I have a K2 Astral. 8 speed, 2 water cages and eyelets for racks.. I have been considering on useing it for touring but do not know..

Has anyone used a similar bike for touring? And what would you suggest? I am thinking changing in to a 9 speed but have no idea if this would work..It really is a great comfortable bike, but is a killer on hills,..My other option is to just look at a 'real' touring bike but I would like to see if this bike would work before I fork out the cash..

My plans are to pull a trailer, (bob yak??) and just go with a rack trunk..

Free Spirit

As you probably know, what will work as a 'touring' bike is largely in the mind of the rider. The range is wide, and short of a custom made bike, nothing stock is hardly ever ideal. Adjustments have to me made. The bike you reference will, with a 32 or 34 tooth granny gear, do the job, just not ideally.

Fit is always First. Be very careful here, especially top tube length. Have your local bike shop help with this.

Most road bikes, even touring specific bikes, are often geared too high for most people hauling or pulling a load. After proper fitting, this is the most common thing that needs fixing. Next is bar height/angle. Next is saddle. Then tire selection.

Before investing, check out the Windsor Tourist. Read the review by a Forums contributor near the page bottom. Again, adustments will likely be needed, especially the high gearing.

Yes, most bikes will work for touring. Your bike will do fine.

If you struggle alot up hills, then you should buy a 8-speed cassette with larger gears. Upgrading to 9-speed will do absolutely nothing for you except for providing closer spaced gears.

Don't worry about if what you have is perfect, go buy a rack, buy panniers, pack your stuff and go.

Your bike should do fine. As others have mentioned the 8 speed is more than adequate. Looking at the specs on K2's website, the gearing seems comparable to most "touring" bikes. If you think you may need a little lower gearing, a 12-34 cassette and a 26 or 24 tooth small chainring would give you a couple of extra shifs going uphill. I suspect that the components on touring bikes tend to evolve as things wear out and "wants or needs" are evaluated through experience. My present touring bike is definately not the same bike I purchased four years ago.

PS What Astral do you have? The website shows 3 models with 3 different gearing setups.