Mountain Bike For Road Touring
If you are thinking of doing a one time bike excursion you may not want to spend the money on a touring bike.
Mountain bike for road touring. Mountain bikers like to ride on tires with less pressure to increase traction on trails and tracks. It all starts naturally with a mountain bike. Happier on a true mountain bike. 700c wheels carry more centrifugal force and greater maintained speed.
More aerodynamic body positioning. Gravel or dirt bike paths and off road or unpaved terrain. More hand positions to reduce upper body fatigue. Harder to find used models compared to mountain bikes.
Touring and cyclocross bikes work fine for rail trail riding and less rugged dirt roads but if you anticipate getting into the rough stuff rocks washboard roads trails you ll be less abused i e. Turning your road bike to into a touring bike. The complete guide to bicycle gears bicycle transmissions explained. Flat with a wide range of gears posture.
Wide and thick for stability handlebars. You can put 1 3 8 or 1 1 2 road tires on those rims and have a great road bike for summer. It certainly has the style of a classic touring bike with upright lines on a steel frame and a gorgeous brooks b17. Touring bike gearing a wide gear range down to 1 1 or lower will help you get up hills on a heavily loaded tourer.
The features of the road bike such as size and tires are not easy to change. There are also a lot of touring bikes which aren t super expensive trek 520 surly lht novara randonee etc. I have a couple of road frames and a couple more mountain frames one of which i ve been using since i purchased it new in 1995 giant boulder. Road bike touring pros and cons.
Mountain bike tire pressure for road touring. If this is the case many cyclists have been known to turn road bikes into touring bikes. You can tour with a mountain bike but the variance in mountain bikes and their suitability for touring is quite wide e g. For off road use and over rugged terrain a mountain bike is the best choice.
On roads you want the least resistance possible to maintain momentum and keep you from pedaling like a madman. Kona describes the sutra as a blend between a mountain road and touring bike. A mountain bike has other advantages over expensive modern road frames. Road bike gearing will require more effort on steep hills.