Touring bikes in Europe
 

I am interested getting a Touring bike in Germany for daily commute/winter riding/touring. I was looking at Trek 520, and Surly Long Haul Trucker. But Trek 520 is not available in Europe, and Surly is not available as a complete bike here. What are some good touring bikes that are available in Europe in similar price range?

You In Germany? you are naming US brands. Germans have lots more companies..

Yes, could you name some good touring bikes from Germany?

German touring bikes tend to be more expedition style with butterfly bars and the good ones have all modern conveniences (Rohloff, Magura, SON etc). The only English style tourers from Germany are custom-built from small framebuilders.
Lots of UK models, Dawes, Ridgeback, Hewitt, Edinburgh Cycles/Revolution, SJS Cycles/Thorn, Claud Butler.
You can also get tourable cyclo-cross models, esp modern ones with disc brakes.

Then there's Koga-Miyata from Holland which I'm sure can be bought in Germany.

Are you certain you can't get a LHT? We have a dealer in sweden.
Here's Surly's dealer locator. lots of dealers in germany

Yeah, there are Surly's dealers around. But from what I know, Surly could only sale the frame set instead of complete bike in Europe. I would prefer a complete bike.

Thank you for your information, I will take a look at them. Sorry I am not familiar with this, but by English style do you mean drop bars? For some reason, I am not really a big fan of the butterfly bars. I think I could still get UK brand here without too much trouble though (compare to getting US models).

You might find the postage from the UK is a bit steep though. When I was living in Austria I was quoted ~€285 for getting a new Thorn Audax Mk3 delivered from the UK .

http://www.trenga.de/shop/

http://www.fahrradmanufaktur.de/

I have a Koga Miyata , I got Used By Luck, an excellennt bike ,
their Signature program lets you pick a frame type and size and components from a menu .

It is the way to get the 26" wheel trekking bike type I got , an 04 year WTR .World Tour Rohloff

equipped well has mudguards and Pannier racks , they have a batch contract from Tubus
for an ergo with a Kickstand mount , on the lower left side to control the loaded panniers.

Tout Terrain, a steel framed bike [Koga uses a 7005 aluminum ]
a fork specifically designed around a 180 disc, and a Dynamo disc hub
makes the rear rack a welded on part of the frame.

Of course if you want to get away from a diamond frame , the HP velotechnik
line includes some of the best recumbents in the world.

the Grasshopper is a folding recumbent , of short wheelbase style
with 2 406 wheels.

In Germany I'd certainly have a look at Fahrradmanufaktur, very good price/quality. The T400 XT would be an excellent touring bike, ready to ride around the world. Includes Tubus racks, B&M lighting, Magura brakes etc. for €1200. I almost bought one, but decided to build up my own Surly LHT from the frameset. It's really very easy to install all components on the bike, anyone could do it within a weekend and you have all liberty to choose any parts you like...

Thank you, I am considering 26" wheel trekking/touring bike as well. The ones you mentioned seems very nice touring bikes, but they are a little over my budget.

Thank you for the suggestions, I will take a look at the T400 XT. Actually I did consider building up the Surly LHT from the frame set as well. But I was worried about two things. 1) I am not that experience with bike building/maintenance yet. I don't mind to learn, I just don't want to screw up the bike. 2) I heard it could be much more expensive than buying a complete bike. How much does it costs you to build it may I ask?

Cyclecomponents in Sweden sell a full bike so that doesn't sound correct. I'm also considering this bike, but the DeLuxe version. :)
http://www.cyclecomponents.com/cgi-b...SUR0013-26-42r

what about Rotor, also a German brand, not too expensive, they sometimes have deals where you buy the bike + rack + paniers at a good price, I've seen them in action and they are quite nice! http://www.rotorbikes.com/de/bikes/reiserad

otherwise, this is a nice online german shop, they have quite a few touring frames: http://www.bike-components.de/shop/c...ng-Frames.html

Well, I bought a LHT complete in Spain about a year ago from the local Surly dealer, so... (I had to wait a bit for it, though). Besides, I believe there really are plenty of alternative options in Germany.