Biking across the country

hi,
hopefully i can offer some insight: i am 4' 11" and it is extremely difficult to find a bike that fits. luckily, i found the 42cm surly long haul trucker. it is a steel touring frame--fairly heavy but built to do the trick. i went on a 30-day tour of italy, slovenia, and croatia and it served me beautifully (and on several shorter tours as well). they offer quite small sizes, and are in your price range. it comes with decent stock components as well. paired with decent racks and panniers, i think this bike may be a good fit for you. see surly for the specs:

Surly Bikes

if there is not a local bike shop who carries surly, there are a lot of online vendors who will sell complete bikes with stock components.

hope this helps!

murcos said:

I am going on a cross-country trip next spring from Seattle to San Diego. I am needing to buy a good road/touring bike, am 5'1", and will be packing probably about 50 pounds, maybe not that much. I have narrowed it, I think, down to a Specialized Comp or a Giant Avail. Can anyone give me any suggestions as to these, or of others that might be a good ride? I would like to spend around $1200. Thanks all! I will have lots of prepping questions as time goes on too!