 10 kg, get a drop bar tourer such as the Dawes Galaxy or the Thorn Club Tour. Fit these with fast tyres such as 30 mm Grandbois, they are still pretty fast for your Sunday rides, but with heavier tyres they can also handle serious loads.
Modern full out roads bikes are quite unsuitable for touring.
Willem
 
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