To me the Mareekesh doesn't look like a bike I'd hit the trails with,it's touted as an exploration,adventure bike and to me would work well on gravel but it has a road bike geometry. The Trek 920 has more of a mountain bike geometry and 29 inch wheels. The trails I would be riding such as Cocino (sp) would be more mountain bike than gravel.

To me the 920 isn't expensive. I wouldn't expect to get a touring bike that I could put tons of miles on to get any cheaper. My first choice was a Rivendell Atlantis that's Alittle more pricey. I would expect not to get great wheels on a bike in the 2k range. My carbon bike was 2k in 2008 and its stock wheels are nothing special.

Ive put 10k miles/yr on it since 2008 still going good and never had a spoke come out yet! Only 2 flats! If I needed a new wheel touring I would deal with it. If your gonna play the what if game the chain could break, derailleur break, I could have a heart attack etc,wreck by a car.

i don't know about some comments but not really looking to argue just info about the 920. Bike shops don't carry very small sizes to I have to order sight unseen. I may get that Trek Precision fit to get some idea but it prolly is too much reach for me ( the 920). The top tube effective is 21 inches and I need 19. I hate being stretched just to put the brakes on.

i love drop bars and ride gravel on my 19 tires that doesn't bother me but being a small female most unisex bikes don't fit me so not a lot of options. The safari bike is just ugly to me and I want drop bars.