witch model of thorn

[jags]

hi folks,can you thorn experts advise on witch thorn model i should go for..i know nothing about touring, i ride a bianchi and look kx light road bikes,great bikes but not much good for touring,i live in ireland so my first tour will start here (get me used to the bike)then its to the sun (turkey  spain france) but not for couple years ,i need a bike to carry  the usual stuff ,tent panniers   most riding will be done on tarmac ,but some off road.dont think i could ride straight bars ,to used to drops,whats your prefered spec (gears wheels,tyres ect,,)any pics of your bikes  ,,thanks in advance   jags

[Fred A-M]

Depends on how heavy/light your load is.  The table in the link below is a useful start point to help narrow your interest down to possibly 2 or 3 specific models which would help people in advising you: based on the above, I'd say your safest bet is the Raven Tour though if you absolutely want drops, then there's an issue to deal with about the positioning of the Rohloff shifter, which if not to your liking means that a Rohloff equipped bike is out of the question.  

http://www.sjscycles.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1208