Oh heck I'll beat that horse on its other side. I really don't care what folks pull together, some set ups are brilliant , some make do, some revel in coordinating colors and others like to stick out. Everyone gets to figure out what works for them.
My beef is marketing performance designs in in a non performance application. If the bike has 28 spoke wheels then have "adventure" gear appropriate for that. Maybe an integral medium sized frame bag for carrying "adventure" gear but still allow an over the shoulder carry. Or a minimalist front rack with monogrammed dry bags strapped down with monogrammed and Patented Adventure Gear Retention System. Once they included that big beefy front rack with the nice rear rack the implication is a four pannier carrying beast of a bicycle with a front rack capable of carrying firewood on top.
So instead of selling a bike with three pounds of racks and performance oriented low spoke count wheels sell it with 12oz. of "cool, a quick release gear bag for first aid, energy bars, SPOT, small tablet, sheath knife and bear spray!"
But build heavy duty wheels. It'll be lighter, "for performance!" with better profit/bike and for those who like to carry the kitchen sink it'll have a better margin of error.
Johnbort, the issue isn't so much that the wheels won't be up for your trip it's more along the lines of the wheels being up for multiple trips over multiple years.
Last edited by LeeG; 02-09-16 at 02:30 PM.