Touring bicycles to ride far
Choosing the right touring bike wasn’t easy. After hours of research, and countless discussions we ended up buying something completely different from what we expected. Two Avaghon steel touring bicycles, ready to hit some sturdy roads.
When you say touring bike, most people think of Surly and their disc trucker. Surly makes cool bikes, but was not very easily available in our area. As the bike motion was coming up, a huge annual bike fair, we decided to shop around a bit more. We took a look at the Kona Sutra and the Salsa Marrakesh, Santos, Specialized and Bombtrack. All the different brands and their bikes were making our heads spin.
Avaghon touring bicycle
So we promised to stop by the shop in Rotterdam where we could take a test spin on the Avaghons. It’s a fairly unknown brand which they make themselves. We looked at the Avaghon Racert and the X29, their most recent models. Especially the X29 felt like an incredible smooth ride. The frame geometry leans towards a 29-er mountain bike and it has great tire clearance.
The other model we tested is a more traditional touring bike, the Avaghon S28. A neat bicycle that responds fast and still provides a sturdy ride.
Touring bike brands
We also got to meet Ellen from Bicycle Junkies. She told us that her husband and travel companion Elmar works as a bicycle mechanic at Bike4travel, in Rotterdam, very close to where we live. They had these Avaghon bikes on show as well, but after seeing flashy stands all day and having received an overload on information we couldn’t think straight any more.
Support your local bike shop
The crew at Bike4travel helped us tremendously, and it was great to have them close by for any last minute services on the bike. It’s also nice to know the people who made the bike, especially considering they built it from their extensive personal touring experience. So if you’re in the market for a new bike, go check out your local quality bike shop. That personal service can’t be found online.
Avaghon S28
Avaghon X29
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4 Comments
Join the discussion and tell us your opinion.
The process of choosing the right bike for your journey seemed difficult, trying to make a decision that will work for both of you for the long haul. Seems like your diligence has paid off. Did your test rides allow you to try the bikes with extra weight added? (simulation of the weight you would have on the bike during travels)
Hi Oly,
Good to see you liked reading our blog! That makes us very happy 🙂
We haven’t tested that yet, since we are still gathering our camping gear. As soon as we’ll have our stuff complete and have a weekend off, (we’re both still working) we are going on a test trip. We’ll let you know how that works out by then!
For now it’s commuting on the bikes and buying extra heavy groceries to train 😉
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Oly, you are correct that there is a lot of information to sift through and a lot of product to choose from in a market that is continually changing. There needs to come a time that a longterm cyclist glories in turning the peddles on what he owns and can afford more than he wishes that he had something different.