>>1582217oh wtf. Bob Jackson hasn't closed.
They're cheaper. Get one of them.
£500-600 for an Audax end-end or a world tour
Same advice for 1 1/8" steerer as above.
find a good local wheelbuilder to make you some custom wheels with silver spokes & ultegra hubs. Maybe splash out on a dynamo.
Beyond that, if you want discs, or you don't want a project, I don't suggest steel. I don't suggest a touring bike or a gravel meme bike either. It's certainly not necessery to go steel if you can have 38mm tyres like with a gravel bike. Sport tourer/audax in modern parlance is really an endurance road bike. They fit 28s/32s easily. And mudguards. And a rear rack. And you use half bikepacking stuff. Something like pic related.
