Abitrary said:
I'm sure that if you spend *2* saturdays going round some bike shops, you'll find something that accomodates your feet, er, footprint.
But will cost you 3 times as less. Will be a lot more robust, and a lot more comfortable.
If you are going to get into the welding options of steel bikes, then take it to the christians on the CTC forums
I wasn't going to get into the emergency roadside rural blacksmith welding options of steel bikes, always found that idea a bit odd.
I'd question your idea that a 300 quid hybrid would be 'a lot more comfortable' than a high end tourer, what are you basing that on? And 'more robust'? In which areas?
You're right to imply, of course, that it's perfectly possible to tour happily on any bike you can strap your gear onto. I'm sure I could tour on a raleigh shopper and get just as much from the adventure, but if I was about to set out on that 300 quid hybrid for an extended tour I'd be tempted to upgrade to a new saddle, better quality wheels (I do so hate
replacing spokes at the roadside), good quality racks, more hard wearing tyres, decent brake blocks, I'd probably have to lash on some extra bottle bosses, etc etc.. Or I could just spend a bit more and get what I wanted off the shelf.
By the way, my tourer is a hand-me-down which I paid nothing for, and the girlfriend tours happily on a german city bike which cost about 400 quid, so I agree with what you're saying to some extent.
I did pay a buttload for my tent though, when I could've just slept under a plastic sheet really.