Originally Posted by
Andy_K
If you want a bike for light touring that can also be used for unloaded day rides, the Sequoia is a better choice. Unless you ride aggressively, the Sequoia won't be at much disadvantage for road rides. It's a fun bike to ride.
If you want to do heavily loaded touring, one of the other options mentioned by others might be better. I used to have a Surly Long Haul Trucker, and for a while I didn't understand why everyone loved them so much. Then I took it for a tour with four fully loaded panniers and another bag on the front, and I understood -- fully loaded, it rode about the same as it did completely bare. Full-on touring bikes are mules. They aren't great for everything, but for what they're designed for they can't be beat.
Andy brings up a good point, even though he
has followed my advice and currently needs more than his fingers and toes to count all of his bikes. We ride together often, and more often than not he brings "
The 7 Iron" - his Sequoia would be the bike that would fit pretty much every ride, including light touring.
Andy riding on a credit card tour a few years back down the Willamette Valley. [MENTION=340794]Dfrost[/MENTION] in front with a handlebar bag and front panniers on his Miyata 910
Originally Posted by
The Golden Boy
I think 25 pounds of gear would be a lot.
Unless you've got a dedicated touring bike- throwing all the weight on the rear would make things squirrelly.
This brings up a another good point. What does touring mean to you? Almost all of the touring I've done in the past 10 years is what is what I call "credit card touring". That means overnight stays in a bed with a roof over your head. Sometimes it's stopping at a friend's house, mostly though it means inexpensive hotels along the way. If it's more than just a couple of days, my kit almost always comes out to about 15 lbs including the bags. That's typically 2-4 lbs more others I'm riding with bring, but I do like my creature comforts.
6 guys, 6 days, 400 miles of riding in the PNW. I have very fond memories of that tour.
If you're camping, you'll obviously need a sleeping bag, probably a tent, and maybe some cooking gear. You can easily exceed 25 lbs of gear in that case.
Bottom line, the more you carry, the more you'll appreciate a beefier bike.
Conversely, the less you carry, the more you'll appreciate a lighter bike.
I'm a big proponent of front loading a bike, with the proviso that the geometry can handle it (probably not a racing geometry bike).
10 bikes, most of them front loaded with camping gear with a group from 2016
Grant Petersen popularized the term "S24O" - a sub-24 hour over night. Ride out after work a couple of dozen miles, camp out, return the next day. Might not even have to take a vacation day from work...You'll need pretty much the same gear as a week's worth of touring, just add some more clothes.
Here's how I packed for one about a year and a half ago.
There's a tent, sleeping bag and cooking kit in there somewhere, along with the rest of my kit.