I knew it would come to this sooner or later — I’m in the market for a new bike. There’s nothing wrong with any of my other bikes, but none of them are really touring bikes, and I’ll be joining Anne on a trip this summer. Fully self-supported, front and rear panniers, camping in the Rockies — the works. (I hated “touring” every time I’ve ever done it, but I suspect that that’s really an equipment issue — I do enjoy our towpath “bikepacking” trips.)
Anyway, I’ve been doing some research, and what I think I need is:
- a bike with a “touring” frame — low bottom bracket, longer wheelbase and chainstays,
- a triple chainring,
- mechanical disk brakes, and
- a few add-ons that would be nice if they came stock, like racks and fenders.
There are a few bikes that I think might fit the bill, ones I found in several “best touring bike” listicles, namely the Trek 520, the Kona Sutra SE, and the Surly Disk Trucker. The Trek looks to be impossible to find anywhere right now, and the Surly only seems available (sight unseen) via the Internet, but I found a Sutra SE at a local bike shop, and it looks like my size. I need to do a bit more search and research — I’m also looking among the world’s used bikes — but I think I can already see how this will shake out.
