BootsnAll Travel Community

G'Day,

What kind of bike, that is make, size, type etc would you take on a 2-3 month tour. Also what special features would you look for?
Thanks
-Nick

Look into getting a mountain bike--a Kona. www.konaworld.com
Good luck and have fun.

If you're going to be sticking to roads, I'd get a road bike. I used a Trek 1500 this summer in France and Spain (paniers) and it did just fine.

For a travelling bike do you guys recommend front / rear suspension?

What is your experience?

Nick

If I were going on a multi country bike ride I would have to say go front suspension only,because no suspension would kill your arms and shoulders and dual susp adds to much weight and complexity ie. more trouble,also do not!take a $3k-4k bike unless you can seriously hold on to it and plan to sell it along the way. Take a cross bike if poss because no matter what you think,your going to be on the road most of the time. I do have a Trek STP400 carbon fiber softail for sale,Marzocci susp,chris king hubs and headset,Full xt group 2001 model low mileage! $2100. Please help finance my next trip. Sorry for the personal plug, but I gotta try!Thanks, Gabriel.

nick, know this is a way old post. but just finished 2 months in france on a $400 2yr old front suspension mtb. and had a ball. only had rear panniers and slicks (1.5") added to the original setup. never had one problem (not even a flat!!) but through most of europe roads seem to be quite good. the front suspension really took up the shock when it got rough too. personally i wouldnt spend too much on a bike for a long tour. ie enough to get something quality but not too outlandish. there is a constant threat of theft, we were lucky. we camped everywhere which got a bit painful, and added a lot of weight to the bike. but was an awesome experience...

Yaaki,

Thanks for the update. You got really lucky with the $400 bike, glad things worked out. I might do a short bicycle trip in future but can see myself also doing a motorbike trip.

Nick O'Neill
http://www.BaliBlog.com
BootsnAll's guide to Bali