cyclezealot

In looking at various bike shops there are so few touring bikes( steel) on their shelves. . It must be steel. All the steel touring bikes carried by most shops seem to be the Trek 520 and Fuji touring bike. What are your opinions of these two touring bikes. Any other favorites out there. It would nice to find a shop with more varieties of touring bikes in store. Because don't we like to test ride them first...
. thanks...

NCbiker

I like Surly's Long Haul Trucker and the Jamis Aurora Elite.

juggleaddict

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...-Touring-Bikes!!!

Take a look, there's a huge list on this thread stickied to the first page. : )

LHT is the favorite child around here it seems. . . . I have one

cyclezealot

One of my concerns . Carrying a lot of weight. I usually do while on tour.. What is the best bike design for lots of weight in terms of brakes and rims.

fietsbob

Bike Friday ,+ Rohloff, Disc Brakes Dynohub LED Lights.

easier to get it to where you want to start your trip, because It packs into a Suitcase
so skips special handling Fees Airlines Charge,
or needing to buy a box from Amtrak to get on the train.

Where I live, it is a very popular place to be touring through .. N>S,
and Starting W>E or ending E>W. But folks already have their gear and Bikes
when they Get Here , so the economics is against selling touring bikes ..

instead, the inventory is stocked for the people who live here, the rest of the Year.
[ & small parts for the passers through,
and new raingear when, they realized theirs was not working for them ]

tom cotter

I'm a 520 fan. I own two. They are great bikes for not only touring, but general utility riding and fitness riding. Some use them as rando bikes. There is another thread going right now asking about the 520, so rather than rehash, just scroll down a bit. You will find plenty of threads about the 520 if you do a search. It's the subject of many this bike verses that bike threads. As for the Fuji, it doesn't have the following of the 520 or the LHT. That's not to say it isn't a good bike. Just not as popular. From my own experience, when i last shopped for a touring bike, eight years ago, the Fuji wasn't as well spec'd as the 520. As for the 2013 version**********

Not finding many touring bikes at the local bike shop? They aren't a profit center for manufacturers or shops. There are only a few mass produced tourers, with the 520 and LHT leading that pack. REI has a tourer, and as you've found so does FUJI. Cannondale also has a touring bike that is well respected.

MassiveD

Best bet is to build it out from the frame, or spec upgrades, or minimally get the wheels tweaked. I don't think any of the off the shelf rigs are great. LHT has more a weight orientation, and offers the disc option as well as calipers, and 26" wheel in all sizes. For the same money as discs you can get some fancy Paul brakes, or other upgrade brakes.

delcrossv

I like taking my chaise lounge with me, so I ride one of these: (Ryan Vanguard)



If I had to buy new, I'd get a Longbikes Slipstream

LeeG

My favorite was the one I was riding. Same holds true today. When I was light and going ultralight my favorites weren't really touring bikes but road bikes adapted to touring.
What do you mean by "lots of weight", if you weigh 135 lbs with 35lbs on the rear wheel it's a different load on the wheel than you weighing 235lbs with 35lbs on the rear wheel.

Alekhine

My Mercian/Rohloff custom, but it's not like I've had a billion bikes to compare it to. I've only owned 3 touring-specific bicycles (Bike Friday NWT, Bianchi San Remo, Mercian). I'm pretty happy with this one for the type of riding I do. Would like to build up an LHT and some type of IGH fat bike with belt drive for winter riding some time in the future.

Jim Kukula

There's a new bike shop on the north side of San Diego, Cycle Quest. They seem to have a focus on touring and carry lots of suitable brands. Probably worth your while to check that place out.

juggleaddict

have you seen the p38? I think it's probably one of the more pricey recumbents, but I've seen more p38s and tour easy bikes than anything else. The longbike looks pretty awesome though. There's also challenge recumbents. They are also on the more pricey side, but I guess that's with all recumbents

bradtx

No longer in production and the OP is looking for steel.

Brad

bradtx

cyclezealot, My list for steel tourers (I ride Cannondale):
Trek 520
Raleigh Sojourn
Jamis Elite
Surley LHT
GT World Peace (out of production, I think)

I usually forget one or two I like.

Brad

PS REI's Novara brand, Windsor Tourist, Nashbar steel tourer

Brennan

I've been eyeing the Bruce Gordon BLT for a while. Also, the Rocky Mountain Sherpa.

DW99

I have always liked the 520, they are nice looking well made bikes. But for my money, the Fuji Touring was the way to go. I have a 2010 model and I love it, the cash outlay was considerably less than the LHT or the 520 and as spec'd, not to their level but still a very nice bike, IMO.

As it looks today.


Had to order it at my LBS, I don't think you will find many touring bikes of any kind on the floor at a bike shop. Good luck!

juggleaddict

DW, how has that front rack been treating you? I was debating that one. Noticed you have the same one I have on the back : ) good looking fuji

skilsaw

Cannondale stopped making their touring bikes in 2011 or 2012.
Their "t1" model had road gearing. 50 42 30. Their "t2" model was geared lower.
The Cannodale touring bikes are aluminum.

My favorite touring bike is a Koga Miyata World Tour that was a display model in a store going out of Koga. Otherwise, it would have been too expensive for me.

Another good steel touring bike is made by Marinoni. I think they do a large volume of their business by email and courier.

dwmckee

I have finally settled in on a new favorite - a 1980 Bob Jackson touring bike. Only 7 speeds but the best riding bike I have experienced. All Campy and I picked it up for $510 on eBay! The one I lust after though but cannot afford is the CoMotion Cascadia...

Chris Pringle

Hear you! Consider yourself lucky if your LBS carries at least one touring bike. Also, unlike road bikes, there are so very few high-end "stock" touring bikes for anyone with more exquisite palates. Possibly, a good approach is to grab a used one - that FITS - from Craigslist and then tour, commute, on it for the next year or two. Touring is not for everyone. Should you decide you enjoy it, save some money toward a brand new one or, even better, go custom. I did exactly that. Got an 1984 Miyata 610 and eventually graduated into a Rodriguez UTB...

My Miyata 610 (Sorry for the pic taken non-drive side)...



My Rodriguez UTB... (rear rack off for now)

fietsbob

Gotta admit, Delcossv nailed it. if.. the shipping ,to get to or from the trip start /finish is not a problem..

Dick Ryan' s LWB USS recumbents were near perfect.. longbikes added refinements..

I'd add: a front rack and panniers on the front wheel , as a friend in '90 said of his vanguard, after a long tour, said,
the steering stabilized with the extra mass on the wheel, let you ride no-hand s for a while...

DW99

Thanks juggleaddict. The front rack, you may want to look here and here for first hand info.

Konasutra

I like my Kona Sutra............. All you need to do is add Panniers. https://www.konaworld.com/bike.cfm?content=sutra

staehpj1

Not what the OP is looking for, but since they said "Touring Bikes: Your favorite"... I mention that my favorite isn't a touring specific design. Cyclo cross or road designs suit me better, but I prefer not to carry much weight or bulk.

I have ridden the Windsor Touring with a heavier load and it worked out well for that. I think it was pretty much exactly the same bike as the Fuji was until they recently changed the Fuji. I am not crazy about all of the changes, in particular the bar end shifters. I think some of the other component changes may not have been an improvement either. That said, it is still a nice enough bike and capable of loaded touring.

nun

I find traditional touring bikes to be heavy and not much fun. I have a Rivendell Rambouillet that you could describe as a sport tourer that's a nice compromise allowing some big tyres and conventional touring baggage while still feeling less than tank like. However, my current favorite bike is a Cervelo RS. Obviously this won't work for common touring loads, but as I like to travel lightly it's geometry and light weight are well suited to the way I tour, and it's a blast to ride.