Non-electric Touring Bikes

[Oldie]

My Sirocco has definitely rekindled my early interest in cycling but now I'm strangely drawn to buying an "old fashioned" standard touring bike for trips to Holland, and maybe beyond.

I mean, how hard can it be when you've no hills to contend with? Yes, there are always headwinds but the Sirocco has already started to build up my muscles and I feel that an "engine-free" bike would be more practical for idle wandering across the water.

As far as I can see, all that is required is a fairly basic bike (probably a hybrid) which has panniers, or am I being naïve? Furthermore, the choices are even more overwhelming than the e-bike offerings so I thought that something from a big retailer like Decathlon or Halfords would be a good way to start.

I know that "you get what you pay for" but surely a £250 bike will be fine for 40 or 50 miles a day? If I were younger I might invest £2000 in a really good marque but who knows how many active years lie ahead, although I hope that the answer is "plenty"

I've done some research and am familiar with all the high end upgrades available but I really just want to know if anyone on here owns a bog standard, currently available, nice bike. To be honest, the all look the flippin' same to me

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Buy one in Holland and then you can get a proper one from the experts there. They can all speak better English than us, so it's no problem. You might even be able to hire a nice one there if its only a couple of weeks at a time.

 

[Oldie]

Hiring sounds like a good idea - just in case I don't get on with it too well.

I'm always over that way on my motorbike and have noticed the huge number of bike shops - presumably they do both sales and hires? That would also open up the prospect of getting a train to anywhere, really, without having to lug a bike around.

Thanks for the tip

 

[Oldie]

Well, I saw a new Claud Butler Legend on ebay yesterday, just 5 miles from my house, and managed to win it for a few pounds below £200.



Took me over an hour to assemble and adjust the brakes/gears etc but it looks great and is just the job for my proposed trip to Holland. The spec seems reasonable and, just as importantly, I like it

 

[neptune]

@Oldie. I am very pleased that you found the bike that you were looking for, at the right price so near home. I have a Raleigh Metro Pioneer, which I bought new from an Ebay seller at around £200. I hope that you enjoy yours as much as I enjoy mine. I live in the fens, which is very similar to Holland. Same flat land, same winds, and this part of Lincolnshire is called... Holland. Sometimes when I get tired of the winds, I take a train 30 miles upwind and bike back. I hope you enjoy using your bike.

 

[Oldie]

Thanks Neptune. I think that our bikes are very similar and it's a design which I probably wouldn't have bought a few years ago, but now makes a lot of sense for easy touring. They just seem so practical.

Before venturing abroad, I'm planning on adding some Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres. My bike came with M-Traxx puncture resistant tyres but everyone seems to love the Marathons, so there must be an advantage.

I did buy some cheap Aldi panniers for my Sirocco, mainly for dry days out, but I'm not sure that the in-built rain covers would deal with a wet summer so I will probably have to splash out on some decent waterproof jobs. I also need lights, but I could always just use the Sirocco ones for the duration of my trip, not expecting to use them in any event.

Other than that, I think that I'm good to go. The plan is to change my current DFDS booking from motorcycle to bicycle and just see how I get on. I'll take the bike down to Newcastle on the back of the car and leave the car parked at a friends house. It's only a 5 night break so I shouldn't get too lost. By the time I depart (end of the month) I should also have managed to get a few miles on the CB and ironed out the initial teething problems.

It will be interesting to see how I get on

 

[timidtom]

Dawes Galaxy or Super Galaxy? Probably the best touring bikes ever built. Worth searching for.
Tom

 

[neptune]

@Oldie.I am sure we will all be interested how your trip goes, and look forward to a full report, with photos if possible. I use and thoroughly recommend Schwalbe Marathons. Cycling as I do, in rural areas, I was getting far too many punctures from thorns resulting from hedge cutting. I also find the marathons give noticeably less drag. I tend to take wind direction into consideration on a trip, using computer weather reports. So where possible, I plan things so that I avoid headwinds during later stages of the trip when I tend to have less energy. Carry foul weather gear, but I hope the sun shines on you.

 

[Oldie]

Sun finally breaking through so out for first trial run, just to the end of the road and back (say 500m) to fine tune the gears.

Erm....this is harder than I thought, you actually have to use quite a bit of effort....he he. That Sirocco has definitely spoiled me and I will really have to get some proper training done before I take this up seriously. I certainly couldn't tackle my usual e-bike routes on this, well not at the moment, and I immediately started thinking of what motor would fit the Claud.

So, I've had the wind knocked out my sails a little bit but I'm going to persevere

 

[neptune]

@Oldie. Take it one step at a time, and don`t give up. When I first came back to pushbikes after retiring and a spell in hospital, my first trip was about as long as yours. But I persevered a little at a time. I now do ten miles every day whatever the weather. I occasionally do trips of 20 and 30 miles. One day I did 44 miles. I am 68 years old . I did it and I am sure that you can too.