Touring - Set up help

I am a cross-country and downhill mountain biker but I recently became very interested in touring. I have been commuting on a cheap schwinn for two years and feel like it is time to step up to a steel bike that will commute and still have the ability to do some light touring.

I bought a Novara Safari frame and fork but I am looking for parts to build it up.

I have a few questions:

Bottombracket: what dimensions should I be looking for? (I have never been good with those things)

Also drive train related: would you suggest road gearing or mountain bike gearing?

I am a law student so setting this up has to be cost effective for sure.

Thank you in advance.

-John

Bottom-bracket: what dimensions should I be looking for?

get it packaged with the crankset.

self contained loaded tour..? MTB gearing..

Road versus mountain gearing - that is an ongoing debate.

The crankset is where there may be a bit of controversy. I think most will suggest a mountain crankset with a minority recommending a road triple. (I personally prefer a road triple with a tiny granny gear, I use a 52/42/24.) I think you will find almost nobody suggests a road double. A lot of hybrids use gearing that is in between road and mountain, that is another option.

But I think almost everyone will agree that a mountain cassette of 11-32 or 11-34 is desired to give you wide range capability and the gearing necessary for steep hills.

This assumes you will tour where there are hills, but if all of your touring is in flat and level country, a different cassette could be used.

The BB is dictated by the type of crankset you choose - so pick this first. External (cup+bearing) BBs are very popular now, many of these type cranksets include the BB in the retail package, which is the exception, as BBs for all other type cranks are sold separately.

Most folks choose MTB components for lower gearing and durability. There is an intermediate niche sometimes called trekking (europe), which simply means a (24)26-(36)38-46(48)T triple crank with a MTB cassette (11-32/34), of which the Sugino XD600 is the perennial and best example of this very small group:

http://www.ebikestop.com/sugino_xd600_175mm_26_36_46_74110_78_speed_crankset_bottom_bracket_not_included-CR1031.php

Building from frameset up with retail-priced parts is not necessarily the cheapest route to a whole bike, but since you already have the frame you are committed to this route. If you don't rush, it is possible to find a few better deals on parts.