I'm looking for a touring bike with a forgiving ride and no suspension (to avoid adding weight) that would be good for short few mile city commuting on mostly flat streets and weekend light road touring rides of about to 20 miles/day where I may sometimes bikepack with very lightweight overnight gear.

Would you recommend an all chromoly frame and fork for a more forgiving ride or aluminum frame with chromoly fork?

Which models would you recommend?

Has anyone had any experience with the Bikesdirect chromoly frame and fork models or their aluminum frame and chromoly fork models? Just scroll down to the touring models: Save up to 60% off Road Bikes, Free Ship 48, Schwinn, GT, Kestrel, Fuji, Motobecane and more Road bikes. Authorized dealer for Schwinn, GT, Kestrel, Fuji, Motobecane, Mercier, Gravity, Dawes road bikes. Shimano Carbon Road Bikes, Titanium Road Bikes,

For light touring like this of relatively short weekend distances not beyond 20-25 miles/day, with very light 1-2 night lightweight backpacking loads, would I be able to stretch an urban fitness hybrid road bike to do the job, like a Marin Muir Woods 29er or Trek 7.2?

I'd sincerely appreciate your advice.

At a later date for heavier duty touring of longer trips with longer rides I'll be looking to build a Surly LHT from the frame up. For now I'm looking for something less expensive that will also work for city commuting, or a quick city commuter that will do double duty for light weekend touring.