Hey all thanks for all the pointers! I've spent the last couple of mornings on the internet (bad weather facilitates bike research!) and I think I've reached a tentative decision.I've become clearer that front-loading is important to me:
- the convenience of strap-backpack-and-go (or even throw-it-in-basket-and-go if I add a basket)
- the weight of one bag will be centered (I used to ride my Sirrus with one pannier, it was ok, but a little weird if the pannier got heavy).
- I've got some bumps and occasional curbs to negotiate, easier with weight up front, I can remember back weight waving around on my Sirrus)
- have hills - climbing with weight up front seems easier
- I've been reading Jan Heine....(I recognize opinion is divided on that tho!)
- Any touring I do will be short (1-2 nights) and light
main factor tho: the convenience, don't want to fuss when commuting!
Additionally I realize I'm hoping to keep this project within $1500, certainly less than $2000 (a good price-point for an exploratory purchase: I haven't bike commuted full time in years, and I haven't tried this kind of front-loader before) which rules out the MS (the Surly-are-a-tad-overpriced argument definitely applies here).
Narrowing the field to front-loading limits my choices quite a bit, basically (bike / frameset price / brake type):
- Pack Rat / $515 / Canti or V
- Soma Grand Randoneer / $490 / Canti or V
- Velo Orange Polyvalent / $725 / Disk
- Rawland Ravn / $950 / Disk
and budget limits me to Pack Rat or Soma (it's possible I won't be happy with rim brakes, time will tell, but it seems disks are out of my budget range anyway - the disk front-loading frames are a lot more expensive - tho I did drool over the Ravn, looks like an awesome all-round adventure bike).
and since I have a Surly dealer 10mins from my house....Pack Rat it is!
I also watched the pathlesspedaled review a bunch of times and he seems pretty happy with it overall, there was one commenter loved his too, so I'm going to go with it. Will be heading down to the LBS sometime soon to discuss the build....
Final comment is from golftdi tho:
I'm sure you'll be happy with whichever you choose!
Yup, it's definitely possible to overthink these things, research has been done, decision has been taken, I'm sure it will be great! Might take a while but you can expect an update with pics and thoughts on the bike once I get it!
thanks again for all the help, seeing all your thoughts (and replying with my own) really helped me nail this down!
cheers everyone hope you are getting out on your bikes this weekend (rainy here....)