You can get any QBP bike shop to order you a Surly Pacer complete, but most of those MichaelW mentions are framesets, which cost a person significantly more to build up compared to purchasing a complete bike. As a novice rider, i'd suggest staying away from building up a custom build, it's not where you want to double your cost to get a bike that performs identically to one purchased complete.

Off the hook, there's the Raleigh Port Townsend, or racier still, the Raleigh Clubman.





Very well suited for light touring.

Also, REI has an interesting bike in their lineup this year, it's lowtrail front end, very curious how this is sneaking back into the market........ Novara Verita.

THESE bikes, off the hook, would be mos excellent.

Specialized and Trek just aren't nailing this type of bike yet, for some reason. And i think it's bizarre they leave a gaping hole in their bike lineups, offering up half assed cross bikes as if they were relaxed geometry, well equipped road bikes.