Functional bikes. Not Porn not Anti

Rad bike and rad effort

Very heavy and have very tiny clearance in the rear.

CDA is a very good choice with Genesis' careful build quality (e.g. better housing for disc brakes), especially when it come with TRP Spyres.

+1 for this. Very cheap (mine was £35 frame only second hand) and is perfect starter road bike. Weight isnt noticable and can fit 25c and shitty clip on mudguard. Although props to Ed for helping out with my bar end shifter worries

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This looks rather fun

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Excellent name is excellent

Just an awesome photo

so epic

Very heavy

They're really not. They don't weigh as much as the Pre Cursa frames. My guess is ~ 1600g for a 56.

Tidy bike but you seem to have moss growing on your seat post and forks? :P

My guess is ~ 1600g for a 56.

I strip one down and it felt surprisingly heavy, ride is ok just lots of feedback from the road.

I forget Ribble also sell a steel version as well, abet pricey.

I love it!

Anyone know what bars those are?

Soma portola

I've just started looking at bikes for a 3 week tour of the Pacific coast, Vancouver to San Fran, next year. Apart from hoping the touring bug bites, it will double as my regular Winter/bad weather road bike. Most probably OTP cos I CNBA building it, plus fit-for-purpose tourers seem to be well-specced from what I can see. Budget <1k.
Any views on (a) Genesis Tour de Fer vs (b) Planet X London Road? The TdF appeals, being ready to go with racks/guards (saves faffing), looks lovely, I'm old and like steel, and I can test ride it at the LBS. The PX on the other hand looks like excellent VFM, I'm used to SRAM gear, and it looks lighter and closer being a fast Winter road bike (not that speed is a priority).
Or any other obvious options?

Tour de Fer is the proper tourer, I'd go for the Croix de Fer with carbon fork that you can happily ride everyday in with the occasional loaded touring.

IMHO, the Equilibrium Disc 10 is a great winter bike with light touring on the side, you spend all your time riding winter bike either way.

I would get, and am getting, a croix de fer (30)... However if you could stretch to an arkose 4 you'd get a hella spec including those hydro discs...

http://m.evanscycles.com/products/pinnacle/arkose-four-2015-adventure-road-bike-ec071308

, or alternatively an arkose 3 on £1k mark

http://m.evanscycles.com/products/pinnacle/arkose-three-2015-adventure-road-bike-ec071307

Thanks! although I think I'll get the On-One Midge bar for my straggler instead.
can anyone recommend the Midge?
I did a load of the Southdowns way the other day and found normal drops tiring and without enough control on long descents so was thinking that the Midge could sort that out. am I right?

Thanks guys. @edscoble, you say "light touring", this is where I want to get the balance right. Pretty sure I'll be going down the racks + panniers route rather than bikepacking - gf coming along and I've volunteered to carry more than my share of luggage as a handicap ;). Would the Equilibrium be up to the job? There won't be any off-roading involved. And if so, any advice on suitable guards/racks?

I'm not familiar with the Arkose, will take a look thanks.

what happens with an adventure bike running hydraulics if they fail? not to mention more fragile 11 speed chain. Am I being precious by thinking it's not sturdy enough and too complicated for repairs or are hydraulics really more reliable than mechanical?

I reckon most bike shops in the world will carry Shimano hydro parts... (Not the levers of course but everything else is compatible with their mtb stuff) also Shimano hydro are meant to be ultimately reliable.

And 11sp wise, take a couple of spare links

Hydraulic in general are more reliable, 11 speed chains are fine, just doesn't last as long as 8 speed.

If you're good at keeping your drivetrain effective, then there's no reason why 11 speed won't work, carry spare chain and quick link is idea however.

In what way are they more reliable @edscoble? I've been wondering about this also for my Cdf build.

Chains are OK (don't forget a chain tool and qlink). 11sp wheels might not be so strong.

Why would you carry a spare chain? Or do you mean just a few links?