Originally Posted by plodderslusk
Bad idea. I think you at least will need more gears. With a bad knee and full camping gear you will need touring bike gearing. Get an old decent quality MTB with a rigid fork (Trek 930 for example) there is really no need for a dedicated touring bike. Ebay or Craigs list, ask the forum if it seems a good deal.
Just to clarify: when I hiked, my "full camping gear" weighed 18 pounds (including several days worth of food). It doesn't seem like I'd need a dramatically different bike than what I usually ride for a camino tour, even counting an extra five pounds for tools and spare tubes: my weight + 23 lbs. is still substantially less than most poeple are able to pedal around, and I'll be splitting a lot of the weight with my wife. I'm a bit surprised by the number of people saying we should get new bikes or change the gearing. How much weight do most bicycle tourists take with them? That would give me an idea of the assumptions that advice is based on.
Also, how do I know if a bike has a "rigid fork" if I decide to go that route?