Arm, Leg or Bike?

[Eoin]

My experience with cross bikes so far in Ireland has been either flicking through catalogues in stores  with a stinted range where the owner points and suggests one without being able to provide info other than the bar code,   and one time when  I was told in the local bike shop that the only thing they had fitting my need was in the range of 3000 euro, it was a dawes touring reynolds 853 ultra galaxy. I politely thanked him for his time and nodded to the owner as I walked out the door thinking to myself I could probably walk across america for that much as for such coin expenditure I would hope the bike would have a built in computer similar to that of HAL2000 from the film 2001 space odyssey. With the ability to prevent me from stopping before a mile marker previously set at the begining of the day with added audio "Im afraid I cant let you do that Eoin, I think you know what the problem is aswell as I and Im afraid I cant let you do that." I will happily part with coin in the range of 1000 with a reasonable plus marker infront of it. I need something that will take me around Ireland and back before hobbling across The States next Summer without costing an arm and a leg... I need those for cycling. Help on bike suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Not that I mean to be a Shylock about it but considering I have simple wants. A novelty horn, a humorous tshirt to keep me going when the head hangs down and a bike. The only thing that should be a pain in my rear end should be the saddle, not the cost.

[aggie]

Not sure how much it would cost to ship to Ireland but you should be able find several bikes that should suit your needs that are within your price range.  1000 euros is about 1200 dollars.  Check out http://www.rei.com for the bikes they sell.  They list the Surly long haul trucker (backordered) that has gotten good reviews.  They also have their brand (Novara) touring bike that has also gotten good reviews.  Their web site shows Ireland as a shipping destination but you can check with them just to make sure.  You can do a search of the forums for opinions on various bikes.  Check out the Gear Forum.

[Eoin]

Thanking you

[Galloper]

I'm not sure if Edinburgh Cycle Co-Op will deliver to Ireland but they have some great touring bikes which are very well priced.   Their own brand Revolution Country Premier is well worth a look, £850 for a steel framed, disk brake equipped bike with mudguards and a rear rack. 

Even if they don't deliver to Ireland, if you have a friend in the 6 counties, I'm pretty sure you could get it delivered there.   Have a look at their website:

http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/

Anoher of their bikes worth a look is their Revolution Cross at £450.   It's a crosser but has all the fittings you need for touring such as rack and mudguard mounts.   In fact, it uses the same frame as one of their tourers.   For £600 you could have a pretty good tourer, I know, I have one myself and the oe cross tyres work very well on the road.

[Galloper]

And another idea just popped up.   Decathlon have a store in Belfast from which they will deliver to anywhere in Ireland.   I have never ridden one of their touring bikes but their road and mountain bikes always do well/very well in comparative tests.

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/

Have a look at their B'Twin Riverside 7.   At £600 it looks pretty good.

[Eoin]

I found this from one of your links http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/products/revolution-country-explorer-12?bct=browse%2fbicycles%2ftouring-bikes Revolution Country Explorer '12. First blog I read on cycling America came from Ryan Andersons blog, he made it in one piece on an earlier model of this one and gave very good reviews. The shipping isent the worst at all. All counted it costs 884e including shipping...  Perfect. Thank you for the help

[froze]

I was wondering if anyone thought about the Kona Sutra?  It seems well laid out, at least better then others I've seen at around the same price point.

My main touring bike is a 85 Schwinn Le Tour Luxe I bought used for $100 in mint condition and it works great.  Why not check the used bike market?

[waynemyer]

I owned a Sutra. It is a little short in the stays, at least for my huge clodhoppers. Another niggling issue is the conflict between front rack, front brake caliper, and left front pannier. The issues can be overcome, but it is a little fiddly. I love disc brakes, but you really need to be prepared to deal with that on a touring bike. The problem is compounded if you run full fenders. The bike itself is otherwise great.