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@IdealStandard
I need to start thinking about my touring bike project for September, when my whole family is setting off to cycle to Istanbul. It's a 2/3,000 mile ride and I won't be able to travel light because I'll be carrying more than my share of the equipment.
The last tour I did was two years ago, to Slovenia with my friend Tom (pictured below).
I rode on a Raleigh Touriste (RHS of the image), with relatively cobbled together parts. IT was a really nice bike and I enjoyed riding it, although nearly everything self-destructed towards the end and any remaining working parts have since been poached for other builds. It was also ever so slightly too big for me, but only around a centimetre or so and there's room to put a shorted stem on (although twitchy and not so nice for touring).
I want to use this opportunity to set up a touring bike for life and have three options:
1 - Use the Raleigh frame, update all the parts to a new touring groupset with a triple and decent wheels
2 - Track down something slightly more elegant in my size. A Mercian would be my ideal but I would probably have to scrimp on some of the parts
3- Get something new and uber-functional like a Surly, possibly a full bike and then make modifications