What type of bike?

[3spd]

I'm 11 stone (70kg) my riding consists of......

99%+ general fitness riding 15 - 30 miles, when I also tend to pick up bits of shopping and divert of down bridle paths.
A 1 week tour, usually carrying 25lb of kit in 4 panniers.

I tend to ride a 26" wheeled, flat barred, expedition bike but this seams a bit OTT, plus I went to a bike fitting today and it confirmed what I'd been thinking my bikes tooo small!

What would be more appropiate? I am happy to switch to drops or convert drops to flats if neccesary.

[meic]

Apart from the size, I would reckon that your existing bike is good for the job.

If you want a slightly easier life then you could get a second pair of lighter wheels with thinner/lighter tyres for when not on bridle paths or loaded up. They make the bike zip along more easily.

I would fit barend grips or butterfly bars but for your mileages you can manage OK with straights.

[3spd]

But alas my frame is tooo small for me so there is going to be a change.
I already use bar ends.

I also MUST have mudguards!!! (what a diva )

[meic]

I probably have a different idea of what an expedition bike is compared to your idea.

All my mental images of expedition bikes have 65mm black SKS Mudguards as an essential feature.

Although some of the divas have carbon fibre (effect?) mudguards.

I think if I am picking a new bike, I rather curiously start by picking the sorts of tyres that I want to ride on!! Then I work back from that.

[3spd]

Like the tyre idea but that just means a new topic "What type of tyre?"

[emergency_pants]

Are you buying new? What is your budget?

If you have the budget, the new Dawes Nomad looks right up your street. Or how about the Thorn Sherpa? They're a kind of rugged expedition style bike that will do rough stuff and touring with loads.

[meic]

The "Jack of all trades" is possibly the Dawes Galaxy, in any of its forms.

A tourer ticks most of the boxes and for me a light-tourer is the one bike to have if you must only have one bike.

I would say an Audax bike but you are too restricted on the tyre front, so you can get a similar bike with more clearance which means, I am afraid, no caliper brakes.

Then you start to wonder if you prefer straight, drop, butterfly etc etc bars.
Then do you want 26" wheels or 700C.
Will you be working the bike hard with luggage or just occasionally.
How much money do you want to spend?

These are not conditions of what makes a good bike, just examples of the ways of thinking about it. Fill in your own questions and answers.

Once you have rough ideas of what you want in features THEN start to look at which INDIVIDUAL bikes have these features. Rather than picking on the basis of a marketing classification.

Then when you have done all this and made your new bike, six months later you will suddenly decide that you want to do something completely different like starting time trials.

[uphillbothways]

A trad tourer - it's built for exactly the sort of riding you do. A Revolution Country Traveller or an old Dawes Galaxy if you're on a tight budget; A new Ridgeback or Dawes if you're not. If you can afford to splash out, give Spa or Hewitt a ring and they'll see you right.

If you like the idea of hub gearing you could go for an On-One Pompetamine, or wait to see if Halfords do another batch of the Subway 8. Less suited to touring due to the limited gearing range, but ideal as a low-maintenance daily driver.

If you really like flat bars then you've got an abundance of options in the hybrid/tourer/whatever space, but they're less than ideal ergonomically. Drops don't mean a hunched-over riding style if you get the fit right, but they do add enormous versatility.

[[XAP]Bob]

The other question is how much too small? In what way too small?

I do realise that there are stiffness advantages to shorter seatpost etc... but you'd need to be moving a long way to justify a new frame just for that.

Of course I repeatedly recommend having at least two bikes for maintenance reasons (one can be off road for a couple of days)

[3spd]

The trad tourer option is one I have considered but my expedition bike is harsh unloaded.

To get my flat bars in the right place i ended up with 90mm of spacers (a bit Thorn'y) and a 135mm stem!

[meic]

When people start to talk about handling and harshness of the ride, it is time for me to gracefully leave the debate as it is beyond my level.

As a parting shot though, doesnt this lead even more to a light-tourer?

[Freddie]

define harsh...maybe you have the tyres pumped up too hard, what width & pressure are you running?.

[fatboy]

define harsh...maybe you have the tyres pumped up too hard, what width & pressure are you running?.

I would agree about that. I try to run my front at 50psi and my back at 65psi (700c x 35c) normally. If I load it up I tend to pump the tyres up a bit more. If I then ride it uploaded it bounces me all over the place!

[531colin]

..................

I think if I am picking a new bike, I rather curiously start by picking the sorts of tyres that I want to ride on!! Then I work back from that.

Like the tyre idea but that just means a new topic "What type of tyre?"

Is there another way of building an "ideal bike" in your head?

"3spd" wants to do shopping, touring, bridle-pathing, and day rides.
So for winter, thats Marathons (or similar), 32 or 35mm, depending if the bridle paths are an excuse for a walk and a sit on a nice day, or at the other end of the spectrum, you simply havn't been out unless you have been off-road! ( I think its important for a man of my sort of age to admit to at least some of his shortcomings.)
For the dry season, something a bit lighter, Marathon racer, or supreme (or similar), maybe down to 28mm depending on the importance/frequency of the bridle paths.

So thats either a conventional tourer, or a "specific" roughstuff bike, depending on the importance of bridlepaths. (A roughstuff bike, to me, is really a tourer with big tyres and plenty of daylight under the 'guards....there is nothing worse than the wheels locking up with mud packed up under the 'guards, so you have to carry the muddy thing!)

[meic]

I would have been thinking more like (insert tyre name) at 35 or 37mm or possibly Marathons at 47mm for the winter. For the fatter end of the spectrum

Space for ice tyres is needed too.

Which is why I think the tyre part of the question has to be answered first.