Question... I might buy a trek 5000 (more of a racing bike from what I've read) for about $1100...great price...but before i do I was wondering if it can be converted to a touring bike...and if so what would be the pros and cons of such a conversion? Thank you, And ride hard!

Why not just get a touring bike for the same $ ? More adaptable, comfortable, durable, etc...

Visionquest,
It all depends on how you want to tour. I use a straight road bike to do long distance unsupported tours, but then I do not camp. I use only two rear panniers, and a rack bag for carrying stuff.

From what I can tell, the Trek 5000 is a full carbon frame with a carbon fork. I do not believe that it has any provisions for mounting a rack, even on the rear. That is not to say that you could not figure out something that would work.

Depends on how far you want to tour. You could get a seat post mounted rear rack with a rack bag. Just take a credit card, a few spare tubes, water bottles, air pump, foul weather gear, and off you go with the 5000.

No, not in the normal sense of the term "touring", as in travelling in a more relaxed fashion, comfortably, over longer distances. The 5000 is a roadracing bike - in addition to the lack of attachment points, the geometry of the 5000 is optimized for quick handling and sprinting, not longer distance comfort and load-carrying capability. As others have mentioned, it could be used for some version of "lightweight touring", but there are better bikes for that, too. If you want to tour, buy a touring bike, there are many nice ones available for that kind of investment. As for "riding hard", um, well, sometimes for sure, but the whole concept of touring usually involves a certain de-emphasizing of speed and more appreciation for the journey itself. But I will be the first to admit that this doesn't happen overnight, it kind of creeps up on you over time.

thank you all for your info...I kind of suspected something was up up when the guy told me that if i "really wanted to" i could tour with it...hm... I'm just going to buy a touring bike. ride hard, ride fast and most importantly, ride fun :-D