nashcommguy

Wouldn't recommend it unless the terrain was relatively flat and you had something like 42x12x34 gearing and were traveling on the light side. I've got an 85 SR300 C'dale 1x8 conversion I use as a commuter on 'fast days' w/a seatpost rack/trunkbag combo. It's equipped w/old Shimano bar-end shifting and an 8 sp cassette 12x28t w/a 48t Rocket Ring chainring. 175mm Sugino Messenger cranks and a 103mm Sugino Track bb. Tektro dual-pivot calipers, levers, cables, housings from bikeisland.com and a Sora 27t derailleur. 700x25mm Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires...BARELY fit. 32h rear rim/hub and a 20h rim/hub for the front. It works really well as a 'fast' commuter, but I don't know that it would hold up under the demands of heavier loads...40-50 lbs for weeks/months of touring. My rt commute is 35 miles.

I've done a couple of overnighters w/my wife(100mi rt) and it's worked pretty well w/a rack/bags combo, but the bags were Jandd saddlebags...they don't hold much and aren't waterproof at all. That's my 2 cts, anyway. Your fitness level may be such that you can pull of a 1xwhatever, loaded excursion, but headwinds can grind one down to pencil shavings if your gearing isn't low enough. I'd say 44t 12x34 would be a pretty safe bet for anything you'll encounter. If the hills are too stiff there's no shame in switchbacks, just a little more time. Anyway, good luck, keep the rubber side down and have fun!

BTW, one can experience the mysterious malady known as ' chain drop'. Where your chain drops off your front chainring for no explicable reason. 'Paul' makes a nice product specifically designed to thwart this problem. They're 52.00US and from all reports are an excellent solution. Check the cyclo-cross sub-forum as that's where I saw it mentioned w/t website included.