Bikes Direct has watched with excitement as customers have bought bikes for the purpose of touring. In its simplest form, according to the Bikes Direct professionals, bike touring involves traveling long distances by bike, carrying any necessary gear such as clothing, camping gear, and cooking equipment. Bikes Direct is glad to see that cycling has become so integral to the lives of many people that they are eager to plan vacations not only incorporating a bike, but also completely centered on it. Many customers who have purchased their touring bikes from Bikes Direct post their experiences on forums and blogs, and Bikes Direct employees love to see pictures of happy customers on their touring bikes by the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, or inaugurating and concluding a cross-country tour by dipping their wheels in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Bikes Direct customers report that these tours, whether days, weeks, or months long, are among their most memorable vacations, and their first tours often become the first of many. Bikes Direct believes that there is no better way to travel than by bike, and to incorporate biking into one’s vacation plans is to guarantee that the trip will stay with the cyclist forever.

Although the thought of planning a ride potentially hundreds of miles in length and also organizing lodging can be a bit intimidating, Bikes Direct is happy to report that there is a wealth of incredibly detailed information available online to help those entertaining the idea of doing a tour. Bikes Direct believes that bike touring, in essence, can be quite simple. All that is required is a bike, camping gear (if the bike tourist chooses to camp), a couple changes of clothes and a route. Obviously, the bike is the most important piece of equipment one will require for a tour, and Bikes Direct offers many touring models, including the popular Windsor Tourist and Motobecane Gran Turismo. These bikes feature slightly wider tires than traditional road bikes, braze-ons to which to mount racks, and a relaxed geometry for a less aggressive, more comfortable ride. Naturally, accessories depend on the length of trip and the tourist’s lodging plans, and Bikes Direct is glad to recommend shops that will provide the future bike tourist with amazing deals. Bikes Direct has heard from customers who have camped their whole journey and who have required the maximum amount of gear, while others have stayed in hotels and required minimal gear. Some have combined both.

One of the aspects that Bikes Direct loves most about touring is that the length of the tour and the route can be altered to accommodate any riding level and style. A tour can take two days or two months, and Bikes Direct believes that every length has its benefits. Shorter, more local tours familiarize cyclists with their own surroundings, revealing environments, neighborhoods and wildlife that have been right under their nose all along but have perhaps gone unnoticed. Longer tours, on the other hand, expose cyclists to a region, an entire country, or even multiple countries and the distinctive cultures, people and landscapes that comprise those areas. Short or long, Bikes Direct believes every tour provides cyclists with an opportunity to become better acquainted with their world.

Bikes Direct urges anyone even remotely interested in a bike tour to further explore the information available. There are many existing routes, and Bikes Direct hopes to see pictures of its customers and hear their experiences on each and every one. There are a myriad of reasons to plan a bike tour. Some go looking for adventure, to gain a better familiarity with a region, or – as is the driving force for many Bikes Direct staffers – to eat their way across the country. Whether planning a tour through your state or going all out and planning to traverse the TransAmerica Trail, Bikes Direct believes that bike touring offers an amazing experience for anyone, from beginner cyclist to advanced. Tourists are encouraged to send comments on specs, tours, and other interesting topics to Bikes Direct. This type of input could be posted at any address on the Bikes Direct contact page at http://www.bikesdirect.com/contact.htm.

About Bikes Direct

Bikes Direct continues to provide the same excellent cycling experience that riders around the world have come to expect from Motobecane. As a beginning, Bikes Direct can offer this brief history; Motobecane has been making bikes since 1923 and was named after the French word Moto for motorcycle and Becane for bike. Things went well for the company until 1981 when they were bankrupt and bought by Yamaha and became MBK. Now Motobecane USA is not related to the French company as they import bikes from Taiwan and China, these are the bikes you are interested in. Bikes Direct offers these Bikes Direct to the public at competitive price points and excellent quality.

According to Bikes Direct, Motobécane was a major manufacturer in the French bicycle industry. The frames on Motobécane’s mid-to-upper bikes were typically double-butted lugged steel made from Vitus or Reynolds 531 molybdenum/manganese steel tubing with Nervex lugs. Motobécane finished their frames in beautiful and high-quality paint, a practice not often followed in the French industry. Considered the second most prestigious French bicycle (after Peugeot, whose more durable design they emulated, but ahead of Gitane), Bikes Direct remembers Motobécane’s mid-range bikes as a good value; the company kept prices reasonable by matching high-quality frames with lower-priced, but higher-quality components from Japan, at a time when competitors were putting higher-priced, lower quality French components on mid-range bikes. Bikes Direct says that Motobécane bicycles included the Nomade, Mirage, Super Mirage, Super Touring, Grand Touring, Sprint, Jubilee, Grand Record, Le Champion, and Team Champion.

Bikes Direct now offers Motobecane models that use carbon on two of their ranges of bikes, the Race Carbon/AL and the Full Carbon ranges. From the Race Carbon they produce the Century Comp, Elite, Pro and Team and from the Full Carbon they have the Immortal Pro, Force and Spirit.

Race Carbon/AL from Bikes Direct

Bikes Direct says the Race Carbon /AL frames are a mixture of Alloy main frame tubes and carbon rear seat stays. The frames use different Alloy for the tubes on each of the frames and different equipment to assemble the bikes.
The Century Comp has Columbus Airplane tubes and Shimano 105 Triple group set.

The Century Elite has Shimano Ultegra Triple kit and the frame is made from 7005 double butted and carbon stays. Shimano Ultegra 30 speed and Kinesium SL and Carbon are used for the Century Pro.

Bikes Direct offers the top class Shimano Dura-Ace, and carbon FSA Cranks are used for the Century Team with Kineses 7005 AL main tubes and carbon stays. All have carbon forks.

The Full Carbon

Shimano Utegra mixed with 105 and FSA is fitted to the Immortal Pro high modulus carbon fiber monocoque frameset along with carbon forks American Classic wheels.

Bikes Direct knows the Immortal Force is very similar to the Pro except it is all Shimano Ultegra; all the other equipment and the frame is the same.

The Immortal Spirit Dura-Ace, FSA, American Classic wheels and Ritchey are all fitted to a monocoque carbon frame keeping the weight down to 16 pounds.

Bikes Direct makes sure that all the equipment is top class and you can’t fault any choice there. Looking at the Geometries of the frames there is beauty and they handle well.

In addition to the standard diamond frame bicycles, Motobécane produced mixte frame versions; the mixte frame Grand Touring had twin lateral stays in place of a top tube, extending from the head tube to the seat tube, while the Super Touring and Grand Jubilé had a single top tube sloping down towards the seat tube, but diverging into twin lateral stays just before the seat tube. Later mixte Grand Touring models also used this design. Motobécane also produced a tandem bicycle.

Bikes Direct says vintage French bicycles, including Motobécane, are often sought today for their value as a fixed gear conversion.

For more information about Motobecane contact Bikes Direct at BikesDirect.com.