Touring - Trek 7.3 for touring. Is is possible?

What do you guys think about some 50 mile rides on a trek 7.3?

FWIW, My wife has toured on a Trek 7.5 WSD model and has had no problems the last two summers.

They work well. It is by far the cheapest bike I own ( I wasn't sure I would like touring originally, so I didn't want to spend very much), but I find it makes a great touring bike. Now I have never been on a "real" touring bike, so I can't really compare, but I spend a lot of time on a road bike, and I really don't mind the fit of the 7.3. I did put bar ends on it, and I have trekking bars on the way for it. If you are going to tour fully loaded, I would also change the chain rings. We went to 22-32-44. All in all, we have what I find to be quite good touring bikes for less than $700. Pretty hard to go wrong there. I will probably upgrade some components as they wear out, but sometimes I find those lower end components just keep on trucking, so who knows how long that will be.

Especially if you already have the 7.3, it should do fine. For the money, it's a decent starting point.

Depending on the terrain and load, you might be ale to get away with the stock chain rings. I have done some day tours loaded down decently and did 40 miles no prob. Could have done more but got hungry and time was a factor.

Besides possible gearing, you will almost surely want a different saddle and at minimum some bar ends. Bar ends can suffice, but I am really liking my trekking bars. Just added some to another bike after enjoying them so much.

A thread I started which asks the same question

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=398883&highlight=

you will al most surely want a different saddle


For sure! I forgot about how terrible that thing was. Now I'm going to have nightmares.

Here is my wifes fx 7.2 wsd shes been touring on it for several years around Europe. More details on our page.
http://www.geocities.com/bike_journeys/hers2.jpg