The Wild Cycle: What kind of bike is best for cross-country biking?
I don’t know how long it will take to plan, but I want to start with the bike. I’m planning on riding from the west coast of the USA to somewhere on the east coast. Any tips or list of things to bring(starting with the necessities) would be extremely helpful.
Answers and Views:
Answer by kelbabe305
I assume you are talking about a motorcycle? My personal favorite would be the Harley Road King. It’s smooth riding, and luxurious. Oh, and take plenty of water, and sun screen.
i highly recommend a book by Mike Shermer called endurance cycling. comfort is the most important factor. i recommend a touring bike. they typically have a longer wheel base and more tail to help make it stable. they also have less steep angles to soften the ride, and eyelets to attach all the various packs and racks. his book inspired me to do a few double centuries and such. i have always inspired to ride across the country, but it would take a lot of time. with a job, wife and kids, that is one thing i dont have.
it is 3000 miles more or less, so if you did a century or so a day it would take 30 days to do. as for what to pack, that depends. if you plan on living off the bike, you will need everything. if you plan on using motels and towns, you might need a lot less. mike has a list of suggested items in the book i recommended. it is far too long to list here.
Answer by McGI have a riding fried who did the coast to coast in 2007.
His ride was a steel framed Bianchi with 700X32’s.
He had paniers on the front and back as well as a luggage rack. You will need a tent if you are planning on camping on the way, bed roll, and clothing. It is suggested to have at least 3 days of food at all times, as there are still some wide open spaces in this country, and you don’t want to be trying to ride with no fuel in ya. Tools include a mini-kit, spare tubes and tires, patch kit and pump, extra batteries for your lights, even a spare universal style cable.
He also brought a registered side arm with him. That did surprise me until he explained about how the possiblity of being accosted in our south western states by illegals is very real. I was reassured when he said he never had to use it.
This rider took about 4 months to complete his east to west trek. Doing a century a day isn’t the way to tour. In fact his lowest mileage day was in the mountains of Virgina and he made 15 miles in one day in a driving rain storm up a mountain. Don’t get me wrong — he is one of the strongest riders I know, it’s just the conditions aren’t always favorable for a century. Plus, the point is to see the country isn’t it?Answer by Kez D
I did a similar thing in britain, cycling the length of our island. I did it entirely off road. I took a full suspension trek fuel EX 9.0.
I ask a mate of mine to weld on rack mounts and we made a flexi rack n bag. It was superb! It did take lots of money and time to do. The last time I did it a put rack mounts on my rock shox recons. This worked well on a hardtail Marin rocky ridge were i could take more and use standard pannier bags. Hadrtail is the way to do. Don’t wear anything but a hydration pack on your back if your cycling for long periods of time in the suns. Putting a wet bag on a soaking back is horrid when there is 45 miles to go.Answer by taylor
Go into a bicycle shop and ask about touring bikes. You want the bike to fit you well and you want a comfortable seat. I recommend a Brooks… Probably a sprung model like the Flyer.
You will want to get use to riding 50-75 miles/day. You need to start riding with panniers full of cargo (unless you get a Bob yak trailer… which is a nice alternative or addition). The bike will handle differently.
Some helpful sites
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/touring/index.html
https://www.bikeacrossamerica.org/
https://www.biketouring.net/
Check out the blogs for first hand experiences, such as
https://washingtonbureau.typepad.com/bikeblog/
Answer by Matt KevinYou mean, touring bike?
In the states…. well it depends on the road conditions. I see, in the states the 700cc wheel size is very popular (opposite to europe where you could hardly find any 700 size casual bike). So, if the conditions are overall good, you can go with the 700cc. If there’s a lot of gravel, it’s better to go with 26″ although there are still yanks who ride through pretty harsh stuff with the 700.
in the states with 700 there are LOADS of options.
What I suggest for the price:
1. Fuji Touring
This is a really cool bike, it’s not pricey, is realiable- made of cromoly and will take you pretty much anywhere you want. you’ll have to change something here and there (as usual), like probably rear rack and mount the front rack, change pedals and saddle you want and so on, but overall it’s totally ready.
2. Bianchi Volpe
I don’t know much about this bike but as far as I know it’s pretty good for touring and is also made of cromo
3. Devinci Caribou
Another amazing touring bike made in Canada, I don’t know if there are any dealers in the states but you can check it out. The frame is made of alu I think but fork is sure cromo. overall this is a really amazing touring bike! Looks like canadians top choice 🙂
4. Cannondale Touring
In my opinion the king of all 700cc touring bikes. If I had to buy a 700 size bike, I’d pretty much go for this one. It’s really awesome. I think its frame is made of aluminium but fork is sure cromo and this bike has been through anything from himalayas to chile to zimbabwe or alaska 🙂 There are two versions- Touring 1 and Touring 2. You have to check the page to see the differences.
5. Surly Long Haul Trucker
https://surlybikes.com/
If there was any distributor anyhwere near my area, this bike would be my top choice for the price; actually, it’s a frame and fork but at least it also comes in 26″ wheel size (which I need). It’s made in the states and is pretty inexpensive but you have to build the rest yourself (I mean, pick out all the components you want and give to a mechanic to build it up.) It’s also all totally durable cromoly. So you can pick a 26 bike or 700 one.
Surly also make their custom racks called “nice racks” (rear and front) who are totally inexpensive but are all made of cromo! https://surlybikes.com/parts/nicerack_pop.html
So.. I pretty much suggest you the Surly LHT. It’s comparably inexpensive (depends on your component choice) but totally durable and they’re even used on expeditions. Plus, I really love that you can pick out the components how you want. it’s amazing. pity, they don’t sell this frame much in europe.
6. Novara Randonee
Pretty cool bike for the price. All made of Reynolds 520 cromoly (which is awesome) and overall the specs are good. I’ve heard from my american friends, this bike is really trustworthy.
7. Novara Safari
This bike somehow is becoming a legend. Its specs are totally awesome for the price- it comes around 850$ . The wheel size is 26″. Woohoo! I’m actually thinking about buying this bike because it’s really a great bargain for the price. The frame is durable alu and the fork is made of cromo. However, the designers have apparently been stupid because this bike has disc brakes (at least- mechanic, phew..) and the rear rack is kinda dodgy and made of aluminium, not steel but overall it’s pretty interesting. The disc brakes also don’t allow much to change the rear rack as you want so you have to live with it. Also the front rack mounting can be tricky due to the disc brakes but there are some models who fit- Tubus Tara (top-class thing!) and many Old Man Mountain lowriders. So it’s not so bad afterall.
8. Jamis Aurora
This seems a pretty awesome bike plus it costs only 850$ . It’s made of Reynolds 520 cromoly frame and cromo fork with Shimano Deore derailleurs and overall I really like the geometry of this bike. So in comparison with Novara Safari which costs the same I can’t say who’s better. But probably this one. This has lower quality derailleurs (and maybe something else) but this is a steel frame bike. So for good conditions (no hardcore gravels) and riding in the states (size 700) this can be a better choice than the Safari which is aluminium and has all these kind of dodgy things on it.
9. Everyone will tell you how cool is TREK 520.
https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/road/touring/520/520
Yeah, it’s pretty cool but somehow I wouldn’t suggest it. Some love this bike, some hate it, personally I haven’t had any experience with it. It’s not so “touring” as it seems but at least it’s all cromoly and if you know what you wanna change on it and how, it can be a good bike.
That’s all I can think of right now. There are hundreds of different touring bikes but I don’t think you will find something much better than these for the price. Sure, there have to be some which I ain’t mentioned.
Remember, on all touring bikes you’ll have to upgrade something or change something, they ain’t gonna come ready to start riding on the spot. It’s your own thing, your favourite pedals, tyres, racks, maybe brakes or even handlebar. You have to pick the best option FOR YOU yourself and then upgrade it and change what you want.
The next thing is racks and panniers. It’s another long story but basically you have to buy steel racks. I suggest you Tubus . There are loads of others but Tubus in my opinion are by far the best ones.
The panniers… there are also loads of choices. You have to check out your itinerary and the conditions. Basically, the best panniers available on market are Ortlieb. The only ones who are 100% waterproof, however, they’re not so comfy maybe as they don’t have pockets and all that stuff but I use only Ortliebs and they’re totally the best. Every member of tough expeditions use them and if they work amazing for them, itll work even more amazing for everyone else.
About all the equipment. I could write a book, dude! It’s soooo a long story. Sure, I can tell but how many pages would that be?. Even about socks we can talk 4 hours long! every thing is important- there are so many things and each of them have to be well thought-out, that’s why I said- preparing can lost for months, even longer.
Basically, at this point I suggest you to take a look at this site:
https://bicycletouringpro.com/blog/ -this guy has made a pretty awesome site where he explains what equipment he’s using and how it works. Although some things on this site are a bit bollocks, he shows the essentials and shows it through videos which is awesome plus he comes from Cali or Nevada himself. So definitley have a look!
And again- if you have any specific questions- ask me; when I started touring I didn’t have anyone who would tell me how, and so I had to learn from my own experience and mistakes and now I understand how important it is for others. so feel free to email me. cheers
Answer by cauldronMy husband and I have done a number of tours–not cross country yet, such as riding the length of the Florida Keys, the Katie Trail, the trails across Wisconsin including Sparta-Elroy tunnel trails (first “rails to trails” in the country) and other trips ranging from 200-700 miles. We take our time though and rarely ride more than 60-70 miles per day,, and usually go “credit card camping”, meaning at night, we whip out a credit card to pay for the hotel room. Being as we usually only go for a week or 2 at a time (haven’t been able to take more time off work yet), we often find it easier to figure out where we’ll be staying in advance, and mail clean clothes to ourselves for our arrival, along with prepreparing the labels to ship the dirty ones back home. Eliminates having to do laundry on the road or having to pack extra clothes.
A Brook’s saddle? Yeah, very popular for touring bikes, but it’s just a strip of leather, and can be really painful until properly broken in, for several months before attempting a cross-country ride.
If you’ll be going down any mountains or steep hills, I recommend panniers over trailers as several bikers have been killed when their trailer jack-knifed or started dog tracking while going downhill. Biking jerseys, tights, and other biking gear is really a good idea–and they dry fast! I never thought I’d be wearing those padded tights, but now I don’t wear anything else–along with always carrying arm and leg warmers which are easy to carry and slide on or off as needed for early morning or late night riding.
Flashing tail lights–to minimize the risk of getting rear ended, and really good headlights–because you never know when you might get stuck having to ride at night, in bad weather, fog, rain, or even snow–I’ve hit properly parked cars that I just couldn’t see in time because the weather was so bad.
At least 1 extra tire and several spare tubes–it’s far easier to replace a tube on the road than to repair it–and CO2 cartridges take up less room and so much nicer than handpumping. Also a “multitool” to tighten anything that comes loose. The rest of my “emergency repair” kit consists of a cell phone and GPS.
GPS devices are pretty cheap now, and incredibly helpful on the road, especially those with preprogrammed “points of interest” listing all the closest restaurants, gas stations, and hotels. Even better if you can program in your own, as you can with the “Garmin Nuvi” series–I preprogram in all the Bike shops and Starbucks along the way.
You may also want to consider a recumbent bike, as we’ve met a lot of cross-country riders who have made the switch to these. They’re simply faster than ANY traditional frame, and you can easily cruise along at 30 miles per hour on one. They’re also easier on your back, arms and hands, and once you get used to them, they’re really comfortable to ride. I’d recommend one of the higher ones as the low riders can be more hazardous on the road–lack of visibility.
Oh, and even cross-country, I ride my tiny Airborne Titanium racing bike, which is slightly modified to be uber comfy and so light weight, it practically walks up the hills all by itself. All I carry is my underseat repair kit, 2 water bottles and a small handlebar bag with all my gear–along with credit cards and proper planning, that’s all I’ve needed. Well, my husband carries a little more usually, but not much.
Enjoy your trip!
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