Cycling4Life

So I haven't been able to test ride very many around my area(Fort Worth). I have tested the Novara Mazama and the Specialized Awol(With the Sora set-up). I know I do want a flared drop down because I have wrist problems on traditional drops and with the flared drops I have none. I loved the ride of the Mazama but the bar end shifters would stab with too hard of a turn. I want to use integrated drop shifters(preferably Ultegra). I have looked online at the Salsa Vaya Travel and the Salsa Fargo 2. The Vaya seems to meet my requirements for a preferred touring bike(I just wish I could test ride one). What I would be using the bike for would be to travel across the US and I would do quite a bit of off-roading with it.(Nothing that would need a beefier tire than the 700c x 35-40) Any suggestions at other bikes I might should take a look at?

mstateglfr 

With an Ultegra group, I'm guessing you are looking at spending something like $2000 or more?

The group alone retails for +-$1000.

Knowing a budget helps narrow down options since it could run from custom to off the shelf.

Cycling4Life

I am looking at $2,000-4,200 for a bike. I can get the individual components straight from Shimano so custom building one up isn't out of the question.

bikemig 

If you can get parts straight from shimano, I want to be your friend, .

Touring bikes typically come with bar end shifters. They don't stab your hand in a hard turn.

A shop can swap out the bar end shifters for STIs but a friction shifter on the left (like a bar end shifter) is a plus, IMHO, on a triple. What I don't know offhand is how well (or badly) the STIs will play with the cranks that typically come on touring bikes as STIs are really designed, I believe, to work with Shimano road triples which come in less than ideal 130/74 bcd. I got STIs to work with a trekking crank on one of my bikes so I think it will work but I'd want to talk with someone who has experience doing this before plunking down money for the STIs. This is a review of the salsa vaya (one of the OP's preferred bikes) that talks about some of the issues in using STIs with a shimano road triple on a touring bike:

https://www.adventurecycling.org/defa...aya_OGrady.pdf

If I had a budget of up to $4,200 for a touring bike, I'd check out Gunnar and R & E cycles. I'd also check out the custom builders.

A co-motion americana would be pretty sweet and it comes in right near the top of your proposed budget:

Co-Motion Cycles | americano

Here's a thread on shifters for touring bikes you may find useful:

https://www.bikeforums.net/touring/10...-shifters.html

mstateglfr 

At that budget, I would be all over some custom builders, both local and national.
Forget Salsa at that point, get something made only for you!

Cycling4Life

I know little to nothing about custom builders. I live in the DFW area of Texas. What local builders does anyone recommend?

DropBarFan

All the bikes you mention seem quite worthy though Fargo 2 has carbon or suspension fork--the Fargo 3 w/steel fork has braze-ons for front rack etc.

mstateglfr 

Well here is a list of options to consider- reading about each will help you determine what exactly you are looking for or even confirm that what you have already mentioned is for sure what you want. I split them up between foreign and domestic.
Most are higher cost due to custom builds, but I included a few links to mass built frames that are from smaller companies. $500 for a frameset or $2000 can mean a difference in quality, or it can mean a difference in how much money you are out.


FOREIGN

Koga // Bikes > Trekking > Collection 2015 This thing is incredibly well made, has some good looks to it with lugged joints, and is incredibly well spec’d. You mentioned classic drops arent possible due to hand positioning, would butterfly bars be better? Tons of hand positions and body tilt are possible with butterfly bars.

Bespoke Thorn Touring Cycles Consistently viewed as very well made. Never seen one much less ridden one. Customer/Semi-custom where you can pick components and setup. Their Club Tour Mk4 is a traditional 700c touring bike, but they have 26” offerings too.

Raleigh Bicycles - 2015 Sojourn

Bob Jackson Cycles custom builder with some ‘off the peg’ frames too. Bob Jackson Cycles Their World Tour frame has always looked great to me and has the fittings to make a great tourer. Tons of color options too.

Cabot - Touring - Road - Bikes - Norco Bicycles I included this since a newly opened bike shop in my area carries Norco and this was a very well finished bike. Not the highest end everything, but it has a 105 triple.


DOMESTIC

Lugged Steel Bicycles, Wool Clothing, Leather Saddles & Canvas Bike Bags from Rivendell Bicycle Works This is a company owned by a guy who did the advertising and specs for Bridgestone bikes in the late 80s until Bstone left the US market around ’93. He has some great ideas and some hard lines with his views. They build beautiful bikes for sure. They have frames that have oversized tubing and tons of mounting points for components. Sam Hilborne and Atlantis are the frame names.

Seven Cycles | Touring US titanium bike maker. Something different and for sure high end.

Saga Frame Set | SOMA Fabrications the Saga frameset comes in canti brake or disc brake. Tange Prestige tubing and great geometry.

Custom touring bicycles, The Rodriguez Adventure! Up in Seattle. I have read reviews of touring bikes and each has had only great things to say.

Gunnar Cycles USA, Grand Tour for Loaded Touring by Bicycle Wisconsin frame builder that has been mentioned many times over in quality frame discussions.

Co-Motion Cycles | Loved by everyone who has ever bought one. Expensive. That’s all I got.

VO Campeur Frameset - Frames VO is a company that focuses on traditional look and everyday use when it comes to bicycles. Their Campeur frame has excellent geometry and has been reviewed extensively. There are reviews on their site too.

https://antbikemike.wordpress.com/custom-frames/
this is just a beautiful bike. Guy is in MA and has 30+ years experience in frame building and finishing. I read he welds for a company now, but still does bikes at home. BB and HS are part of the build, so figure another $1800 for wheels and components.

timdow

If you are intent on having STI shifters, you may want to think twice before purchasing the Novara Mazama. It has mountain components which aren't compatible with road 10 speed STI shifters.

For this very reason I am strongly considering staying 9-speed.

geoffs

My advice would be to get a bike fit from Jerry at Castle Hill Cycles in Austin and get a custom frame made for you.
I'd be looking at Co-Motion for a steel frame or Seven if your budget allows. I just found that Lynskey do a Ti touring frame from $1,995 which looks really good.
STI works fine on touring bikes. Even tandems are now using 11speed with no problems. Saying that whenever I go on an unsupported tour I take an old friction lever as a backup just in case of accident damage or failure.
We have a Co-motion Mocha Copilot for touring and Seven Axiom SL and SLX road bikes which we just love but they will be way outside your price range

Brian25

Would you be interested in a bike that you can dismantle and pack in a small case/box that helps a bike survive air travel and meets the size requirement for standard-sized airline baggage (to avoid oversize baggage charges)? I build custom frames/ bikes out of either steel and aluminum. Check out Ravellobikes.com

DropBarFan

Those bikes look pretty sharp & I like the idea of a light aluminum "travel" frame. I couldn't tell from photos, is it possible to have rack mounts & double-eyelet dropouts on the aluminum fork?

DropBarFan

Another option is a Habanero titanium bike, they have a cross/touring frame that starts at $1K; they can do custom for ~$600 extra, (S & S couplers another ~$1K). Their std cross/touring frame is not what Cycling4Life is looking for but I'm fairly sure they'd do a custom tourer with room for fat tires, & would seem to fit into budget. Habanero's Ti prices are lower than some other Ti builders 'cause AFAIK Habanero uses Chinese fabricators. I know a lot of tourers aren't focused so much on cutting weight but if budget allows, a Ti or alu frame can be significantly lighter.

Cycling4Life

Thanks for the suggestions. I think I will stay away from a custom build as I do want to get involved with the build myself quite a bit. I have decided to use the Surly Ogre frame with a Butterfly handlebar using Deore XT shifters. I am going back and forth of if I want an integrated rear hub or go with a Deore cassette and derailleur. I know component wise and saddle wise what I want to do but I have little to no knowledge of wheelsets. I want to run a 700c wheelset I am sure of as I will be mostly going on road with this bike but will go off-road and everywhere in between. It will be my first bike build but it doesn't look like it will cost me too much. I can get the frameset, handlebar, shifters, and Brooks Saddle for about $900 total which isn't too bad. I would be willing to put quite a bit of money into a strong wheelset or individual wheels. What do people recommend?

jfarwell

On our new tandem we use gran bois 650B rims laced to White Industry disc hubs. The tires are gran bois hetre. At 42 mm width they have lots of air, so the ride is great. 650B Tires are a little harder to find, but we carry a spare out on tour. The outside diameter is very close to that of a 700C wheel with 28 mm tires. so you could switch to a 700C wheel with disc brakes if you were riding smooth pavement. The fork is an enve cross fork. Here's the best part of the story though: on rough roads, the 650B bike is noticeably quicker than our carbon tandem with 700C wheels. Good luck with your wheelset choice.