Hi all,
I am in the market for a new bike that I will use for loaded touring (mainly on-road) and possibly commuting. I am considering the usual suspects (Surly LHT & Ogre, Kona Sutra, Salsa Fargo & Vaya, Raleigh Sojourn) but am open to other suggestions; my only requirements are disk brakes and 700cc/29" wheels. If anyone has a suitable bike I could test-ride, please PM me. I'm 5'8". Thanks much.
If you don't require an extended test ride (more than a spin around the block or so) go to thick as they carry surly, all city, salsa and raleigh and usually have mediums in stock. You could potentially ride almost every bike in your list plus a couple that should be (ac macho man, mr pink and spacehorse) back to back.
Double post.
The Space Horse is awesome, but it doesn't handle that great with a really big touring load. All-City says 30 rear / 20 front, and my experience indicates that that's probably about right. The handling does get weird. It's not a Long Haul Trucker kind of bike (which I love, but it depends what sort of bike you want).
It doesn't have disk brakes anyway, so that would seem to eliminate it from the OP's list.
But everyone should still buy one.
(But actually if I had this particular set of needs I would be seriously considering those Vayas. I wish I were taller so that I could have one of the 700c ones.)
Salsa Fargo should also be on this list.
Yeah, looks like it already is. OP says he(?) will be mainly on-road, though, so the Vaya is probably more appropriate
I found that using lowrider mounted pannier(On Nitto campee racks) on the space horse worked really well for a 3 day tour.
I wind up riding the space horse and nature boy more than any other bikes I've got.
Although, My karate monkey is catching up since I gave it a 1x9 drivetrain.
If you are planning on doing loaded touring
and all other things being the same, pay
close attention to which bike has the best
wheels. Under load these break and suck and
are expensive to replace on a trip,
+1 Steevo. I've broken a wheel on a tour. Taco'd too much to spin. Had to call for a ride. It Really sucks.
Thanks for the tips, all. I will stop by thick bikes and take note of the wheels.
