Originally Posted by
fruitappel
Thanks for the suggestions. The Tout Terrains look nice, but above budget. I have been loloking at the cube travel aswell, but it was not available in my size in a few webshops. (Maybe they dont get new ones becouse the 2024 models are coming soon?).
Anyway, I also found the Trek FX 2 Disc Equipped. This is the version with fenders and a back rack. I might go with that one, I can get it delivered to a store nearby, where I can try it before I purchase. I also like the design of this bike. It also has mounting points on the front fork so I can put a front rack on it if needed. I plan to do some two day trips in the near future, but want to make a trip to Paris with it within a few years propably. The price is really nice I think at 850 euro's, and ready to use with the fenders and back rack already installed.
Think about the bike from a long term perspective. That bike will last a long time and be a good investment. It has good quality components and an excellent long life frame. If you can save up it will be worth it. In some cases your local dealer might work with financing and might be able to help you pay it off long term, rather than all at once.
The Trek is a bike if you want something purely based on low initial cost that Trek would fit that bill but the proprietary thru skew stuff is a huge turn off especially for touring but also just in general in case something happens out there. They had to be different and you pay extra for that and not in a good way. However there are certainly a lot worse bikes to be had and equipped with rack and fenders that are known to fit is not a bad idea.