I am looking to purchase a touring bike and would like to know if anyone has input on three bikes I have an interest in. They are the Kona Sutra, Raleigh Sojourn, or the Cannondale Touring. The least expensive Cannondale tour bike, one or two, I forgot which one.

Hi, not to be a jerk but there are pretty extensive threads on each of these bikes here.

The search function at Bikeforums is terrible. Go to google and try "site:bikesforums.net Raleigh Sojourn" and so on.

Hi, I've been in a similar situation for the last few months, and made a similar thread here called "Making Sense of the Touring Bike Market." It's still on the front page, and people have posted a lot of thoughtful opinions about a lot of the touring bikes out there right now.

Unfortunately, you'll find that the three bikes you're most interested are just about the only three production tourers I didn't really look at. You still might find something that helps you though...

Apart from that, BengeBoy is right about one thing.... Bikeforums fares *very* well in google's search rankings. If you type in anything like Cannondale Touring vs. Kona Sutra into google, I can just about guarantee it'll point you to a Bikeforums thread!

Also, welcome to the forum from one new member to another.

a quick non-scientific opinion on the Cannondales. I have a good friend who has one (sorry, dont recall which model, would have to call her)
I have ridden it a little bit just to see how it felt and while I really am impressed how well built and strong they look and feel (good components etc, good gearing) the one thing that I should mention is that when unloaded, it really felt harsh over bumps due to the rigidity of the alu frame and straight rear frame sections, and this was with either 32 or 35 tires. I was comparing this to my steel touring bike which was more compliant over the same road. I have a alu framed cyclocross bike which has the curved rear stays and it is less harsh than the Cannondale (but acknowledge that the frame on my bike is not designed for touring per se)

I say this more for someone who may end up riding this bike nearly all the time unloaded, you might find a steel touring frame more comfortable for all the non-loaded riding times.

I completely realize that these are touring bikes, and with no doubt, I am sure that the Cannondales when loaded are toned down in the harshness side of things, and I have no doubt too that they are much less "flexy" than a touring bike like mine with 40lbs or whatever of stuff on them and would be excellent tourers.

In an ideal world one can test ride bikes to get a bit better idea of how a bike feels, even if for 10 minutes (and to compare to other bikes in the same day) but this isnt often the case. And remember too with a test ride, tire pressures can be down 20lbs from max, look fine but can mask the ride quite a bit)

Thank you, not a jerk at all. I found this helpful for a couple of things I would have overlooked. Namely the gearing and the number of spokes in the wheels. Thanks again for your help.

The T-1 is a 10 speed, The T-2 is a 9 speed.

The T-1 one has a soft ride loaded or not.
Depends on the type of tires and PSI.

I have 6,000 miles on my 2008 T-1.

thanks 10 wheels, seeing your photo reminds me how whenever I see the Cannondale touring models, they really look so robust. Remember thinking that seeing the first ones maybe 20 years ago and its the same today.