Touring - Buying old vs. new

I am looking for a bike to use for daily commuting and some light touring (weekend or day trips). What I want for certain is a steel frame with enough room to accomodate 700x32 (or larger) tires, fenders, and with eyelets for racks etc. I thought instead of getting something like a Rivendell Atlantis, I could opt for an older, less expensive bike like a Trek 720 or Bridgestone RBT. Reading some of the newsgroups and forums however I see a marked bias against getting an older bike because of the dated componentry and unavailability of parts for repairing such. Is this really an issue? Would a new Surly Crosscheck or Trek 520 be a better investment?

Cheers!
Duke

I think a lot depends on the age of the bicycle. I was finding it so challenging to find parts for my older machine that I bought a new bike last year. For example, my 19-year-old tourer is missing a metal dust cap on a pedal. In 1986 or 1987, a bicycle store could have ordered the missing piece for a few dollars. Not anymore! Now I have to buy new pedals. The cost to replace the pedals with new ones of similar quality is over $100.

Similarly, the original bicycle had 15-speeds. In the early 1990s and then again ten years later, I was able to squeeze in a cassette with six cogs; but an upgrade to, say, 21 speeds, is not possible. Not every bicycle stores stocks cassettes with six cogs anymore.

A saving grace: Finding replacement parts for a ten-year-old bicycle is much easier than finding replacment parts for a two-year-old computer!

EBAY is often the source for replacement or age-appropriate parts for older bikes. I upgraded my BOTTECCHIA to a 6-gear freewheel and had to do some searching for one that wouldn't cost more than I wanted to pay (a generous forumite passed an unused Sun tour cluster on to me).

If you go old, you might be able to upgrade to bar-end shifters, otherwise, they are mostly downtube friction (there are advantages to adapting to fewer gear choices... it means you are pedalling more vs. shifting all the time! *grins*). ON the other hand, after riding a bike with STI, now I REALLY like the ease of shifting, so I will want a new bike in my stable along with the oldies.

Scope out the vintage Trek website for examples of old bikes restored or updated

Sure... Surly and the 520 are nice bikes...
Other steel, light touring/lower cost options...

The Jamis lines (Satellite) look promising and reasonable $$

Fuji Touring