UKC

this looks great value:
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/fuji/touring-2014-touring-bike-ec055445

any reason i should pay hundreds more for eg dawes galaxy?

In reply to malk:

No, but those gear shifters would really hack me off. Definitely worth getting proper brake/shifters from the start.

In reply to Monk:
not as hacked off as if your 'proper' gears break on long tour though? no friction shift alternative..?

In reply to malk:

It looks like very good value. If I was starting from scratch, I'd build up one of these:

http://salsacycles.com/bikes/2014_vaya_2

A couple of friends have them, they are well thought out, have loads of clearance for fat tyres should you want to do dome rough touring and best of all have discs. Price is good too.

In reply to Monk:

Bar end shifters are the business on a tourer. Though there is no reason not to use STI for anything other than back of beyond touring.

In reply to Removed User:



Thats lovely but at 3x the price hee haw use to the OP!

In reply to malk:

Dawes are over priced but there IS more to a touring bike than sticking pannier racks on it!

My personal view is that if your looking to tour properly and want a bike to last a good long time then its definitely worth looking at a previous years Dawes. Spa Cycles do some cracking deals on 2012 Dawes tourers. Yes a Galaxy will still be around £300 more expensive than the bike you list but you'll be thanking yourself in years to come. Cheap components just don't last and in the intervening time give worse service and need more maintance.

http://spacycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m1b0s21p2418

Or if budget is really tight....

http://spacycles.co.uk/products.php?plid=m1b0s21p2415

In reply to Indy:

the fuji seems to have better components than the horizon (deore vs alivio) but cheaper at its full price than the horizon reduced- and it looks way cooler

i guess i could just continue upgrading my old '80s galaxy but i'd like to move away from 27" wheels..

In reply to malk:

It looks like a good buy.

In reply to malk:

On a budget i can recommend the Dawes Vantage. I got one from Evans through bike to work so the £600 price tag was about £400. Cheap enough to run as is then upgrade the parts as they wear out.

In reply to malk:

Have a look at www.decathlon.co.uk/ always good value

In reply to malk:

The Fuji probably isn't a bad bike. I know Fuji used to be well regarded in the US some years ago but I don't think they were as popular here. My major concern would be the hubs and rims as they aren't listed in detail.

The Galaxy linked to has a better quality frame and considerably better components, although it does have the stupid combination of bar end shifters and canti brakes whereas the Fuji sensibly uses V barkes.

You could put 700 wheels on your old galaxy although you may need to spread the rear triangle to use modern hubs.