Expedition Touring Bikes

The expedition touring bike is the big, sturdy brute of the bicycle world. These top-quality machines are ready to take whatever you can throw at them.

Some are made by craftsmen, turning out a dozen or so bikes a year from their garage. Others come with a brand name like Thorn or Koga.

Regardless of their pedigree, these are bikes you should be able to ride around the world, over mountains, through rivers and down rocky tracks with every confidence that they can handle the terrain and the week’s worth of food you’ve loaded on the back luggage rack.

Frames are often made to measure and the wheels will almost certainly be the 26” standard that is most easily replaced anywhere in the world. Across the bike, the focus should be on high quality components and there should also be an element of beauty.

Custom paint jobs and beautiful welding work are to be expected on this level of bicycle.

Photo by Dennis Koomen - www.toko-op-fietsvakantie.nl
The Santos Travelmaster: a high-spec expedition touring bicycle. Photo by Dennis Koomen

Rohloff Hub
Expedition bikes are also where you’re most likely to see the latest technology, including the Rohloff Hub – a nearly maintenance-free and sealed gearing system.

Because everything is enclosed, the Rohloff is great for trips down dirty, dusty roads. It also lets you shift without pedalling (if you want to change gears at a stoplight, for example) and a wheel built with a Rohloff is very strong because the wheels don’t have to be ‘dished’ or arced as they do on bicycles with derailleurs.

Rohloff Hub
The Rohloff Hub – a very nice but expensive addition to your touring bike.

On the downside, the Rohloff costs an extra $1,000 U.S. and in the unlikely event that something does go wrong, you’ll probably have to send the hub back to the factory to be fixed. The customer service is, by all accounts, wonderful but how will you feel if the worst happens? It could mean interrupting a tour and waiting for your wheel to make the journey to the plant in Germany and back.

Our personal preference is to deal with the quirks of a derailleur, which we can fix and which every bike mechanic the world over understands but plenty of cyclists are completely in love with their Rohloff hubs. It’s not really a case of derailleurs versus Rohloff but being aware of the pros and cons to both, before you make a decision.

If you do go for a Rohloff hub, try and make sure a separate derailleur hanger is also fitted to the frame. That will allow you to retrofit a derailleur if the hub can’t be used for some reason.

Think Ahead
One final thought on expedition bikes in general: plan ahead if you decide to buy one. They are often made to order and it can take weeks or even a few months before your bike is ready. Starting to look six months or even a year ahead of your departure day is not too soon.

Comments

  1. Callum Walls
    26th January 2010 at 11:37 am #

    Where do you start? Personal preference obviously pays a key role here. Starting with Drop bar or flat bar? Steel Aluminium? Titanium? 26″? 700c?

    After riding both drop bar tourers and flat bar tourers I must admit I prefer a flat bar tourer (specifically butterfly bars) with 700c (28″) wheels. I favour the cannondale aluminium frames and usually custom build them to my own specification. You cant really go wrong with a mid-spec shimano groupset such as the Deore group, strong, rubust and good value for money and also available in 48T touring gear ratios. Ensure your wheels are double walled and eyeletted for strength. Many cyclists opt for 36H as they are stronger although all my tourers have been 32H and I have never seen this a problem. If you decide to build your own wheels ensure you choose good quality spokes. DT swiss offer double butted spokes which are strong and lightweight. If you feel that strength is more important, opt for the plain guage.

    Spending money on good quality racks is paramount. Tubus offer some fantastic lightweight and strong racks, although pricey they will not let you down. Plus within two years of your purchase if the rack were to fail they will send a replacement for you wherever in the world you may be and within fives years will replace the rack. Blackburn and Tortec also produce good quality front and rear racks.

    Nothing can rival the advice you can get from your local bike shop. No amount of online data can substiture the advice and experience from a long distance touring cyclist plus precise sizing can be determined.

    Hope this helps
    CALLUM

  2. friedel
    26th January 2010 at 11:50 am #

    Hi Callum, some nice tips there. I completely agree with spending money on good racks and double-walled rims are iimportant too, though on any decent bike costing more than a few hundred dollars I’d be shocked to see single-walled rims.

  3. Callum Walls
    26th January 2010 at 12:58 pm #

    FRIEDEL,

    You would be surprised! I much prefer to build my own wheels rather than using stock wheels, nothing beats a hand built wheel. Currently using Mavic’s A317 Disc rims (700c) which I am very impressed with. Strong and light. My previous tourers where all 26″ (except the drop bar) and I used cross country rims (XC717 disc) and once again never missed a beat, never needed to retrue.

    There isn’t a noticable difference in drivetrain components (deore, SLX, XT) although I would highly reccommend a Hollowtech 2 chainset on any setup, lighter, less tools, less maintanence and it will never damage your frame even if you are running it rough!

    CALLUM

  4. Al Rynn
    8th May 2010 at 11:55 pm #

    I’ve used a Mongoose Randonnier for the last few years with Alex Adventurer rims and Shimano XT components. Its been to China, cycled the Gibb River Road in Western Australia (carried 10 days food and up to 20 litres of water in 43C heat), been raced (Rainbow Rage) and in used for the odd mountain bike ride with no issues whatsoever.
    Highly recommend and very well priced. Alloy frame very strongly built for loads and steel fork.
    Drop bars (more hand positions) and bar end shifters (reduced risk of being stranded if fully loaded bike falls over and damages a brake lever) are my preference and 700c (28′) wheels smooth out the rough stuff.
    Schrader valves good for very hot rides where valves melting around the tubes can be an issue on Presta valves.
    Cheers,
    Al

    • friedel
      9th May 2010 at 6:02 am #

      Al, do they still make this bike? I went on the Mongoose site but I don’t see it there.

    • Gordo
      28th August 2012 at 12:47 am #

      It is now 2012 end and I am still plodding around on my Mongoose Randonneur as well. They don’t make them anymore which is a great pity. Was only $700 new at the time and my wife and I have done most of Australia without a problem. Have on 37mm and 42mm Conti tourers and can go anywhere with Bob trailer in toe. No need for expensive models/hubs etc

  5. Steve Jones
    9th May 2010 at 3:06 am #

    These are all great choices for touring bikes and as the owner of two Thorn bikes including a Raven Tour I’d like to suggest that there is one more bike that should be added to the list. There are a lot of keen cyclists these days that like to mix touring and mountain biking. Thorn offer a bike called the STERLING which has MTB geometry and a suspension fork but the correct build and all the important essentials ( including the Rohloff speedhub) for serious touring.This is well worth considering because of it’s versatility.With a rack and fully loaded up, its a real touring bike, but you can also enjoy XC and singletrack mountain biking.I mention this because i think these days quite a few cyclists start off with an MTB and THEN find they want to try touring. This is perhaps the only bike designed from the ground up, to do both. Of course if you only plan to do road touring, any good quality bike like those shown above will do the job.

    Steve J

    • friedel
      9th May 2010 at 6:41 am #

      Thanks Steve – I’ve just added it to the list. Interesting bike!

  6. Gary D
    10th May 2010 at 2:42 am #

    I think you are missing out on a factor that can significantly lessen your bike set up costs.

    I tour with a Bob trailer, on an old hybrid road bike from the 1990’s, with 21 speed and mtn bike gearing. cost of the bike? $200

    Sure I have renewed many components, gears, wheels, etc, but as the load of the bike is distributed across the bob, it means the bike itself doesn’t come under too much pressure.

    The bob has been so heavy laden that bike flex meant I couldn’t take my hands off the handlebars, yet the bike itself suffered no breaks, damage, for over 8000kms at least. I used continental touring tires, 700’s and never had a puncture the entire life of the tyre.

    All this I put down to the trailer reducing work on the bike, meaning that the equipment didn’t need to be so expensive, and thieves were not interested in stealing it.

    Once when i was in Turkey, a local was so disparaging of the bike that I was sure no one wanted to steal it.

    • friedel
      10th May 2010 at 6:28 am #

      Gary, I’m preparing quite an extensive article (may turn into a series) on trailers so watch this space 🙂 You’re right, a trailer can take a load off the bike. It also means more parts to potentially break down on the trailer itself but it’s true that many people love their trailers.

      • Steve Jones
        10th May 2010 at 12:43 pm #

        Thanks Friedel for adding the Sterling to the list.It rides very smoothly indeed loaded with a tent and panniers as long as you balance things up ( which you should always do anyway) Cass Gilbert’s- While out riding – site gives a good idea of what this bike can do, and is worth tuning into for the pictures and inspiration alone! When you’re thinking of spending big money on a serious touring bike it’s nice to know all of the options out there! I’m lucky enough to be able to afford one, but I think it’s really cool that you can tour on a $200 dollar bike with a trailer too! Why not?

        I do find that my bike is more than enough to manage at the airport though, so I’m not sure how I’d cope with a trailer too.( Any thoughts, advice, on that Gary?) It would be great once on the road though.
        Will look forward to the article/series on trailers!

      • Gary D
        11th May 2010 at 1:38 am #

        Friedel, Here is a page I made on the bob, I really like it, the only downside is the weight of the bob itself, it breaks down great for airplanes as well

    • Laurens
      23rd July 2012 at 12:18 pm #

      I wouldn’t say that a bob trailer reduces the stress on your frame. I’m currently touring with a 1982 road bike, wich I love, but one of my chain stays snapped. When you go out of the saddle to climb the weight swings and puts alot of stress there.

      I cycled more than 20 000 km with it and it only costed me 100 euro (probably another 200 in replacements). But sometimes I think I should have invested in some quality when I’m having another week of limping from village to village to look for another replacement.

  7. Rory Woods
    3rd November 2010 at 6:48 pm #

    No mention of the Rivendell Atlantis?

    • friedel
      3rd November 2010 at 6:56 pm #

      I’ll look into it. Thanks for the suggestion 🙂

  8. Hugo
    13th February 2011 at 11:31 pm #

    You can also add Idworx and possibly Stevens on the list now.
    Couple more builders in Holland are ‘Avaghon’, ‘Van Herwerden’ and ‘Vittorio’. How about the Van Nicholas Pioneer?

  9. Kaitlyn
    15th February 2011 at 6:36 pm #

    Any chance of getting a similar review of touring recumbent bikes or trikes?

  10. Steve Jones
    14th April 2011 at 2:20 pm #

    Anybody used a Rivendell for touring? Would sure like to see a review.

  11. Steve Jones
    14th February 2012 at 1:31 pm #

    Concerning the choice of a derailleur or hub gear like an Alfine or Rohloff, quite a few companies are making bikes now that have dropouts that will take both.
    This would be the ideal because in the unlikely event your hub gear does fail you could probably set up a derailleur drivetrain to keep you going. Surly Troll would be a good place to start investigating this kind of frame.

    • friedel
      15th February 2012 at 1:43 pm #

      Good point – I’ve add a note about this to the text. It’s not a commonly available option as yet, but a good one to negotiate for if you’re going to invest in a Rohloff.

    • Pedal Power Touring
      5th March 2012 at 2:55 am #

      Good point, but if you are touring and there is a problem with the Rohloff hub, are you going to spend the money to purchase shifters, rear wheel, cassette, and rear derailleur just so you can get down the road while you’re waiting for your Rohloff to return? Then what will you do with all this stuff after your Rohloff returns? You might be better off just running your bike as a single speed until your hub returns. Just a thought.

  12. Ian
    18th December 2012 at 7:32 am #

    Hey guys…… I can, after giving Telstra some stick, I can now access your brilliant site once again ! Going back to the Mongoose Randonneur……… It was replaced with The Vivente World Randonneur, which is what I have…….. Steel frame and fork……… But, off the shelf ( Three differently specced models ), the spec is quite average and somewhat weird in my eyes…………. Sti levers, Tiagra cranks, drop bars (each to their own but I prefer mtb bars with anatomical bar ends any day of the week ! ),…… Basically just a reall average set up. I bought one used ( with thirty kilometres on it if memory serves …….. The seller realised it wasn’t for him….. i got it for $800.00. I then stripped it to frame and fork amd built it up with a minimum XT components, and had a set of wheels hand made using Phil Wood Touring Hubs. 48 hole rear, 40 hole front. Tubus and Nitto racks make it pretty much bullet proof ! Lol

  13. Paul hackin
    23rd December 2012 at 1:00 pm #

    Drop handle bars with bar end shifters..good quality 26 inch wheels are the way to go

  14. Hughonabike
    17th February 2013 at 3:48 pm #

    I’ve done a ton of touring over the years. 1st time was in the early seventies using my dad’s Moulton standard. Amazing bike. Another time I used a Dawes galaxy,I was OK , but the Moulton was far better. Other times I used various mountainbikes and found them good for mixed terrain touring. Today I use a custom built Surly Pugsley sporting 4.8″ tyres. It will go just about anywhere. I reckon it’s worth checking out. I guess my next will be a tadpole trike.

  15. peter
    29th March 2013 at 8:47 pm #

    My “Low cost” touring bike: 26″ self built wheels. old Scott Peak frame made of steel(1992) (twice repainted).
    Simple V-brakes. steel frame pedals with toe-clip, front and rear racks with approx sum 65L bags, extrawheel classic trailer 2pcs of 60L- waterproof bags
    And an unicum. Deore LX rear deralieur from 1988 (still working)
    Simple, cheap, and it takes me ewerywhere.

  16. William Newton LEE
    1st May 2013 at 9:30 am #

    God this is a heavy subject area. Lots of good in for here. The best I can say is well said. Yes steel. 26 wheels . You your bike and gear will weigh a lot go for a lot of low gears. Going down hill you don’t need any gears now you need super good brakes. Speed goes faster with weight down hill . And will get scarier. I mean 60 or 70 miles a hour hang on. No time for something to break. Like 5 spokes on one side or axle smoking then break. Yes this happen. Travel lite but not without. Always have lots of food and water there a lot of beautiful camping sites let’s stay another day o.k. I think sand and river. Crossing the hardest. Walk it first. Make that bike comfortable handlebars right. This is a pleasure trip so let’s enjoy. Happy trails.

  17. Chris
    13th December 2014 at 8:48 pm #

    A change of living circumstances means I can now only have one bike. It had to be a mountain bike.

    It’s based around an old, plain-guage cromoly Claud Butler mountain bike. Heavy, of course, but strong, and not whippy when you put loads on it.

    I built wheels for it with Shimano hubs and DRC ST19 ceramic rims (I bought a lifetime’s worth when they stopped making them).

    I was going to build a Rohlhoff wheel for it, but I don’t like the idea of owning things I can’t fix. I realise derraileurs have a lot of problems, but I can get parts to fix them anywhere, and can do all the repairs at the roadside. It’s an 8 speed, with twist grip shifters (they attract less attention from thieves and give you more room for things on the bars.

    Plastic mudgards. A Brooks. I am not sure whether I’m going to have butterly bars or the current flats with two sets of barends.

    The best thing is, the whole project has given me change from £200. The bottom bracket is higher than I’d like, but that’s not a terrible problem, when you consider some of the bikes I was looking at buying cost nearly ten times as much as what mine cost. It’s comfortable, and it does the job really well.

  18. frank higgins
    2nd August 2016 at 7:18 pm #

    I bought a Cube Hyde pro in 2012 as i felt it was excellant value, strong, simple and reasonably well spec’d. I intended to use it for everyday use but now use it for touring around southern Spain where i live. It has an aluminium frame, Shimano nexus 8 internal hub, Schurrman euroline rims 700, dt swiss spokes fitted with Schwalbe road cruiser tyres. Truvativ cranks, Cube bar, stem and seat post. I’ve changed two items, i now have Schwalbe marathon green guard tyres and although it came with Shimano v brakes the cables were not ! they are now, Shimano also. I’ve added a Giant rack-it rear rack and lowrider both aluminium and very strong, i use Ortlieb classic rollers on the back, city rollers on the front and an Ortlieb handlebar bag to complete the set. These are filled to the brim with my Big Agnes copper spur ul1 placed on the rear rack. I paid €550 for this bike new and it has never let me down, it rides well even when fully loaded. The ‘spread’ of the gears with nexus 8 are all that i need and the granny gear is perfect for all the mountains i’ve encountered. So there you go, €550 !

  19. Brian Bassett
    19th November 2021 at 9:36 pm #

    I fully used the benefits of time, technology, innovation, and design improvements when building my current bike. I’ve been lucky enough to have ridden bikes for over 60s years now on several different continents so I knew what I wanted going in. I learned long ago not to listen to people trying to sell anything… you simply can’t believe, let alone trust someone that wants your money. So I started looking to the amazing people that were actually doing what I wished I was doing, Mr. John Isles and Ms. Cathy Colless. Two supreme athletes that I knew I couldn’t match in performance but would love to ride with… so I decided to “cheat” by adding a mid-drive motor to the best tour bike built rather than wading through the endless lame production ebike being produced today. What I have ended up with isn’t only the best touring bike I have ever seen or heard of but also the best all-around ebike ever.

    Tout Terrain Panamericana *modified w/integral rack and bar lock (Best touring frame built)
    BaFang BBSHD 1000W mid-drive w/Bling Ring
    Rohloff Speedhub
    Schmidt Dynamo hub w/Sinewave Revolution
    Edelux II headlight
    26″ X 2.5″ rims wearing Schwalbe Marathon Tour tires
    Butterfly touring bars
    Adjustable stem
    Chris King headset
    RockShox fork w/lock out
    Fox shock w/remote lockout
    Tektro Dorado Hydraulic brakes w/180mm rotors
    Selle SMP Seat
    Ursus Jumbo center stand
    FAIV Hoogar front rack *modified
    Arkel Panniers (4)
    Arkel bar-bag
    Rockbros double-ended bar-bag
    Tout Terrain Mule trailer *modified
    SunCapture folding 300W solar panel

    https://photos.app.goo.gl/wP8vs7T5hLpNjSBX8

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