Originally Posted by
Cave
I think you've gotten all the useful general advice you can from this thread, we're starting to get into a bunfight between "light and fast" vs. "fully loaded and prepared for everything". Here's a link to someone who's gone further than most on light bikes:
http://www2.arnes.si/~ikovse/bikes.htm
that's an excellent link. That's exactly what I did in most of my touring when I was light and fast. A small bag on the handlebars and a tight bundle strapped down on the rack, no cooking gear.