cyccommute 

bikemig is right. The problem is that the Susan B. is a mountain bike which are proportionally larger for a smaller bike. At 5'2", you might be able to ride an 18" or 19" road bike but mountain bikes frames are 2" smaller for the proper sized frame. You need the extra room while riding off-road to keep sensitive bits from impacting hard bits of the bike. The bottom bracket is also higher. Thus an 18" mountain bike is sized for someone that is 4" to 6" taller than an 18" road frame. It will have a much longer top tube and a higher standover height. You'd probably feel like Superman while riding an 18" mountain bike...and that's not good.



In a knobby tire for off-road riding, yes. But there are lots of smooth, light 26" tires out there.

cyccommute 

That should work but I think they are both the same. Did you mean to post a different bike?

amiem

I do not.

amiem

Oops! I meant to include this one too: Save Up to 60% Off Comfort Bikes | Bike Path Bikes | Windsor Dover 1 from bikesdirect.com

saddlesores

ire Nashbar vehitur. est perfectus, sed habiturum ob duas hebdomades pretium. ordinantia statuto 35 coronas pro itinere, percurre XXVIII est quod vos adepto domus. *** Nashbar potes cuncta vasa debes amodo iustus unus venditor .... quatit, saccis, storiasque elevabant, etc.

acantor

28 mm tires are fine if most of your riding will be on paved roads. I have had no problems with 23 and 25 mm tires on the occasional rough road.

I prefer 32 mm tires, as I don't think I have ever had a flat!

MMACH 5

I've taken my 28mm tires over some brutal surfaces while loaded with no issues.

They should serve you well.

ironwood

Latin is indispensible for Latin America. Just ask Dan Quayle.

cyccommute 

Frankly, unless the shock is a modern marvel like you'll find on high end mountain bikes, you should probably stay away from front suspension. This bike is a pogo stick that is always active and will drive you crazy. Every time you get up to pedal up a hill, the shock will compress and rob you of power. It will make you work harder just to get over the pogo action. I'd suggest going with the Gravity Liberty or the Nashbar. Changing the tires on the Nashbar isn't really that big of a deal.

A word of advice: You are currently overthinking this...and we aren't helping much by offering so many different opinions. The Nashbar bike is pretty good for your purposes. The Gravity Liberty is pretty good. The Motobecane I suggested with a rigid fork is a pretty good bike for your purposes. None of them are perfect, however. But, as a wise person once said, don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

Pick a bike and try to remove as many warts as possible and live with the warts that you have to live with.

CliffordK

50 pounds of gear is quite a bit, especially for a small person.

Getting a bike, then heading off on a heavy loaded tour. That sounds ambitious.

You + Your Gear, and the total is still fairly light. 28mm tires should be sufficient to carry it with normal road conditions. You'll havfe to judge the conditions in Panama and Central America.

Personally I wouldn't go huge, but would consider something like a cyclocross bike with 32 mm tires.

amiem

You're right. I think looking at my stuff, it will be closer to 20 lbs. I'm good at cutting weight and am just bringing the basics.
Thanks for the input!

indyfabz

Especially for someone who has never ridden more than 20 kilometers at a time and who thinks that a 26" tire is 26" thick. See where I am going with this?

Wilfred Laurier

The Nashbar bike is superior. First, it has a 'freehub' rear hub, which is much stronger than the freewheel rear hub on the Gravity. Secondly, the Nashbar bike has a threadless headset and stem arrangement, which is a lot easier to work on than the threaded headset/quill stem on the Gravity - quill stems are easier to adjust the height of the bars but that is the only advantage.

Also, the '28mm' you are talking about is just the width of the tire. THe 700c wheels that come on that bike can very easily be used with wider tires... no need to select a bike that comes with wider tires. If you are placing an order with Nashbar you can very easily order a second set of tires. Mountain Bike Tires | Road Bike Tires | Bike Nashbar=

amiem

Thanks for the input, but please quote me where I said that. I'm just saying that most 26" wheels here are quite thick and attached to clunky, cheap mountain bikes that look like crap to tour with.

amiem

Awesome, thanks. Nashbar it is.

indyfabz

You didn't address 26" wheels. You addressed 26" tires:

"And 26 inch tires isnt too thick to ride for thousands of KM?"

But I think you know that. Have a good trip. Send us progress reports.

CliffordK

Let me toss these two in for consideration too.

Save up to 60% off new Disc Brake Road Bikes - Gravity Liberty 2 | Save up to 60% off new road bikes
Save up to 60% off new Road Bikes - Gravity Liberty CX | Save up to 60% off new road bikes

You should be ok attaching a rear rack to any bike with at least lower rear eyelets, and upper and lower eyelets are all the better.

So, most of the bikes mentioned here would do. You just have to find one that fits your riding style and needs... And, unfortunately, it sounds like you're pretty much taking a shot in the dark.

A rack on the Nashbar bike mentioned earlier should be just fine. And the tire size really will depend on your road conditions.
Nashbar Flat Bar Women's Road Bike

amiem

Alright, guys. Last one, I promise!

Save Up to 60% Off Touring bicycles and Road Bikes, Roadbikes - Mercier Galaxy Tour

I think its between this and the Nashbar. The above bike comes in an extra small/small which would fit me and althought it's $100 more, I think it could come in handy (carbon forks).

I'm placing my order tonight!

Any final thoughts are welcome.

Wilfred Laurier

That also looks like a good bike. However, it says the max tire size is 32mm without fenders. I can't be sure, but the nashbar bike looks like it would fit fatter tires.

CliffordK

With a 28 front, 32 rear, that Nashbar bike has LOW gearing.
Not a lot on the top end, but 48/11 on the Nashbar bike is actually slightly higher than the BD bikes with 52/12

Anyway, if your rides aren't all flat, then sometimes that extra low gearing can be helpful with heavy loads.

The BD bikes seem to have interchangeable chainrings, while the Nashbar bike has a one-piece-crank. However, in some cases, a whole replacement crank is cheaper than just buying individual rings.

bikenh

I've ridden 700x25 tires each of the past four bike trip, including the one I'm on right now...currently over 7000 miles on the front tire. The rear tire I've replaced twice, the first one I'm still carrying with me to use around home when I get back home in a week or two(don't trust it for the open road when I may be going many miles between bike shops but around home I have more play room...I think the bead/sidewall connection is about to go on it so I replaced it for safety sake before I ended up getting screwed). There is nothing wrong with riding 28s. Granted I am talking road riding only, going off road loaded you might be better off with a 28 or larger.

robow

My only addition here is that if you do plan on riding 28's, you might want to consider Vittoria Rubino Pro Tech 28 tires. I've put a couple thousand miles on mine this summer (though honestly most miles were not touring) and they have held up well. They seem to have many many miles left in them and dare I say it, no wait, I better not, where's some wood to knock on and salt to throw, zero fl_ts.

Mandeville

I would think that within the goals you have and options available the most peace of mind and accurate answer is that's possible to have a tire that isn't wide enough but it's not possible to have a tire that's "too wide." So in other words the 28 might be fine. But...you know a larger tire most certainly will be adequate.

axel8

Since you'll be on unpaved roads at times have you thought about fenders?

Tony Marley

Years ago, I completed a North American coast-to-coast ride with 700c x 28, so it can certainly be done. But it was a more harsh ride, and more difficult on dirt than when I completed another crossing several years later with a tire that was 35c wide.