Originally Posted by saddlesores

not what i'd call a touring bike, not with this gearing: 50/34----11-30, 9-speed.

geared way too high for hills, especially if you plan to carry gear. you want a 3-speed front with something like a 22/32/44 and a cassette with a 32 or 34 or even 36 large cog.

Originally Posted by djb

others have piped in with the "touring bike basics 101 tutorial" concerning their weight, gearing etc

but here is the real thing, you are at the age I tried out touring, many moons ago, and saying that your knee bothered you after riding 160km and climbing 2700meters in a day is like saying that for some reason, your forehead hurts after repeatedly hitting yourself there with a 2x4.

--thats a crapload of distance and a crapload of climbing

to make this kinda short, touring is how you want to do it, but making sure your bike fits you properly and setup is good is super important. Gonzo distances and climbing per day is one thing, but as said, any bike fit issue, and or fitness, and or this and that, will show up with long days.

and the main thing is that touring with stuff just plain means that you arent going to be going as fast, or as far, but you'll still be working hard.

and yes, touring bikes have low gearing, and this allows us to go up long hills and not overstress or overtorque our knees.

to be the stereotypical old guy here, we all did what you did, overdid it and had sore knees. Lower gearing and learning to pace it and do reasonable distances only comes from overdoing it at some point, so yes, your bike is not geared for "touring", not with a 50/34 and 11-30t, but there are lots of touring bikes out there with better gearing.

up to you if you want to try them, but setting lower goals for distance and not comparing yourself to someone else is important.

but ride your own ride, there is no clear answer here.