Originally Posted by
jignall
I have the 520 and love it. Admittedly I haven't ridden it fully loaded so can't comment on how it performs then. But your comments about the "same tired old frame" seem unwarranted. Why change something that works?
Sorry about that crack but I have issues with their frame design. Trek had a great touring bike in the early 80s...the 728...very long stays, lots of clearance, well designed and thought out. Then they introduced the 520 which they wanted to be 'sportier' so they shortened the stays and took a great touring bike and made a hohum touring bike out of it. For loaded touring, a shorter wheel base bike handles much differently than a longer wheel base bike. You have to move the load further back over the axle and that affects handling. Makes the tail wag the dog and at speed that's not a good thing.
It's too bad really. The Trek touring brand could be so much more too. They've got the name recognition and with the proper design and component selection, they could be blowing the doors off Surly.