Hey all, I just got into the idea of Touring really recently, but the idea of it strikes a huge chord in my head; I'm 16 right now, and I plan on doing a relatively minor trip, especially compared to the accomplishments I've seen on these forums! Anyways, a couple of guys and I are planning our first-ever tour, from Toronto to Buffalo and back. It's going to be about 4-500 km total, with the longest days seeing us bike about 160 km. We plan on packing very light, a knapsack and small rear panniers at most, as we're not going to be roughing it out. With this mind, let me explain the situation:
All of us are looking at buying bikes suitable for this ride, as we've only ever really been mountain biking and therefore have unsuitable bikes for the trip. I had a conception that we would all need to get tour bikes, but after reading a couple of threads, I'm wondering if heavy duty tour bikes are actually necessary, and what difference would it make (either for better or worse) if we looked at road bikes instead. In a nutshell, what kind of bikes are necessary for this trip? If anyone can suggest particular models as well, it would be greatly appreciated.
(BTW, we are all on very low budget, most likely would have to buy secondhand, not able to spend more than $500, 600, tops.)