After about a month of deliberation I decided to go with the BLT. I spoke some with Bruce Gordon on the phone and got the impression that he really cared about his product. Unlikely I could call and speak with Mr. Surly or Mrs. Raleigh and get their thought process regarding a product. I am sure if I have any questions during my build I will be able to talk to someone and get their input.
I must admit I did get a pretty good buy on it and considering the racks are included as well as stem and headset it seemed very reasonable. Regarding the geometry I felt it resembled my road bikes quite closely though my position will in the end be more upright. I liked the sloping top tube. I looked at some other frames and the slope angle was a little more that I liked. This is not to say they were bad because of it but coming from a road bike history I was just unfamiliar with it. I think if I was more a mountain biker this would not have been an issue for me. It can take probably the widest tires of any bike frame in its class, I may not need that but its nice to have options. Chainstay length was just a bit longer then some of the other frames I was considering, and the overall wheelbase was as well. If my thinking is correct it should be very stable loaded.
I very excited to begin building it up. I have been thinking about touring for several years and finally bit the bullet. I am thinking of it as my RV Camper. I have four or five bikes now (I loose count or am in denial) so it was hard to justify another. I got over it as I am sure many of you can identify with.