Bike for trip across central Europe.

Daniel S

Hi all,

Looking to get a bike on the bike to work scheme, thinking some sort of road bike (currently cycling to work on an MTB bought outside of the scheme).

What sort of bike would you recommend? Panniers, Saddle bags etc would be needed I think.

Would something like this be completely unsuitable? I'm 6' and have 34" legs.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ie/en/vitus-bikes-dark-plasma-tiagra-road-bike-2013/rp-prod81025

Budget is about €1k for the bike (on the bike to work scheme) and about €500 for shoes, clothing etc.

Seaneh

If you're planning on cycling across europe on a bike, that's not the bike you want.

Something like this would be a much better fit.

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/dawes/galaxy-2013-touring-bike-ec050878

Seaneh

Or these on a lower budget:

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/fuji/2014-touring-bike-ec055445

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/raleigh-royal-2013/

Sagi

The Dawes looks like a nice bike, but I'd be looking at something with disc brakes

http://www.dawescycles.com/p-792-galaxy-plus.aspx

Seaneh

I'd actually avoid discs in a tourer, just one more thing that's too fiddly to be bothered with if it breaks.

Canti's and canti hunbs are a lot easier to fix and a lot cheaper to replace parts, and lighter.

Daniel S

Would those bikes be suitable for a bit of the Alps?

Very rough route:

Route

I'd also like to enter some races and cycle from Ennis to/from Galway each week.

Sagi

to be honest the idea of cycling down an alpine pass on a fully loaded touring bike in wet conditions with canti brakes is rather scary for me. I know it has been done a thousand times in the old days when there was noting better available but I don't see why you should not go for discs today. They are every bit as reliable and setting up a mechanic disc brake is not a hard thing to do (don't know the ones on the Dawes from the link) The only thing is that sometimes the pads are not available in the bike stores on the way, but put a pair or two of spare pads in the saddlebag and you should be fine.

Seaneh

Daniel S wrote: »

Would those bikes be suitable for a bit of the Alps?

Very rough route:

Route

I'd also like to enter some races and cycle from Ennis to/from Galway each week.

They have triple chain rings and 30+t cassettes. You should be fine cycling up a wall unless you're planning on bringing a lot of stuff.

The bike you linked doesn't have rack or mudguard mounts, so it's pretty much useless to you.


If you're really worried, they all have mountain bike rear derailluers, so you could put an 11-34t rear cassette any of them, 26-34, if you ever have to use it (you won't) will get you over anything, even with a fat man sitting on the pannier rack.

Sagi

Daniel S wrote: »

Would those bikes be suitable for a bit of the Alps?

Very rough route:

Route

I'd also like to enter some races and cycle from Ennis to/from Galway each week.

A Touring bike will never be a racer, sure you can do your tour on a normal Road bike, but it won't be as comfortable and you'll need some kind of solution for the luggage and a backpack is far from ideal.

A nice touring bike won't be fun to race unfortunately there are so many bikes needed for all the different kinds of cycling

btw nice route and enjoy the ride, you'll need good legs, there are a lot of mountains in that area, being from Vienna I'd say it would be a shame not to go there when you are in Austria

Daniel S

I could live without the mud guards (considering it will be done next spring/summer) but not without luggage. Will probably go from hostel/hotel to hostel/hotel so no tents or anything.

Would there be any way to mount panniers over the rear wheel? Saddle/crossbar bags should be easy enough to fit.

Or am I being really stupid trying to do this trip on a carbon bike?

EDIT:

Reasonable?

Sagi

there are various racks that can be used on frames without mounting point, tubus offer one that can be mounted on the quick release and there are seat clamps that have mounting points.

There is also the freeload rack from Thule but I would not want to mount it on a carbon frame

maybe you have enough space with a handlebar bag and one of those racks that attach to the seat post

Daniel S

Think this has me covered!

http://sbrdesign.com/wordpress/?page_id=38

Seaneh

Daniel S wrote: »

I could live without the mud guards (considering it will be done next spring/summer)

You might think that, but it's really not worth the risk.
It will rain at somestage on your route, and when it does, you'll be kicking yourself for not having full mudguards.

I did a short (3 night) wild camping tour from Galway out west this past June when the weather was amazing, hadn't rained in like 3 weeks or something so didn't bother putting my mudguards on my bike, just mounted the rack and away I went. First 2 days were lovely, 3rd day started great, but around 2pm there was a quick downpour, stopped, pulled on my rain coat and got going again.

Within 5 minutes my arse and legs were destroyed and the rest of the days cycling was horrible. The rain only lasted about 20 minutes but it make the rest of my day really uncomfortable.

Seaneh

Oh and I have the older model of the bike you just posted, but the "sport" model, alu frame, carbon fork, super comfy and takes 32mm and mudguards, it's a cyclo-cross come tourer come everyday bike and great at it.
You need at least 28mm tyres for that type of cycling, 23 will be super harsh over that sort of distance.

Daniel S

So would a cyclocross bike with panniers/mudguards be suitable?

Seaneh

Daniel S wrote: »

So would a cyclocross bike with panniers/mudguards be suitable?

In Europe, yeah, would be grand I'd say.
Get a trippel though.

kaef

You should buy pocket mudguards:

Daniel S

Seaneh wrote: »

In Europe, yeah, would be grand I'd say.
Get a trippel though.

Is that a beer?

kaef wrote: »

You should buy pocket mudguards:

They'd be light and would be perfect if there was a shower.

I'm hearing Cyclocross bikes are not a substitute for touring bikes.

Perhaps I would be better off with a normal road/race bike since that is what it would be used for 90% of the time?



Effectively a road bike with 18.6 liters of storage space.

What do you think of the bike itself? Is there better for less?

Total is about €711.45 for everything (inc. Bike2Work savings).

Sagi

Is that rack compatible to those bags? Looks like they will be flappping around on it.

petethedrummer

Sagi wrote: »

to be honest the idea of cycling down an alpine pass on a fully loaded touring bike in wet conditions with canti brakes is rather scary for me. I know it has been done a thousand times in the old days when there was noting better available but I don't see why you should not go for discs today.

One of the arguments against Disc brakes in the pro-peloton is they may not be able to handle very long alpine descents if one is trying to scrub off speed. Rims are apparently better at dissipating heat so you will not suddenly lose your brakes. Yes discs are used in downhill MTBing but the braking is much more staccato than road racing.

I have no idea if this is true. It's just what I've heard.

petethedrummer

You could buy a 2nd giant SCR (they pop up a lot on adverts) and put 32mm tyres on it. It will take 28mm with a mudguard. And you could race on it. I raced on one and toured a small bit on it. Not sure I'd go for a long tour on one though or any alu racer.

Or you could buy a Kona Honky tonk, it will also take the same width tyres as the SCR. And being steel it would be slightly better for touring than the Aluminum SCR but slightly worse for racing.
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/kona/honky-tonk-2014-road-bike-ec055923

There's no ideal solution for a touring/racing bike. You just have to weigh it all up based on how much crap you intend to carry.

Daniel S

Better bike?

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ie/en/forme-longcliffe-2-2013/rp-prod91374

Daniel S

petethedrummer wrote: »

There's no ideal solution for a touring/racing bike. You just have to weigh it all up based on how much crap you intend to carry.

Which is why I'm leaning towards just getting a race bike and "dealing with it".

Sagi

petethedrummer wrote: »

One of the arguments against Disc brakes in the pro-peloton is they may not be able to handle very long alpine descents if one is trying to scrub off speed. Rims are apparently better at dissipating heat so you will not suddenly lose your brakes. Yes discs are used in downhill MTBing but the braking is much more staccato than road racing.

I have no idea if this is true. It's just what I've heard.

Hydraulic discs may fade if you constantly pull the lever on long descents because the fluid gets too hot. but then also the tube might explode when the rim gets too much heat from constant braking.

Seaswimmer

I recently did a trip on a road bike for 11 days. I had a Carradice Super C saddle bag (23 litres) and a Topeak bar bag (7 litres) and had more than enough space. If going the saddlebag route make sure you get a support which attaches to the saddle as you don't want the bag swinging around..
Obviously we carried no camping gear and stayed in hotels.. Also what saved a lot of bag space was to only carry one water bottle and use the 2nd bottle cage for a container with tubes/multi tool/levers/mini pump ect..

petethedrummer

Daniel S wrote: »

Which is why I'm leaning towards just getting a race bike and "dealing with it".

OK, if the bike doesn't come with rack mounts I highly recommend a tubus rack and skewer rack attachment. Expensive but stable. I that set up on my commute bike and it's a very stable solution. using P-clips is a disaster.

petethedrummer

Sagi wrote: »

Hydraulic discs may fade if you constantly pull the lever on long descents because the fluid gets too hot. but then also the tube might explode when the rim gets too much heat from constant braking.

So the choice is exploding tubes or loss of brakes. Decisions, decisions.:pac:

two wheels good

Daniel S wrote: »

Would those bikes be suitable for a bit of the Alps?

Very rough route:
Route

I'd also like to enter some races and cycle from Ennis to/from Galway each week.

I can comment on the bikes - except that I've long fancied a Dawes Galaxy.

Your route: You are so close to Halstatt you should consider a visit. Stunning location, ice caves, salt mine, ..

Much further south from your route .... I've read that along the river Drau is one of the longest cycle paths in Europe. It might be of interest.

Daniel S

two wheels good wrote: »

I can comment on the bikes - except that I've long fancied a Dawes Galaxy.

Your route: You are so close to Halstatt you should consider a visit. Stunning location, ice caves, salt mine, ..

Much further south from your route .... I've read that along the river Drau is one of the longest cycle paths in Europe. It might be of interest.

Yeah, Hallstatt looks great! Still working on the route, no idea how long it will take yet.

Looking better?

Latest route! Getting excited now!!!

Seaneh

Daniel S wrote: »

Better bike?

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ie/en/forme-longcliffe-2-2013/rp-prod91374

No rack mounts and not enough clearance for 28mm tyres and mudguards.

Honestly, whatever you do in the end, you'll be grand, I'm just working off the idea of comfort and what I'd prefer.

pauliemck

I'm very jealous of your trip. I did a 4 month trip a few years ago to Croatia and back. On the way home I pretty much covered the route you're planning in reverse.

Hallstatt is definitely worth a visit. There's a very steep hill on the far side of it. Afaik, it was something like 25%. Luckily I was going down it, but you'll be going up. Fun times...

I did my trip on a Dawes Galaxy. Super bike. I didn't have any problems at all (only one puncture on the bullet-proof Schwalbe marathon plus tyres). The steel frame is a lot more comfortable for long trips than an alu frame would be, and less likely to snap in half, which happened to a guy I was chatting to travelling through Spain.

However, you seem to be doing this with less gear than I had, so maybe a cyclocross bike would be ok. A Galaxy wouldn't be great if you intend to race on the bike afterwards. I have done a few triathlons and sportives on mine and I really noticed the difference when I got my road bike.