Originally Posted by
sstorkel
Going back to the topic at-hand: I've been very happy with my Nashbar Double-Butted Aluminum Touring Frame. Honestly, I'm not sure what I'd gain by buying a LHT or Trek 520 other than some additional weight and a bunch of logos. The Nashbar frames are frequently on sale for $125 or less and are a decent place to start if you want to build a touring bike on the cheap. Installing a bottom bracket is easy, BTW. You need a specialized tool specific to your BB, but most are $20 or less.
If you don't mind me asking, how much am I looking at to build the entire thing up from a Nashbar frame, assuming I'm willing to do darn near anything to get cheap parts? For instance, I was thinking I might find a friend with a CF mountainbike with frame damage, buy it from them, and then bam, I have a cheap groupset for maybe $300.
If it's realistic to build the thing for ~ $1000, then I'll go ahead and do that, otherwise I'll just keep watching eBay until I see a decent Sojourn, 520, LHT, or BLT show up.