Touring - Comfort Road Bikdes

May I pick your collective minds again? As a novice, I visited my local shop and asked what they recommend for me to commute 15 miles and do the weekend touring trip with a load of up to perhaps 15 to 20 pounds. I was told that at that weight I did not need a touring bike and would be better off with a comfort road bike. Now this is yet another catagory that my feeble mind must process. The bike that was recommended was the Lemond Big Sky SLT. Is this a good way to go? Was the advice sound? Does anyone really know what time it is?

i have a big sky sl and like it. Make sure they fit you to it properly, as the compact frame is a little different in feel compared to a regular frame.
bakhurts

If it were me, I'd get a steel touring bike. Jamis Aurora/Nova,Trek 520, Novara Randonee, Fuji Touring. Or for the kind of money the LeMond is, you could have a really nice Surly or Soma built up.

Light-touring bikes make great commuting machines. They are more agile, livelier and more fun to ride than expedition touring bikes.
To make a really practical machine you need clearance for medium tyres (perhaps up to 32mm) + fenders. You don't have to go all the way to cantelever brakes for a practical all-weather bike, you can do this with long drop caliper brakes but not if the bike is designed for racing style short-reach calipers.
Make sure that the bike has threaded eyelets for rear rack and fenders front and back.
The Big Sky seems to be a sportier style of bike, ideal for centuries and some kinds of commuting but the tyre clearance may be very tight. Check this with your LBS.
I'm not aware of any mainstream company that produces a decent quality light-touring bike, it tends to be a niche product from specialist workshops such as Soma,Surley,Gunnar.
I have an exp touring bike and a light tourer. The latter is my everyday utility bike and can cope with any road condition as well as the occasional trail.

All good info. Can I add a few things I've learned from my comfort bike. Yes they are comfortable, but not as comfortable as my touring bike. I toured on my comfort bike and once I got on more than 50 kms, it became much less comfortable. My comfort bike started life with straight mountain bike type bars. I find drop bars much more comfortable because I have so many choices for hand position.

If I had to live my life over, I'd probably go directly into a good touring bike, but at the time, the drop bars and thin tires really turned me off.

Buy something you will be comfortable with right now.

May I pick your collective minds again? As a novice, I visited my local shop and asked what they recommend for me to commute 15 miles and do the weekend touring trip with a load of up to perhaps 15 to 20 pounds. I was told that at that weight I did not need a touring bike and would be better off with a comfort road bike. Now this is yet another catagory that my feeble mind must process. The bike that was recommended was the Lemond Big Sky SLT. Is this a good way to go? Was the advice sound? Does anyone really know what time it is?


May I be the resident cynic? Thank you.

Does your LBS have regular touring bikes, or are they steering you towards a comfort bike because thats what they carry?

Personally, I wouldn't want to commute 15 miles on a comfort bike. At that distance you're looking at an hours ride twice a day. For that I'd want to be riding in the drops & averaging a pretty good speed. For under, say, 5 miles, commuting on a comfort bike might make more sense.

For touring though, the equation changes. You might be comfortable doing up to 40 miles on a comfort bike for a quickie weekend tour. Again, if we're talking multiple days, or high mile days, I'd look into a more touring oriented bike.

Lastly, it all comes down to personal preference.

The word "comfort" gives me the creeps, only exceeded by the word "plush".
It is used for 2 kinds of bikes; a specced down leisure MTB, suitable for the lightest of trail riding, and for high performance light-touring bikes suitable for centuries.