After doing a test trip from London to Paris on our road bikes (a Bianchi and a Scott if you're interested) with big Carradice saddle bags, we decided that for the full London to Cannes trip, we'd need different gear and bikes.
The main problems with the road bikes were:
- Not enough luggage space. Carradice 'Longflap' bags with support meant we could carry quite a bit, but it wouldn't be enough to go camping with. It also makes the bike super heavy and unstable at the back. It wheelies at the drop of a hat when you're off it - even with a bar bag.
- Comfort. Its a hard riding position for long tours. Sore bums, necks, backs.
- Road Conditions. When hitting the odd gravel track or rough pathways, you feel like you're just waiting for something to break with those thin tyres!
- Gearing. The Bianchi was compact geared and quite high. When loaded up it was a killer on the hills and way too high. Had to stand a lot of the time and really force the pedals round, which meant fatigue kicked in pretty quickly. This could have been fixed with new gearing, but I wanted to keep it as it was for normal use.
- Theft. We were constantly worried about them. They look far more nick-able than a loaded up tourer.
So we decided on more 'touring' style bikes, and did a lot of research.
I had looked at some Dawes Galaxy's on ebay, and a new one in a shop, but didn't really like them. Steel frame aside, there wasn't much to like for me personally (aesthetically in particular), and even the ebay ones were crazy prices. Other brands of new 'real' touring bikes were very expensive as well.
John already had a Ridgeback a few years old, but I didn't have an alternative, so after much research decided on a cheap-ish new Ridgeback Velocity. It's aluminium framed, which the serious tourers seem aghast at, but it ticked a lot of boxes for around £300. It did come with a slightly buckled front wheel out of the box, but that was £10 to fix at the local BS, and the supplier has agreed a refund (if I ever find the receipt).
[The arguments about the pros/cons of steel/aluminium I don't think really apply unless you know you're touring for life, and going to very remote places where chances of repair/repatriation are more limited. I haven't had a steel framed bike for 30 years or more, so won't really know what I'm missing.]
I had looked at some Dawes Galaxy's on ebay, and a new one in a shop, but didn't really like them. Steel frame aside, there wasn't much to like for me personally (aesthetically in particular), and even the ebay ones were crazy prices. Other brands of new 'real' touring bikes were very expensive as well.
John already had a Ridgeback a few years old, but I didn't have an alternative, so after much research decided on a cheap-ish new Ridgeback Velocity. It's aluminium framed, which the serious tourers seem aghast at, but it ticked a lot of boxes for around £300. It did come with a slightly buckled front wheel out of the box, but that was £10 to fix at the local BS, and the supplier has agreed a refund (if I ever find the receipt).
[The arguments about the pros/cons of steel/aluminium I don't think really apply unless you know you're touring for life, and going to very remote places where chances of repair/repatriation are more limited. I haven't had a steel framed bike for 30 years or more, so won't really know what I'm missing.]
To get the bike ready for the trip (photo above), took quite a bit of extra outlay and effort.
I swapped over the gearing, changing the front gearing from stock 48/38/28 to 42/32/22 based on some helpful advice from CTC forums. This meant an extra spend as even though the new crankset fitted my bottom bracket, it ended up needing a new BB anyway (different width?) which added cost. The swap went beyond my bike skills (although I'm learning fast), so it also meant a couple of trips to the shop.
I also fitted Ergon GC3 grips (and had the bars cut down a bit as they were too wide in any case), a Tubus Cargo Pannier rack (which needed an extender set to fit this frame - a bit of a rip off at £12 for a few nuts and bolts and bits of metal, but it was a very solid fix), cheapest Shimano SPD pedals, Ortlieb Bike packer Plus panniers, an Ortlieb dry bag, a Selle-Anatomica Saddle, and moved across the Altura bar bag I already owned. I added a few extra accessories such as Lezyne bike pump, Space Grip mount for putting the GoPro HD camera on, and a 'Skully' flashing front light as it was the only thing that I could fit somewhere reasonable. And a prop stand*. That lot came to way more than the bike, but I kind of knew that when I bought it...
As it happened, it's worked really well on the trip so far, and has been relatively trouble free. A bit of rear derailler tweaking and some tightening, but nothing out of the ordinary for a new bike. It's also surprisingly comfortable with the saddle considering it was brand new.
*Prop stands. We both had different brands fitted. Both were a pain and it was a delicate operation to find a position where the bike felt like it might not fall over for a few minutes. The bikes are very heavy, and the prop stands are weak. The way they mount to the bike is also weak, and means they can slip round. Invariably, this meant that the bikes fell over even after careful positioning - and that was a problem, not least because of the damage and the fact the everything goes flying out of the barbag. I love having a stand - it's much more convenient to just be able to prop it up wherever you like. We just need to find a good, strong one, that mounts to the bike securely and is reliable.
As it happened, it's worked really well on the trip so far, and has been relatively trouble free. A bit of rear derailler tweaking and some tightening, but nothing out of the ordinary for a new bike. It's also surprisingly comfortable with the saddle considering it was brand new.
*Prop stands. We both had different brands fitted. Both were a pain and it was a delicate operation to find a position where the bike felt like it might not fall over for a few minutes. The bikes are very heavy, and the prop stands are weak. The way they mount to the bike is also weak, and means they can slip round. Invariably, this meant that the bikes fell over even after careful positioning - and that was a problem, not least because of the damage and the fact the everything goes flying out of the barbag. I love having a stand - it's much more convenient to just be able to prop it up wherever you like. We just need to find a good, strong one, that mounts to the bike securely and is reliable.
