Cycling UK Forum

I have a 2005 sutra which had sliding dropouts, this has been useful for running an alfine hub for commuting purposes, it is now fitted back with conventional gears. Only the frame and shifters remain from the original equipment. They are a very heavy bike but very stable under load, one issue I found in original spec was that the gearing was far too high (front chainring was a 53t as standard), this has been replaced with a more sensible trekking chainset. For the money which you are spending I would get a test ride on both before you make up your mind. Could be worth having a chat to sideways cycles to see if they can spec you a salsa up http://www.sidewayscycles.co.uk/products/index.php?clid=10

spend a bit more on the bike, a £400 one will have cheaper groupset etc which would most likely wear out over that distance. You would probably be safer going into Tunisia and then Morocco rather than Morocco to Algeria.
I think through most of Spain and Africa carrying enough water to cover the daily distance would be your biggest challenge (other than the 'if I die in a crash it is Allahs will' driving style in North Africa and the fact that most Italians think they are Fangio in a car and Rossi on a scooter).

[quote=] toilet paper and a flat universal sink plug![/quote]

Sounds like you have all eventualities covered there.

Worth carrying some antibacterial hand gel, cable ties and insulating tape.
I also fit spare bolts into all unused bottle bosses, rack mounts etc in case any vital ones work loose and are lost.

IRC you can get a key to use the British waterways facilities i.e.toilets/showers/waterpoints etc for £5 per year, might be worth looking into.

Compulsary carrying of brie at all times and a e100 fine for possession of deodarant.

One of these should fit the bill:


It's a 2007 kona sutra. Early models had sliding dropouts which would mean no ugly chain tensioners with hub gears, room for 37mm tyres with guards (i run 32mm), disc mounts, lovely geometry, can fit racks and mudguards and is more than capable of going lots of places you shouldn't on a drop barred bike. Down side is that it is slightly heavy. Have done a couple of CTCs, Berwick to Derby, toured Ireland and most of the UK, commute daily on it and love it.

Never had any issues with the discs (avid BB7 road version) and not too sure why there are so many luddites out there when it comes to discs, I would not want to go back to rim brakes on any bike now as I quite like predicatable braking in all conditions.
They come up on ebay occasionally, I think most people hang on to them though. If you were prepared to go second hand you could do the full rohloff route on one of these for less than £1500.

I have an alfine 8speed on my 29er mtb and that has been faultless, although the range would not be sufficient for touring with a single front ring, one option could be to run a chain tensioner and a couple of front rings and a mech.

http://www.edinburghbicycle.com/ebwPNLqrymode.a4p?f%5FProductID=12437&f%5FSupersetQRY=C440&f%5FSortOrderID=1&f%5Fbct=c003155c018343

Could be worth a look as an alternative to the sutra, comes with STIs instead of bar end shifters as well which is a bonus.

Manonabike, I have a 2006 sutra in 54cm which should fit you ok, the frames were a slightly different design (sliding dropouts at the rear) but the geometry is still the same on the new ones, I live in Burton on Trent and you are more than welcome to have a spin on it if you want, let me know (markenduro@googlemail.com).
They are a good bike, a bit heavy but very stable whether loaded or not, the standard gearing on mine was a bit too high for touring (big chainring was a 53t!)the discs are fantastic and I have done quite a lot of touring on mine and use it for the daily commute to work. I had it repainted last year as it was starting to look a bit tatty round the edges. Component wise it has evolved over the years to the point where I am very happy with it (different forks, bars, gearing, saddle etc).

MartinBrice wrote:I'm interested to see you went for disc brakes - whyso? are they not a problem when they go wrong in remote places?
I guess you looked at Thorn - why did you go for a Roberts?

They probably were a problem a few years back when first introduced but not nowadays, I have a kona sutra with avid bb7 (mechanical discs) which has done over 7000 miles without any problems and it's still only on the second set of pads, rim brakes would have worn the rims out by now.

Fair play to him, he's probably the most effective minister for transport this country has had for years, he did a similar rail tour and came up with a few good suggestions and kicked a few @rses within the industry. He should cycle everywhere on cyclepaths (where possible) to see how daft it is having to give way to cars at every side junction and how the majority of cycle paths are actually dangerously designed with the idea of getting bikes out of the way for cars rather than making it easier to cycle.

Go for it. 3 of us did it last year over 3 days, we bivvied out which involved sleeping rough in hedgerows, I would recommend the B&B option . It is a really enjoyable route, I did it on my kona sutra which was ok for the trip, although I fitted some 37mm tyres for the trip which was useful on the forest sections, the other 2 bikes were a cotic roadrat and a ribble audax. The only real issue I had was that the midges took a liking to the taste of me, especially bad at night on the northern section of the ride.