Hi all, super cool to find this sub, and it seems the right place to ask for a recommendation.
I recently gave up most of my belongings and moved from the US to Europe. One of the things that didn't fit was my beloved Surly LHT with front an rear Nitto Campees. I had the bike for fifteen years, and loved it dearly. And now I just want to get back onto two wheels.
I live in Portugal, and haven't found a great selection of available tourers. What I have seen tend to favor disk brakes, aluminum frames, and carbon forks. And single chainrings. And non-bar-end shifters. And limited mount points for gear.
There are no Surly dealers near me, and the LHT is no longer produced—and all of their bikes use disc brakes now. I don't know why, but just like my insistence upon manual transmission cars, I have a really hard time getting comfortable with switching to discs.
I am considering the Cinelli Hobootleg . This, specs-wise, looks almost indistinguishable from the LHT, modulo higher quality steel. V-brakes, looks like adequate tire clearance, ships with Tubus racks. They're not "cheap", but they' seem reasonably priced.
Anyone have experience with these (or, ideally, with both the LHT and the Hobootleg)? Any similar bikes (available in Europe, for around the same price) recommendable?
Any thoughts appreciated. So close to pulling the trigger on this, but trying to maintain impulse control.
Thanks!
by Fantastic_Actuator67
1 Comment
If you want rim brakes you probably won’t find many other options new. Ridgeback Voyage you can apparently still get new at least in some sizes, don’t know how that would work out price wise if you’d have to import from the UK. Same with a Condor Heritage. Second hand you can sometimes find similar bikes, Dawes Galaxy, Claud Butler Dalesman, but you might have to cast a wide net. This is generally more of a british tradition, in continental europe “trekking” bikes with butterfly handlebars are probably more common.