Bicycle Travel > Gear Talk

help choosing a bike

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bikeguyrich:
I am going with a new touring frame. I am looking at a Long Haul Trucker, Soma Saga, Aurora Elite, or a Raleigh Port Townsend (the last two would be complete bikes. Cost is not as much a factor as reliability. Would be touring around the States and Canada. Self supported  with tent bag, cooking gear etc..  I am 61 years old, 160 lbs medium frame. (53 or 54 cm.)  Personal preference is for 700 wheel base but with good logic I can be talked into 26. I ride a Brooks or an old Ideale (my personal favorite) saddle and I am a bike mechanic so other than frame repairs I have no worries. I have read some on each one of these but I want some feedback from users with real life expedrience

mikefm58:
I'm also quite interested here in the responses as I'm considering a touring bike as well and start my long distant tours.  From the little research I've done so far, the Trek 520 seems to be the current industry standard.

hem:
Just my opinion but the frame is probably less of a concern for me than everything else you hang off of it starting with the wheels and drive chain. Given my choice of those components they would play well off any of the mentioned frames and many more from customs to Nashbar and do the job. The Long Haul Trucker seems to me to be the "go to touring bike" these days.

bogiesan:
Recumbent.Lots of hauling capacity, ride pain free for tens of thousands of miles. Saddle? I don't need no saddle. My seat is 3 inches of padding and I have a backrest.
Tour Easy or Gold Rush from Easy Racers.
XStream from Rans.

The question of choosing a bike comes up often around here, imagine that, so a bit of searching the forums will reveal much. However, compared to other bike sites, we are low-traffic. You should also see how much is said about these models at places like crazyonabike.

gregg:
I do not have a Soma Saga, but I do ride another one of their frames. Based on my experience, they make great frames: stiff, beautiful welds, and very nice paint. However, in my opinion, all of the frames and bikes you mentioned would work just fine for touring.  If you have strong preferences for  having exactly you want on the bike, it would be worth the extra cost of building up the frame yourself, if not, go with the complete bike. Personally, I'd get the Saga, just because I think it is the best looking of the lot (for me that matters), and I do want to choose every component. However, your mileage may vary.

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