Which of these bikes is best for long-distance touring?

[cycle tramp]

Perhaps the best bike for a around the coast of Britain type journey might be a.. canoe...
..if you think about it, it goes around the hills and cliffs so there's no up hills to worry about. They're powered by oars and sometimes sails, which means that there's nothing complicated to go wrong, you can avoid angry drivers, and there's probably loads of space in a canoe so you can take lots of things. If you dragged your canoe onto the beach above the high tide mark and turned it upside down, you also have an instant (but small) tent....
..the only down side is things like sharks, killer whales and sea monsters. These fellows terrify me...
And also being drowned by really powerful tidal flows.. that's probably a bit scary too...
And I guess there's a chance that if you're caught in bad weather, a sea storm could smash you and your canoe against a cliff face or rocks or something...

[ClappedOut]

Perhaps the best bike for a around the coast of Britain type journey might be a.. canoe...
..if you think about it, it goes around the hills and cliffs so there's no up hills to worry about. They're powered by oars and sometimes sails, which means that there's nothing complicated to go wrong, you can avoid angry drivers, and there's probably loads of space in a canoe so you can take lots of things. If you dragged your canoe onto the beach above the high tide mark and turned it upside down, you also have an instant (but small) tent....
..the only down side is things like sharks, killer whales and sea monsters. These fellows terrify me...
And also being drowned by really powerful tidal flows.. that's probably a bit scary too...
And I guess there's a chance that if you're caught in bad weather, a sea storm could smash you and your canoe against a cliff face or rocks or something...

Purveyor of doom

[RevDonkBonkers]

Perhaps the best bike for a around the coast of Britain type journey might be a.. canoe...

I actually did that in 2015.

[cycle tramp]

Perhaps the best bike for a around the coast of Britain type journey might be a.. canoe...

I actually did that in 2015.

Fair play too you! - Did you keep a online blog of your journey, I would love to read it
(During my Lejog trip, I was on the A road which follows Loch Ness - the amount of motor traffic on that road was hideous. People going to work, lorries, and camper vans. It was damp and I'd just been overtaken too closely by a motor home with three axles, towing a full sized family saloon car, and I remember looking at the loch thinking about how nice it would be to have some sort of magic lever which turned my bike into a canoe and just get out of everyone's way and actually enjoy the peace of the surroundings instead of being worried that some vehicle would collide with me...
..since that feeling I've often wondered if it was possible to canoe around Britain)

[RevDonkBonkers]

Fair play too you! - Did you keep a online blog of your journey, I would love to read it
(During my Lejog trip, I was on the A road which follows Loch Ness - the amount of motor traffic on that road was hideous. People going to work, lorries, and camper vans. It was damp and I'd just been overtaken too closely by a motor home with three axles, towing a full sized family saloon car, and I remember looking at the loch thinking about how nice it would be to have some sort of magic lever which turned my bike into a canoe and just get out of everyone's way and actually enjoy the peace of the surroundings instead of being worried that some vehicle would collide with me...
..since that feeling I've often wondered if it was possible to canoe around Britain)

Sorry I was kidding, I have never really canoed around the UK! Although I get your point, a bike/canoe hybrid would be a great vessel. I bet someone has tried to make one at some point!

[gregoryoftours]

Out of your picks and others' suggestions I'd choose between the trek 520, Spa and tour de fer. For a long loaded camping tour on a bike that is solid but not too precious that you're worrying about it all the time, I'd go for 3x gearing and avoid 1x11.

[cycle tramp]

Fair play too you! - Did you keep a online blog of your journey, I would love to read it

Sorry I was kidding, I have never really canoed around the UK! Although I get your point, a bike/canoe hybrid would be a great vessel. I bet someone has tried to make one at some point!

Oh darn it!

[slowster]

Yep re the first point I am totally aware of that and have some bike maintenance courses planned, I know I definitely need to be prepared better in that respect.

Paid for bike maintenance courses? I suspect that is probably an unnecessary waste of money. The quality of the guidance and instruction on the Park Tool website is probably better than you would get on a bike maintenance course, e.g. https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-he ... ke-service.

It is a £200 Apollo Voyager I bought from Halford's ten years ago. I suppose it could do the job, but I want something a bit better.

But you don't know what is better, and most especially what is/would be better for you. Some fundamental aspects of what makes a good touring bike for someone are often very personal to them. We can make suggestions, and the fact that many of our suggestions are for the same bikes is a good indicator that they are bikes which many others would probably find suitable for them. But even for us what is better or suitable varies depending upon the individual and their personal preferences and needs. The bikes that each of us might ride on such a long distance tour might vary quite significantly, but they would all individually probably be the best bikes for each of us, because we had found what worked best for us by experience.

The best bike for you might be a Thorn Raven, or a Spa Tourer. They are both very good bikes, but they are very different. Some people would love the Thorn and hate the Spa, and vice versa. Until you do a lot more riding, including with the sort of weight you would be taking on tour with you, you will not know what works well for you.

It would be better if you went away, did a lot more riding including some short tours, and then came back and asked for advice.

[Mike Sales]

..since that feeling I've often wondered if it was possible to canoe around Britain)

In 1970 Geoffrey Hunter circumvavigated, but via the Caledonian and the Crinan Canals, in a canoe.
Angmagssalik Round Britain is his book about the trip.
Brian Wilson paddled from the Solway Firth via Cape Wrath (the big one)to Sea Cliffe by the Bass Rock in the eighties. His book is Blazing Paddles.
Both solo.
So it would be possible to combine these and circumvavigate the Island in one trip, given sufficient stamina and determination.
It may have been done, but that is as far as my knowledge goes.
Many people have done the trip by yacht.

[Jdsk]

67 days:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe ... n-18870824

Jonathan

[RevDonkBonkers]

Paid for bike maintenance courses? I suspect that is probably an unnecessary waste of money. The quality of the guidance and instruction on the Park Tool website is probably better than you would get on a bike maintenance course, e.g. https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-he ... ke-service.

Eh its ok, I have a good amount of money and nothing or nobody to spend it on. I am totally not practical and suspect I'd learn more from doing something in person with someone in front of me than watching someone on a video, so I don't mind spending out money on it.

But you don't know what is better, and most especially what is/would be better for you.

It would be better if you went away, did a lot more riding including some short tours, and then came back and asked for advice.

But surely buying any bike, no matter how experienced you are, doesn't necessarily mean it works for you? I bet even really experienced cyclists have researched thoroughly before buying a bike and thought they have made the perfect choice only for a few months down the line to find out it doesn't work for them. Even if I went out and did a series of short tours I still don't think I'd know what is better for me. It won't be until I get back from cycling around the UK then I think I will understand what would be a good bike for me.

I am only asking for advice, I've already been able to discount bikes I have had recommended to me thanks to speaking to people here.

Also as someone else mentioned seeing as Alastair Humphries spent four years cycling around the world on a second-hand mountain bike, I'd have to make a really bad choice for it to make or break what I am doing. Seeing as a number of models being named repeatedly however has been very helpful

[531colin]

Their Tourer is very good but tyre size is limited by the rim brakes. If you don't want to go much rougher that fairly smooth gravel it would be a good choice, but if you want the ability to ride easily on rougher tracks you want the Wayfarer with its disc brakes. Disc brakes give more room for wider tyres.

Can we unpick this a bit?

...............So ideally I would choose a Thorn Sherpa (again, not everyone's choice, even for such a trip and assuming Thorn still make it). It would have rim brakes and take 2" tyres, more than the Wayfarer's 1.8". The regular steel tourer with rim brakes will go AFAIK to 35 mm so the Wayfarer would be a good choice. But the limitation of the rim brakes of the steel tourer is in the design of the bike, not due to rim brakes per se - just to clarify.

Can we unpick this a bit?....just to clarify?

Spa's Tourer is designed for mini-vee brakes.
For 2 reasons.
1) the huge majority of cyclists today won't consider anything but road STIs on drop bar bikes.
(I think they are staggeringly expensive for what they are, and they bring no benefits for me..... I would rather have full-size Vee brakes and the appropriate levers, but I'm in a tiny minority.)
2) the huge majority of cyclists today "know" that cantilever brakes are "crap". Its not that they should learn how to set them up, they are "crap" and thats the end of it.

So, pray tell us all how Thorn get round this?
I have always found I have to suspend any sort of analytical thought in order to read the luminous Thorn website, but perhaps the laws of physics really are suspended in blessed Bridgewater?

[simonhill]

It strikes me that (as ever) this is going round in circles, particularly when you add on the other 6 page post.

I fully support you buying a new bike if you can afford it - why not! The big problem is that most bike shops know little about touring bikes and can only sell what they deal in, but this has been said many times before.

What I would do is arrange an appointment at Spa in Harrogate and discuss what you want with them. They have a number of options and will hopefully advise you wisely. You could do this by email/phone of course. To be honest, if you can't find something suitable there, you will be better off with a canoe. https://www.spacycles.co.uk/m1b0s225p0/Bikes/Touring

Once they have recommended something, then come back here if you want. One of our esteemed regulars may well have designed the bike and (from what I know) will give good advice.

Likewise you could do the same with Thorn (St John Street Cycles in Bridgewater).

Personally I would go to Spa as I think Thorn are overpriced and some of their bikes are a bit ugly with their long seat post, but the choice is yours.

I think the whole - "you must try it" is overrated and has been discussed here before. Very few people get a chance to have more than the briefest test rides. Time is passing and all you are getting is yet more learned opinions. I would sort something out NOW. Going to Spa is almost certainly the easiest and simplest choice for a one stop shop.

[slowster]

I am totally not practical and suspect I'd learn more from doing something in person with someone in front of me than watching someone on a video, so I don't mind spending out money on it.

Watch the video that I linked to (https://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-he ... ke-service - it is only 14 minutes long). Park Tool put a lot of planning and preparation into producing those videos. The scripts, the camera viewpoints and the close ups are all carefully thought out to be as clear and easy to understand as possible. Many Park Tool videos include clever graphical overlays to make it very easy to understand when the alignment on something is correct or incorrect. You can watch the video before tackling a task, and refer back to it during the task to check. Unless you get one-to-one tuition, a course would not be as good as the instruction provided by the Park Tool guides.

Good tools are often expensive, but usually save money in the longer run by doing the task well and not damaging parts. Save your money on the courses and put it towards the tools you need (and the bike and kit you eventually choose). Buy specialist tools as and when you need them, rather than lots of tools all at once.

But surely buying any bike, no matter how experienced you are, doesn't necessarily mean it works for you? I bet even really experienced cyclists have researched thoroughly before buying a bike and thought they have made the perfect choice only for a few months down the line to find out it doesn't work for them.

Probably like most on this forum I have made mistakes in the past when buying a bike. But the more experience I have gained the less likely I am to make a mistake, even when buying a bike that is completely different to what I have used before.

Even if I went out and did a series of short tours I still don't think I'd know what is better for me. It won't be until I get back from cycling around the UK then I think I will understand what would be a good bike for me.

The steepest part of any learning curve is at the start. You wrote that you have not cycled more than 20 miles before. You won't really know what you want and need in a bike until you start doing some long rides, preferably including some with full touring luggage.

Also as someone else mentioned seeing as Alastair Humphries spent four years cycling around the world on a second-hand mountain bike, I'd have to make a really bad choice for it to make or break what I am doing.

I am not familiar with Alastair Humphries, but I suspect he didn't just ride just any old second-hand mountain bike, and that he chose the bike and set it up to meet his personal preferences and requirements.

[RevDonkBonkers]

Personally I would go to Spa as I think Thorn are overpriced and some of their bikes are a bit ugly with their long seat post, but the choice is yours.

I think this is going to be what I do. It is a long way from me in Kent, but I go up to Sheffield every now and then so that could be stop over.