indyfabz

Drop it. Those of us who actually do what the OP is considering and don't find it laborious are simply daft.

WhyFi

Didn't you just recommend 32c tires to the OP?

indyfabz

As a low-cost option to save a bit of energy, compared to a completely different wheel set, especially if the loaded tours will be few and far between, but definitely not necessary.

Maelochs

I commuted on 1.6" tires for quite a while. yeah, they are not as quick as 1" .... but when commuting, with all the gear I needed for the day, where traffic was a lot more important than maximum efficiency, and where pavement could be anything from day to day, and weather also ... somehow I survived. I must be tougher than Superman or something.

Or else, 37 mm tires are Not the end of the world .... one or the other.

mcours2006

I have 35 mm cx tires with aggressive treads. Great for hard-packed dirt and gravel, but very lousy on smooth pavement.

I also have a set of 35 mm Continental City Ride touring tires with very minimal treading and they ride very smoothly and much faster than the cx.

And I recently purchased a set of 37 mm Conti Contact 2's. They also ride very smoothly, and only marginally slower than 25 mm slicks, even on a heavier bike.

That's just my personal experience. Yours may be different.

Any of those bikes OP has mentioned can fit 35 mm tires. Obviously if he want to do trail riding, single track, commuting, or group rides, any single bike with one set of tires if going to be a compromise. If this is the case then the MEC Cote is a good choice, with a decent set of 35 mm tires.

zoom26

Upon reading from your post, the MEC is more with road bike drivetrain while both the trek and the surly are with mtb drivetrains. Only the MEC is equipped with STI shifters, which I think appeals more for me. MEC and Trek are equipped with disc brakes, while Surly seems to be with cantis, so again MEC and Trek. For me MEC seems to be the best choice, but if you prefer to have triple cranksets then go with the Hurly or the Trek. Then if you prefer disc brakes then it is the Trek. If you have a Raleigh in there, I suggest looking into a Clubman disc as well, I seem to like that bike too especially if its around the price range that you have. Good luck!

yycwrangler

Hi Everyone

Really enjoyed your comments and have gone through them several times. It's reassuring that I'm at least picking the right bike category for the environment I could be faced with. When the conversations get narrowed down to the tire size, makes me feel good in my choices. I can see me picking up the Trek or the Cote more so than the Surly. Also the Surly in Canada is about $2000Cdn and for the disc surly about $2200. For that price I could easily buy either of the other two bikes and have two different sets of rims. I could also request that the Cote be equipped with thinner tires but I'm not sure I would do that. I think I'm willing to burn a few more calories on the highway with wider tires and have the ability to sneak off on single track, than to make my tires thinner and not have that option.

Great feedback and again many thanks for the input..Will let you know my final choice and for sure post pics

Cheers
Al

CliffordK

Another group of bikes to consider would be the Rocky Mountain Solo line.

Solo CX | Rocky Mountain Bicycles

As far as I can tell it is a Canadian company. It is unclear how much manufacturing they do, perhaps importing frames and components and assembling in Canada.

They had a road version including a carbon fiber bike, and a cross version, although all I can find is the cross version now. But that might suit you well.

A few of them are showing up on E-Bay.