Bikes - Touring

Hamilton and Alonso, Mancini and Tevez, Kate Moss and pretty much any pretty popstar of the last decade. Great on their own, but a bit of a disaster together. That pretty much sums up On-One's Pompetamine. Dropping Shimano's hot new Alfine 11 speed hub into the classic Pompino singlespeed frame promises so much but ends up being a sluggish and disappointing hybrid.

This handsome steel tourer is a new entry into the increasingly popular drop-bars and discs category from German company Tout Terrain. Designed by Swiss ex-downhill biker Florian Weismann it boasts exotic kit, unusual design touches and an eye watering price tag. Don't be fooled though, this is a heavy duty touring bike, not the fast randonneur that the Tout Terrain website suggests.

This brand new version of the venerable Dawes Audax may have humble components but the Century SE gives everything you want from an audax bike.

Dawes know a thing or two about building long distance bikes and they're justly proud of their heritage. They've been going since 1926 - look, it says so on the chainstays. Go on any audax or CTC ride and you'll see more than a few, of varying vintages. Carbon may be more fashionable for the sportive crowd, but steel is still real and this retro-styled beauty will tackle anything from sportives to Paris-Brest-Paris.

Disc-equipped light tourers have taken over somewhat from cyclocross (and cyclocross 'inspired') bikes in the last year or two as the new super-versatile do-it-all platform. Plenty of them are good, but not many of them are as good as the Jamis Aurora Elite. It manages to balance just the right amount of speed on the road with just the right amount of load-carrying and all-surface capability, in a well-specced and good-looking package.

The Kona Sutra is unashamedly a touring bike. It’s heavy, it feels more like a mountain bike than a road bike when you’re on it and it’s got enough carrying capacity to take the kitchen sink. If you’re going for a quick ride with your mates on their carbon bling, the Kona is going to disappoint you. If you’re planning to cruise into the sunset, it’ll put a smile on your face.

A few months ago I tested the Salsa Fargo, and had a jolly good time doing so. It's the most versatile bike I've ever tested and a real hoot to ride. In the cold hard light of day though, when you're about to put your money on the counter, you might question whether you're actually going to ride an MTB enduro on it, or tackle the Karakoram Highway. Enter the Salsa Vaya – a more mainstream do-it-all option. It's not quite got the range of the Fargo but it's still a massively enjoyable and capable bike, that'll be a better option for many. It's a bit cheaper too.

Costing less than most road and mountain bikes, and nearly all dedicated tourers, the Revolution Country Explorer, is quite a bargain. A reliable and comfortable touring bike is essential for actually enjoying multi-day touring rather than enduring it. Sadly, it’s usually the case that you end up paying a lot for that privilege this bike though looks to be the exception, even taking in to account the odd upgrade.

This drop barred version of Kona's classic Dew is a great, if hefty, do-anything bike built around Avid's brilliant BB7 brakes.

At road.cc we usually review bikes that distributors send us. I've been after a Dew Drop to cast an eye over for some time now but as I'm the impatient type I took advantage of our work's Cyclescheme and went shopping instead.

Gazing on the Fargo for the first time you might wonder what nightmare variety of cheese caused the Salsa engineers to dream it up: drop bar 29er? Bar end shifters? Discs? Six bottle cage mounts? Make no mistake though, this bike is no mistake. Cyclocross bikes are all well and good for a bit of multitasking but the Fargo takes the concept of versatility to a completely different level. And it's a hoot to ride.

Old school and proud of it, the Dawes Sportif is a steel framed Audax machine in the traditional mould, that offers a decent balance between a robust build and a good quality ride. It's a bit docile for the new sportive set but if you're looking for a workhorse bike that'll handle long rides, light touring and winter commutes then the Sportif might well fit the bill.