I posted this on another thread, but thought it might be appropriate here.
Hubs -Ultegra (wife's) XT (mine), spokes- Wheel Smith DB, rims-Velocity 700c Dyad 36 spokes, and all wheels are 3 cross.
The wheels were built by Universal Cycles in Portland, Oregon. The are great to work with and build an excellent wheel.
We have about 3500 miles on these wheels, all fully loaded and in a lot of rough situations. They are as true now as the day they were shipped to me.
IMO, the Ultegra road hubs have a very similar and just as good of seal as the XT mountain hubs. Both types of hubs did a good job of handling 35 days of rain, and looked good prior to repacking them last week. I use Phil Woods waterproof grease. The drawback of the XT hubs is not being able to preload the bearings when adjusting them.
On a trip this summer parts of our route took us over about 400 miles of unpaved trails, roads,and paths. Touring bikes are always compromises. Build the bike based on the kind of riding you anticipate doing most of the time, and just live with it the rest of the time.
My wife's bike is equiped with with 700c Dyad rims, 36 spoke wheels and 32mm Schwalbe Marothon tires. I'm right behind her on my LHT-- essentially the same wheels and tires. The bikes handled everything well. I apologize for the amount of pictures, but they do a better job than words.
Sometimes the roads were too muddy to ride on, and the path was not much better. Does this qualify as "single track"?
However, this type of road is a lot harder on the bikes and riders than dirt or gravel. We ran into more of this than we did unpaved roads and trails. The cobbles and pavers come in many variations and degrees of roughness. I think the 700c and 32mm tires were a good match for the varied surfaces. They are light enough when we were on paved roads and wanted to cruise, but provide enough width, traction and cushion for rough surfaces. I wouldn't use a wider tire.
