Greetings!

I’m in the process of buying my first hard-tail mountain bike.

I’m a Canadian living in Taiwan (where almost all bikes are born).

There is a good selection of mountain bikes here but I’m having a terrible time figuring out what frame size would be appropriate for me.

I am 170 cm tall.
My inseam is: 76-77 cm

Where I live in Taiwan, there are very few trails so I won’t be using my bike for super technical mountain biking.

I will mostly use if for road riding in the mountains, the odd trail / rough road / gravel road and especially, for touring this summer on paved fairly mountainous roads.

I plan to go to the Japanese island of Hokkaido and ride around it for a few weeks this summer with some mates. I’ll be using front and back racks and panniers.

According to some frame-fitting-formulas I’ve found on the net and people I’ve talked to, I should be riding a 16 inch frame.

However, I’m wondering if I shouldn’t get something a bit bigger so it will be more comfortable riding on the open road.

I have heard horror stories of people who took their cramped mountain bike, that was great on the trail, touring and were very uncomfortable.

I’m looking at some GIANT 17inch frames / some FUJI 17inch frames and some MERIDA 16 or 18 inch frames (MERIDA doesn’t have a 17 inch).

Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.