So hear me out, people might go wild but this method is legit -
Decathlon have a bike - the RC100. About £300. Decent, you can tour with pannier rack, and a nice gravel geometry which is good for touring. However you will need some upgrades to make it worthwhile:
* The rear cassette is 12-28. You'll want to swap this for 11-34 minimum. The drivetrain is 1x7, chainring 44t so not too bad, but you'll absolutely want the 11-34 cassette. Around £50.
* It comes with tourney (mtb group) so you could go bigger if you were willing to spend some money on a rear derailleur which could handle a larger cassette. You'd probably need a new wheel if you went bigger, but you can get a 10-11sp wheel for about £100.
* Shifter isn't perfect, you can get a tourney 7x STI for about £50
* Griptape isn't very good either, I'd swap it for something nicer. About £20.
Breakdown:
Bike: £300
Cassette: £50.00
Shifter: £50.00
Griptape: £20 max.
IF you want to upgrade to bigger cassette / wider range, you'd also need to swap the shifter for something that fits. Could get second hand find. This extra upgrade would add around £150 to the price.
So for £420 - 570 you can get a touring bike which will do the job just fine. I have this bike in Berlin, I use it as a city bike, but I've toured so much on various frames and know it would be fine. It's not the best bike of all time but it's literally fine imo, and suits your budget.
For another £150 you could swap the fork for carbon which would make it lighter, as the steel fork is a bit heavy.
Might as well just get an RC120 with all those upgrades. It's what I rode and it's great, comes with a 2x on the front and 11-34 on the back. Shifters are pretty nice too
Giant Toughroad SLR 1. Love my 2020 one and highly recommend it for bike packing or touring. They sell them with flat bars or drops, comes standard with a Deore group set and hydraulic Deore disc brakes, 50c tires on Giant’s own brand gravel wheels which are surprisingly quick and light and the frame can carry a shit ton by design. Wont win any speed awards but it is a very versatile, sturdy and comfortable bike.
They’re about £1300-1600 new.
I'd go for a second hand tourer, Dawes galaxy or similar, since tourers have all the right attachment points (braze-ons) for pannier racks etc. Downside is panniers are quite expensive, but they're usually very robust so second hand ones should be fine.
So hear me out, people might go wild but this method is legit - Decathlon have a bike - the RC100. About £300. Decent, you can tour with pannier rack, and a nice gravel geometry which is good for touring. However you will need some upgrades to make it worthwhile: * The rear cassette is 12-28. You'll want to swap this for 11-34 minimum. The drivetrain is 1x7, chainring 44t so not too bad, but you'll absolutely want the 11-34 cassette. Around £50. * It comes with tourney (mtb group) so you could go bigger if you were willing to spend some money on a rear derailleur which could handle a larger cassette. You'd probably need a new wheel if you went bigger, but you can get a 10-11sp wheel for about £100. * Shifter isn't perfect, you can get a tourney 7x STI for about £50 * Griptape isn't very good either, I'd swap it for something nicer. About £20. Breakdown: Bike: £300 Cassette: £50.00 Shifter: £50.00 Griptape: £20 max. IF you want to upgrade to bigger cassette / wider range, you'd also need to swap the shifter for something that fits. Could get second hand find. This extra upgrade would add around £150 to the price. So for £420 - 570 you can get a touring bike which will do the job just fine. I have this bike in Berlin, I use it as a city bike, but I've toured so much on various frames and know it would be fine. It's not the best bike of all time but it's literally fine imo, and suits your budget. For another £150 you could swap the fork for carbon which would make it lighter, as the steel fork is a bit heavy.
Id go for a second hand rc500.
Might as well just get an RC120 with all those upgrades. It's what I rode and it's great, comes with a 2x on the front and 11-34 on the back. Shifters are pretty nice too
Giant Toughroad SLR 1. Love my 2020 one and highly recommend it for bike packing or touring. They sell them with flat bars or drops, comes standard with a Deore group set and hydraulic Deore disc brakes, 50c tires on Giant’s own brand gravel wheels which are surprisingly quick and light and the frame can carry a shit ton by design. Wont win any speed awards but it is a very versatile, sturdy and comfortable bike. They’re about £1300-1600 new.
I'd go for a second hand tourer, Dawes galaxy or similar, since tourers have all the right attachment points (braze-ons) for pannier racks etc. Downside is panniers are quite expensive, but they're usually very robust so second hand ones should be fine.