Touring monstrosity
 

I currently have a 2009 Karate Monkey and a 2011 Handsome Devil. But of these bikes are single-speed, the Surly is stock but the Devil is a custom build. I recently lent my father-in-law the Handsome and will be getting that back in August. Until then, I'm down to my KM, which I love, but its limited in distance/speed/usability.

I've finally started to get the fixed gear fun out of my system and am looking at doing some long distance touring with my wife. It's been a long time planning, but it looks like the horizon is very near.

I have been looking at two bikes, the Nashbar CX-1 and the Nashbar Steal Touring, both with the intentions of using using (whichever I purchase) them in their "stock" form to commute for a month or so. In August I'm going to take apart my Handsome Devil and use the quality parts from that, combined with the wheelset and gears/shifters on the Nashbar.

The touring bike looks like the best bang for the buck. 105 shifters, DE and a free rack. But all the reviews say the wheels are crap. I am familiar with rebuilding wheelsets, so that doesn't scare me too much. The CX-1 has Sora/Tiagra but also has an R-500 wheelset.

Does anybody have experience with either of these two bikes (the Nashbars) on touring? I'm looking at using the leftover parts to build up my son a bike as well, and would like to minimize additional expenses.

Why not just get some slick tires and tour with the KM? I forget if you can put racks on there, but if not, just pick up a trailer and you're good to go.

Edit: Or can the KM not be geared??

The Karate Monkey can take gears although sometimes you have to use what Surly calls Monkey Nuts to keep the tire out of the FD but they are very cheap. I would just set up the KM with gears and use that

Yea +1 with Nubcakes, change out the components on the KM build.

Yeah, most Surlys make awesome touring bikes. An LHT is the best for hauling cargo of course, but if you've already got one, ride it as is. You have the additional benefit of being able to go off-road if you want, too.

The Nashbar touring uses the same frame as the Windsor Tourist. I had a Windsor and it is a well made frame, ideal for touring and commuting. The Nashbar touring bike is a very good value.

Use KM for a touring bike,it's better than what you want to buy.If it doesn't have brazeons for racks,that's why they make p-clamps.It's good enough for Old Man Mountain racks,it's good enough for me.

And don't pay $12 for 2 p-clamps and bolts online.You can buy 25 of them for $12 bucks online at McMaster Carr and the like.About $50-$60 will get you a lifetime supply of stainless p-clamps and stainless hardware.