Reading
this story is what answered my 700C vs 26" question. If Ben had've been on a 700C bike, he would have been stuck for a fair while.
I got my bike from Saint Kilda Cycles. It was a demo model expedition bike with all the fruit that I picked up for a good price. It'd be great for a trip like Ben's in Morocco, and it's been great for me on a short trip to
Southern WA on paved roads, fitted with Schwalbe Marathon Supremes. Interestingly though, I'm considering
leaving this bike at home for my next trip, which is my first multi month tour, mostly on paved roads in the USA. The main reason is that I prefer riding my commuting bike; the touring bike just doesn't feel as nice.
The Saint Kilda Cycles bike is a based on a Charge Duster frame. The owner of the shop is a frame builder and can build a frame from scratch, but it is often easier to modify an existing frameset with the necessary braze ons for racks/Rohloff/bidons. I've been slowly putting together a similar bike but for much less money based on a used
On One Inbred frame that I picked up on this forum (they're excellent value new). I've also picked up the running gear and wheels through here, but bought a new
Surly Troll fork which has midfork braze ons and is disk or cantilever brake compatible. The biggest advantage of the On One Inbred is that the rear disk caliper is positioned inside the rear triangle, making it much easier to fit a rear rack. The Surly Troll fork is better suited to racks as well, with the outer surface of the braze ons further outboard, meaning that you need less spacers to fit the rack. (My expedition bike requires about a 30mm spacer on both the front and rear rack - this is a weak point and worries me a bit, but I've tested it on rough ground with heavy loads and it's held up. I'd be sure to carry extra bolts with me on tour though, and I think that the On One and Surly options would be inherently stronger).
To summarize, I would suggest a bike built around a 26" mountain bike frame, or the Surly LHT or similar, would provide you with a reliable bike for both on and offroad conditions.