In reply to thepodge:
> Similarly eschewing suspension because it might break, it's a long time since suspension couldn't handle a few days in the wilderness.
A mate of mine had his forks collapse in the middle of Nepal, resulting in some very enterprising diagnosis and repair of problem, followed by desperate search for some sort of pump to get them back up to pressure.
Similarly, another mate had his hydraulic brakes leak somewhere in Asia, resulting in some tweaking and topping up with olive oil.
> There are a whole host of people managing just fine without specialist bags hanging off specialist bars on specialist bikes.
> It wouldn't have hit the word count but this should have just said "give it a go somewhere local with what you already have and work out what you want after that".
That's how I started and, mainly, am carrying on...