Hello Mak,

I run conti gators on my spec roubaix, 700x25 with liners. A few months ago I bought a new surly, it came with conti contact 700x37, I put liners on the tires also. Although I love my gators on my road bike on a touring bike I'm not sure about the lack of tread on gators you might run into with some of the roads you plan to ride. But I have no direct experience.

I do have over 1,000 miles on my new surly LHT with about 600 loaded touring miles. For me tires with liners are a must as I hate flats like anyone else. I've hosted a lot of touring cyclists that have toured the world and they typically swear by Schwalbe Marathon tires of some type....but some of them literally carry the kitchen sink on their bikes...well you understand what I mean. Imagine a 100 pound touring bike, yes I've hosted several cyclists from Europe like that.

Once I wear out my conti contacts on my new surly I'll have to decide which route to go but so far they have been fine. Might just stay with them.