Originally Posted by jameslent
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?
Rigid fork is what all bicycles had until the beginning of the nineties, ie. no suspension. Personally I hate having to push my bike up hills so I want to have gears for any kind of hill (22 front ,34 rear cog on my touring bike). It also depends on how many kilometers you are planning to ride each day. Short distance, slow speeds, use any kind of bike, but if you are going to ride 70-120 km a day fully loaded (30 pounds all in all for light touring perhaps) you will be much better off on an old MTB.