Originally Posted by mrfish

Re. whether the bike is heavy, the rohloff weight is comparable to the derailleurs etc. that it replaces, so it's the Thorns that are heavy. The Thorn bikes are built in the town where I grew up, so I should like them, yet I don't as I don't fit their target market. Basically Thorn markets their bikes at people who are the opposite of weightweenies, i.e. those interested in long-term reliability, practicality and like traditional approaches to bike design all at a fair price. They are still in business after 25 years or so, and provide excellent service for difficult to find bits, so they definitely know their market and based on their ebay feedback serve it very well. (I just bought a helmet from them).

For light touring as a person with weightweenie leanings I think an off the peg Cannondale or Trek would do fine, I think with the Cannondale having the edge as it comes with disc brakes as standard (Trek's standard brakes aren't that hot on my T2000). For a few more $s I would be tempted to get your local builder to copy the geometry of single bikes you are comfortable on (but with tandem steering geometry of course) but use Rohloff dropouts etc. so you can use the hub, get a go-faster paint job etc. If you buy mid-range parts off ebay to complete the bike, this could be quite reasonable.. Alternatively a Co-Motion would also be nice, and could be a bit more credit-card touring oriented.

...lots of choice...Final recommendation is to buy one and ride it!