ideal 26" wheel touring bike?
 

Hi,
I am loosely planning a 2 year bike trek in Europe and Asia. I travelled Latin America extensively by bike and the 700 series rim was a constant pain. Finding suitable tires, spokes, tubes and rims was time intensive. I was wondering if anyone knows of a good steel frame that is manufactured for a 6 foot plus rider and 26" rims. It can be new or preferably a relic of some sort of an old rigid mountain bike.
Any suggestions?
Or perhaps this problem doesn't exist in asia and tough wide touring tires are common. I don't know.
Thanks

I'd suggest the Dawes Sardar. Seems pretty well built and have been extremely happy with mine. Problem is they don't make them anymore so finding one is difficult, especially stateside. Other alternatives are to find some older model mtb bike with the more touring like geometry and convert it.

Try the Thorn Nomad which are being sold off cheaply at the moment by Thorn Cycles. These bikes have everything you want.

Bike #100 shown at www.fullyloadedtouring.com is piloted by a forum member here. Hoogie is over 6' and will likely chime in if he's not busy.

My Nomad (bike #009 in the gallery) has been fantastic. Even though I'm typically carrying about 80 pounds of gear (DSLR, laptop, etc.), I haven't had to touch either of the wheels and they're only 32 spoked Mavics built up by Thorn. St. John Street Cycles in the UK is the builder and they are highly customer friendly.

Ebay is a good source for old mtbs.

Cheers,

+1 for Thorn
over 12000 miles and never needed to touch the wheels other than to hear the pitch of the spokes.
george

+1 for thorn - I just ordered a Thorn Sherpa frame to build up as a 26" wheel touring bike. My surly LHT is great and does what I need, but there is no way around the fact that in many parts of the world the only size tires and wheels you'll find are 26". Not to mention the performance of a wider 26" x 2" tire in sand or other loose surface.

Here are two steel framed 26" wheel touring bikes.

The Bruce Gordon BLT-X $1849 or $2119 with Bruce Gordon chromoly racks.

Bruce Gordon Rock N' Road Tour-Ex $2550 or $2820 with racks, or $1350 for frame & fork only.

http://www.bgcycles.com/index.html

+1 more for the Thorn. Either Nomad or Sherpa depending on your budget. My only regret is not getting the Rohloff Hub. I am 6'05" 230 and my size Nomad is 595L. If money is an issue, there are plenty of steel MTB frames out there that can be easily converted.

Rohloff is nice. Very reduced maintenance.

The Beckman Sakkit 26in tourers seem to have good reputations. Very long wheelbases. Custom-made.
Pity the Koga-Miyatas World Travellers are Al and not steel. I still read good reports, though.
The Rodriguez 26 Travelling bikes are designed for very-long distance touring: R+E Cycles, Seattle at www.rodcycle.com
Custom builders to the tourer market also include Mike Flanigan (www.antbikemike.com), Bilenky and Independent Fabrication and as others mentioned, Bruce Gordon. Mike Flanigan makes Rohloff-specific bikes; they're very nice.

I am sure there are others I am forgetting to mention.