Touring bicycle
Advantages of the slightly smaller wheel include additional strength, worldwide tire availability, and lighter weight.
Hence, on the mass ride from Paris to the Beijing Olympics in 2008, the Fédération Française de Cyclotourisme asked all riders to use 660 mm (26-inch) wheels.
Sport/touring bikes may sometimes have provisions for mounting slim fenders and a rear carrier or pannier rack, though in the interests of weight savings and quicker handling, most do not.
Expedition tourers are strongly built bicycles designed for carrying heavy loads over the roughest roads in remote and far-flung places.
Their frames are often made of steel as it is stronger, more flexible- therefore more comfortable over rough surfaces- and any breakages can be repaired virtually anywhere in the world.
[3] A typical expedition touring bike would be made of relatively heavy duty steel tubing, with 660 mm (26 in) wheels, and componentry chosen for robustness and ease of maintenance.
Most tourers also prefer heavier, stronger wheels than would be normal on a production mountain bike and although some are now equipped with disc brakes to eliminate natural rim side-wall wear.
The Bike Friday New World Tourist packs into an airline checkable suitcase that can be converted into a trailer and pulled behind the bicycle.
The Raleigh Twenty, manufactured from 1968 to 1984, though still commonly available today second hand, is also a popular frame format used to construct collapsible touring bicycles.
Recumbents differ from more traditional bicycles in that the rider sits in a reclining or semi-reclining position with their legs in front.
[5] The luggage carrying arrangements of recumbents are also different, often requiring special panniers and racks designed to fit under and behind the seat to provide similar capacity to a conventional touring bike.
[6] A typical traditional upright tandem does not allow for any more luggage than a solo bicycle, but this limitation can be overcome by pulling a trailer.
However, they greatly differ by typically having a longer wheelbase and more stable steering geometry, with numerous attachments for luggage racks, fenders (mudguards), lights, high capacity water bottles, tools and spare parts.
To be field-repairable (i.e. welding) and for reliability, touring bicycles typically have a steel (CroMo) frame and fork, however aluminum and titanium are also sometimes used.
Higher quality touring bikes are outfitted with strong wheels that are less likely to break under heavy loads on rough terrain.
Internal-geared hubs have a couple of advantages over traditional derailleur gears, in that they can use stronger chains[citation needed] as generally a single sprocket and chainring combination will be used.
Caliper brakes are less suitable because, to fit around mudguards (fenders) and wide tires, they become large and may flex when trying to stop a heavy bike.
Some newer touring bikes use disc brakes, because of their greater stopping power in wet and muddy conditions and also to avoid outer rim wear.
