Despite posting on this forum, I freely admit to occasionaly indulging in some pounding of the tarmac. As well as your standard day trips, I tend to do a few mini trips (2 or 3 days) throughout the year and I am fed up with the guilt I feel every time I put slicks on my beloved Bonty.
So, I’m going to get myself a tourer suitable for tarmac and cycle paths.
At the moment the front runner for me is a Kona Dew Drop, just because it seems to fit the bill. But I’m sure there are many of you that know a great deal more about this than me.
Don’t want to spend more than around £700 if possible.
Any advice welcome.

Yeah I am trying to resist myself, but it will be used more as a commuter bike.

Mine may also become a commuter one day, but as I work 3 minutes walk away, it may be overkill at the moment.

I’m in a similar situation at the moment as I have a fixie (but can’t ride it due to knee problems) and a full on road bike but really just want something to tour, train and commute on. i used to have a Kona Jake (’05) and really liked it, however it was very heavy and not very well spec’d. maybe have a look at the ribble special edtion bikes?

I’ve used both normal racks fixed via rack mounts and also the seat post mounted topeak racks and there’s not much in it to be honest, so in my opinion rack mounts aren’t vital (for light touring). Mudguards are a nice to have though – you can fit raceblades but they’re not as good as a proper set of ‘guards

thought about 1 but realized disc brakes etc would cause too many problems than solve (see above)

bldSpot – what problems did you reckon disk brakes were gonna cause?

I have a Kona Sutra – think a steel-framed Dew Drop – and it’s ideal for commuting and touring. Bit of a heavy old bird though, and I’d definitely be looking at a DD if I were buying now. There’s also a drop-barred, disk-braked Marin, the name of which escapes me.

Found it – Toscana.