Next year we are taking a trip through many continents and many miles from John O Groats to morocco. Mcain chips are kindly sponsoring us and we are hoping to raise well over 2000 pounds for Help For Heroes.

I have however decided to treat myself to a new cycle (what an excuse)

I dont really want to spend more than £600 but want a good Tourer that will be reliable any suggestions?

we used slightly upgraded kona smokes for a trip from London to Ethiopia via the middle east. cost us £300 all in plus racks and guards from our supportive LBS.

surly lht. £300 ish for a new frame and build it up with mountain bike gear off the classifieds.

thats what i did. came in under £600

Cheers guys

Looked at the smoke but im after something a little bit higher end if possible, this is due to worries about reliability!

Surly looks good but would rather buy a bike ready to zoom 🙂

Might we worth having a look at the CTC forums

I had a Paul Hewitt Cheviot for a while and used it everyday for 2 years without any problems. They’re around £1000 new, but you might get one used.

Mountainbike style bike?

Steel frame for repairability, alfine for reliability? Genesis IOID?

Edit – also has rack mounts

Edinburh Bike Coop do cheap but good tourers, under your budget for Canti and just over for disc brake version. Or you could buy my Super Galaxy.

any links to your supergalaxy mildfire?

It’s due for ebay when I get round to cleaning it up, but it’s probably a bit retro/old for your needs. 1980s vintage, 531 frame, Saturae rims on Campag (poss Record, must do some research)hubs, Stronglight/RSX STIs/Deore 3×6 drivetrain,Brooks B17, 600 wide cantis, SKS guards, Topeak and Blackburn Racks, Karrimor front and rear panniers. Size, to suit six footer plus.

Edit: old skool 27″ wheels, not 700c

http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=49379

that looks like a half decent purchase?

Lot of bike for the money if it’s still available. One thing though, will you be sticking to roads? Check you can get big enough tyres on if using a lot of dirt tracks.

Something with lots of positions for your hands – defo

Something with lots of positions for your hands – defo

shall be all road riding 🙂

The new Cycling Plus mag has got a test on some touring bikes.

I know that one of the bikes is a Hewitt, but I can’t recall what the other bikes were.

I’ll go and have a look in the mag in a bit.

Just had a quick look at Cycling Plus and they test:

Dawes Galaxy @ £1199.99
Salsa Casseroll @ £1349.99
Hewitt Cheviot @ £1199
Jamis Bosanova @ £749.99

Hewitt and Galaxy get good review, but they reckon the Hewitt has better wheels.

The Salsa they reckon was comfy and well spec’d, but not enough to justify the higher price.

The Jamis also gets a good review, described as a great light tourer backed up with good kit and mechanical disc brakes.