Touring

There are few things more elegant, or more useful, than a real touring bike. If you measure your rides in weeks and months instead of hours, True North has a frame for you. Touring is a category of bike that is almost completely ignored by larger manufacturers, but True North makes custom touring bikes to handle anything from light duty tours to around-the-world expeditions. A few of our customers have reached the 100000 km mark on their True North touring bikes.

With saddle times of upwards of 8 hours a day for months or years, there is no better argument for going custom - proper fit on touring bikes is absolutely crucial. Weight distribution must also be considered given the amount of weight that is hauled around on some of these bikes. We pay close attention to both fit and load distribution when building custom True North touring bikes.

We build frames around 700C, 650B or 26″ wheels depending on the size and preference of the rider. The aesthetics of a True North touring bikes vary with intended use. A light duty bike might resemble a road frame, whereas an expedition bike might resemble a mountain bike. Frame style is also dictated by tire size. The tubing used to build True North touring bikes is aimed at ensuring a strong, stiff, durable frame, but also places a high value on comfort-this is a tall order and one that mass producers just don’t like to touch. Touring bikes tend to see a lot of tough situations, including airline mishandling. Touring bikes must be especially stiff in torsion to resist the heavy load placed at either end of the bike.

Some possible considerations for your touring bike would include: