Читать книгу Cycle Touring in France. Eight tours in Brittany, Picardy, Alsace, Auvergne/Languedoc, Provence, Dordogne/Lot, the Alps and the Pyrenees онлайн

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Although lighter, a racing bike is not really suited to cycle touring as the frame geometry is more severe and most racing bikes do not come with seatstay lugs for the rear pannier rack (although there are ways of overcoming this). It also does not respond too well to hairpin descents when fully laden with panniers. Having said this, I have done three mountain cycling tours on a bicycle made up of racing bike and hybrid bike components to good effect. The hybrid bike is something between a touring bike and a mountain bike in that it offers the relaxed frame geometry and larger 700c wheels of the touring bike, but has straight or rising handlebars like the mountain bike, at least 21 gears, and a sloping top tube. Cycle tourists who suffer from back or neck pains should definitely ‘test drive’ a hybrid if they are not sure which type of bicycle to choose.

Mountain bikes are robust, affordable and often surprisingly suitable for cycle touring. They usually come with chunky, knobbly tyres which are great for all-terrain adventures, but not suitable for cycle touring on roads. Replace them with slicker, thinner tyres that will reduce the effort you have to exert on paved roads; 26 x 1.5 or 1.75 tyres with good tread are recommended. For mountainous terrain, a triple chain-ring (30/42/52 teeth) together with a Mega-range freewheel/sprocket on the back wheel (11–34 teeth) will get you up the steepest hills imaginable, but smaller range sprockets are usually adequate for most rides.