A look at the Windsor Tourist

Next from my short list of touring bicycles is the Windsor Tourist.  While each bicycle I have listed has a feature or two that makes it stand out, this one's feature is that it is inexpensive.  Actually, this bicycle is a steal, is made of ChroMoly steel and is said to be the same bicycle as the Fuji Touring bicycle.  This bicycle is priced at $599 at BikesDirect.com, at the link above.

The Windsor Tourist, a good touring bike at a great price!

I have read online where Bikes Direct bought the rights to the old Windsor bicycle name and setup a deal with the manufacturing company that builds the Fuji Touring, to buy at a discount any leftover frames from the production run.  That deal may also include the components as they have also been similar to Fuji in the past.  Bike Direct then sells the bike online with little markup.  What you get is a nicely made custom butted, TIG welded, ChroMoly frame, with a rear rack and decent parts, with all the attachment points you need for touring.  It comes painted in only one color, green.  The bikes are smartly built in small, small-medium, medium, medium-large and large sizes to fit a variety of riders.  The bike does use an older quill-style headset, but otherwise includes modern Shimano Tiagra/Deore 27 speed components.  It comes with 700 x 32 c tires and ships free in the U.S.  You do have some assembly to do when the bicycle arrives so be sure to ship it home first, before you ship it to a touring starting point.  Extra spokes (to attach on the wheel stay) are not included.
Of all the links online about this bicycle, the one thread I would be concerned with is the weak rear wheel build.  Many riders have experienced spoke failure.  The wheels seem to be machine-built and you could possibly need a wheel builder to re-stress and re-tighten the spokes.  I say "possibly" because I only know what I have read online.
Here is a link to a site where 3 riders on a tour together (2 Grads and a Dad on Tour) all bought this same bicycle and then rode across America fully loaded.  I read all the posts, and with a few exceptions, these bicycles were awesome!
Keeping the bicycle price low really attracts me to this touring bike.  It would leave money in the account for some panniers, bike clothing and gear.  My Centurion Pro Tour 15 in the 1980's had a similar frame with slightly shorter wheel stays, than say a Trek 520, just like this bicycle does.  It toured fine.  The machine-built wheels rode well with only one spoke failure in over 10,000 miles of fully loaded touring.
Part of what I now do is ultralight backpacking, which means my camping gear weighs about 10 pounds before water, food and fuel.  That's less than a quarter of the weight it was when I carried my older gear on the bicycle touring trips back in the late 1980's and early 1990's.  While then I fully filled 4 Rhode Gear panniers, I now plan to use front panniers on the rear rack, with the sleeping pad on top of the rack, with a handlebar bag on the front.  The handlebar bag is for a rain jacket, my cell phone, camera and a few light weight items, and won't ever be full.  One pannier will carry most of the camping gear with bike clothing, groceries and cooking gear in the other pannier, with some open room in both bags.  Bike tools will occupy a small frame bag.  A matched set of 4 full-sized touring bags could cost me over $400 dollars.  I'm estimating about $150 for the small pannier pair and $90 dollars for the handlebar bag, or less than $240-$250 to outfit the bicycle, plus an odometer, water bottles & frames, and some fenders.  I already own a frame pack for tools and a flashing red tail light.
It will be some time before I can buy a new bicycle, so I'll continue to review the other touring bicycles I listed in my previous post.  In the meantime, get out and ride!