What type of bike??

tobyturnips

I am hoping to cycle to Jerusalem over a few years and hopefully a lot of it will be off road. I reached Rome in 2010 and will continue on from there.
My thoughts are to buy a 29er to handle off road trails.
However I am a little concerned that the geometry of 29ers wouldnt be comfortable for lengthy stays in the saddle. I'm not techie minded and don't want to make a big mistake.
I think the bike would handle the terrrain well but would it compromise my riding position too much?

MichaelW

Off road needs tyres of at least 35mm, better with 38mm. 29ers are designed for much fatter tyres to cope with mud and sport riding.
I dont think it makes much difference whether you chose 26 or 700c size. If you are small, use small wheels, bigger riders can use bigger wheels.
29ers often lack touring feature such as decent rack eyelets and tourable forks.
29er frames often have the seat-stays fixed to the seat-tube quite low down. If they do have eyelets, the rack stays need to be extra long, and worse, they have to angle down to reach the eyelets. This eliminates triangulation and results in a less stiff luggage system. This flaw is usually found on extra small bikes, there is no need to replicate it on larger sizes.
Other sport features that suck are cable routing under the top tube to avoid the muddy bottom bracket area, making it less comfortable to shoulder your bike.

durhamwasp

Cyclocross Bike?

ride_whenever

Surly ogre. Super tough, has all the eyelets and dropout options you could want. Steel for ease of repair in remote areas.

tobyturnips

Thanks guys for the tips. I was planning to use a seat post bag, frame and handlebar bags by Revelate Design instead of standard panniers. Speed wouldn't be a priority for me, I was thinking more in terms of sturdiness on the trail...I'm not the biggest, 5'8'' and was gonna go for a 17'' frame...... any more thoughts? Re the cyclocross bike - presume that has racing handlebars? What would you recommend if I went with one?

MichaelW

If you are going ultralight then the rack-less bag system may work, but once you start adding maps, guidebooks, cooking gear and food, you need the space of rack-mounted panniers. It is always good to have the option later on if you decide to switch.
CX bikes are good for touring, again, make sure they have all the eyelets you need.
Personally, I find that drop bars are becoming more difficult to use for touring. Road transmission and MTB transmission are becoming less compatible. If you want a low-geared MTB style chainset, then use trekking style butterfly bars with MTB controls.

plet

It also depends on what kind of trails you are expecting and how slowly and carefully you're prepared to go. I don't really recommend it but I've been down UK forestry tracks perfectly happily on a loaded Brompton. As long as you're not on skinny racing wheels and tyres the type of bike isn't of critical importance.

Salsa Fargo?

tobyturnips

Interesting lads... you've got me thinking..

tobyturnips

The Sals looks the biz alright, but its a bit expensive...unless 2nd hand available