Im trying to get my touring bike set up for this, and i was wondering if anyone does the same thing, and had any advice. the bike is an old centurion Lemans 12 (steel lugged, 62cm). i bought the bike with most of the stuff on it, and the only things i've personally added have been fenders, lights, and the GPS mount for my garmin geko. the bike has a very comfy salsa bell-lap bar, suntour bar-end shifters, a brooks titanium B17 saddle, and some very nice 35cc tires on 36-spoke shimano rims. The gearing is currently a 12-speed, but i can make it a 18 speed if i add a 28 tooth front sprocket for climbing. What i don't like is the very aged rear derailleur and cables (im planning on replacing these). it also has some very weak side-pull brakes that i don't really like, but im not sure about how i would upgrade these beyond getting new pads.
The trips will range from 100 miles for weekend trips to 300-400 miles possibly, where i'll be doing ~40-50 miles a day. there might be some leveled dirt roads, but nothing beyond that.
what i have planned to do is add a rear rack (which may be interesting since i only have the lower eyelets) so that i can mount my saddlebags. my plan is to stuff most of my stuff into my saddlebags while touring and leaving my golite pinnacle backpacking backpack strapped to the top of the rack, and then whenever i get to where im going, i can just unload the saddlebags into my pack and leave them mostly empty (leaving only cycling specific stuff behind), then find a spot off trail, waypoint it on my GPS, and lock it up to a tree. i pack very light as my baseweight for two week backpacking trip (not including food and water) is around 13lbs including my tent.
so, here are some pictures (kinda large to show detail). any advice on things to look for or things i may want to add or change would be appreciated.
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...7/IMGP1815.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...7/IMGP1818.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...7/IMGP1819.jpg
http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...7/IMGP1820.jpg