Recommendations for a small touring bike

[Hartmame]

Sky king; I see what you mean by using a shop that knows what it's doing with sizing. Touring bikes fit differently than road bikes or race bikes. I did a lot of research before buying my LHT frame and talked to a guy who toured to figure out what I needed before I purchased my frame. Built it up myself and as far as I can tell only made one "sort of" mistake. I should have used shorter cranks. I was using parts I already had lying around though and used what I had. I rode 2000 miles this summer on them and they are OK just think on a longer tour shorter cranks would be more comfortable.

[rustyshrapnel]

I know there's already a lot of Surly love on this thread but I'd just like to add my 2 cents. My friend is a little shorty and has a 42" LHT. She LOVES it and says it fits great. Here's my friend (our other friend for scale, he's about 6"):



Aaand here's her LHT (we call it the MiniTrucker):



She said the moustache bars took a little getting used to but are comfy for her.

As for me, I'm 5'5" and love a good steel frame. My BF and I do long rides together and he's got a LHT that holds all our stuff, so I'm spoiled in that I can go very minimal on road trips since he's my built-in SAG. I was on a tighter budget so I picked up a ready-to-ride 1984 Nishiki mixte for $150 on Craigslist, which solved any "can I fit this top tube" issues, cleaned it up, and kitted it with a spanky new wheelset and cassette. It's certainly fast enough, very comfortable, and I did a 70 mile ride on it a couple weekends ago without my tush or any other parts of me complaining. If you're on a super tight budget, going vintage may be a good bang for your buck, and mixte frames are very short-lady friendly while still being strong and offering good ride quality.

[nuliajuk]

Don't know if this has been mentioned or not (I didn't go through the entire thread, as it's quite long) but the smallest Salsa Vaya models come with 26" wheels. This makes for a 50cm top tube, 74.5 degree seat tube angle and 69.8 cm(27.5") stand-over clearance on the smallest (50 cm) size. 26" wheels make so much sense for a small touring-type bike.
I spotted a 56cm Vaya in a local shop today and looked it up when I got home. Neat machine.
http://salsacycles.com/bikes/vaya_3

[nuliajuk]

They're making a travel version now, with stainless steel tubing and SS couplers.
http://salsacycles.com/bikes/vaya_travel

[eofelis]

Competitive Cyclist has a titanium Salsa Vaya on sale for 1000 off, so 2 grand instead of 3, it's to die for, but they only have a size 50 left. Too small for me, which is just as well.

I bought the last one that CC had. I'll update when I get it!