Hi!  I've been asking the same question for the last few weeks and have slowly been gathering info from all the tour riders out there.  Here's what I know so far (and I'm sure the many amazing, more knowledgable will help you out more).

1.  Most stores don't stock touring bikes.  Since everything has gone to speed the past few years most shops will have to order your touring bike special.

2.  The Surly "Long Haul Trucker" is popular.  It's the bike I've been recommended most since I started asking.  Also I've heard about the Bruce Gordon (company) "Basic Loaded Tourer" is a good basic bike.

3.  According to the Surly website Toga, Sid's, and Bicycle Habititat all "carry" the Long Haul Trucker...so they can order it for you.

Hopefully everyone else can help ya out further and more accurately as I'm just learning all of this myself.  Good Luck!

If you can wait for it, have Johnny Coast make you one:

http://www.johnnycoast.com/bikes/the-touring-bike/

He is just a short bike ride or subway ride away, in Brooklyn.  That way you will get a bike with tubing and geometry specifically designed for your riding style and the type of riding you do.

NYC Velo carries Vicious Cycles and SOMA.  Vicious Cycles makes the Casual Agent, though that might be custum only, and SOMA makes the Saga.  I'm not sure if any local shops carry Salsa bikes, but they make the Vaya and Vaya 2.

Pretty much any shop can get you the Surly LHT. Not every shop will stock them. The plus on the LHT is that in most cases you can spec your parts as needed.

Take your time in choosing wheels, 36 spoke is a must. Bar end shifters for ease of repair VS STI Shifters. You can swap them out after your adventure but When STI shifters go bad you can be very screwed.

Additionally, Trek 520 is always a popular choice for Touring and available by any Trek distributor.

Cannondale makes a nice touring bike also in 2 models.

I actually have a Novaro (circa 1980) which I bought as my commuter and like it bought on Ebay for under $350. I'm not suggesting you go that route but do expect to swap out parts on a stock bike. Try to get the LBS to put the parts on that you want from the start.

Good Luck

I suggest you try the new REI store at Houston and Lafayette in SOHO,  They have a wide variety of bikes, including touring bikes by Nararro and Marin.  You might like to look at their website, REI.COM, for more informationbefore actually shopping.

Last time that I went through this exercise, I ended up buying a SOMA Smoothie ES from an out-of-state shop. Great tourer & commuter, and I would take it cross-country confidently.

Anyway, check with NYC Velo for surly options. Also, 5 years ago, at least, Tread Bikes in Inwood kept the Jamis Aurora in stock.

Novara is REI's house brand, btw.

As an owner of a 2005 Trek 520 Touring bike, although I rarely use it for self-contained cycling tours, it's reliable. The (Shimano Durace) bar end shifters and triple chainring are still good. You can put on full fenders, there's downtube space for a third water bottle cage. Plus you have a choice for putting different types of front racks and rear racks. I have put on 25mm-32mm tires on them for riding centuries.

You can buy / test ride a 520 at Bicycle Habitat, which can provide a certain discount (NYCC discount?) as well as long-time free adjustments for brakes and gears.

That said, the other choices mentioned as just as good, like the framemaker Johnny Coast and Long Haul Trucker.

Here's a weblink to Adventure Cycling's 2011 annual touring bike guide, in pdf:

http://www.adventurecycling.org/resources/201104_PerfectTouringBike_Lord.pdf

Hope this helps,

Alfredo

Some of us have purchased vintage touring bikes from the '80s. Not that easy to find, but for less than the price of a new tourer you can find yourself a beautiful, lugged, smooth steel ride - the modern equivalent of which would cost well upwards of a grand today. You can tour with the vintage components if they're in good shape, or upgrade brakes/wheels/shifters as you like.

Some popular vintage tourers are the Trek 520, 620 and 720, the Miyata 610 and 1000, and the Univega Gran Turismo. Here are just a few recent examples for sale:

http://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/bik/2849962125.html

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/794219-1985-trek-720-22.5-quot-...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Trek-500-Series-Touring-Bike-Vintage-1985-All-Or...

http://denver.craigslist.org/bik/2844901528.html

Hi, This is Kevin. I think I am the guy who told moss55 about the Surly LHT.  It is a great bike. The Trek 520 is also good, but sized a little differently.

BTW, do you really want to deal with a bike shop that thinks the touring category no longer exists, and tries to sell a racing bike to someone who goes in looking for a touring bike? Just saying. Maybe the salesperson you got is an exception.

Your biggest problem is going to be fit, because, as reported above, very few bike shops stock them. If you order a Trek 520, you have to wait for the next manufacturing run - no kidding. This means that if the bike does not fit well, you're stuck - the shop can't just send it back. The 520 comes in whopping 3cm increments, so it's easy to get stuck between sizes. The LHT comes in 2cm steps, which is better.

The silver lining is that the manufacturers don't change the geometry on touring bikes. A Surly made five years ago or a 520 made 20 years ago is the same bike, I think. Double check that, but I believe that you can test ride any bike that a friend is riding or that you find in a used bike shop, and it will be the same frame. 

I second the motion to go through Bicycle Habitat, if you're in the city. They're good people and they do good bike fits.

If a test-ride on a 58cm Surly would be of use to you, and you're in NJ, send me an e-mail.

Hi --

I apologize for posting this question and then neglecting it.  I thought it would notify me when comments were posted but somehow it didn't.  I ended up going to Bicycle Habitat and getting the Trek 520.  They couldn't have been nicer, it was about 1/3 the price of the road bike they tried to sell me at the first place I went, and it seemed like the right way to go.  I went up the block to REI, which several folks had suggested, and was again shown something that wasn't a touring bike.  When I pointed this out the guy helping me said they would be getting touring bikes in 'soon' but when I pressed him he said he didn't really know.  Didn't inspire confidence.  Hoping to pick up the Trek on Sunday.  Thanks to all of you.

PS -- I did speak with someone at Campmor who said they had some touring bikes and he was very straightforward with me.  I didn't make it out there to check but was planning to as they have never steered me wrong.

Last summer I went through the same process. I ended up buying the Jamis Aurora from Treads in Inwood. I'm not sure what else they carry in stock.

If memory surved the other shops I went to included Sid's on 34th street (they had the LHT and the Aurora) and Silk Road Cycles in Greenpoint. Silk Road is a new shop, last I checked the carried Surly, Raleigh, Kona etc.

Seems like this has been settled for the OP now, but to chime in anyway: it's hard to find complete touring bikes (outside of the LHT and 520), but there are lots of smallish builders that make nice touring-friendly framesets for pretty cheap.

Someone already mentioned Soma, which has a couple plausible models (incl. one dedicated tourer). Velo Orange is another. I recently bought a frameset from Handsome Cycles in MN, and it's gonna be a sweet adventure'n'ruckus touring/camping bike when I eventually build it up. Collecting the parts bit by bit is part of the fun, and when you are done you can get any of the mustachioed bike hipster brooklyn shops to build it up for you (they don't mind; they like it!).

Riders come from a cross facebook statuses  clause of life; there are motorbike that best raffle every rider and their riding style. One makes of motorbike is the touring bike.

We want pics of the build! Don't tease us like that, Arvi :)