Best touring bikes 2024: Buyer’s guide

A touring bike makes the perfect vehicle for escaping modern life, whether it’s rolling down country lanes with your camping gear stuffed in a pair of traditional panniers, or heading into the wild laden with ultralight bikepacking kit.

Tough and happy to transport heavy loads, touring bikes are also great for commuting when you’re forced to return to civilisation.

Traditionally, touring bikes all sprang from a remarkably similar mould: steel frame and fork, upright riding position, basic groupset with a triple crankset, sturdy tyres, mudguards and one or more racks. Now the variety of designs, price-points and components can be bewildering. But fear not – if you’re in the market for a new touring bike, we’re here to help.

The first step is to decide what you want to do with your prospective new bike. Will you be sticking to the tarmac or venturing off-road? Do you demand speed or would you rather prioritise stability? How much stuff will you be carrying and how do you want to carry it?

The second step is deciding how much money you’re willing to spend. Some bikes come fully equipped with racks and mudguards, while some arrive with no extras included or just as a frameset, so it’s important to figure this into your budget too if applicable.

Once you’ve decided what you want from your bike and how much you can spend comes the fun bit.

Below Cyclist recommends some of the best touring bikes on the market, with prices ranging from around £1,000 to over £4,000. Depending on your needs and budget, each of them has plenty to recommend it if you’re looking to bag yourself the best touring bike in 2023.

If you’re looking for something more explicitly aimed at leaving tarmac, don’t miss our guide to the best gravel bikes – there’s some overlap between the genres, but this guide focusses on the more traditional touring bikes.

Best touring bikes: our recommendations

• Cube Travel: £999
• Ribble Endurance 725 Disc: £1,599
• Marin Lombard 1: £1,025
• Condor Heritage Disc: £1,099 (frameset)
• Ridgeback Voyage: £1,349
• Giant Toughroad SLR 1: RRP £1,499
• Thorn Sherpa: From £1,600
• Bombtrack Beyond 1: £1,900
• Salsa Marrakesh: £1,990
• Kona Sutra: RRP £2,099
• Genesis Tour de Fer 10: £1,500
• Surly Disc Trucker: £2,400
• Stanforth Conway: £3,650
• Tout Terrain Silkroad II 275: €5,249

Why you should trust Cyclist’s advice

Full disclosure: we’ve yet to ride any of the bikes on this list. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t know what to look for in a quality bike for loaded rides over long distances. We spend our lives riding and writing about bikes and understand what makes for a comfortable, reliable, quality ride.

Our review team, led by Tech Editor Sam Challis, isn’t averse to a touch of touring either, as witnessed by writer Emma‘s 2,000km-plus trip to Tunisia (she’s seen climbing the Gotthard Pass above).

The best touring bikes of 2024

Cube Travel

• £1,000 – Buy Now from Tredz
• Aluminium frame and fork
• Fully specced with mudguards, lights, rack and kickstand

An upright tourer, or a practical commuter? The Cube Travel easily fulfils both briefs. All the key markers of touring ability are present and correct, including puncture-resistant Schwalbe Marathon tyres, a wide-range Shimano Deore drivetrain and hydraulic brakes, plus a finishing kit that includes mudguards, rack, kickstand and dynamo lights.

With an aluminium frame, it’s light compared to many steel bikes, while the broad tyres and upright ride position ensure it remains comfy for the long haul. With integrated cables, the whole package also looks pleasingly neat, with plenty of space up-front for a bar bag.

Ribble Endurance 725 Disc

• From £1,599 – Buy Now from Ribble
• Steel frame with carbon fork and mudguard mounts
• Choice of configuration via Ribble bike builder

The Ribble 725 is made using Reynolds steel, with a carbon fork. The base spec is equipped with Shimano Tiagra, mechanical disc brakes, Mavic Aksium wheels and finishing kit from Ribble’s in-house Level brand. Ribble’s bike builder makes it easy to choose your own spec though and you can add mudguards and other accessories.

The geometry is comfortable for long, loaded rides, but also sporty enough for faster, lighter multiday outings.

Marin Lombard 1

For light touring duties, the Marin Lombard 1 offers an alloy frame and fork with internal cable routing and robust wheels equipped with 40mm V Tire G-Sports rubber for comfort or to take in rough or unpaved roads. 

There’s enough gear range from the 9-speed Shimano Sora groupset to get up climbs while fully laden, thanks to an 11-34t cassette paired with a 48/32t subcompact Marin chainset. Mechanical disc brakes come from Tektro, for reliable all-weather stopping and there are mounts for a rear rack and mudguards. Marin has painted the Lombard with reflective paint, so long hauls with early starts and late finishes are safer.

Condor Heritage Disc

Touring bikes are uniquely suited to being custom-built, allowing you to tailor the bike to your quirks and the needs of your expedition schedule. As such, Condor’s steel touring frame makes a great starting point.

Made of steel and with a Tange fork, it’s classic looking, yet a lightweight construction and disc fittings mean it’s also up to date. Geometry is stable but not sluggish, while modern touches like the down tube bottle cage mounts and sloping top tube keep it user-friendly.

Ridgeback Voyage

With its Reynolds 520 steel tubeset at an entry-level price, both the Ridgeback Voyage’s build kit and frame come from the classic school of touring bike design. With 32c Continental Contact tyres and mudguards it’s most at home on tarmac, or well-graded tracks.

Despite being heavier than aluminium, the steel frame should last a lifetime while adding strength and comfort. Not quite as tough, the Shimano Acera derailleur is a bit cheeky given the price. Better are the robust 32-spoke wheels which should be well suited to long distances or use on the daily commute.

Giant Toughroad SLR 1

Stretching the definition of what constitutes a touring bike, the Giant Toughroad will transport you and your gear over everything from tarmac, through gravel, and onto the trails beyond.

Sporting mountain bike-style tyres, the Giant is suited to rough going, but with 700c wheels it’s also able to accept slimmer models, meaning it’s easily adaptable to more sedate use.

In either guise, its flat handlebar will put you in a comfy position where you’ll be ready to respond to obstacles on the road or trail, while the D-Fuse seatpost evens out bumps before they impact your bottom.

With an aluminium frame and carbon fork, it’s light, while the included racks mean it’s a set of panniers away from being ready to roll.

Thorn Sherpa

• From £1,600
• 26 inch wheels can be configured for road or off-road trekking
• Claimed 40kg load capacity

Perfectly accessorised with a map holder and sandals, the Thorn Sherpa is a practical tourer’s moderately saucy dream. With 26-inch wheels, it’s strong, manoeuvrable and easily serviced in even the most far-flung spots.

Available in 10 sizes mixing different top tube and seat tube lengths it’s possible to get a comfortable fit regardless of your proportions. Fully customisable, it may look dorky, but the Sherpa has been well proven all across the globe. A touring classic.

Bombtrack Beyond 1

A radical and very modern touring bike, the Bombtrack Beyond 1 is ready to venture far from the beaten track. Mountain bike-width tyres, massively broad gearing and great flared handlebars mean it excels when the going gets rough.

With a low slung frame, it’s easy to chuck around. This is paired with a high front end to reduce stress on arms and back when spending hours in the saddle.

With mudguard, rack and three bottle mounts, it’ll take traditional panniers or bikepacking bags. There are even fixings to directly attach a snack box to the top tube.

• Buy the Bombtrack Beyond 2 from Bikeinn

Salsa Marrakesh

• £1,990 – Buy now from Cycle Solutions
• Steel frame and fork with numerous mounting points
• Complete bikes sold with a triple chainset, bar end shifters and front and rear racks

Salsa’s old school tourer has a triple butted steel frame and steel fork, with external cabling for easy maintenance. The brake cable for the mechanical rear disc brake runs under the top tube and down the seat stay, keeping it out of harm’s way. Add mudguards and the frame will allow you to fit 40mm tyres.

Rather than integrated brake/shift levers, there are bar end shifters to the Shimano Alivio triple ring groupset, although the frame is compatible with single-piece brake/gear levers and you can even mount down tube shifters on the brazed-on bosses. You can adapt the frame to single speed or hub gearing with Salsa’s adaptive dropouts.

Complete bikes are equipped with front and rear racks and you can mount three bottle cages to the frame, with two more sets of bosses on the fork legs. 

Kona Sutra

Fully specced with a drivetrain that’s a mix of Shimano Tiagra shifters, GRX derailleurs, a Deore cassette, subcompact chainrings and TRP mechanical/hydraulic brakes, the Kona Sutra’s mix-and-match configuration provides a robust, wide-range configuration.

Supplied with a front rack and mudguards, the rest of the finishing kit is quality too, from the 40c Schwalbe Marathon Mondial tyres and WTB rims to the wide flared bars and gorgeous Brooks leather saddle.

Genesis Tour de Fer 10

• £1,500 – Buy Now from Ebay
• Steel frame and fork
• Dynamo lights, racks and mudguards included

Equipped and ready for adventure, as a complete package, the Genesis Tour de Fer 10 is unbeatable value. Stacked with quality extras, the rear Tubus rack will serve for either commuting or longer tours. Upgrade to the Tour de Fer 30 and you get a front rack and dynamo lighting too.

Hung off a reliable and ultra-comfy disc-equipped Reynolds 725 steel frame, the complete bike rolls on tough 36 spoke wheels.

Happy to be laden down, the 700x35c Schwalbe Marathon tyres are as indestructible as you’ll find while stopping them flinging spray at the rider are full-length mudguards.

Surly Disc Trucker

• £2,720 – Buy Now from TradeInn for £1831.99
• Low maintenance, easily available components
• Adaptable frame allows multiple drivetrain configurations

This disc brake-equipped version of the popular Surly Long Haul Trucker improves stopping, lowers maintenance and boosts rider confidence when transporting heavy loads.

The no-nonsense steel frame uses only the most common and durable fitting standards, meaning the parts bolted to it are both long-lasting and easy to replace if you find yourself somewhere remote. There’s even a holster to carry spare spokes built into the frame.

Ultra-adaptable it’s available with 700c or 26in wheels, and can be converted to use Rohloff hub gearing.

Stanforth Conway

• £3.650 – Buy Now from Stanforth Bikes
• Designed for fast touring
• Shimano 105 spec with TRP Spyre mechanical disc brakes

The traditional looks of the Reynolds 853 steel Stanforth Conway belie its speedy nature. Made for pace over distance, it’ll accommodate panniers, but is happier being loaded more minimally than some packhorse-style tourers.

Built to a stock geometry in the UK, it has bosses for racks at both ends along with mudguards. Paired with plentiful tyre clearance, it’s a versatile machine, yet retains an emphasis on fast riding.

its gearing and finishing kit can be adapted as needed when ordering, but as standard it comes with a Shimano 105 50/34t double chainset and wide Ultegra 11-34t cassette.

The bike’s name comes from it being created in collaboration with adventurer Sean Conway, who used it to claim the record for cycling across Europe. You can read about his exploits here.

Tout Terrain Silkroad II 275

• €5,249 – Buy Now from Tout Terrain
• Gates belt drive/Rohloff hub gearing
• Lights and brazed-on rear rack

From deep in the wilderness comes Tout Terrain. This dedicated touring manufacturer from Germany creates all kinds of fabulous bikes. Its popular Silkroad II model blends indestructible 26-inch wheels with an equally robust Dedacciai steel frame which includes a built-in rear rack.

Able to be run with a Rohloff hub and Gates Carbon belt drive for minimal maintenance, disc brakes mean it’ll keep rolling even if the wheels get bent out of shape.

It comes in four stock colours, plus a whole pallet of custom RAL options, and is fully customisable.

More into bikepacking? Read our guide to the best gravel bikes for more load-lugging options.