Can anyone recommend a good touring bike

I've got Tor Tec heavy duty alu one with 1cm tubing which is third of the price (at £25-35) of the Tubus one.
I will probably go for the front lowrider rack from Tubus, as there's no other option really.

Blackburn

Just got all the parts for my budget touring bike, bar the brakes and the rear rack. No components are new:

Frame - Raleigh might-be-a-Randonneur-but-probably-not 531st frame with canti mounts, resprayed
Gearset - Shimano Deore triple c/set, 7-speed Hyperglide rear, Deore mechs, indexed friction shifters (which are actually bloody lovely). UN54 bb. Might need to buy a new middle ring as it's the only one that has any wear.
Wheels - Mavic MA2 rims on Deore hubs, 32h (only 32h I know, but I'm not carrying much more than myself)
Bars - Cinelli shallow-drop road bars, Dia Compe aero levers, Tektro cross-tops
Saddle - Brooks Professional S (it's a ladies' saddle but I find it very comfortable)
Shimano M520 pedals with plastic platforms on one side. I need to buy some SPD shoes to go with them though

Total spend so far: less than £100 exc. the Brooks which I've had for years and years. Can anyone see any massive glaring errors in my setup? It's going to be a weird looking machine... all black parts on a green frame with white decals.

I just need to find some cheap canti brakes and a rear rack and panniers, and it's finished. I might even get to tour this summer!

Fully built now. Great to pull a trailer, because of the longer chainstays. Strange, but even with 40mm Schwalbe Marathon Plus is still easier to pull a kid in the trailer than my previous fixie hack and Freddie Grubb. I still managed to go off road on a soft soggy moss and gravel at around 8mph.

Your kid looks totally unimpressed. The bike looks so much better loaded up, are the wheels 26"?

Yep, 26".

The bicycle looks lovely. I am still waiting for my set of Mavic wheels to be build, Alfine 11-speed hub. Still not sure about the Headset, will see when it's all put together. Will post pictures, then.

I will just buy the whole Alfine wheelset from Germany - save myself building up the thing.
There's a seller in Saxony who does 'em for ca. £260. I will pick them up in August.

11 or 8?

God you're getting rather boring now aren't you?

The build is now finished, i will post pics when i get hold of a camera... I put on a setbof mountain bike tires, but then cycle felt very weird, bicycle were not turning well, even though the headset is not tight. I ordered new tires, hopefully that helps... Also got the alfine 11gears all wrong, the front chainring must be 39 , not 45, you lose the last 4gears, changing that now as well

Here goes the Images. EEI, there is something funny with the steering with this Bicycle, I am working in London, Close to London Victoria, is there any way to meet me sometime with your bicycle, I will bring this one, maybe you can have a look at my build, the ride, and I would appreciate looking at yours. The bicycle does not turn well, really stiff. The misses used yesterday, said her arms hurts, and she use mountain bike loads, thus, I think there is something wrong... Even the builder of the bicycle said it's all wrong, the steering, even though the headtube is loose, turns normal when lifting the front wheel up, just not on the road, or is this bicycle meant to go in a Straight line only???
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/34047172/1.JPG

more https://www.dropbox.com/home/Public#/Public::::::

Hi,I just rode from Hertfordshire to Ankara on a VSF Fahrradmanufaktur T400. I get on a train next week and head for Iran for a month, then India. The bike has been fantastic and in terms of value, beats the arse off most things available on the UK market. Can be got from Bikefix on Lamb's Conduit. When i bought mine, more than a year ago, it was 1100 complete with LX group, Magura hydraulic rim brakes and Tubus racks front and back. Aside from when i get hit by cars or throw it of things i have had no problems at all.

With regards the rim/hydraulics/disc brakes talk (which goes on and on and on and on between touring cyclists it seems), I use the less fancy of Maguras rim brakes and so far have been very pleased. If they break, ill just bung on any old v i can get my hands on. I havent had much experience with discs (read, none) but the the people i have met touring with TT Silkroads seem to complain that their rear panniers get in the way of the disc and they have to hoik them really high up the rack to get them out the way. Seems like a bit of a case of fixing a problem that didnt really need to be there when rims work fine anyway.

Oh and to whoever tried to use motor bike discs as an argument, are you bloody joking??? Compare the size and toughness of a motorbike rim to one on a bicycle. They are massive, and usually shielded at least in part by the body work of a touring motor bike.

Bit of an essay, sorry bout that.

Sorry that should read motor bike disc not rim. duuuh.