looking to start touring advice.

[dro514]

Hi everyone,

long time reader first time poster.  I am 26 years old and have only used a bike to get around the city.  I ride a Raleigh R 100th that is pretty beat up, but does the job, and I also have little fear of it being stolen when it's locked up, so it serves me well.

I'm really interested in getting in to touring and was hoping you guys could help get me started.

I dream of doing a tour along the pacific, but obviously want to get some experience first through day trips/or weekend trips.

So my first question, how do i choose a bike?, I read about a lot of people dropping 1000-1500$ and then replacing a bunch of parts after the purchase.  Should I buy a pre-packaged bike, or should I build from parts so as to not have to replace them later and wasted $$.

Thanks in advance!
danny

[staehpj1]

No need to custom build or change a bunch of stuff, at least in my opinion.  Any of the touring bikes on the market will do fine.  You could tour on your current bike if you want to.  Folks do custom builds because they like to do them, not because there is any real need to.

I rode what I think is the cheapest real touring bike on the market (Windsor Touring $599 delivered) coast to coast (4244 miles on the Trans America) as did my two companions.  We found it worked fine stock except we felt the stock gearing was too high so we spent $80 for a Sugino XD 600 crank.  The quality of all components was fine the gearing was just too high.  I also used that bike on my Santa Fe trail tour last Spring and plan to use it this Summer to do the Sierra Cascades route.

There are a number of bikes that are well suited to touring that are at a reasonable price point.  A few are the Novara Randonee, Windsor Touring, Long Haul Trucker, and a bunch of others.  All of them are fine stock if the gearing is suitable to the route you plan to ride.

BTW the Pacific coast is a great place to tour!  Enjoy it.

[dro514]

Hi,

Thanks for the advice.  I went to check out bikes, and one peaked my interest, was wondering what you guys thought of the following:

2009 masi randonneur for 1300 tax in. canadian $'s.  Also where I live tax is ~13%.
other option is the surly long haul trucker, 1500 + tax = ~1700

Could I please get some opinions one bike vs. the other at these prices?

Thanks in advance!
-Danny

[whittierider]

Although I don't think Masi is the same prestigious company it was 30 years ago, it does look like they have a good list of dealers which adds a lot of credibility and buying from a real bike shop is very important for most people who aren't super experienced at all this.  It also looks like there's not much to criticize in the list of equipment on the bike, except that depending on how heavily loaded you are, you will probably want lower gearing.

The Surley LHT seems to be one of the most popular for touring.