Right now I ride a 2005 Fuji Silhouette on 700x26c wheels. It's a hybrid bike that I have upgraded bits and pieces over the years for light touring and commuting, but the frame is a bit small. Also, the chain-stay is short, and my heels keep hitting the rear panniers.

The Fuji is great for commuting, but not so great for touring. At the end of a 60-80 mile day, my wrists are shot from its aluminum frame and the flatbars. As mentioned, my heels keep hitting the rear panniers. The cost of adding good drop bars, with new, good brakes and shifters is ridiculously prohibitive, compared with the cost of a new bike, or building up a new one, which would get me on a bigger frame.

Therefore, I am looking at three steel bikes/frames that would be used both for touring (~50-100/mi per day) and commuting (hills, ~5-10 mi/day):

- Jamis Aurora Elite
- Velo Orange Rando
- Surly Long Haul Trucker

I'd like to build up a new bike, but I don't know much about frames and the added expense means I want to make sure I make the right decision up-front.

So my question is what your experiences have been with using bikes built from the VO or Surly frames is like, or the pre-built Aurora Elite. If you ride these bikes, what are your experiences like?

My opposition to the Surly is that the size of frame I would get (53cm) only takes 26" wheels. The 26" wheels I have seen on a LHT look tiny, and make it look like a children's bicycle, compared with 700c wheels. I'd prefer to ride on 700c wheels. Otherwise, the price seems okay.

All three bike frames seem to have a long chainstay, to help keep my heels from hitting the bike bags. Are your experiences different? Do your heels hit your bike bags?

Are there other frames you would recommend, that are within the scope shown here? Ideally, the bike I get would work well for both touring and commuting, as mentioned. Thanks for your advice.

AR, Looking at the Jamis web site I'd go with the triple equipped 2010 model.

Brad

I'd choose a 26" wheeled bike for touring over a 700C any day...and I ride a much larger frame than you do. Don't worry that they 'make it look like a children's bicycle'. The 26" wheel is a far stronger wheel than a 700C. It's ideal for carrying loads and abusing. That's why Surly started offering the 26" wheel in larger sizes. Think strength and utility rather than cosmetics.

The Surly LHT is one of the best production touring bikes being made today. There are others that are better but none can match the price.

If you were going to go with something like the Rando, I'd suggest a Bruce Gordon BLT frame for the same price. The Rando lacks the braze-ons for racks which the Gordon has in abundance. The build is going to be more expensive than the LHT but you'll have something unique.

There's also the Soma Saga. Frame price about what the Surly is but not quite, in my opinion, as good as the Surly. It's close but not quite as good.

Having built a chromoly bicycle frame and knowing what the raw materials cost, I don't think I could bring myself to pay Surly's price for the LHT. The 26" wheels are actually an advantage in my book! My touring bike has 700c wheels and I can't tell you how many times I've jammed my foot into the fenders thanks to the toe overlap...

That said, if I had to chose between the three frames you list I'd buy the Jamis Aurora Elite. I'm a big fan of both SRAM and disc brakes. I also wouldn't discount riding a bike with an aluminum frame. My touring bike uses Nashbar's $100 aluminum touring frame. My build is 5lbs lighter than the Aurora Elite and, with 700x35 tires, rides almost as well as my carbon fiber road bike...

Surly or Jamis.

The Surly is obviously better for touring, the Jamis
can do that, but should be a bit more fun on a group ride.

I'd throw on drop bars, but to each his own.

I don't know anything about the Jamis.

The VO Rando is a road bike with a low trail geometry designed for front biased loads. It is not a touring bike, but it would be a nice fast commuter.

The LHT is a great touring bike and makes a fine commuter. I don't think the 26" wheels on a small frame look odd...in fact I'd go the other way and say 700c wheels on a small frame look odd. But, aesthetics are personal.

The Cross Check offers 700c wheels in the smaller sizes and makes a decent touring bike and a nice commuter. The CC doesn't have a triple crank, but if that's something you want a LBS can swap one in for you.

funny, I think the 26" wheeled LHT makes me look 6' tall. The reason for picking a LHT is because you plan on carrying WEIGHT, not because you plan on riding x miles. The LHT would be the better choice if you plan on riding 5 miles a day or 100 if you plan on carrying lots of weight.
Your wrists aren't shot because of the aluminum frame but more likely from riding straight bars on 26mm tires. My wrists will hurt riding wide straight bars on 2.125 tires but not riding on the tops of drop bars with 28mm tires.
The basis for good load carrying isn't just heel clearance. I've got a 56cm Cross-Check that can have the rear wheel to a theoretical chainstay length of 17.5" and heel clearance but it's not anywhere as good at carrying that weight as a LHT that has larger frame tubes or other touring bikes with similar chainstay length.
If you aren't carrying lots of weight and like 700c look at other bikes than the LHT. If you like carrying weight primarily on your rear rack the LHT can't be beat.
Don't quite understand why you want to build up a bike from a frame when what you want is a complete bike and the parts you have don't appear to cross-over well and you're willing to consider a $1700 Aurora Elite.

does your Nashbar touring frame have a replaceable dropout? The photo appears to have one but the specs say it doesn't. What fork did you put on it?

Here are a couple of pics of a 56 cm 26 in LHT, the wheels look ok in my opinion and the toe overlap issue isn't there.

I didn't realize that the Rando did not have rear bosses. If I can't put a rear rack on there, it's off the list. Thanks for the tip!

It has fender mounts. You could still mount a rack but it's more complicated.

My version of the frame has a replaceable rear derailleur hanger. The dropout on the opposite side of the frame isn't replaceable. In the bike's most common configuration, I use Nashbar's carbon fiber cyclocross fork, which allows me to use an Avid BB7 Road disc brake. The CX fork quickens steering a bit, which some might not like. If I could find a cantilever brake that I didn't hate, I'd be tempted to go back to the aluminum fork that came with the frame...