Please help a newbee choose a bike

Hello folks, I'm hoping someone might be able to advise me on choosing a touring bike. I'm looking for something versatile in that I can use it for a 20 mile commute, hook a couple of panniers on and ride to the seaside for the day or strip it of it's rack and mudguards and go for a fast evening spin. I visited my LBS yesterday and one model that's was recommended was the Dawes Galaxy: http://www.thebikefactory.co.uk/productdetails.asp?productid=74499 Now, it seems to tick most if not all of the boxes and the price is ok, but being a complete newcomer I would really like the opinions of more experienced users/riders. Would this be a good choice or can I get better for the cash? Should I go with cantilever brakes or discs? Should I be looking for better quality groupset? Many, many thnks in advance, hopefully this'll be the first of many posts by me on here. Cheers, Glyn.

 

disc brakes are an asset for touring since it is quite common for your wheels to brake spokes and to go in need of truing because of the weight load you carry, something that doesn't impair wheel function with disc brakes, yes you can strip your bike of the rack and fenders but you wont get the same feel of a road bike, there are other parameters involved like bike geometry, wheel design, tyre width, drivetrain

 

Hi

About touring bike is best to choose lightweight bike,Currently carbon bike is the most lightweight bike,So you can look some about carbon bike.

 

That's a great decision taken by you.
All the best.