Thinking about getting a tourer...

[steveindenmark]

It also depends what type of touring you are doing and what surfaces.

If you are sticking to the roads then you don`t really need a MTB. Do you really need 4 pannier bags, I am sure I don´t. Everyone is different. I carry very lightweight camping gear and very few clothes as most of my gear is quick drying. I can basically do a 2 week tour with a cycle shirt and 2 polo shirts and still not be glared at in the pub afterwards.

My bike is TREK Lexa SL with 2 Ortleib panniers on the back and a bar bag on the front. I am always dry and always comfortable.

I am always sniffing round the KOGA section at the local bike shop though.

Steve

 

[jjb]

The EBC bikes tend to get reduced at some point, if you're not in a hurry. They were reduced by 15% 11 months back, says google, meaning a sale might be round the corner. The £500 one got down to £325 in 2010, a quick forum search shows.

 

[oxford_guy]

I've got a Hewitt Cheviot, and they fitted lower gears so I can get up the hills. Very happy with it - although it probably helped that I lived near enough for Hewitt to measure me up and get the right fit. Probably not the cheapest option, though.

5'6" female, and it wasn't the smallest frame he sold me.

I love my Hewitt Cheviot SE, had it for almost 5 years now, used for both my daily commute and fully loaded touring. Only real changes I've made are to replace the Saddle with a Brookes Imperial and the rear hub with a Hopetech Pro 3, as the XT rear hub seized on me after less than a year. Needs new tyres now. Not the cheapest option, though, especially with the Schmidt Son 28 hub dynamo and B&M lights, but I use the dynamo to keep my iPhone/Viewranger GPS charged on tours:

 

[oldsalty]

i am out the other end of trying to keep up with the group ,so i am away touring now ,its nice to be at a slower pace looking over hedges ,got myself an kona sutra touring bike i call it the blue gate with wheels ,but ,,,its a super bike to cycle tour will take big loads just oil the chain and go for miles has a 42~39~30 on the front and 12~32 on the back

 

[MarkF]

Good luck, I know what it's like when you want a new bike. But......the Sirrus will do the job, I road mine from Bilbao to Malaga with a rack & 2 panniers, was as comfy as anything!