2013 Raleigh Royal Question on Front Forks

[justrollingalong]

Hi All,
I'm heavily researching buying a good stout *steel* touring bike, 50cm size, and have narrowed it to a)Raleigh Royal, b)Dawes Horizon or a Surly LHT. Careful eyeballing of all three frames reveals that with the parts stripped away, there's very little difference in the weight as they all use a basic chromoly (sorry Reynolds fans, but the lowball Reynolds stuff is just another name for 4130) - however, a question/problem I keep seeing is on mounting a pannier rack on the front fork of the Raleigh Royal. Anybody bought a 2012 or 2013 model and can tell me if that's been sorted by Raleigh? If not, how have they overcome the problem - if I get any of these bikes I've got much better parts to upgrade with, but just want a plain jane indestructible frame. Big thanks to all!

[fossala]

If you want a rugged planish frame, isn't the LHT the best bang for buck? Maybe even the Croix de fer.