Touring - help me justify: gunnar rock tour

although i am going to start off by completing tours primarily on paved roads, i do intend to do some of the great divide trail and perhaps third world country in the future. thus, my interest in the 'adventure' touring bike frame. also, if i went to a dealer and rode frames by the same company (but not the rock tour) would i get a feel of how the frame feels?

Salsa Vaya.

Without riding the model and size of the bike while loaded up you will never know for sure.

Reputation of frame maker? Check.
Disc mounts on the left chainstay? Check.
Braze-ons for rack mounting? Check.
Geometry that is appropriate for you? Dunno, but probably.

IMHO I don't think you can go wrong.

"Justify?" If the bike's function fits the purpose for which you intend it and you can afford it, there is no need to justify, just buy what you want!

I know absolutely nothing about the bike. If it's a super expensive looking bike, that can be a negative in a tour bike, b/c it's gonna get beat up and locked up all sorts of places, so the less theft-worthy it is the better.

I did my first tour on my sister's Lightspeed Titanium MTB.

, if i went to a dealer and rode frames by the same company (but not the rock tour) would i get a feel of how the frame feels?

no, different models handle differently, the name doesn't describe handling. If you rode the exact same bike without a full load you won't know how it would handle with a load. Basically this is one of those things you take on faith that the designers know what they're doing while searching around for reviews by people who have used the bike for the purpose you are intending.

I ride a Rock Tour and I like it. I wanted a bike for on/off road touring and also for occasionally riding off road trails. It does all of these well. I prefer the feel of the bike when it's loaded, it feels stiff when unloaded. With the bit higher center of gravity (higher bottom bracket), you get a little more agility off road and don't have to worry as much about pedal strike, but it doesn't feel as stable at high speeds. So I usually brake and maintain at 25mph where on other touring bikes I would descend faster.