Hey Sean! Fantastic question(s). First, the weight of the engine is separate from any gear the bike carries. It doesn’t matter how much you, the engine, weigh, putting 50 pounds of gear on a bike is going to change how it rides. Lighter tubing more so than stiffer tubing.
Where you carry gear also matters. Front or back (Rivendells have geometry for all rear or add some to the front if you want, entirely personal preference). Weight on top of a back rack has a higher center of gravity than that same weight in panniers down lower (just pack semi-balanced! Grin.). Riding smart and “unloading” the engine off the seat for bumps etc, allows a lighter frame to do more, but keep in mind that a load can’t unweight and will impact in all those bumps and washboards even when you unweight. So, a lighter engine can ride a lighter tubed bike for road, but as soon as you add in trail and/or touring and/or bikepacking (the best and most challenging of both trail and touring!) I’d suggest a stiffer frame. But keep in mind that Grant has you covered and describes very well the range a bike can do well. Just based on what you’ve described, it sounds like an App. or Atlantis would be perfect, and easily handle what you’re going to throw at it. Give Riv a holler. They’d love to talk with you and help you out! It’s what they do! With abandon, Patrick -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
