Zee Humble Steed

Choosing the correct touring bike for your needs can be a long and painstaking process. Unfortunately, in Australia, cycle touring is a mysterious pursuit, undertaken only by those who are perceived to be, well, plain crazy in the head. Australia is a large, hot and dry continent and Australians, due to necessity in part, have the car bug, and they’ve got it bad. I’ve known friends to start the car only to drive 200m from their tent to the toilets when camping. Given this attitude, the cycle touring market in Australia is small, minute to be precise when compared to the likes of the UK and Europe. Very few local bike shops stock, let alone understand what constitutes a quality touring bike.

Luckily, for the few crazies like myself, the web is a magnificent tool for research on such a topic. It opened my eyes to fabulous machines from manufacturers like Thorn, Dawes, Koga Miyata and Santos, just to mention a few. Needless to say I have spent many hours on the web pouring over spec sheets, reading reviews and personal touring blogs until I had narrowed the field down to just three contenders. The first being Kona's relatively newcomer in the "Sutra". The second being Surly's legendary "Long Haul Trucker" and finally Vivente's offering in the proven "World Randonneur".

58cm frame with 700c wheels in Truckaccino

Unable to secure a test ride on a Kona Sutra and a not wanting a friend (a happy Vivente World Randonneur owner) thinking he was a trend setter, I finally settled on Surly's "Long Haul Trucker", the package being a 58cm frame, coupled with a 700c wheel set and finished in baby poop brown Truckaccino…

Fingers are crossed that I have made the correct decision. To date I am very happy with my LHT. I guess that only time will tell, an extended tour is a very different animal to casual weekend outings with friends.