I'll chime in on this since this thread has been brought back to life...
I am in the process of researching fully loaded touring bikes for the next "phase" of my life-that being a fully loaded tour that my wife, daughter and me will be embarking on for 5 years.
If money isn't an issue-but it usually is-then what I have found to be King is the Thorn eXp which you can check out
HERE
To me the eXp just makes sense... bombproof, excellent geometry, built to have any amount of abuse heaped on it and 26 inch wheels which I feel is really important for durability and availability(especially if you're touring in third world countries).
Just a notch down from the eXp and virtually identical except a slightly less Sherman Tank-like frameset is the Thorn Nomad which depending on riders weight and the amount of gear you're hauling has garnered rave reviews from everyone that owns one with the exception of people-like I mentioned-that are carrying over 100lbs in gear and/or are very tall(therefore creating the possibility of shimmy with a high center of gravity). The Nomad can be seen
HERE .
To me the 2 bikes mentioned above are THE top shelf bikes for touring. My next catagory would be The Still Niche Made But Not Entirely Custom catagory. I say that because while supposedly great touring rigs these next bikes are made and offered to you as a customer but NOT made for YOU based on either your spec or needs specifically.
The high end of this catagory would be the Bruce Gordon bikes and the more common, mid-priced level would be the Cannondales and Trek 520. Out of these certainly the BG bikes are closest to being custom-made in that the customer will have a say in stem selection and a few other areas but(especially if you've heard stories about conversing and dealing with BG himself
)not in something as basic as requesting a lowrider on a 26 inch bike, etc.
And obviously with the C-Dales and Trek you're dealing with major corporations so, "You get what they decide is best"... the advantage to this is twofold-
1. Price point(but that can be debated after swapping out transmissions, buying better quality racks, buying a lowrider-which neither the Trek or C-Dale come with, etc)
and...
2. Availability... you want another or have a problem with your current one... many of them exist-used and new.
The disadvantages have been mentioned in other peoples posts... they range from swapping transmissions to construction materials to too few amenities(e.g. no lowriders/not enough braze-ons)and not being built up with tried and true touring philosophies-padded saddles(?!?!), etc. Also, if you "almost" love the feel of your bike but just need something slightly different... too bad, unless you have a good LBS to deal with you're on your own to pay for and make the swap.
I haven't mentioned another top-shelf bike because I have heard just truly hidious stories about "turnaround time" from order to delivery... and that's the beautiful Robert Beckman Sakkit bikes that while amazing looking you will probably be a very old man by the time the thing arrives at your doorstep after placing an order. It can be seen
HERE .
For rock solid, bombproof touring wheels no one gets higher praise than
PETER WHITE .
Also, there are tons of other possibilities that I haven't even touched on here... from converting a good steel framed mountain bike to framesets like the Rivendell Atlantis, Waterford, Vanilla and more. I just endlessly search the Internet and ask tons of questions and then whittle it down from there.
My last two thoughts are these-
I have heard lots of stories of folks touring thousands of miles on bikes that cost 20(yes, twenty... that's not a typo)-400 dollars that were NEVER intended for such a task(and most had NO problems ever)so it's just about, "What you want to do".
And remember, these are MY opinions... I could be wrong.
But I doubt it!
