Originally Posted by
ulstoft
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But what I really wanted to do before the COVID was go to Iceland this summer. Which of those bikes would you take there? If you wanted to ride some off-road and also be self sufficient for a few days at a time. (Not need to stop at shops).
The two photos of my Thorn Nomad Mk II in post number two above were taken in Iceland. The first photo on highway F35 in the middle of the interior. Second photo was somewhere on the north side of the island where the roads were paved. I think I had about two weeks of food on the bike in the first photo, maybe only one week of food in the second photo.
Regarding 26 and 700c, both of my Thorns are 26 inch. My Lynskey is 700c. I like the 26 inch for off road, but now that the bike manufacturers are pushing 650b more, it is not clear if there will be a wide variety of good 26 inch tires available a decade from now. Also, my yellow bike in the photos in post number 2 above has S&S couplers and it is a lot easier to pack 26 inch wheels in an S&S case than 700c wheels, thus for that reason I wanted that bike to have 26 inch wheels. And all of my 700c bikes with fenders have toe overlap, but none of my 26 inch bikes have toe overlap.
And another photo from Iceland, this was about the worst quality road that I rode on during that whole trip. Tires are 57mm wide Marathon Extremes, that tire is no longer made but I am still using them for touring. When you see something on the road that is smaller than a tennis ball so you do not bother trying to miss it, that tells you how crappy that road is. This photo was taken on highway 578. Not sure if highway is the right word, F35 and 578 are for 4X4 vehicles only.
I wrote up a short summary of my Iceland trip on a different forum, that link is at:
Iceland - Nomad Mk II - June/July 2016
Road conditions, you can click on it to zoom in more.
Road conditions in Iceland | Road conditions in Iceland | The Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration
My Thorn Nomad Mk II is quite different than their newer Mk III model that replaced it. I am not going to say one is better than the other, but they are different.
I really like this photo, also from Iceland. The warning signs say that if you do not have 4X4, this is where you turn around. Glaciers in the distance.
I was there for a month. All my bike tours and other outdoor trips before retirement were a week long. But now that I am retired and have more time on my hands, I can go on longer trips. If you want to get very far from Reykjavik, you will want to be in Iceland for at least two weeks.