badger,

Thanx for the info. I looked at the Rocky Mountain and Specialized bikes - certainly good candidates, but the Durango 3 seems to be a more no frills/practical rig (again, apart from the hydros). It has better hubs that are worth rebuilding around when the time comes. Both the RM and Spec bikes seem to have glaringly cut a few corners to keep the price down, reduce weight, etc.

Yeah, I looked at Thorn bikes a couple years ago when I was just toying with the idea of getting a touring rig. Great bikes, but they seem somewhat expensive for what you get. I looked at their web site and I couldn't tell if the bb height would be higher than the LHT. If not the LHT is a far superior value.

The more I think about it practically the more I think the best overall value for me would be the REI safari: Nothing too fancy, just solid, reliable components. And while it couldn't do technical single-track it could handle just about any rough road you can throw at it. For overall usage and values that's tough to beat. Also, it wouldn't be too expensive to upgrade a couple comps to make it truly expedition worthy [specifically the cranks.]

Anyway, here's a link to the Durango specs. I'm curious to hear what you think:

http://www.jamisbikes.com/usa/thebik...ngo3_spec.html