great choice!


have fun!

Surly Cross Check or Straggler?

Carrying a very light load, occasional use only, more upright position, capable of good quality gravel trails, you could use just about any kind of bike that a commuter would want. If you are only considering a few models, you likely have already ruled out a lot of other bikes.

Ask the bike shop if you can ride both bikes around the parking lot for a while and see what you think of the handling. Do that when the shop is not very busy so the lot is nearly empty. Put a 10 pound weight on the rack when you do that so you have an idea of how the bike would feel. If you want less or more reach or a higher handlebar position, a different stem is cheap and an easy way for a better custom fit.

After you decide on which to get, start thinking about what kind of saddle you want for a 4 or 5 or 6 hour day.

And you might want fenders for days when the trail is wet, look at the amount of fender clearance and maximum size tires you can fit inside fenders. My photo is from my ride on the C&O, thus my comments on fenders.

Change the handlebars if you don't like what they put in the box ,
when the factory shipped the bike..

you can make personal changes , to make it fit as you prefer..

saddle pedals , add things etc.. your Dealer Shop can help.






..

Welcome to the forum. There are an endless array of bikes that will serve you well. Get one and go! Post pics when you do.

1. Buy the bike you like to ride
2. Outfit it with 32mm (or larger) tires
3. Get a saddle pack like this or so something else to carry your stuff
4. Fill pack with yer clothes & personal items
5. Enjoy your tour

2019 Salsa Vaya
- Chromoly w/ Carbon fork
- Shimano 105 - 11 speed
- Up to 700x50 (700x45 w/ fenders)
- Teal or Purple (Better Colors)
- $1800 MSRP

2019 Trek 520
- Chromoly w/ Aluminium fork
- Shimano Sora / Alivio - 9 speed
- FAQ lists 700x38 as largest recommended
- Lower gearing for hills
- Grey or Red
- $1680 MSRP

Either bike will do, but you need to decide what your future plans will be. I don't tour, but own a Vaya with a steel fork that I have used mostly for commuting. It has been a great bike for that task and I ride it unloaded. A bike like the Vaya is probably better for light touring or as an all around bike. A modern 520 is more stable with a large load, so if you intend to do more than light touring, a bike like the 520 may be better. I question the aluminium fork on the 2019 520 so you may want to find an older one if you stick with this model. As most people would suggest, you need to test ride the bikes to see how each feels to you.

I did pick up an old 520 after I bought the Vaya, which I built up to match the fit of my Vaya, so I am now using my 520 as my commuter. However, it is more of a sport tourer with 430mm chainstays and a 50mm BB drop (23" frame) so not a good comparison to a modern 520.

If one prefers upright position & is used to flat-bars, how about a nice med-price suspension-fork aluminum hybrid? Suspension fork gives comfy ride on trails & for light load/shorter distance one hardly needs a super-sturdy tourer. Some hybrids have hydraulic brakes yet still are about half the price of a 520.

Adventure Cycling and Sheldon Brown both offer sound advice on touring builds. Usually the advice consists of "simpler is better". The suggestions here are also good, but I didn't see anyone stress that a weekend rider like myself may greatly appreciate the MTB gearing for climbing. Even without a significant load, there's a sense of accomplishment to climbing without having to push!

I hope to live vicariously through your tours! Family commitments mean I can't use a week of leave to see just how far I can go!

1st week of June, a large number of contestants gather here,OR coast,
to compete in a transcontinental race..

they all pack very light, and are on their own... so a 'tour' on the ACA route
to Yorktown VA. to get there 1st.

unlike the Race Across America , with a support crew and a motorhome
to catch a few winks anywhere, before hitting the road again..




...

I have an old Trek 7200 alu/susp-fork hybrid that is about the same weight as my Trucker. Fairly fun for around town at least despite the cheapo fork. I think the lower-priced hybrid forks have gotten a bit better but they still lack some features of the better models.

The GAP trail is flat enough that pretty much any bike (regardless of weight) and any gearing would work. There are a few steep points off of the GAP trail that a rider might encounter for food or lodging, but the amount of elevation is small enough that even if the bike had to be walked up a steep hill for five or ten minutes, it would only be five or ten minutes.

C&O has a number of steeper sections but they are all extremely short at the locks, even if you did not have low gears they are short enough that it would not be a problem if you had some speed up before you climb them.

I rode the GAP when it had been quite wet and I thought that parts of the trail were soft, resulting in a slow ride. So, I think wider is better. There were three of us, I had 50mm wide tires, another had 47mm wide tires and one had 35mm or 37mm. All three of us felt that we had the ideal tires for that ride, but we were all carrying full panniers and camping gear. And the OP does not plan to carry much weight.

I agree a hybrid would work fine, but I would lean towards tires of at least 35 mm just in case it has been wet.

Are touring bikes technically built stronger than racing bikes?

Racing bikes are quite light and are only as strong as they have to be for racing. Racing bikes do not even have the mounts on the frame to install racks.

I have three touring bikes, one is rated for 30 to 35 kg of weight capacity not counting the weight of the rider, one is rated at 60 kg of weight capacity not counting the weight of the rider, and the third has no weight rating.

Look at how many spokes are on each wheel on a racing bike and then look at how many spokes are on a touring bike wheel, you will see the difference.

That's not true in the production world anymore. Updated European safety standards in the early 1990s caused manufacturers to move to oversize tubes on their steel bikes and equivalents in fatigue resistance and overall strength in their aluminum and carbon bikes. Used to be a road/touring bike had 25.4/28.6 TT/DT but now it's all 28.6/31/8 TT/DT and it shows in the weight and ride quality.

For light touring under <20 pounds full load I would never consider a production touring bike. They're overbuilt for that purpose and would ride poorly for an average riders weight with that size load. I'd much prefer an endurance road bike, regular road bike with rack mounts or even a QR mounted front rack. I finished an overnight last week on an endurance road bike (soma fog cutter) with an 11.5 pound load mounted on a front QR rack, it was a very enjoyable ride and much better than when I had a touring bike and tried similar.

An Issue with Road Racing (expensive, Carbon Fiber) bikes is they did not intend to have you fit racks,

But, now with the popularity of Bikepacking bags you don't need racks ,

and since the word Light was the key phrase in the topic, you won't be carrying more than will fit in them.



Another group of such equipped bikes will show up next June to race-tour each other across the country..





...

I'm light for my height so my Trucker frame is heavier than necessary but even w/o luggage the Trucker has a fairly comfy ride, 50mm tires help of course. I enjoy my new Haanjo EXP Carbon gravel bike mainly since it's so much lighter but ride comfort is about the same. The EXP OTOH handles much better on descents, BTW the the current Haanjo 5C EXP is only $320 more than the Trek 520.

FYA, after years of searching:
Addendum: If the links to the external sites do not work, go to the quoted original Bike Forums posts, and follow the links from there.

Light touring is on my horizon. We have the NCR trail very close by.

I would definitely go with the Vaya for light touring over the 520. Its a far more versatile bike that you can also use as a gravel grinder, weekend club rider, Fondo rider, etc.

Last year I did two 1-week tours but keeping gear light on a Trek FX (aluminum frame, carbon fork) that included a lot of gravel roads and about 45-60 mile days.. I did it with 38mm width tires. It was fine and it's sized comfortably, and with a triple front ring and 11-32 cassette in back it has plenty of gearing range, but I could have really used more versatile handlebars. I have a light tour coming up and considered getting a Salsa Vaya, which I liked riding (I also liked the Salsa Journeyman for less $). But in the end I put butterfly handlebars with cushy bar tape on it and for now fixed my hand comfort issues over longer distances. Was able to install it all myself really easily to further save money.

I still have the idea of getting a versatile, steel framed light touring bike, which the Vaya is perfect for, but with wide tires (I have 38's on my Trek and wouldn't mind going wider) I'm not sure frame material is as important, as most of the shock absorption is happening in my tires and getting a new seat post might actually make more sense. I replaced the Bontrager saddle on my FX with a good Fizik and it was a big upgrade in comfort over distances too.