do i need a custom bike
 

ok what i want in a touring bike is this,light weight but capable of carrying the load my prefaired choice would be titanium carbon front folk's, 700 wheels, drop bar's. :thumb:
i can get all the gear i need into my ortlieb back packer plus panniers,i don't like front panniers.
anyway would i need to go down the custom road to get this bike or is there one out there i diden't spot.
thank's.

Cannondale T-1, T-2 might work for you.

How much will you be carrying?

We do lite touring (motels, hotels) and never carry more than 20 pounds.
A lot of bikes can handle that. If you want to do the usual thing, then the bike will
need to be designed for it.

And if it's designed for heavy loads, then saving a few ounces by making it from titanium doesn't
make a lot of sense. Not much bang for a whole lot of bucks...

You can use a carbon cyclocross fork to save some weight. Tubus racks are light. Take a look
at the Tubus Luna. I just got one, haven't installed it yet. It's rated for 40 pounds, but my epxerience with my Tubus Fly suggests it can handle any reasonable load. IOW, don't sit on it. You can save a bunch of weight by getting rims and tires that don't weigh a lot.
Dyad would be a good choice for a rim. Look at tires under 500 grams.

Also look into light weight camping gear. Backpackers can get more fanatic about weight than cyclists.

Btw, you didn't mention where you are, or the budget.

thank's lads i do have all the lightweight camping gear and my thorn sherpa is well decked out with the best of everything tubus included.recently put a set of marathon supreams on her which made a big difference .
but im thinking do i really need a full on expedition touring bike with the type of touring i do.
this new dream machine would have to carry my 13 stone and probably another 30 lb of gear or near enough .
i came across a bike only today idwork cycles fantastic bike but i want drop bars besides it has roholff gears rather have something i can fix shimano.

Litespeed used to have the Blueridge as part of their line. I asked about it at a local Litespeed dealer a couple of years ago and they told me that it could still be had as something of a special order. If that is still the case it might be cheaper than a full up custom build.

Speedo

The devinci caribou is the first lightweight touring bike I've seen in the flesh and it seemed pretty decent. I'm sure you could swap out the cr-mo fork for a nashbar carbon one no problems.

speedo i think you just found my dream machine.
wonder if i can just buy frame
and .forks.

sweet! ... 32 spoke rear wheel? hmmm... but apart from that, if it was light and fast you're looking for... see a price anywhere?

i would be looking to build that litespeed up myself.i would imagine it would cost an arm and a leg to buy frame and fork.but if i go ahead with this i will sell my look kx light and my thorn both top class bikes to fund this dream project,well you need to dream every now and again.AS i said my main aim is to get a frame that's super strong, light, fast and litespeed are great bikes i never knew they did touring bikes.
i would get 36 spoke wheels on maybe phil woods hubs people seem to like phil wood..

+ ∞

Are you in the UK/Europe? If so, Enigma (UK) and van Nicholas (Holland?) both come to mind; I may be wrong, but I think both either do (or could do) what you have in mind.

Tubus make a ti rack now too.

Touring bikes and fast don't get together much.

I would advice against the touring/cross frames. I had a Ti touring/cross
frame. It was quick, but it wasn't all that great as a tourer.

If you want an expedition frame, get one. You can go lite on the other stuff.

http://gunnarbikes.com/site/bikes/grand-tour/

http://gunnarbikes.com/site/wp-conte...2984334495.jpg

thank's for that late so how would you compare that gunnar to the litespeed blue ridge .
badger 1 i'll check out enigma and van nicholas bikes .
if i go ahead with this i would need to sell my other bike,so i need to get it right first time ,there's no going back.

Moots Mootour....the frame is only $3150.

You don't need one, but they are nice to have if you get one and you're very particular about what you want. I had to really learn a lot about options just to order mine and get dialed in exactly what I wanted. It turned out beautifully, but again there was work on my end in deciding how it was made, from angles and lengths to material choices to paint job, plus what components I wanted to put on it. I didn't go for super lightweight like what you want, but what I had in mind wasn't something you could get out of an off-the-shelf bike, really, so in that sense it was similar to your problem.

The result: My Mercian with Rohloff custom setup:

http://i534.photobucket.com/albums/e...rcian008rs.jpg

lovely bike the mercian i gave one to a guy on the thorn site.But im still sticking to my dream.
don't get me wrong on this my thorn sherpa would take some beating when it comes to look's and the gear i have on it all top stuff
and in perfect order.i even got sjs to build me a super set of wheels.
so all and all a great bike.
i probably will never do credit card touring but you never know,so my new light weight Touring bike will need to carry my rear panniers
without causing the frame any stress .super frame super wheels.( the tyres and groopset are sorted.)

I am building my lightweight touring bike, but running into the growing pains of it. Litespeed Sportive (replaced the blueridge) has the Carbon fork up front - http://www.litespeed.com/bikes/current/sportive.aspx

My issue now is I plan to do a cross country tour and don't think I can fit it all in my rear panniers, plus the front fork won't fit a 38c tire (much less a fender with a 38c).

ullearn why did you replace the blue ridge, i don't like the sound of that .the blue ridge was kinda my number one choice.
are you saying it's not really suitable for touring .

Sory I didn't mean I replaced the Blue Ridge, Litespeed no longer makes the Blue Ridge and the Sportive is there close to touring frame now. Blue Ridge is very suitable for touring.

thank's for that hope you get a beautiful bike sorted.
you would think a company like litespeed would have all these issues sorted regarding tire clearance and fenders
is there a max weight you can carry on that frame .

Sorry can't answer the max weight question, I would think the limitation isn't on the frame, but the wheels or fork. I actually put a rack on the carbon fork and it fitted, but decided not to ever load it with weight after seeing - http://www.bustedcarbon.com/

wow just had a look at busted carbon blog emm i think i'll stick to my all steel thorn.
it's going to cost me a fortune to buy the bike i want even selling my two bikes .
i guess bikes are like cars when it comes to selling them on you don't get half the money there worth.
so im keeping what i have ,
thanks everyone for all the comments .

haha well I wasn't trying to scare you off that much, but there are pains with the Sportive as a touring bike; so much so I considered getting a LHT. For anyone with a carbon fork looking for a steel fork Rivendell Bikes will give you a discount for your trade in - http://www.rivbike.com/products/show...ms-fork/50-718