"Dave Barton" <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:
Quoted message said:I need the sage advice of 'bent experts on the ultimate load-bearing
tourer, with at least 50-50 back-front weight balance, and the ability
to do gravel paths, any configuration considered.
The short answer is "whatever bike you have from EZ 1 to Reynolds T-
bone."
Starting from a clean sheet of paper, one might consider:
Obvious LWB candidates:
Stratus, V2, Tour Easy/GRR, Longbikes Slipstream/Vanguard
The apparent European standards:
HPV Streetmachine, Grasshopper, similar bikes from Challenger, Optima
et.al.
If you are otherwise constrained to SWB, darned near anything ought to
work. You might even find an '01 or later suspended Vision with OSS at
an attractive price. Past that, I'd at least think about a RANs Vivo, a
Burley Limbo, then the usual suspects (Canto, Django, Rocket, VRex,
various Bachettae), but don't rule out the Longbikes Eliminator or
Haluzak Horizon. I kind of think side-arm USS (as opposed to knuckle
draggin'😉 would be a blast on a tour.
I'm not sure how much fun a stiff SWB would be after a day on the chip-
seal, but if I had a stiff SWB, I wouldn't let that stop me. Although I
might run the tire pressure down to 85 psi or so.
Under no circumstances would I consider a P-38 as this would only
encourage Cletus! (it's a JOKE!).
As far as baggage, people are evenly split WRT trailers vs panniers. I'm
starting to lean toward trailers (e.g. Nomad with the alternative hitch),
but diff'rent strokes.
