Thanks for the sound advice. I'm quite glad I decided to join the forum. I own a couple bikes now.. one is a Trek 520, the other a cheap beach cruiser. My wife and I run on our cruisers on the flat roads of Florida with gel padded seats at a snail's pace and I have to say it's a pretty comfortable ride. I couldn't imagine running a long distance on it of course, but somewhere in the back of my mind I was thinking how comfortable I would be if I could maintain the comfort of the cruiser bike in the durability of a good touring bike.

I guess you've managed to remind me that we are talking about 2 entirely different species.

Although we are in fact going to be touring, I think the both of us have this image of a 'no big hurry to be anywhere' type of adventure. While that sentiment might be a little 'romantic' in ideal, I'm guessing like our weekend trips, it'll be entirely impractical as the headwinds come, the thunderheads rise, and that push at the end of the day to reach a suitable camp site is a reality.

Since I already own the Trek 520, I may just take the advice and have it fitted. I haven't done that before; I have sought the advice of other more experienced cyclists than myself to advise the adjustments. I've had excellent luck with the Trek and wouldn't hesitate to tour it anywhere. Perhaps a better investment overall would be to have the bike fit, parts replaced, and upgrade to some more road worthy panniers.

And yes, I use Brooks saddles myself. I had the opinion that bigger was better when I started cycling, but after changing over to the Brooks saddle, I haven't looked back. Just took a while to 'break-in' I guess, but now it's as good as any old favorite pair of boots.