Originally Posted by NoControl

Thank you. As a kid growing up in Maine, I was certainly familiar with riding on bad roads and dirt roads. Suspension of any kind was only a pipe dream then.

I just slapped a pair of 26x1.75 Schwalbe Marathon+ on my LHT. Do you think that I should have gone wider?

I agree with you on the drop bar thing. Totally. I'm in the process of putting some Jones H-Bars on my bike right now, with Paul components. I ordered the wrong thumbies flat bar adaptors for it (shimano instead of microshift), and now I have to wait until the new ones come in before I can resume. The good news is that its winter, and my LHT is not the only bike in my stable. I'm also adding some nice VO stainless fenders, and some Shimano two-sided SPD pedals. Nice time for a complete detailing job.

My ultimate goal, however is to relegate the LHT to road touring, and to get myself a hardtail/front-suspension 29er for bikepacking trips. Best of both disciplines. If I went rigid all the way, a Surly Ogre would probably be just the ticket.

Still speculating!