light tour bike

[froze]

.... in fact dare I say Schwinn made the finest touring bikes in the world during those years.

I would say the Specialized Expedition would give it a serious challenge.  That was one heck of a touring bike.

That was another interesting bike, that I forgot all about till you jogged my pea brain.  The frame on those were Ishiwata 022 (which after they went bankrupt they formed Kaisei tubing and that is highly respected by steel builders today).  I had 022 on a 412 Trek I had, it was ok tubing, it didn't really impress me as much as Fuji VaLite Quad butted or Miyata spiral triple butted, or Reynolds 531cs (limited production tubing), did, though it was far better than Vitus!  However I didn't tour on the Ishiwata, but it just doesn't "seem" like an idea touring tubeset...but it could be.  Unfortunately the Specialized never became a touring favorite, in fact it's a sort of rare bike to find.   

That is a bike I would not overlook that's for sure.

[staehpj1]

thanks, everybody. pat is right. i ride supported on the transam. drink, small snack, rain jacket. my wife drives 10 miles ahead in a van and waits for me. we go again.

Given those criteria I'd ride what is essentially a carbon fiber race bike with lower gearing than a pro racer would use.  I like the feel of a responsive bike and am very comfortable with a racy riding position even as I age, at least so far at age 69.  You might deviate on any of that based on what you enjoy riding.  At 220# and no added heavy load you really don't need a sturdier bike, but if the wheels make you nervous you could go higher spoke count.  If you want a little cushier ride maybe go a little wider on the tires, but I'd avoid going with some ultra stiff flat proof tires with crazy stiff sidewalls and stay with something pretty supple.  I have generally run gatorskins, but if I had a support vehicle close by with spares I might go with a lighter sportier tire.  I'd never run something like a Marathon Plus even for fully loaded touring and certainly not for supported touring.

All that said it is true that the wheels make the most differences weight wise.  Geometry wise it is mostly a matter of aesthetics, but I enjoy sportier geometry.  Not everyone does, it is kind of like motor vehicles, some people like to drive trucks, some like sports cars, some take a purely utilitarian approach and drive an inexpensive car that gets the job done.  I figure that with my bike it is a recreational activity and I want something fun.  For me that means sportier is better.

Basically in your use case there probably isn't a wrong answer as long as it is what you enjoy riding.

[froze]

Schwalbe has better tires than the Marathon Plus, called the Marathon Supreme and the Marathon Almotion V-Guard.  The Almotion V-Guard has the least amount of rolling resistance of any touring tire followed by the Supreme, the Plus comes in a lot higher in rolling resistance. 

Schwalbe has a bad habit of naming stuff the same but have two different tires, weird, anyways, the Almotion has 2 different sub models, the V-Guard weighs around 500 grams and has the lowest rolling resistance, and it's new on the market; the other one is the Microskin Race Guard TLE, this tire weighs almost 900 grams due to the better flat protection in the tread and sidewall, but it does make the tire heavier as you can tell.

The most subtle touring tire that I know of is the Panaracer Pasela ProTite with the tan sidewalls.  Of course, when you go with a more subtle tire it won't last as long under heavy loads, but if you want a smoother ride this is the tire that will deliver that.  There was another tire that is more comfortable riding than the Pasela, but you give up a lot in flat protection and tread life to get that sort of ride, I can't recall the name of the tire at this time but from the reviews I read it didn't last long at all.

But if you want long mileage tread life and puncture resistance and durability the Schwalbe Marathon Plus is indeed the tire to get.