Kona Sutra vs Marin Toscana vs ?

hobo, nice one, that's a good deal. i was helping a mate put together a touring bike and he decided against the lht based on the 26" wheels on the 54cm, it's only 700c on the 56cm+. my friend got a dawes gallaxy frame set which he's pretty happy with.
Like the Soma Saga then. TBH the 26" wheels are part of the attraction for me. I figured they'd be stronger for a given weight.

there are quite a few options for off the peg audax/touring bikes. that thorn is a really nice bike but the wheel set is not really up to touring, the spoke count is too low and it has caliper brakes which wont provide enough stopping power on a loaded touring bike. this is often the case with audax bikes great light tourers but not really up to trekking. two different bikes really.
Agree totally. But a nice fast(ish) bike if you dont expect to carry too much.

if your not in any rush you can easily build a classy touring bike for way less than £1000. second hand touring frames frequently come up on ebay for great prices and they have usually only had one careful owner. the frame should ideally be steel, have braze-ons for front and rear racks, cantilever brakes, and a long chainstay. or as someone says up there, the bob jackson off the peg is not a bad price at £399.
The size range offered is good on the BJ. I can confirm that heavy load carrying, on a bike with short chainstays, is less than ideal.