i realize this is kind of a subjective question, but i'm interested in the feedback...i'm sure this topic has been beat to death, but i'd like to get some responses based on my specific situation.
i decided to build my own tourer, with a surly long-haul frame. i want this bike to last me a bloody long time...it will get a lot of use year round just for working out and in terms of touring, i want this bike to be capable of multi-month, cross-country/continent tours.
what's most important to me is DURABILITY. i want stuff i can rely on, quality components that will last a long time assuming i do my part to care for them...at this point i'm figuring on shimano 105 & XT...i don't think i want to go lower than that as i'm comfortable with this price point and am happy withe performance on my mountain and road bikes.
do you think it's worth it to get into higher end components or would i be paying a lot more for only marginal increases in utility/quaility/durability?...i mean, i'm willing to go dura-ace level quality if it makes that big a difference, but i doubt that for a touring bike there's much point in that...how about ultegra?
budget is a consideration - i'm planning to spend around $1500...but if spending $2000 is going to make a huge difference, i'm willing to consider it as i plan on having this bike for a LONG time...
also, as far as the durability issue goes, wouldn't it make more sense to use primarily mountain bike components for the drive train? performance-wise i'm real happy with my 105 stuff on the road bike, but the XT stuff on my MTB is so much beefier...
i dunno much about touring bikes so maybe i'm talking out my arse here...that's just how it seems to me - and i'm looking to you guys to steer me in the right direction if i dunno what the hell i'm talking about...
so what do you think?