Hello,
I'm very interested in buying a touring bike. I'm trying to choose between the Trek 520 Disc, Fuji Tour, and Specialized AWOL. Would love some advice and or recommendations of other bikes in a similar price range. I was hoping to spend closer to $1000 but with the AUD so low that'll be hard.
They are all very similar bikes but I'm having a tough time choosing. The Trek and Specialized seem to be very difficult to get in Australia, Especially WA. I went to a bike store that had the Fuji Tour in stock and it looks really good but I got frustrated because the owner seemed more interested in his tablet than to make a sale.
I'll be using the bike to get too and from work, use on weekends and eventually do some overseas touring. Planning to do Vietnam as my first tour later this year.
Thanks
Chris
Years ago I was in a similar position and bought a Fuji Touring, which I have done thousands of Kms on, including touring across the USA and Australia. Were I to start now I would not buy a touring bike, the reason being that I ended up modifying it a lot to suit me. When spending a whole day in the saddle your requirements become very specific.
Now I would start with a cheaper used steel frame bike and modify it as needed, starting with a decent set of handbuilt wheels (the most important part). The wheels that came with the Fuji were rubbish and I spent much time truing them on the side of the road, until I replaced them. Most stock bikes come with pretty ordinary wheels
The other thing is if you plan to tour in developing countries, you may be better off with a 26 inch wheeled bike – much easier to find spares, not to mention riding on poor roads
But everything you need to know is here
http://www.bikeforums.net/touring