Originally Posted by
abnewbauer
I am planning for a southbound solo tour along the whole Mississippi and need the cheapest (hopefully used) endurance/performance/touring bike.
Options such as specialized roboix, cervelo RS, canondale synapse... seem overwhelming and my main focus is low price. Within 700$
As LeeG asked it probably depends on what you will be carrying, but the bikes you mention are not generally thought of as touring bikes. I find that sporty roads bikes do just start to make sense when total gear load including bags is under 20 pounds or so.
For loaded touring the Windsor Tourist that was already mentioned can be had for in your price range. Three of us happily did the Trans America on them. Then my daughter and I did some additional tours on them until I got the ultralight bug.
When I got the ultralight bug, I rode a 1990 is Cannondale Crit bike on my next tour (San Diego to Pensacola). You can probably find plenty of similar bikes in your price range.
Follow the links in my sig line to read about those setups and my experiences with those tours and bikes. That includes a couple articles I wrote on
frugal touring and
ultralight touring.