hybridbkrdt, Bottom line is that any bike can be a touring bike. As far as to what the touring frame has evolved into? Looks to me the heaviest influence was the rigid mountain bike. Hybrids also seem to have followed this path.

There was a thread where somebody was building a Cannondale hybrid frameset into a tourer. Except for a uni crown seat stay arrangement and I think a lack of mid fork carrier mounts, it was identical to my Cannondale touring bike of roughly the same era.

Brad