Brianmcg123:
Thanks for the correction on tire width on the Surly LHT.

I also read Peter White's recommendation regarding the Velocity Dyads. I should say, however, that I had the exact opposite feeling regarding them. My single touring bike (Trek 520) has been equipped with a Mavic A719 rim (36 spokes) ever since the original Bontraeger MacFarlane tore apart. The A719 was built by me and has more than 15000 km of trouble-free riding so far, in spite of being used for loaded touring with and without a Piccolo attached to it, and lots of riding through potholes.

By comparison, my Co-Motion tandem came with 40-spoke Velocity Dyad rims. They stayed laterally true all the time, but humps developped during the Summer 2005. And they broke this spring, after less than 3000 km on them. Front rim had one spoke completely out (nipple pulled through the rim); both rims had about 3-4 mm of vertical deflection (10-15 mm out of true once the rims were off the wheels) and numerous hairline cracks around nipples, the valve hole, etc. I then replaced them with A719 rims this spring, which are still OK after 3000 km of loaded touring (tandem + Piccolo + panniers)

My experience would show that these aren't the best wheels for rough roads. But I admit my sample is small.


Markf:
For the Rinvendell, you should check on the acceptable width for 700 tires. A few years back, I remember reading that the 700c accepts wide tires, but not as wide as its 26" equivalent. Still wider than most 700c bikes accept, but maybe not wide enough for real off-road touring. I would suggest the original poster looks at the Rivendell bikelist and check there (http://bikelist.org).

MarkCoatsworth:
I had not realised you are in Toronto. Do take a look at Urbanite's offerings. Though I have seen neither in real life, I think that you'll get the same quality/benefits with an Urbanite frame and a LHT frame, plus you'll be able to discuss bike geometry with the conceptors of the frame. One drawback of Urbanites for good-road touring and especially commuting is that they have a high MTB-style bottom bracket (290-300 mm instead of 270-275 mm). But for the rough part of your tour, it will actually be an advantage.

The only things missing from the Urbanites are good steel racks. The Tubus rear rack is a great choice (Bruce Gordon also is). In the front, I would prefer a Bruce Gordon to any other. In your situation, you could probably ask Bruce to combine the Lowrider with a top platform so you would be able to raise the panniers if the ride is too muddy.

As for 26" vs 700, the debate is endless, but I'll offer these arguments :

– Well built wheels of either size will be equally strong. However, because of it's smaller diametre, a 32-spoke 26" wheel will be stronger than a 32-spoke 700c wheel. A 36-spoke 700c wheel will be stronger than a 32-spoke 26" wheel, though.

- 36-spoke 700c wheels are much harder to find than 7-8 years ago. While they haven't completely disappeared, they are fast becoming specialty items. 26" 36-spoke rims are considered tandem material.

- If you were to need to replace a wheel/rim/whatever part on the road, it should be fairly easy to find a 32-spoke wheel in either size, but you would probably have to order parts in other spoke count.

- If you decide to go with high-count rims, I would suggest you get an equal number of spokes on both wheels. Why? For replacement purposes. Let's say you break a 40-spoke rear rim in the North West and still have 1000 km of rough roads to ride onto. I would use the front rim on the rear hub (to have the strongest wheel there) and buy whatever cheap 32-spoke wheel I could find for the front.

- Generally speaking 26" and 700c tires can be equally fast... or equally slow. The factors to consider are solely tire width (i.e. weight), tread patterns and pressure. Use wide knobbies to ride in the mud or slush in Labrador, so you'll have so traction and will be able to lower pressure if it's too bumpy. Use wide slicks to ride in the dry gravel of the North West (if you arrive early enough). And use high-pressure narrow slicks in between. Differences are:
- You'll have no problems finding wide knobies in 26". Finding them in 700c is harder, even with the recent trends in 29" (actually fat 700c).
- You'll have a harder time finding 26" slicks on the road.

Depending on your road, I don't think you would be able to find any decent touring slicks in places like Baie-Comeau. Unless you want to keep your knobbies until Saguenay or Québec City, you might plan a drop off in Baie-Comeau.