Originally Posted by
jambon
Hi all ,
I am currently using a 1988 Koga Miyata steel touring bike with drop bars . The bike is great at taking a camping load but even unloaded it is very very heavy and sluggish . I'm hoping to move on to something that feels a lot easier to push . When I tour it is usually locally and just for long weekends . I'm hoping to find a more sporty /fun bike/fast bike that can also handle a bit of light touring . At the moment I'm looking at a Kona ***** Tonk . Even a Kona Sutra seems to be a much lighter bike than the one I currently have . Other bikes I am considering are the croix de fer from Genesis .I think I'm after an endurance road bike with touring ability or a sports tourer, but I may be asking too much from one bike . Any ideas ? My budget is around $1400
It sounds like you just want a better bike. For whatever reason, the fashion for touring bikes these days seems to be to make them heavy and overbuilt. Tighter geometry or whatever isn't going to make a bike feel faster. It has to do with the stiffness and lightness of the frame, and the lightness of the components, especially the wheels and tires. All that is basically what you pay for when you get a better bike.
High end old school touring bikes weren't much different WRT "easy to push" than a racing bike, they simply had a longer wheelbase and shallower angles for a more stable and relaxed ride.
Anyhow the Kona H0nky T0nk appears to be one of those heavy modern touring bikes. Built with 520. I think you should step up a bit to be happy. The croix de fer looks much better. 725 is the good stuff. Should be a quick bike. You might also want to take a look at the Cannondale touring bikes that just came out. This one is about in your budget.
https://www.evanscycles.com/cannonda...-bike-EV254007