Adventure Cyclist began publishing practical advice for buying a touring bike in 1996. The articles have covered all kinds of bikes that can be used for bicycle travel — true touring bikes, mountain bikes, tandems, recumbents, cross bikes, etc. They have also included lists of manufacturers that make these bikes and their contact information. Despite the amount of time that has passed since many of these articles were published, we think they still contain a lot of useful information and advice. We hope you find them useful.

Recumbent adventure cyclists have a fierce loyalty to their bikes, most often for the comfort recumbent touring provides. Here's what to consider when looking for a recumbent bicycle.

For my last few tours, I have only used rear panniers and a handlebar bag for gear storage, so I've had light duty, or randonneur style bikes on the mind. Just a quick note, when I talk about light touring, or randonneur bikes, the characteristics I'm referring to place us somewhere between road bike geometry and pure touring bike geometry. They would have shorter chainstays than a touring bike, a tall headtube, wide tire clearance, and often only rear rack mounts. Here are a few of the bikes I have really been keying in on as of late.

Once in a long while the Gods of Cycling just smile down on you and say, "We have made you suffer enough. We have made you ride to work through too many snowstorms and scheduled too many of your biking 'vacations' during record breaking heat waves. To make it up to you, we're going to give you a perfect 15-day bicycling tour through Baja, Mexico and we're going to let you try out a Tout Terrain Silkroad while you're there." For a minute it seems too good to be true, but then you just decide to smile and go with it.

I get emails all the time from people who ask: “I'm planning to go on a bicycle tour sometime soon. What kind of touring bicycle should I get?”

If you're interested in a new touring bike for next year, there's some great news. The pool of available bikes is on the rise! Here's a sampling of four new touring bikes for 2012, aimed at four different styles of touring.

The other day I received a great question over the phone from a cyclist who said she could really take on just one bike. She wants it primarily for fast-paced road riding, but she'd also like it to be worthy of loaded touring. Having been in a similar situation in the past myself, I suggested the route I chose: a cyclocross bike.

Trips back home to Iowa always bring me back to my cycling past. Familiar roads, memories of RAGBRAI, and my first true touring bike, a Trek 520. The Trek 520 was first introduced in 1983, and continues to make its way through the production line as one of the most popular touring bikes today. With a large following, there seems to be no slowing down for this model.