Originally Posted by
ypsetihw
So why go through the mess of getting a bike with a long wheelbase and stout frame that might not work for "side rides" on or off road, adding tons of weight and cost by getting stiff racks and weatherproof panniers, getting ridiculously low gearing, running unnecessarily large tires and heavily spoked rims, all to ride something that seems like it would feel like riding a camel, when you could just hitch up a road worthy trailer to your comfy hybrid, road, or converted MTB, and roll out?
OTOH, there's probably no need to do any of that. I've done lots of tours on my Cannondale, very short wheelbase, road bike by attaching a $10 rack and $34 waterproof panniers. I use the original wheels and the same size tires it's always had (23-25 mm). The rack and panniers add less than 5 pounds to the bike and I keep the weight of my camping gear under 20 pounds so there isn't all that much extra load on the bike.
Using a trailer would also be feasible but would probably add at least 10 pounds to the overall weight compared to my rack&pannier arrangement. But if I had a need for a much heavier touring load then a trailer would start to make more sense - it could easily carry a greater load and the weight of the trailer would be a less significant fraction of the total.