Second @gomango's idea of looking for a custom used touring bike; they're out there. Here is my Melton:

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=435352

Second @SkyDog75's idea of refurbishing an old mtb. There are some issues involved in doing this as they tend to have long top tubes relative to seat height but the components, wheels, etc. are all suitable for touring. Here is one of my favorite all rounders; it gets a lot of use in winter:

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=435354

And if you can find a B'stone XO series bike, they make great all rounders, gravel bikes, and touring bikes:

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=435355

These are all very nice bikes and great suggestions.

That Melton knocks me out though. Super sweet.

I'll second the Miyata 1000; I had this one pass through my hands last year:

http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps1758e981.jpg

http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps3d533946.jpg

Top

Fuji Saratoga. Seems to be lesser recognized and valued bike, but great touring features. 40 spoke rear wheel, 36 front. Wide range 6 speed freewheel with front triple. Accu-shift bar cons. Good cantilevers. Three bottle mounts, front and rear rack braze ons. Two spare spokes mounted on the drive side chainstay. Triple butted Cro-Moly tubing. I don't recall the wheelbase or chainstay length, but I don't get heel strike with my size 13 feet and loaded rear panniers. I run 27x1-1/4 Paselas with room to spare.

I use mine as a commuter and absolutely love it.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=435429

- John

http://i482.photobucket.com/albums/r...y/DSCN1030.jpg
I'd have to agree with that!

How about another Fuji Touring IV. Worked on this today. Still needed to get the front rack level.

http://i715.photobucket.com/albums/w...4/IMG_0245.jpg[/URL]

Oracle admires your bikes featured here, but Bikemig, your clean pegboard and workbench suggest OCD tendencies! Immaculate. :D

Otg, I love it. We're not too far away. I work in Niantic so might be close to you. If the snow ever melts and it gets above 28F, we should meet up and do a Saratoga ride some time. I guess we could allow some other bikes too.

- John

My Schwinn Voyageur SP haven't had the chance to tour yet. I still need to find some front panniers and a rack.

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3863/...e0b98ccf_z.jpg

Very nice Bilenky, his shops work is superb!

Here is my custom Alex Meade, very similar to your build:

[IMG]https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8615/...19f9545f_c.jpg Alex Meade custom Randonneur by TimothyCreamer, on Flickr[/IMG]

I was hoping you'd like the beer, ;)

I love Stillwater. I can't wait to head out there this summer.

Hi Fuzzy- That's a really beautiful bike- I love the paint scheme and all the cool appointments.

Regarding the rack being level... mount the rack to the lower eyelets- use spacers to keep the rack legs from touching the fork. If you ever go with fenders, use the fender mount as your spacer


http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/...ps3b7b13d7.jpg


Best!

Let us know when you are in the area.

Someone will be up for a ride. :)

Thanks.

I've seen some Bilenkys I really dig and others that are head scratchers to be honest.

I really like mine and can see enjoying it for years to come though. The Campy Triple is fairly nice, but I would prefer a full Shimano XT build.

I could easily see swapping out the whole drivetrain in the future. The frameset is the star of the show after all.

Mine fits like a very nice glove.

Your Alex Meade is really exceptional btw. When you get a moment give us a little more background info if you would.

I see you decided to use S&S couplers. How's that working out for you?

Good advice.

I hopped on my Bilenky instantly, as it was priced far lower than a new Surly LHT.

Try pricing a new custom touring frame and one can quickly see what a good deal these used machines really are.

Thanks for the tip Golden Boy. I’ll give that a try.

Nice bike. Alex sure builds some fine machines. Do you do any of the brevets with the Kentucky club?

Awesome! Will do.

love the Bilenky!

[QUOTE=bikemig;17572901]

Second @SkyDog75's idea of refurbishing an old mtb. There are some issues involved in doing this as they tend to have long top tubes relative to seat height but the components, wheels, etc. are all suitable for touring. Here is one of my favorite all rounders; it gets a lot of use in winter:

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=435354

And if you can find a B'stone XO series bike, they make great all rounders, gravel bikes, and touring bikes:

/QUOTE]

Yes the old Stumpy's make fine tourer / all arounders

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2p8lgy3h.jpg

http://i1266.photobucket.com/albums/...psypouven6.jpg

Touring bikes are tricky in one respect. Back in the day, there were LOTS of really good choices and getting a C&V bike is definitely a good option. However, you may also want to consider a newer bike as well. My experience is that C&V touring bikes are a little higher in the price point than say, a Fuji S-10S because they were never made in great numbers compared to the racing types. Also, a well used vintage bike has seen some "stuff" and there may be problems that you can't easily see if you are not familiar with what to look for. I have seen beautiful Trek 520s that hide significant rust issues I would not want to get into and my LBS right now has a beat-up looking 520 that is a real diamond in the rough (just too big for me or it would be in my garage right now). IF you look at newer bikes, be aware that there were a lot of years that major manufacturers really didn't service this type of bicycle in their product line. Many will contend that Trek offered a 520 that hadn't been upgraded in years. I find this believable because when I first started looking into buying a touring bike, I was told that a Trek 520 as build-time away from delivery! I am not sure when the interest in touring bikes died off, but I suspect it was in the mid 1990s and interest began to rise again right around 2008 - 2010. I would look REAL HARD at bikes made in that lean time. It may be better to buy new rather than get an "almost vintage" bike with old technology when it was new on the rack.

There's a lot of good stuff here. The price differential between a new touring bike and top end C&V touring bike isn't too large. There are a lot of variables here but C&V touring bikes command a premium which may not be warranted if all the OP wants is a rider.

I'm going to disagree here. A built up Surly touring bike is going to run 1500 pretty easily while a Miyata 1000, or similar, sells complete for a third to 40% of that. Personally I'd rather have the Miyata all things being equal, and I'm not sure that a Surly is apples to apples on quality.

:thumb:

(Also agree on the so-so X-skiing. It's been 4+ hr. one way drives just to get in any decent snow. No doubt the East would love to trade the dumps they've had....lol)