Which make of MTB would be best for touring rough terain?

Re: Re:

jaklloyd":13snuj9b said:
I have a threaded fork - no Hope headset for me it seems.

The cartridge bearings will wear, but what I am worried about is a worn out headset rather than worn out bearings...as you replace the surface that the bearings roll across when you replace the bearings, surely the headset itself will last forever and you can replace cartridges indefinitely?

The trip is through Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, China and then onwards to Uganda, Rwanda, and several other countries in Africa (that part of the trip is a year away and therefore unplanned). Basically I very easily could end up somewhere where I do not want my beauty to break down.

If cartridges are meant to be pretty reliable and sealed, then if I take two sets of spares this should be enough right?

Or do people really think I should go down the ball bearing option where if in desperate need I could source some BBs? What if brinelling occurs due to the overloaded weight? Then me headset is fudged and that's a way worse problem.

Are you doing all that on old 200GS?
 
You could always stick a spare set of bearings in the bottom of a pannier if it's that big of a worry. I think the point I was trying to make though is that quality kit is much less likely to fail in the first place.
 
A trailer is also a good option for rough terrain as it puts less stress on the frame and doesn't bugger up the handling quite so much.
 
Re:

A black early nineties XT 730 ball bearing headset would be ideal for a long trip.
They're made in 1, 1.1/8 and 1.1/4 inch. I've just sold a nos one for about 45 pound.

I would also recommend the cup-cone xt 730 hubs, cranks and bb-un70/71/72 cartridge bottom bracket. All very wel made and dureable.

Another tip: with xt thumbshifters, in case of a bend rear mech hanger you can shift in friction mode.
 
Re:

Are you doing all that on old 200GS?

What is a 200GS and I'm doing it on that Raleigh yukon as I said before, is that not strong enough??
 
Pleased to hear that, 200 gs was really entry level stuff, and after nearly 30 yr would be failing under the stress of the trip you have ahead of you
 
User32":38je6ooo said:
A mid 90s Trek Singletrack 970 or 990. You can't kill those!

'89 to '93 were lugged and from '91 to '93 trek used oversized tubing. Singletracks of all years are known for being great touring bikes though. High quality, well made, true temper steel bikes that don't die.

Too bad they don't make bike tubes out of TT anymore. All the more reason to get an old mtb for a tourer :D
 

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