I'd look for a rigid MTB
use anything to get the bulk of the load off of your back, simply to eliminate the weight being pushed directly into your perineum.

Asana, what I love about your set-up is how secure it is. Panniers and piles of gear turns a bike into a truck and trailer rig but your kind of set-up still handles like a bike.

These people could really have used your rig on their tour :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIN4z...eature=related

And these have the same spirit as you
http://www.youtube.com/user/ridingthespine

Enjoyed your videos btw.

I sometimes visit the mtbr forums for inspiration too. Many of the ideas having to do with practicality, ruggedness and keeping things ultralight are very applicable to all touring, even non extreme varieties.:thumb:

Volpe set up for fully loaded touring.
http://i783.photobucket.com/albums/y...dBianchi-1.jpg

the deal with the "bikepacking" method, is to simply LEARN how to ADAPT, thereby eliminating a majority of what is typically carried.

no doubt The Hunter and the latest proto on the Big Dummy in the minimal baggage method, has pushed the envelope some.
what envelope that is... its really just being better able to cover distance, and access more difficult areas.

Salsa Fargo. If you want an expedition tourer, that's the way to go. Will take to places you can't go on a wimpy touring bike. Or there's the Surly Big Dummy.

Build it yourself!

http://www.gurdon.cam.ac.uk/~ad327/pictures/bike-800.jpg

The frame (Orange P7) and Rohloff hub on mine were 2nd hand from eBay; most of the rest of the components were 'last season colours' etc - I rummaged about on the web for best prices on tested, trusted, popular brakes/shocks/rims/bars etc etc. All in, including racks and panniers it probably did cost more than your budget, but the expenditure was spread over the six months or so that it took for me to build the bike, and it really was a labour of love! You could EASILY do it within your own budget by using derailleur gears instead of Rohloff.

Good luck!

Sweet looking bike Al!

I'll be honest; a 26" LHT can do damn near anything:

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...7_1024x678.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...4_1024x678.jpg

I crawled through thick and slick mud that covered the rims, hit blast rock at a good pace, and thudded over deep excavator ruts for 5ish hours and never had a problem other than my wrists and shoulders complaining a bit.

Not fully loaded, but twas a good day ride.

This is NOT a vote strictly for an LHT, this is a vote that unless you are doing real, REAL mountain bike work, then a touring frame of any sort will most likely do all that you need it to do. It may not be perfect at everything, but it is one of the best compromises around.

The only thing I'd add is that if you're facing hard dirt with 'washboard' ripples of sand & mud on top, front shocks are a blessing. That washboard stuff looks trivial at first glance, and if it was just a short section you'd just pile through it on any kind of wheels. But when it goes on for 50km, it can make a grown man cry! You can't avoid it, or ride in any kind of way that accommodates it - you just have to put your head down, grit your teeth, and endure the judder for as long as it takes.

Salsa Fargo love fest. Am out on tour right now.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mmeiser2/5073241976/" title="Along the ohio river by mmeiser2, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4088/5073241976_7fa2a1d726_z.jpg" width="640" height="383" alt="Along the ohio river" /></a>

Highly recommended. I also ride a surly cross check. Would recommend staying away from suspension. To high maintenance. Cross or lht can handle a pan American, but the Fargo was built for it. More specifically it was built for the 2700 mile great divide. Cross check climbs better but the Fargo is more comfortable over longer distances.

Also highly recommend getting frame bags.

I heard La Paz [for example] is more likely to have 26" tires than 622-32 ish 29er types, so starting out on a wheel
that requires mailing tires from home , when you need a spare.. would need some pre planning.

Cane Creek Thudbuster

A Thudbuster will only protect your rear, but front shocks should prevent your whole body from being rattled back and forth over and over again.

if you can manage to hold your body with your core muscles, you can manage to have less pressure into your hands.
ideally your hands should be loose on the bars.
you should be able to simply stay in your typical riding position, and lift your hands off of the bar
your back muscles and abs hold your body

one of the hardest moments in keeping weight out of your hands is during a descent while braking...

on a personal note: I've been riding a rigid MTB for a few years now, last june I rode from Banff to Butte, Montana... rigid
I've done a handful of 24hr mtb races
placed 3rd last year at 12hrs of Humboldt

all rigid.

what I'm saying is that there is a technique involved with ridding sections such as cobbles, washboard, etc...

Keyword = "sections"

It's true if you're dealing with a short obstacle section on a trail, but 35 miles of washboard, fully laden, is a different proposition altogether!

true enough

this is my fully laden touring bike, with about 3 days of rations, shelter, etc...

I rode this Banff to Butte Montana in 7 days, along the Continental Divide, in the dirt. about 1000 miles.

Asana, you're coming at this from more of an athletes perspective getting maximum speed for a given max output level by using the lightest rig. For those touring with more weight/lb of muscle it helps keep the fatique level down if a depleted body isn't getting rattled to hell.

no doubt that the sell of full suspension bikes, and all the bouncy offerings in interim address both the Sport and Lifestyle of cycling and its aching woes...

in respect, a buddy has his great grandfather's journals. one excerpt is from around 1890 where he and his brother had ridden from San Francisco to San Luis Obispo, no doubt along the likes of the DeAnza Trail, on bicycles in 4 days.

here is another example:

this time a Surly Big Dummy loaded to various degrees, while demonstrating to my buddy while on tour the different methods of packing vs application/logistics to objectives.

this bike has zero suspension

while this route covered about 125 miles of dirt from Ferndale, Ca. to HWY 1 going thru The Kings Range and Sinkyone Wilderness.

again... the greatest common denominator is body position.

being able to engage your core muscles to hold yourself up.
this is going to save you from innumerable sufferings.

I know it sounds ridiculous but honestly, if you can reduce the pressure in your hands the better off you will be.

the handle bar is not something to lean on. or at least it shouldn't
ideally, a rider should simply be using the handlebar as Control Inputs

so for instance: (ideally) your positioning should be as such that, if you happen to hit a pot hole (i.e. in the shadows) your hand(s) will not come off the bar, rather the bike would simply move under you. the same should be true if you hit the likes of a 2x4 (laying on the ground) <---- the wood, not you.

while suspension is no doubt a great thing
I'm not too sure if I'll be adding a 3lb fork to any of my bikes anytime soon.

I know what you're talking about. Engaging postural muscles in a dynamic way so you can anchor your hips for efficient power output without having a death grip on the bars.

Wow

Absolutely! 143 miles per day off-road? Blimey.

asana, I hear ya too, proper bike sizing and fitting goes such a long way to all day comfort. I am so much more tired when riding with my wife at her pace, too much weight on my hands and butt due to not pedalling at my "comfort and equal weight displacement" cadence and output.

*but, your honking big tires makes a bigggggggggg diff, as they are essentially suspension in themselves (I guess depending on psi) but also, well...you're a hard ass, pure and simple.

by no means being critical, just from what I've read, thats my conclusion---hard ass. (you do realize that you are pretty hardcore compared to nearly all of us, and this comment is more of admiring the bike stuff you've done, have no urge nor committment to do similiar, thats fine with me.)

but you give good advice and non-snooty opinions. I havent had to ride for long on washboard, but it is a tricky pain isnt it? Kinda have to find the right speed that can cancel out the worst vibrations (or at least minmize the most anyway) Have hit cobblestones in Europe, and ended up just walking it was so bad.

I totally agree, that washboard is difficult riding
along with the likes of cobbles

after all, Paris-Roubaix is one of the hardest races out there.

big tyres do offer a different attack angle
but really the deal with wash board is that on fire roads, those ripples are more than likely developed by motorized traffic
compression bumps are hard to deal with no matter what.

for what its worth, in the world of MTB riding, a common tactic is to ride on top of the bumps.
aim for the tops of the bumps. hit the tops.
avoid driving your wheels into the holes.

it may sound like a nuance, but honestly, a key to riding is to always pick the high spots.

this way, when you slide you have somewhere to go
if you constantly ride in the lows, you constantly have to power out, you have no where to go
this is also true on the pave
pick the high spots, not the lows.

cobbles, rough roads, wash board... there's only so much you can do to deal with it.

another tactic is to pick a big gear, low rpm, and lumber across it.
if you're really lucky, you might be able to stand up in that really big gear, and "walk" across the rubble.

when I say, "walk"...
that is to say, pick a big gear, stand up, and try your best to mimic your natural walking cadence

not the stand and hammer type of out of the saddle attacks complete with pulling on the bars

but

rather... if you'd be so lucky to use something like an H-Bar, or any other swept back design, and a fit that is not so far leaned forward
standing up right

you may get lucky
and mimic a larger ape
but on wheels with big gear inch
and you're steps could be just like Big Foot

in the motorcycle world they'd call this Motard
but on a bicycle, you obviously have to pedal

so think Big Foot
big up right strides

I have a blurry 8mm B+W film clip of that move somewhere in a box in the attic.....

I will keep the Bigfoot technique in mind, sounds like a good idea and definately one to try sometime--thanks for the description.

This summer with some friends we had to go about 20 mins or so on really tight washboard on a dirt road that cars had made. I was surprised how close together the ridges were, but we just sorta bumbled along (shook along really) at a speed that kept it to the least vibratey. (road tires though, 28s)