suitable off road touring/adventure bike

Hi,

looking at an off road tourer/adventure/ do it all bike.
needs to cover short commute (13miles) but also taking family out, going camping (so racks/packs) and knocking off 100mile ‘off road’ rides. im thinking old railway lines, smoother bridelways etc.
so far Ive got:
Genesis Croix de Fer
Merida CX500
Sepcialized Sequoia
Cannondale CAADX

the merida and cannondale are more CX, so have less rack capability? also would they be less comfortable? after some unbiased advice please, all the shops want to do is sell whatever they have in their shop!

Marin Four Corners?

Cotic Escapade?

XC-ish 29er with rack mounts…doesn’t have to have curly bars right?

Van Nicholas Amazon 🙂

Croix de fer, excellent do it all bike. Or maybe a genesis longitude?

Another vote for the Croix de Fer, just finished a build of the titanium flavour, its stunning. Room for guards, racks and 35mm rubber.

Mango Bikes Point AR?

Slightly more off-road biased but

Genesis Vagabond
Salsa Fargo
Singular Gryphon

Would all take 2.1″ tyres + mudguards on road.

Of your list, the CAADX and CX500 are both entry level race bikes which I suspect aren’t what you’re after. Good fun, but might beat you up over a long day and won’t have the same concessions to practicality.

+ 1 Croix De Fer

yea Croix looks positive. budget about £1k – £1.5k so limited there really. can it take a front rack/bottle etc, it appears to have a single bolt on the forks…
I like the cotic, but the spec seems poor compared to rivals, such CdF

^^^^ mine has the carbon forks, but yes, current ones are single bolt.

If I was bike packing off road, rather than panniers as in above photo, I’d use a narrow bar bag if needing the capacity.

Sonder Camino?

My Pinnacle Arkose would fit the bill.

that kona is lovely! is the gearing too low? a roadie in work reckons that is far too low for mixed riding?

The Light Blue do several e.g. Darwin Twin
The Trek 920 looks like a good off-road tourer
Specialized AWOL is another option

Niner RLT9, personally in 853 steel flavour, frame and fork half price at topfun.com (sounds dodgy but they’re not).

http://www.topfun.com/en/rlt-9/68-niner-rlt-9-frameset-industry-grey.html?search_query=rlt&results=12

Sonder Camino?

This. Love my Camino. LOVE it.

that kona is lovely! is the gearing too low? a roadie in work reckons that is far too low for mixed riding?

I am loving mine.

Too low? I’m about to put on a smaller chainring … what do roadies know? 😉

… or do roadies call low what I would call high?

…I’m riding mine off road a lot, like an XC MTB, and want a shorter gear for long up-hill sections. I’m happy enough to freehweel a bit if I spin out on downhill tarmac sections (which has been rare, so far, but then again, I’m not very fast).

If the gearing’s too low, then the tyres are probably too fat and the frame too heavy.

(Attachments are also there for a front mech if you wanted to go 2X.)

I’m loving my Cotic Escapade. Sounds like it would fit the bill. It’s a really comfortable bike and doesn’t ride heavy at all..

Escapade and Mont Blanc by Beanum[/url], on Flickr

Arkose

For me I see no need for to put a rack at the front. If you disagree then buy another bike

I’d add that Al bike carbon fork is light. I think lightness is desirable in a commuter but irrelevant in a tourer

that orange kona keeps grabbing my attention. looks ace.

He said I’d be spinning like crazy with gearing so easy. I did say it’d go off road too! So all about compromise. Never ridden drop bars so all very new…

+1 Vagabond. Think of it as a drop-bar 29er ATB with touring potential. As I have said before – whatever you like the look of ot’s so worth making the effort to try before you buy, especially a bike that needs to be adaptable and comfortable. I’d have bought a Longitude if I hadn’t also tried the Vagabond, but so glad that I did as it really ticked all the boxes on my list (adventure touring, bikepacking, dicking about, multi-surface, fitness rides, utility)

He said I’d be spinning like crazy with gearing so easy.

I can quite happily (well, maybe not too ‘happily’) cruise along at 20+ mph in 34t front, 11t rear on the road bike, you really don’t need a 52t front chainring unless you’re racing.

36t at the front is really fine for most people, especially if that’s likely to be the top end of your riding speeds especially as it’s 10t at rear as well.

Croix de Fer or – if you want more serious off-road-ability – Vagabond would be our suggestions but then we do sell Genesis so are biased.

Then again the reason we sell Genesis is that they have bikes like these… so it’s a bit circular.

Surly Straggler would be another great option.

Incidentally what size are you OP? We have a few deals on at the moment…

I’d be looking seriously at a Sonder camino.

Or one of the Konas if you like skinny tubes.

Or a specialized sequoia or Awol.

I have the latest Charge plug 5 ti frames, that fits nice big tyres.

I use a Sala Vaya.

Why not a touring bike? Long Haul Trucker – choice of V brake or disc versions. My 700c Trucker takes 7000x42s with good mudguard clearance. Absolutely fine for hundreds of miles of railtrails and a fair amount of gravel road touring in the USA carrying full camping gear in 4 panniers. Took it over the Corrieyairick Pass here. Carry as much as you want.

Also there are 26″ versions if you want something with wider tyres though I’ve found 700×35-38s fine for the kind of riding you mention.

My Niner RLT in the classifieds would suit you 😉

Took it over the Corrieyairick Pass here. Carry as much as you want.

The Corriayairick pass is for my the defining low point of riding a rigid bike. On a modern bike that descent would be brilliant. Even on a rigid MTB it hurt. So whilst it might possible with 38mm tyres that doesn’t make it desriable or ideal.

@Beanum – how is your Garmin mounted? Seems quite high

Did 43 miles on my Arkose last night. Extended my commute to get some Veloviewer tiles. Mainly on the road but did canal path, off road section across Wanstead Flats, some off road tracks, and a few paved cycleways

If I was buying an off road adventure bike I’d probably get something steel as I love the way they look. But the Arkose did a grand job (considering it had Marathon+ tyres on it)

Carried a rack pack of stuff on it too, and didn’t get wet or muddy thanks to the mudguards

Even on a rigid MTB it hurt. So whilst it might possible with 38mm tyres that doesn’t make it desriable or ideal.

No argument. It was part of a longer tour with more road than not. But a bike that can cross it (on 700x42s) will cope fine with the OPs rail paths smooth bridleways etc while still being Ok to ride distances on road.

will cope fine with the OPs rail paths smooth bridleways etc while still being Ok to ride distances on road

Of course…

OK so I am about 5’8″. I think. Sat on a few of these types and a 54cm frame feels right.
I feel I have narrowed it to either sonder camino or I have been offered in a local shop a genesis CdF 20 in the size i need for £800. Which seems like an exceptional deal…
So persuade me. Sonder of CdF?!

Bought one recently and use it much as you intend to I’ve found previous bikes with 1×9/10 setups to spin out when on the road or not be geared low enough when fully laden. Really happy with my Marin and managed to get it for £650 from the Edinburgh Bike Coop for the 2016. Nice ride position, really comfy in the drops (but I’ve only ridden racy drop-barred bikes in the past). Racks, mudguards and a pair of pedals and still change from £800. I’m 6′ and got a L and it’s spot on (normally ride a M mountain bike though).