Originally Posted by
Bikedued
Probably an LHT "Long Haul Trucker". They aren't super light, but not all that heavy either. Logic seems to intervene at some point with touring bikes. You can't have super light, yet haul a rider and 100+ pounds of gear. You can buy the LHT as a complete bike, or as a bare frame. I would choose bare myself, and make it just a little higher spec than what the complete bike comes with. It's not bad at all as a complete, but I would change a thing or two here and there.,,,,BD
The LHT seems to have a cult-like following.
But for $50 you can find an old hybrid frame like the Trek Singletrack with similar geometry, Canti brakes, made for 622mm wheels with lots of clearance, tough as nails with enough carrying capacity to do loaded touring.
The LHT is just a way of buying new and reinventing the wheel for what you can get off of CL used for what a nice dinner for 2 costs. But the bike world takes all types...