grantoury
Kona Fan
Touring bicycles were a bit more recognized in the usa than you make out. Trek started in the seventies and made them. Cannondale made them from the start. Schwinn made them. Bruce Gordon, Co motion, the list goes onI don't mean Tourers don't exist as bikes and riders in the americas, but as the Marketing Concept.
Early 2000s in the UK, tourers like the Raleigh Randonneur and CB Dalesman were very sporadic, and then the Dawes Galaxy got wound up
- and i don't think there was any marketing of them beyond touring specific publications - I.e. playing to a captive market.
And then US brands like Surly and Salsa brought the steel comfort distance bike back into the mainstream, with new riders encouraging fresh design ideas to get us to where we are today.