Originally Posted by
headwind15
The brand with the strongest legs are the fastest.
hit the nail in the head there monsieur.
and as stated, also the one with the lightest load. Most "touring bikes" that will be still be competent and not overstressed with a reasonable amount of touring load, tend to weigh in at the high 20s, close to 30lbs with pedals, bottle cages, racks, maybe fenders. So if you carry 25lbs of stuff on top of that, or 45lbs, this is always going to be the big factor in how fast one actually pedals along...
yesterday, I loaded up my bike for the first time in a long while, and man was it slow.