Motion, I'm feeling esp wordy today
(correction- my Dragonfly has a 22oz bottle)
In response to the others...
If you are only bike touring in the USA, availabilty of any fuel will almost definitely NOT be an issue. You will roll thru a town (w/ an outfitter or hardware store) before you run out of fuel. I've biked thru 14 states, there are towns everywhere!
Example: On the AT, I cooked 1 meal/day, 4-6 days/week. I got the 8oz canisters to last from 1 to 3 weeks! Longest stretch I was in the woods was 7 days. A trail buddy of mine used a Whisperlite -- switched from 22oz to 11oz fuel bottle (small) and he was cooking for 2 - never ran out of fuel in the woods!
IMO, White gas -or- butane are the "best bang for the buck" stove/fuel options.
If you don't mind priming, like cooking breakfast and dinner everyday, cooking for 2 and may travel overseas eventually-- go w/ a multi-fuel liquid stove w/ a simmer control; but just use white gas- it's much cleaner. You'll have the multi fuel option, but there's NO reason to use other "dirty" gases in the USA. Still concerned about running low on gas? -- use a 22 or 33oz fuel bottle.
Going solo? Only need 3-6 dinners a week, don't want fuss, want your dinner hot & quick, don't mind $5-6 canisters, staying in USA?-- go with a canister stove. You can always carry 2 canisters for long stretches as they are not that heavy. That new Jetboil stove supposedly sips the 4oz canisters (the 8oz canisters will not fit inside the pot)
1 more thing...always carry 1-2 good lighters and backup matches in a waterproof bag
Hope that helps...ENJOY YOUR TRIP!
