Originally Posted by Joe Minton

My daily ride and would-be touring bike is running 50-622 Schwalbe "Kojak" tires. It also has dual suspension, tuned for street use. The 15-degree pull-back MTB bar is two inches higher than the nose-less Adamo seat. The gearing is Shimano 3x10 with a 16-105 gear inch range. It also has hydraulic disc brakes. When I go touring, I'll pull an Extrawheel trailer.

It is the most comfortable bicycle I've ever had or ridden and I am perfectly willing to give up the bit of extra drag and weight all this entails for the minute-by-minute and day-by-day performance and comfort this bike provides.

Touring bikes are going in this direction -- thanks to the developments cascading down from mountain bike development.

I am too old and too broken to ride a racing bike anymore and I suspect many of you are too. Why not slow down, look around, take it easy and enjoy the ride?

Joe