I used my 10 year old Marin Hybrid bike to do a 600 mile trip, it worked great. You can read about it at www.thailand.crazyguyonabike.com I had a few problems along the way, but nothing a mecanic couldn't fix. I would recommend getting the wheels checked out, I had never had a problem in the ten years with the bike until this trip, and I wan't carrying that much weight, no more than 20 pounds.