Mountain Bike For Touring ?

Trips, adventures, bikes, equipment, etc.
forj99
Posts: 2
Joined: 25 Mar 2010, 7:21pm

Mountain Bike For Touring ?

Post by forj99 »

I currently own a specialized hardtail mountain bike, and do a fair bit of day off roading, however I am keen to do week long trips around the uk carrying my own stuff stopping at B&Bs. I don't particularly want to do them off road but would certainly be wanting to use the national cycle route bridleways. My dilemma is that i also have a road race bike, I currently don't have space for a third touring bike, so was wondering how practical it would be to use my mountain bike ? I also dont use my road bike as much as I would like so maybe considering selling that for a touring bike if they are far superior to using a mountain bike. Any help and thoughts would be much appreciated - thanks
User avatar
Si
Moderator
Posts: 15191
Joined: 5 Jan 2007, 7:37pm

Re: Mountain Bike For Touring ?

Post by Si »

MTBs can be great for touring - I used to use one, and did LEJOG on it with no problems.

Of course, it depends on the bike in question - for instance a SS full susser wouldn't be that good! If yours has mounts for a rack then great, otherwise you ought to be able to attach one with P clips (a few pence from any good bike shop), although if you have a disc brake at the back things could get a bit more awkward.

Ideally some mud guards would be good - this'd stop you getting wet'n'muddy, which, on a long day on the road can make you a bit miserable, and can upset the owners of some B&Bs and cafes.

If you are not doing any serious off road on the tour then swap the knobbly tyres for slicks.
Fit some bar-ends to give your hands an extra position on the bars.
You might considering swapping the suss fork for a rigid one as you won't need the suspension on the road or on sustrans tracks - it just adds weigh and is something else to go wrong. But leaving it on isn't the end of the world, especially if it has a lock out.
Also, a bar bag would be good for carrying maps, camera, personal bits and bobs.

Main thing is to consider if you find the bike comfortable for long day rides, and then to make sure that everything is in good working order before you set off.
Goinridin
Posts: 46
Joined: 1 Mar 2009, 12:45pm

Re: Mountain Bike For Touring ?

Post by Goinridin »

I used my 1996 GT Zaskar to ride along the canals from the Med to the Atlantic in France last year pulling a Bob Yak trailer. It performed superbly and just seems to get better and better. I've upgraded as I've gone along and now it has some modern Marzochi Bombers, a brown Brooks saddle with copper rivets and a Use suspension seatpost to take the sting out. The only original bits are the bars and and XT V brakes.
I'm off across the USA on it this year along the Southern route.
You don't need a touring specific bike, it comes down to what suits you and what you're comfortable with. :wink:
User avatar
Cunobelin
Posts: 10801
Joined: 6 Feb 2007, 7:22pm

Re: Mountain Bike For Touring ?

Post by Cunobelin »

Depends on how much you upgrade..

Slick / road tyres, and a rack would make it worthwhile, but if you want new wheels, groupset, brakes as well then a tourer becomes a more viable financial investment

There was a fashion a few years ago for Road Terrain Bikes (RTBs) and I certainly got a lot out of my ancient and trusty Saracen Tufftrax when equipped with slicks, rear carrier, and drops. A good compromise for a heavy duty tourer.
irc
Posts: 5192
Joined: 3 Dec 2008, 2:22pm
Location: glasgow

Re: Mountain Bike For Touring ?

Post by irc »

I've done a few short tours on a Specialized Hardrock fitted with a rack and panniers. It's ideal for Sustrans routes. For mixed road and off road I find 26x1.75 Marathon tyres work well. Another upgrade would be to replace the suspension fork with a rigid fork. You'll save a bit of weight that way and be able to fit proper mudguards.
No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?
forj99
Posts: 2
Joined: 25 Mar 2010, 7:21pm

Re: Mountain Bike For Touring ?

Post by forj99 »

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions - I am very comforatable with my mounatin bike and have often done 40, 50 miles a day on it. It sounds like with a few additions to my mountain bike it will be good for longer tours, I have mounts for a rack, I can lock my suspension out, a change of tyres and some bar ends and I should up and running. Cheers
User avatar
al_yrpal
Posts: 11537
Joined: 25 Jul 2007, 9:47pm
Location: Think Cheddar and Cider
Contact:

Re: Mountain Bike For Touring ?

Post by al_yrpal »

I just bought this viewtopic.php?f=16&t=36102

....largely as a result of doing 450 miles in 9 days on road on a Carrera Kraken MTB. I did fit Schwalbe Land Cruiser tyres(semi slicks), and rode with the forks locked out to prevent bobbing. After that I got an old Dawes Galaxy and did it up, but, such a bike is far less versatile, no good on tracks at all and lacks comfort, thats why I am back to the MTB/Thorn expedition bike format - comfort and versatilty

Image

If you want to do touring change the tyres to semi slicks, fit some decent grips, bar ends, a comfortable saddle, not a MTB 'perch' and a MTB type rack and off you go

Happy touring

Al
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
hamster
Posts: 4131
Joined: 2 Feb 2007, 12:42pm

Re: Mountain Bike For Touring ?

Post by hamster »

I rode the Pacific Coast of the USA on a slicked up rigid mountain bike. It made a great tourer, in fact I still use it as such, although it nowadays has drop bars. Early 1990's steel MTBs are the easiest to convert, as they were designed for rigid forks.
san0
Posts: 222
Joined: 9 Aug 2009, 2:26pm
Location: Berkshire

Re: Mountain Bike For Touring ?

Post by san0 »

I regularly ride with the CTC on my 2001 Hardrock. I have Schwalbe City Jets slick tyres on which makes it very zippy along roads, cycle paths and gravelly trails. Put a rack on and some panniers and you have an excellent tourer.
http://picasaweb.google.com/sandesigns/SpecializedHardrockComp#5354343614315166450
irc
Posts: 5192
Joined: 3 Dec 2008, 2:22pm
Location: glasgow

Re: Mountain Bike For Touring ?

Post by irc »

I've got a 21" 2005 Hardrock frame with Kona P2 fork set up for off road touring.

hardrock-loaded (Large).jpg


The uncut 300mm steerer on the P2 fork gives me high enough bars without a stem extender, which rarely happens otherwise.
No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?
hamster
Posts: 4131
Joined: 2 Feb 2007, 12:42pm

Re: Mountain Bike For Touring ?

Post by hamster »

Put simply, try plenty of bikes. What works for you may not work for other people.
happy pedaller
Posts: 13
Joined: 24 Jun 2010, 6:07am

Re: Mountain Bike For Touring ?

Post by happy pedaller »

I have a klien attitude comp and was wondering if anyone knows if there are ridgid forks available in the same coulor schemes as the bikes with a view to using it for the same purpose?
hamster
Posts: 4131
Joined: 2 Feb 2007, 12:42pm

Re: Mountain Bike For Touring ?

Post by hamster »

Not that I know of, but go to www.retrobike.co.uk for some people who specialise in accurate Klein resprays.
User avatar
SatNavSaysStraightOn
Posts: 23
Joined: 9 Jul 2010, 2:01pm
Contact:

Re: Mountain Bike For Touring ?

Post by SatNavSaysStraightOn »

I have just returned from a 13 day tour with our 2 hardtail mountain bikes. Some of the route we did was totally unsuitable for tourer's and we were only able to do it becuase we were on mountain bikes. (We carried tent, sleeping bags, exped synthmats and trangia stove, + 10L of water with us hence the volume of kit.) We did purchase a front rack for my husband's bike, but actually never needed it.

My husband's bike is a Specialized Rockhopper and easily took a rack - it has the rear rack bosses. Mine (Scott Scale 40) needed a different rack type because it has no rear rack bosses, so uses a different rear skewer that comes with the rack (this actually caused no issues when changing the rear inner tube). Both bikes have front and rear disc brakes, with no brake bosses, so a clamp system was needed to fit the rack - we just used Old Man Mountain rear bike racks (http://www.oldmanmountain.com/Pages/RackPages/RearRacks.html) which have given us absolutley no issues during the 13 days we were touring and fit just about any mountain bike you can think of - the only issue is that those racks don't take rear lights, but we just became creative there.

The only change we made to either bike was to change the grips to something more comfortable - we covered 1,124km in the 13 days (just over 700 miles). My husband ended up with a new rear tyre after finding 3 slashes in it during one of the sections not suitable for anything other than mountain bikes, but was able to continue until we located a bike shop (we had decided not to carry a spare tyre, just 2 spare inner tubes (we had a total of 7 punctures, 1 broken valve and a slashed tyre between the 2 bikes)).

So is it possible? Yes, and it is definitely feasible.
Attachments
IMG_0225_1024 (Copy).JPG
TwoPlusTen
Posts: 531
Joined: 12 Apr 2008, 9:02am
Location: Reading
Contact:

Re: Mountain Bike For Touring ?

Post by TwoPlusTen »

aramok wrote:I have just returned from a 13 day tour with our 2 hardtail mountain bikes. Some of the route we did was totally unsuitable for tourer's and we were only able to do it becuase we were on mountain bikes. (We carried tent, sleeping bags, exped synthmats and trangia stove, + 10L of water with us hence the volume of kit.) We did purchase a front rack for my husband's bike, but actually never needed it.

My husband's bike is a Specialized Rockhopper and easily took a rack - it has the rear rack bosses. Mine (Scott Scale 40) needed a different rack type because it has no rear rack bosses, so uses a different rear skewer that comes with the rack (this actually caused no issues when changing the rear inner tube). Both bikes have front and rear disc brakes, with no brake bosses, so a clamp system was needed to fit the rack - we just used Old Man Mountain rear bike racks (http://www.oldmanmountain.com/Pages/RackPages/RearRacks.html) which have given us absolutley no issues during the 13 days we were touring and fit just about any mountain bike you can think of - the only issue is that those racks don't take rear lights, but we just became creative there.

The only change we made to either bike was to change the grips to something more comfortable - we covered 1,124km in the 13 days (just over 700 miles). My husband ended up with a new rear tyre after finding 3 slashes in it during one of the sections not suitable for anything other than mountain bikes, but was able to continue until we located a bike shop (we had decided not to carry a spare tyre, just 2 spare inner tubes (we had a total of 7 punctures, 1 broken valve and a slashed tyre between the 2 bikes)).

So is it possible? Yes, and it is definitely feasible.


I actually asked this question in a different thread (but for a different bike). Having just seen this I will probably convert my Specialized and leave the Kona as a MTB.

Thank you very much for the information, you've been an absolute goldmine.

Just one question - what grips did you change the originals on the Specialized for?
Post Reply