I weigh 195 lbs just by myself, which is the same as you plus your gear. I think, honestly, that you don't have to be concerned about the frame material, because just about any touring bike should be strong enough to handle your weight. That said, my impression is that oversized diameter tubing matters much more than the type of tubing when it comes to frame strength and stiffness. My Co-Motion Americano is made from oversized 725, for example, which some might think isn't as "good" as 853. However Dwan Shepard of Co-Motion told me that Rohloff recently did one of their tests on a Rohloff-specific Americano frame (can't remember exactly what they were testing, but it was something to do with stiffness or torsion or whatever). Rohloff came back and told Dwan that this was the strongest frame they had ever tested.

But like I said, at your light weight, it probably doesn't matter. Only fat asses like me need to worry about this sort of thing. I hate you.

;-)

Neil