As we get into July we can’t help but think of one of the the summer cycling activities we love most – touring. We tend to think that riding a bicycle is always fairly amazing, but it’s made all the more exciting if you’re heading off to a new place, with your tent, cooking gear and clothes all carried on your bike. Being a touring cyclist isn’t really like being a roadie, it requires a different mentality – one that’s far more relaxed about things like average speed or power outputs and watts. Instead it’s about enjoying the experience of riding a bike, exploring new places and sleeping under the stars each night.
{Touring frames:34167,34035}
For a great touring adventure there are a few things you’ll definitely need – chief among them, of course, is a bike that’s fit for purpose. We stock a couple of specialist touring frames from British brand Dawes, who have been associated with travelling cycling for many decades. Their 3IMA Titanium frame is a top-of-the-line, lightweight touring rig, complete with mudguards for inclement conditions and a powerful Ultegra groupset. The bike doesn’t come with a rack, but it does have mounting points to attach one. Dawes’ other tourer, the Super Galaxy is an evolution of their signature Galaxy frame, which has been around for many, many years. Now this one does come fully equipped for touring with racks and guards already attached. The frame is Reynolds 853 steel – for the most forgiving, comfortable ride possible as you plug in the miles.
You might very well have a bike already, in which case you’ll want to set it up ready for touring. Beyond mudguards – which are a good precaution against the predictably unpredictable British weather – the other absolute essential on a touring bike is a rear rack to put panniers on. Some bikepacking setups use a seatpost bag which are more aero instead, but this is really for lightweight, stripped back trips where you may not even carry a tent. We’d recommend this Tortec Expedition rack as a great value option.
Once you’ve got a rack sorted, you will of course need something to put on it! We’ve picked out these Ortlieb panniers as a fantastic choice, particularly because of their impressive waterproof qualities and the roomy 40 litres of storage space. As a side note – these are also very popular with commuters because of their highly-visible yellow colour and additional reflective sections.
Additionally, and this one may be controversial, we’d recommend investing in a GPS with map functionality. This Garmin Edge model is called the Touring Plus, because it’s designed particularly with travelling cyclists in mind. Functioning like a sat-nav device you’d use in a car, but loaded up with cycling-specific maps, it’s the ideal way to ensure you spend maximum time enjoying your adventure and wasting absolutely none by fretting about going the right way. Of course, the purists will insist that the only way to go touring is with a good old fashioned Ordnance Survey map, but you try using one of those when it’s blowing a gale and you’re on top of a hill!
