Everyone has their own preferences. I ended up going with a Novara Randonee, which is a fully loaded touring bike. I felt the most comfortable on it, and I looked at a lot of bikes. If you were to get the Raleigh, I would recommend switching out the rear rack if your going to use panniers. It is a funky design, and some panniers wont work. My rack is the same way and I have problems with some panniers.