Originally Posted by
Bluelightning
Actually - I have tried this. Most bike shops here service commuters and hard core weight conscious racers. Most of the sales clerks don't know very much about loaded touring, and they are anxious to sell you something, anything!
That's a common problem, the spandex hamsters dominate the merchandising these days. I even had a Trek dealer tell me I had to order a custom titanium frame because "nobody makes touring bikes anymore." In the last few years, I used Conti Contact and had two punctures. Last year I went to Schwalbe Marathon Dureme and have been really happy. No flats so far, the handling is really good and the lack of rolling resistance is really impressive.
Marc