I don't think it's particularly shallow, it's worth picking a bike you like the look of. The look is part of what put me off the LHT as well.

You can get normal Salsa frames, but it looks like they have run out of this seasons stock. You would probably have to wait at least 2 months to get one.
The Soma looks very nice.

Another vote for the Vaya as a general purpose commuter & touring bike. Perhaps I missed something but how much lighter can a similar aluminum frame be? The Vaya frame itself weighs seven pounds and adding rack, fenders, seat, wheels, headset, derailers, chain, shifters, seatpost, tubes, tires, etc brings it up to under 30 lbs. Even if the frame was two pounds lighter (and I doubt it) the overall weight wouldn't be significantly different for the intended application so why the fuss about frame material.

I await being corrected.

I'm not too concerned with weight. I live in Central Illinois and the steepest inclines we have here go over the Interstate. Aside from that, everything is flat or slightly inclined up or down. I'd be surprised to find an incline great than 5 degrees on any road I'd be on in Champaign.

Its quite fine. Its low cost for a few reasons.

• It has hi-ten stays.
• The rest of the frame and fork is no name brand cromo.
• Its private label, so no advertising etc to make more expensive.

The frame and fork have plenty of attachment points for racks, fenders, bottle cages, pump, etc.

It is unlabeled, so if you like that then perfect. Otherwise you can design your own graphics, if that’s something you want.



The frame and fork weight wont ever be accused of being supermodel light, but its for commuting/touring/errands so my view is its more important to have something that wont flex a ton and can handle bumps well.

Have you read threads here at BF concerning the Nashbar touring bike? I'm not casting dispersion but thought of one not long ago that actually gave a great deal of insight into the bike and, by virtue, the frame. Link here, http://www.bikeforums.net/clydesdale...ike-today.html (Note this appeared among Clydesdale's. Haha)

Interesting- I read thru the thread and it looks like that guy had a lot of problems with the Nashbar bike. It wasn't the frame and fork though, it was the whole bike, and the problems were all with components that were selected and not the frame and fork.

I'd imagine the paint isn't incredible for durability.

The specs on that guy's fork are different than the fork that Nashbar sells individually. His was hi-ten and the fork sold alone is cromo. Odd.

I'm glad you found some benefit from the thread, if only to get a sense of where any disappointment lay. I bought a Nashbar aluminum road frame and it had a polyurethane finish which I think differs from that of the Touring model.

Sorry, responding to mstateglfr as though you were OP.

I just read it. Good read with great info. Too bad about the bad experience with the Nashbar bike. Price point is part of marketing, too, but you still generally get what you pay for.

Not (primarily) a question of weight, although there's a discontinuity between the "what's 2 pounds in the scheme of things?" argument and the parallel threads with discussions of obsessive weight-paring (tents, etc.) among experienced long-distance touring riders.

The main advantage enjoyed by riders of aluminum touring frames is the superior tracking---i.e., the fact that larger-diameter frame tubes are much better at keeping the front and rear wheels vertically oriented in the same plane than smaller-diameter frame tubes. I've always found the resulting handling improvement far more obvious than the so-called "harsh" ride of aluminum.

In fact, after 50 years of riding high-end road and track bikes, all I know is that short-wheelbase bikes (regardless of frame material) tend to feel more uncomfortable than long-wheelbase bikes.

I apologize to the OP for this side discussion; just replying to asmac and his request for correction.

One possibility to consider, which would considerably widen your range of options, is to look for a rack that puts the pannier further back.

... to the detriment of handling... I get the sense that the Disk Trucker is being held up as the floor above which suggestions are welcome. That's a tough request because Surly has a huge chunk of the specialty market that is THAT sort of bike. It might be a growing segment, as i suggested by the tread titled "Why do I see so many Surly's", but I don't think it is a market that has attracted a strong competitive response from anyone. Those bike that are similar are typically located in a different part of the world or at a price few are willing to swallow.

Just my $.02.

Bob Jackson Cycles

This is prettyclose to the price you mention. Its over, but its also a really cool frame and fork. You can basically call the frame and decal color too!

Thanks for stating what I'm looking for with more eloquence. You're exactly right ... although the LHT isn't necessarily a "floor" in terms of the quality I'm looking for.

I think I've made my mind up and am going to go with the Soma Saga Disc. Although the chainstay is 1cm shorter I dig the paint job on it. Also, being able to get more upright without adding 12 spacers is appealing.

Will post pics of the build as it progresses. I seriously hope I'm not making a huge mistake in ordering and assembling everything myself. :)

Salsa Vaya Travel is stainless steel, not titanium, unless I didn't understand your abbreviation correctly.

Ah yeah right. Still spendy though

The Vaya Travel is stainless but there is also a 2015 Titanium model both of which are above my pay grade. Here is a thorough article discussing frame materials: Bicycle Frame Materials Essay from Smart Cycles Bike Shop - Norwalk, CT

I didn't have to put a tall stack of spacers on my LHT to get the bars a little higher than seat level. Right now I am about 3/4 inch above the seat and I have two spacers along with the brake cable bracket. If you buy a frame that is too small you may have trouble, but if you buy a large enough frame you can get the old school "fist full of seat post" showing and have the bars level with the seat or above it with no problems at all. I was running my bard two inches above without too many spacers.

Fairdale Weekender frame is one to look into. It's designed to carry bags and allows heel clearence for panniers. Tough to put fenders on if you like big balloon tires.

Since it's all opinions and I also have one....I spent a long time pondering the same decision and for a stupid specific reason, that I can't remember now, decided that I will go with the Soma Saga. Maybe because it's easier to type the whole name. I am convinced that, Saga or LHT, either choice would suit my needs just fine and I could not go wrong with either.

I think the Brodie Elan looks good.

It has a 44.5cm chainstay, steel, disc.

Also, if you prefer a straight fork, look at the Argus.

Brodie Bikes

I looked into these when researching my bike (full custom Civia Hyland) and my wife's bike (Jamis Aurora Elite) and you can get a frame in the US from the right dealer.

What is really awesome is that they even have bottle cage mounts on the bottom of the downtube!