For most of us on our daily rides, the bike is a flamboyant companion. You stand on the pedals and feel it sprint underneath you. You lean into a corner and feel its reassuring steering geometry. You surge up a hill, and the bike is an eager partner. You see a pothole, you jump the bike over the pothole, and all is well.
When you add a sizable amount of touring gear, the relationship changes. The bike is still there, but it’s less flamboyant. Loaded with panniers, it’s more like a slow moving workhorse. It corners a bit more slowly (but still with that reassuring feeling) because you’re riding more slowly. It laughs if you try to sprint or climb quickly. And you can forget about jumping potholes. But the bike stays with you for thousands of miles.
The same bike can have both those personalities. A good touring bike will be your spry fun riding around home bike and your uncomplaining pack mule on an extended adventure.
If you decide you want to purchase a touring bike, you’ll probably have to order it because most shops keep zero to one touring bikes in stock, and Murphy’s Law dictates that they will not stock one in your size. Now here’s the big secret, and the reason why I’m comfortable telling you to not sweat the lack of a test ride: they all ride very similarly to one another.
