Hi there, In 2012 me and 2 other friends are riding around 4 thousand miles from California to New York on a sort of zig-zagged route. We have toured france etc before but this will be our biggest tour yet lasting up to a maximum 3-4 months. I need some advice on what sort of touring bike to get including pannier racks and so on. (I know what types of clothing and spare parts i need to take)
I'm looking to spend up to 500 if possible, anything less would be great! (im only a student )
I have been reading up a lot about touring but i only really into my downhill biking and dirt jumping so I am a bit clueless when it comes to touring bikes.
Any touring bike that you'd take eslewhere would be appropriate for touring in the States. I lived in the States for most of my life, and rode the same bikes there as here. Non standard parts will be easier to replace on American or global brands such as Specialized or Trek than on a Claud Butler or Dawes, but I think the advantage of having a good, steel-framed touring bike outweighs the advantage of having access to non-standard parts. The bits that are most likely to need replacing should be available in the US for any bike. There's lots of general advice about buying touring bikes elsewhere on this forum.
What you do have to be prepared for is more extremes of weather. It gets both much colder, and much warmer than most places in Europe, depending upon where you are and what time of year.
Feel free to PM, if you think I can help with more specific advice about weather, routes, or cycling in the USA.
“In some ways, it is easier to be a dissident, for then one is without responsibility.” ― Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
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