original mistake

if you're buying the bike from the lbs, why not have them modify the bike for you?
i understand if mailorder, then you get what you get.
lbs will set the bike up the way you want it, and should be cheaper overall
since they're getting new parts at cost.

Oh this just keeps on getting better and better.

you're buying an already overpriced bike, and you're putting at least 25% more cost on it by getting hydro brifters and brakes. Actually, the price might even go up 35-40% since you might have to use Sram stuff which is more expensive. Or if you have to go Shimano you'll also need to swap the whole drivetrain so 50% more cost.
AND you'll likely need to swap the wheelset as well.
AND the saddle.

Amazing

You're selling stuff you don't have yet and you have no idea what the price should be?

You may want to kill this thread and start a new one when you have the stuff on hand and you've figured out a price.

ok

What happened to the Salsa?

Maybe it was too perfect.

You have to pay for a membership to post "for sale" stuff. Cheesy to try to avoid that. Not that anything has even been purchased yet....

mistake

It's weird how you're trying to pay immense amounts of money for a bike that does in no way warrant such spending. If I were you, I'd get a custom CoMotion with all the riding charasteristics of the 920, the component set of my choice and bombproof wheels. I'd spend the same amount of money AND I'd have a bike that would actually be worth the cash spent.

I mean if you're going to cash out on a touring rig, why not go custom? I don't get it.

+ 1. That way you get wheels that make sense for touring plus the parts group of your choice.

I would if I could afford it. But a Co-Motion would cost 2X the 920. I don't have the $$. How is a $2.5 K bicycle immense amounts of money? Have you looked at $15K road bicycles? When I mentioned the cost to my son and brother, they both said "That's not too bad" When I mentioned a LHT or 520, They both asked if at that price would I get a bicycle that would hold up. They don't know anything about bicycles. I'm not going to Walmart for a touring bicycle, let us know if you find one there.
So what can I get for less with brifters, a decent frame and good compoments?
The LHT was okay but not good enough.
An LHT frame and then build up would probably cost near the 920, on a frame I did not like. and might weigh 2 kilo more.
Get some sunlight and fire up some brain cells.
Go ride a 920 and let me know what you think.

Seriously! not being pissy. What wheels would you suggest, I'm thinking about a 12-28 cassette, and 32 mm tires for paved road use. In 40 years I've broken a spoke 4 times. I don't plan on carrying more than 30 lbs on the bicycle, maybe 20.
I'm going over to the MTB folks and ask about 28* wheels.

The question is why wouldn't you want a stronger set of wheels? Everything else being equal, 32 is going to be stronger than 28 spokes. Your past experience is pretty meaningless since you weren't riding 28 spoke wheels.

Projecting about that personal attack thing maybe?

Anyways, the LHT isn't the only bike out there. There's also a the Disc Trucker, Genesis bikes, Salsa, and all the things you can do with 29er frames, not to mention the neat customizations you can do with the disc trucker and 27.5 wheels.
You just haven't looked hard enough.

If you were to build your own and spend 2.5k you could get a bike that's immensely better than the 920 and would have absolutely no weak spots (unlike the 920, which is riddled with them)
If I had 2.5k I'd build a Fargo or Marrakesh with self built 36h wheels with hope hubs and ryde rims. I'd choose mechanical discs instead of hydro's for obvious reasons however. It wouldn't be the lightest bike, but when considering touring, i'd rather take reliability over lightweight, but each to their own in that regard. Spokes is not a place to save weight in a tourer though.

I paid close to $3k for my expedition bike, but that included the Rohloff hub, SP dynamo front hub, Ryde CSS rims, etc. But if I skipped the S&S couplers, instead got Velocity rims and did not get the dynobub, I could have put it together for $2.5k. For that price, I cheated a bit, I already owned the Brooks saddle and rear rack that I put on it.

Given a choice between the bike I built up and a 920, I will forego the 920. The 920 is a nice looking bike, but I am happier with what I have. My price estimate for my build is based on the rigid fork that came with it and fenders, not the suspension fork shown in the photo - the frame was designed for either type of fork.

Y'all shouldn't worry yourselves about saving OP from an irrational decision. After months of straining, he's yet to get off the pot.

The bolts on the Fargo and cutthroat fork look to be in unusual positions. The specs say rear rack friendly. What about front rack and fenders. I prefer carbon. It was at the top of my list for a while, I'm afraid it pushes past my budget. Yes I have been farting around, but every time I circle the pot I get a bit closer to a final decision. Thanks for those with with positive input, also the negative input to have something to think about. It feels like the 920 will be the final decision.

It's good to remember it's just a bike and if you don't like it as well as expected, it's easy to get another one!

That's the nomad, isn't it? If you got that for $3k you did well, mine cost more than that when I bought it in late 2010.

Anyway, it's not going to meet the OP's spec. He wants light - and whatever the advantages of the Nomad, which is a terrific bike, light it ain't.

Have you considered getting a cyclocross or sport touring bike and throwing some bikepacking bags on it? You dislike the lack of nimbleness that results from the especially long wheelbases of heavy touring bikes, it would be more than durable enough for a 30lb load on the road, it would satisfy your weight-weenieness much better than anything else you're looking at (including stuff like the 920), and you'd be looking at a far larger selection of bikes that come stock with the kinds of shifters and wheels you want.
Seems like the only question would be whether the gearing is low enough. CX bikes often have doubles bottoming out in the realm of 35 gear inches. (And this can be dealt with if you're willing to replace a few components.)

Absolutely right!
Yes that has come to mind. That gets me into rails to trails and road touring, but leaves out the serious gravel like the Great divide trail. I saw bikepacker magazine, I should get a subscription. You can't really do the monster mountain bicycle and the monster road bicycle in the same machine. There's a lot of stuff out there in the CX and endurance bicycles that have rear racks or bike backing possibilities. Really opens the faster paved range and the rails to trails. The precious LHT has it's limitations on either end of the scale.
Do test ride a 920 if you can.

they're not "buying" the parts from you.

they are assembling the bike you want to purchase from them.
unwanted components are removed and credited, your dream
components are installed.

if you're paying retail, why would you buy stuff you don't want?

Suggestion: Search crazyguyonabike for "Great Divide" journals, and you'll actually get an idea of the "serious" gravel that you will encounter. It will also give you a realistic view of what type of bikes and gear are being used.

I dont have anything useful to add and I couldnt care which bike you get...if you ever actually get one.

I just wanted to post that i found it funny that none of the bikes on Treks 920 page are actually of a 920 being ridden.
Its all adventure and touring pics...but the 920 isnt pictures on its own page.
Odd.