Originally Posted by
paul2432
Depending on where you will be riding, fenders may be a nice addition.
I also suggest giving careful consideration to the gearing (see calculator below). How much variation in cadence can you tolerate? An 11-34 cassette has some big jumps which may make it impossible to find a comfortable gear. It also may be wider than you need. At the top end, pedaling at 90 rpm puts you at nearly 30 mph which is much faster than most tourist go (unless coasting downhill, in which case you are using the brakes, not the pedals). At the low end, pedaling at 60 rpm puts you at nearly 3 mph, which may be so slow you can't keep the bike upright.
I use a 12-27 on my bike, but might switch to a 13-30 when the cassette wears out.
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears/
Paul
I agree that there are some larger gaps in an 11-34 cassette. Consider instead one of the custom cassettes made by Harris Cyclery (13-34). Or you can have your bike shop make a custom cassette without the larger gaps, see toward the bottom of this link for an explanation:
http://sheldonbrown.com/k9.shtml. I was able to have a 12-26 SRAM (12-13-14-15-17-19-21-23-26) turned into a much more useful (for me) 13-34 by replacing the original 12-13-14 cogs with a single first position 13, and then adding a 30 and a 34 on the other side: 13-15-17-19-21-23-26-30-34. Or you could turn a 12-25 cassette into a close range 13-32 (12-13-14-15-17-19-21-23-25 turns into 13-15-17-19-21-23-25-28-32).
I wouldn't say that the low gear is too low. In fact, I think that the low gear with a 32 or 34 rear cog still might be welcome -- at 90 rpm, there's no problem staying upright with that low gear. My low gear is around 21 gear inches, and there are times when an even lower gear would be nice.
Is your projected crankset a 22-32-44?
As for carrying your girlfriend's gear, there's no way for me to know whether that's a good idea or bad idea because I don't know her personality, I don't know her strength, and I don't know if her bike is even set up to carry much. All I can say that my wife does appreciate it when I carry the majority of the load, but it's also true that she usually likes to carry part of the load. So do whatever works for the two of you!
I agree with the B-17, they work well for me anyway.