Quote Originally Posted by KnottedYet View Post


If you are aiming at a long self-supported tour, you might want to seriously consider bar-end shifters like on the Surlies. (unless you have the tools and know-how to fix indexed brifters) The indexed rear Shimano bar-con on the Surly can be switched to friction, so if anything goes out of adjustment with your rear der, you can go friction and it becomes a moot point. The front is friction, which makes trimming the front der a breeze.
The Trek touring bike has bar-end shifters that switch from index to friction, too. I thought that was pretty neat. I looked at this bike briefly (never tested it -- and I THINK it was the 520, but I'm not absolutely sure -- in any case they probably only make one touring bike, right?) while looking for a commute bike. It's pretty (that year's model was all black and very handsome), looks comfy and relaxed, and has touring stuff (eyelets, etc). It was heavier than I wanted, for my purposes, but that might not be such an issue if you're doing loaded touring anyway. I think it's around 25-27 lbs, not insanely heavy, but the bike I ended up with was around 20/21.