Quote Originally Posted by AppleTree View Post
Oh my!! When are you planning to go Smitty? How fun, planning a great bike trip AND shopping for a new adventure bike! I'm sure you'll get lots of great advice. I have a Jamis Aurora Elite I bought at Free Range Cycle a few years ago, and it does really well on hard pack gravel and rough surfaces. I also use it for commuting and some of our light tours (longest has been four days). It handles heavy loads really well. Not sure how small they make their frames though.

Good luck!
We both have Soma Buena Vista's from Freerange. It's a great bike! I'm 5'0 and enjoy the fit, step through. The bike has a surprisingly nimble, fast, feel. It's very light. If I wanted to thin the stable down to one bike this is the one I'd keep. Light and fast enough for road rides, accepts fat tires and fenders, brazen ons for touring and commutes. Added benefit, it just makes people smile.

Knott took everything off of her Surly cross check and transplanted it to the Buena Vista frame. Result was a much faster bike.

I also got the Vaya and love that. But try a Soma!