i may have to sell my riv atlantis as it may be too big (alot of neck stiffness..no vendors here in vancouver bc were carrying them when i purchased online from a riv vendor, so took grant's standover clearance as sole measuring option...bad idea as my upper/lower body not in proportion...found this out when i brought in my atlantis to a very seasoned bike fitter (who also sells Guru customs...has professionally fitted 1000s of people and is very respected: rob wright of caps cycles in surrey bc).

so in not wanting to buy a replacement for each ($$$$$), and I know that i'm asking a potentially 'charged' question: is it possible to have built a bike that can be both a great (loaded) touring machine but also, once unloaded (and even swapping out a lighter set of rims) can be fast and comfortable club rider for randonneuring, centuries etc?...sure I know you can 'lighten' any touring machine by removing rear racks and swapping out lighter wheelsets, but you know what I mean.

one retailer suggested buying a sport bike and 1/using a trailer for touring instead of panniers to not overload it and/or 2/to tweak existing stock bike by some reputable makers to avoid going full custom to save $$$.

am looking at R&E cycles, Davidson, Gunnar and Marinoni (emailed all of them, asking for their imput) and also looking at better quality 'stock' models such as the salsa veya, casserolle and specialized comp tricross.

cheers
canali
vancouver bc