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While cycling has experienced an unprecedented boom during the pandemic, its also led many riders to try touring by bike. Or perhaps you know it by its hipper names: bike packing or adventure cycling.
Call it what you will, touring doesn’t have a rigid definition and there’s no wrong way to do it, assuming you’re being safe. I think of touring as any ride that’s not a race, but more cyclists consider touring to be a ride that includes at least one overnight away from home. And though there is a long list of companies eager to sell you touring gear, you don’t need special gear to tour. Grab a bike, throw some supplies in a backpack and start pedaling—you’re bike touring.
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However, if you’re looking to enhance the comfort and convenience of your tour, you’ll want to jump into the rabbit hole and explore the wonderful and geeky world of bicycle touring equipment. And the longer your tour goes on, the more equipment (and preparation) become important.
Below, I cover the basic features you want to look for when considering a touring or touring-capable bike. This is not a discussion of best frame material for riding across the African continent, or the optimal spoke count for crossing Kazakhstan—I'll save those for another story. The biggest thing I want to stress is that you don’t need a traditional touring bike to go bike touring. Many bags strap to conventional frames without the need for special attachment points. and some racks fit on bikes without rack mounts. But by paying attention to some or all of the features below, you’ll have a better touring experience.
High Weight Limit
Check your bike’s total weight limit before chucking a whole bunch of gear and supplies onto your frame. This is less of a concern if you have a purpose-built touring bike, but if you’re going to tour with your carbon race bike, you’ll want to be sure you’re not overloading it, which can lead to failure. In addition, frames, wheels, and other parts—handlebar, pedals, seatposts—often have their own weight limits, so be sure you check them all.
Generous Tire Clearance
Higher loads and comfort for long hours in the saddle are the two best reasons why you’ll want to fit the largest tires possible in the bike you’ll use for your touring. You’ll also get more grip and security, and more tire clearance also means you can fit fenders plus a wider tire.
Lots Of Mounts
Rack and bag mounts aren’t necessary for shorter tours—strap-on bags and a small backpack should be all you need. But if you plan to embark on a more ambitious trip, you’ll want rack and accessory mounts for the additional gear and supplies required. Front and rear rack mounts bring panniers into the equation. These not only swallow lots of stuff but they’re also mounted lower on the bike for improved handling. Three-pack mounts (they look like a water bottle mount with an extra hole) on the fork are handy for attaching additional water bottle cages (standard or oversized) or something like Salsa’s Anything Cage.
Some frames also feature direct mounts for bags. Directly mounted bags can be more stable and have greater security (harder for a thief to walk away with a bolt-on bag). Plus, bag straps can scratch or wear through a frame—especially if the bag is heavy and used for many miles of wet or dirty riding. The challenge with direct mount bags, though, is they tend to be specific to specific bike models and further specific to frame size.
Other mounts you can seek out depending on your preferences and the type of tour: Light mounts, kickstand mounts, pump pegs, chain hanger, and additional water bottle mounts.
Disc Brakes
There’s a long list of reasons why you want to tour with disc brakes. The biggest reason is that disc brakes manage heat better than rim brakes, which is crucial when riding a loaded bike. Heavy braking with rim brakes can heat a rim so much that the tube and tire fail. Disc brakes also offer more consistent braking performance, especially in wet conditions. Plus, with disc brakes, a rider can fit a larger-diameter disc rotor when they need more power and heat capacity for touring, then drop to a smaller diameter rotor for everyday riding and enjoy the benefits of less weight and better modulation. For best performance and safety on a loaded touring bike, pair disc brakes with thru-axles.
Low Gearing
I’ll break down the various drivetrain options for touring bikes in another article, but for now, know that low gearing is a vital touring bike attribute. The additional weight of a loaded bike, the increased rolling resistance of toughened tires, and the aerodynamic penalties of an upright position and bags are all reasons to go low with touring gearing. How low? As low as possible. Maybe even too low. Because spinning out on a descent is favorable to pushing up a climb. If you’re repurposing your standard bike, look into fitting a larger cassette and smaller chainrings. And with some modern drivetrains—SRAM’s AXS, for example—it’s pretty easy to mix parts from a brand’s mountain, road, and gravel drivetrains to build a touring friendly gear range.
Multiple Hand Positions
Long hours on a bike for many days in a row gets tiring. You’ll want a handlebar setup that lets you shift through several hand positions to keep yourself as comfortable as possible. A traditional drop bar is a good start, which you can enhance with add ons like clip-on aero bars with extensions and elbow pads or something more minimal like Farr’s Aero Bolt-On. There are also options for riders who prefer flat bars. There are flat bars with multiple hand positions like Surly’s Moloko, or you can add inner and/or outer bar ends to a standard flat bar.
Couplers
If you’re planning to start your tour at a faraway destination, consider a frame with couplers. This lets you pack the bike into a smaller case, potentially avoiding airline fees. Also, the smaller case is easier to navigate through airports and fits more easily into trains, taxis, and rental cars.
A gear editor for his entire career, Matt’s journey to becoming a leading cycling tech journalist started in 1995, and he’s been at it ever since; likely riding more cycling equipment than anyone on the planet along the way. Previous to his time with Bicycling, Matt worked in bike shops as a service manager, mechanic, and sales person. Based in Durango, Colorado, he enjoys riding and testing any and all kinds of bikes, so you’re just as likely to see him on a road bike dressed in Lycra at a Tuesday night worlds ride as you are to find him dressed in a full face helmet and pads riding a bike park on an enduro bike. He doesn’t race often, but he’s game for anything; having entered road races, criteriums, trials competitions, dual slalom, downhill races, enduros, stage races, short track, time trials, and gran fondos. Next up on his to-do list: a multi day bikepacking trip, and an e-bike race.
