Rivendell and Gordon do make good and comfortable touring bikes BUT they are more for shorter tours of say under 1,000 miles and staying in areas that are not very remote. Why do I say this? Because look closely at these two models and other supposely touring bikes, they do not have more than 3 sets of water boss's, they have no allowance for reduntancy either in shifting or lighting. Now take a gander at Robert Beckmans designs for his bicycles at: http://www.coinet.com/~beckman/index.html

Read everything on his site to get the complete information but particularily section on touring bicycles and the Sakkit Expedition 26 and you will quickly come to a conclusion that this is a serious touring bike intended for those that need a reliable bike capable of many miles in remote areas that can handle heavy loads. Next click on Sakkit Models and read further, and then on to Technical Information. By the time you read this info you'll know that this bike was built for one thing and one thing only-touring.