I use my Bruce Gordon BLT for touring, commuting, and rides with the local club. The only thing holding me back from running with the fastest crowd is myself and pedal clearance on fast/tight corners. There is credit card touring, light road touring, and heavy duty road touring. Bruce is the first builder many people think of in the last category. As my "weight has more metal bending Kama then other peoples' weight" I went with www.bgcycles.com And I take it off-road. For rocky, technical single-track, sure, go with a special purpose-built bike for that.