I am not currently interested in long, solo tours where I have to take everything with me - at least not yet. I am interested in tours like the one that I completed of the C&O Canal towpath last week. I was really concerned about how I would like touring, and I had a blast. One of the things that I quickly determined though is that my current bike (Fuji Cross 4.0) is not the best bike for the kind of riding that I want to do. About two hours into each day, my shoulders and neck would start to hurt, and without taking advantage of the massage services that the tour's organizers provided, I do not know that I would have been able to go on the next day. Okay - that's not true, but I would have been much less comfortable than I was from the first minute as opposed to it taking a couple of hours for the discomfort to start.

My bike budget is < $2000, and I really want a bike that has a more relaxed geometry while maintaining drop bars. My LBS is heavily road oriented and when you mention relaxed geometry he pushes towards buying a hybrid, which I do not want. I want a bike that I can ride on the road with some of the people that I met on tour, but most of my riding will be on Rail Trails and Greenways. I would like for it to be able to handle trails like the C&O Canal Towpath on a regular basis. I do not want a carbon bike because I am a Clyde (220).

The bikes that I am considering include:

Specialized Diverge DSW
Cannondale Synapse Disk 105
Giant Revolt 1
Grade Alloy 105

What are your thoughts here? Are there any other bikes that I should be considering?