Touring/Hybrid Bike recommendation

[MTeague]

Hello!
I'm going to do the Vancouver BC to Mexico route this coming March-ish, I'll be traveling very light; using a credit card.
I'm afraid my beloved Cannondale R2000 is not suitable; so I'm looking for another (used) bike (2000 to ~2014).
My preference is to go light (Aluminium or Titanium) and am looking for something with 700 x 38mm tires, or equivalent, or in that neighborhood.
Any suggestions for either a Touring bike or Hybrid bike?
I'm kinda floundering with the overload of data available
cheers
martin

[canalligators]

Can you tell us why you've ruled out the bike you have?  Maybe it's worn out, or you'd have to do expensive upgrades, or it just doesn't fit you well?  Or have you decided that a road bike isn't the right tool because it's a road bike?  (A road bike is perfectly suitable for true credit card touring.)

But to actually answer your question, almost any bike that fits you can be used for touring.  Here are the priorities:
1. Fit, therefore comfort.  I'm tempted to list this three times.  Insist on comfort!  A professional fitting might be money well spent.
2. A low enough low gear.  It can be as the bike comes, or change things to get there.  Often you can change just the freewheel or chainring.  Low gear should be in the 20-25 inch-gear range, even for credit card touring.`
3. Cargo capacity, which should not be an issue for credit card touring.  (A seat bag and handlebar bag should be enough.)
4. Sturdy wheels; for CC touring 32/wheel is enough.  No "designer wheels", i.e. low spoke count, fancy patterns.  If a spoke breaks on one of those, you won't be limping to a bike shop or fixing it in the field.

I'd go ride a bunch of bikes and get the one that's has low gears and at least 32 spokes per wheel, that's the most comfortable.  (Hint, you may wish to upgrade the seat.)

5. Finally, don't automatically rule out recumbent bikes.  They cost more and are harder to research and buy, but most of them make great touring bikes.

[RussSeaton]

Sounds like you are going to ride the Pacific Coast route.  Vancouver is just a bit north of Seattle.  And Mexico is just a little south of San Diego.  So the Pacific Coast route would be the best way to ride from Vancouver to Mexico.  I think there are many threads on this forum about the Pacific Coast route.  Its all paved roads along the coast.  Not sure how it is set up for finding indoor sleeping every night.  But should be doable since the coast has lots of towns along it.  Any road bike should carry the minimal gear you need for credit card touring.  Not sure why you need 38mm tires on a paved road bike.  Unless you are carrying 50 pounds of gear in panniers on a loaded touring bike.  There are other routes you could take to get from Vancouver to Mexico.  You could go diagonally from Vancouver to San Antonio.  Probably best to just use a bunch of state maps to plan the route.  Road bike would work fine for that paved road riding too.  Again, not sure why you would choose 38mm tires for paved road riding.

[wallybeagle]

Hello!
I'm going to do the Vancouver BC to Mexico route this coming March-ish, I'll be traveling very light; using a credit card.
I'm afraid my beloved Cannondale R2000 is not suitable; so I'm looking for another (used) bike (2000 to ~2014).
My preference is to go light (Aluminium or Titanium) and am looking for something with 700 x 38mm tires, or equivalent, or in that neighborhood.
Any suggestions for either a Touring bike or Hybrid bike?
I'm kinda floundering with the overload of data available
cheers
martin

Hi Day Tripper;

I'm curious as to what you ended up using for a bike. I posted a similar inquiry about 2 weeks ago. I plan to tour coast to coast next year carrying rear panniers, but going as light as I can, maybe....25-30 lbs max. I'm looking at a ti gravel bike; Lynskey GR270 and the co assures me it can do the job. Folks out there seem skeptical and suggest a traditional 'loaded touring' bike. The irony is that when I speak to tourers in person, they have used a gravel bike.

Your thoughts?

[canalligators]

hello
you can visit this article and you will find more information about the best hybrid bikes

I'm afraid I have to take exception.  Those "best" sites are usually sponsored, often created by people who are not super knowledgeable - and there is no such thing as a BEST of anything.  Best for you purpose, most cost effective, best performing, whatever.  But simply best? 

[adventure124]

What an exciting tour. I would also love to hear some recommendations on a bike for a tour like this.

[froze]

You said you're credit card touring, you don't need a special touring bike to do that, Geez, I use to credit card tour on my racing bike with 23c tires!  All I used was a handlebar bag and my usual seat bag.  I was comfortable enough on it, of course I was a lot younger than I am today.

The one thing you may or may not want to consider is, do you want a bike that can someday be used for actual camping/touring instead of credit card touring?  If you want to someday have a bike that can handle camping and touring then I would buy a bike for that purpose and use it for the credit card touring for now, unless you don't mind buying a bike now and another later.

Finding a used titanium bike can be a problem because they are scarce; well actually most bikes are scarce right now.  If you want a high quality, comfortable bike that can handle light or credit card touring, I would consider a bike from Rivendell if steel is good for you, they excel at credit card touring, light touring, and mid weight touring, and are extremely comfortable to ride. 

I would shop Ebay if you want a low cost titanium bike.

[TCS]

(Note: oldish thread - but relevant question!)

It's late summer 2020, and because of COVID19-induced cycle fever you'd be lucky to find anything in stock.  By maybe spring 2021...

Credit card thru ultra-light (bikepacking style) self-contained:

In titanium, look at the Habanero Cycles Touring, Bikes Direct Motobecane Century Pro or maybe a Litespeed Gravel GRX 400.
In carbon, start a search with Specialized Diverge Base Carbon and Giant Revolt Advanced 2.
For a walk on the wild side, maybe a Cruzbike Q45, Catrike 700 or even a Moulton TSR-22.

[froze]

Also look into Lynskey, they are the father of titanium bikes and created all the manufacturing process that now other titanium bike makers use.  Lynskey were the original owners and creators of Litespeed, prior to that the Lynskey family was involved in government contracts involving titanium, and were involved with the Mars mission and the Rovers used on Mars.  Lynskey has the most experience in titanium than anyone else in the cycling industry by a very far and wide margin.

[cyclist alan]

Some recommendations for hybrid bikes for money are schwinn, sixthreezero.  You can check out mor hybrid bikes here https://bikesreviewed.com/hybrid/best-hybrid-bikes-under-500/
hybrid bikes