Cycling the Via de la Plata - Is a mountain Bike essential

[goods]

Planning on cycling part of the via de la Plata at the beginning of october.
Flying into madrid and then hoping to cycle west to join the camino at Salamanca.

I have already completed the camino frances by touring bike following the roads.
Hence the reason for choosing to follow the silver route this time.

My question is this , is a mountain bike required, as is suggested on most forums ?
we intend to follow the actual camino trail from Salamanca to Santiago. I would prefer to bring the touring bike and maybe fit larger tyres as i would find the cycle from Madrid to Salamanca tough on a mountain bike.

What is the condition on the trail from salamanca to santiago. I followed the trail on the camino frances for one day and found it extremely tough going on the touring bike.

Looking at pictures of the trail on via de la plata , it seems to be a sandy track for most parts while the camino frances was full of pot holes and totally unsuitable for a touring bike.

So basically could i go from Salamanca to Santiago on a touring bike following the actual camino or is a mountain bike essential ?

thanks in advance folks.

 

[newfydog]

I would prefer to bring the touring bike and maybe fit larger tyres as i would find the cycle from Madrid to Salamanca tough on a mountain bike. .

I've found it is easier to make a mountain bike act like a road bike than vice -versa. You can put a really fast tire on a mtb, but you can't put a very fat one on a touring bike. We've done several tours where we put skinny tires on the mountain bike, pumped them up to high pressure and covered some serious distance on the pavement.

If I were doing that ride, I'd go on a mountain bike, and start with a good semi-slick mtb tire in front the like a WTB Vulpine and a cheaper 1.5 road type tire in the rear. At Salamanca, I'd buy a real mtb tire for the rear, let the pressure down up front, and ride off with no worries about trail conditions.

 

[Sagalouts]

I bow to newydog when it comes to bikes,but having walked the route albeit up to Astorga I would say it is ideal for cycles in fact I could have done most of it on my old sit up and beg with the 3 gears it had though I might have needed more for the hilly Ourense route