First of all, I am NOT a cycle Tourist. I dream of it someday but I am firmly a recreational rider right now. One of the things that I do to fuel my dreams is subscribe to the "Loaded Rigs" thread. Between that thread and a thread on another forum chastising people for using Cyclocross bike to tour on it occured to me that even though one clearly can tour on any bike with wheels but should one?

People have spent a lot of time and money engineering, manufacturing and buying dedicated "Touring" bicycles. Any book that I have read about people touring on bicycles has had the hero mounted on such a steed. Even the secondary characters were on proper "Touring" bicycles. I think that I understand the what makes a "touring" bike different from the others as far as comfort, clearance for panniers and accessory attachment points go. To me, the most important would seem the little bracket that holds the extra spoke that I keep finding myself needing as I toodle around my small environs and can't imagine being without hundreds of miles out in the middle of nowhere.

So, what think you Cycle Tourists? Are you all alive with a big boat-full of good memories despite yourselves or is it all marketing hype? Hype that has been going on with great success for forty years or more!