Hey Pete, thanks again for all the links and info!
coil vs. air:
- touring I obviously couldn't care less about 100s of grams. So the pump doesn't bug either, esp if I were to go with the tyre/ fork pump option. On that note - I like the pumps that have a small connecter hose. You can repair punctured tubes 20 x easily, but if the valve is buggered, that's it. So in that regard, not fussed either way.
- don't want to go disc, that's just asking for too much worrying, so that limits the above choice considerably. I've read all the heroic stories of finding an ancient fork from the good old times, but seems a little tricky. I know this has been asked before, but most forums posts I've found are a few years old:
(quality) v-brake coil forks??
- coming back to the worst case scenerio: fork failure in middle of nowhere. Wooden stick option also applicable for air?
- mild case scenario: something is a little buggered, all I would need to carry (for the air option) would be spare seals, the grease and/or oil, the required torx bit and pump of course? All that doesn't sound like anymore than I would carry for the unlikely event of the speedhub wanting attention? The mechanic-y part doesn't bother me, just how much likely-never-required stuff I'd have to carry? A film canister of grease and 100ml oil don't bug me.
In short, coil would be lovely, but hard to come by and air isn't that much of a drama after all?
And back onto the topic of panniers and rack. After some more research, the tubus swing option doesn't seem that bad after all. Not planning to stuff heavy weight into the front panniers, but the volume makes a difference (and not having to buy new panniers, considering we're fully decked out already on that end and the bike, etc is gonna be ..$$$).
Came past these two sites:
http://www.thefuegoproject.com/i_gear.html (Alaska-ushuaia, thorn bikes, Magura Odur forks, tubus swing - "22000k's no problem" , though "Broken Parts (Ali): front rack tubus swing twice (*replaced free by tubus*), "
http://www.gurdon.cam.ac.uk/~ad327/india2008/kitlist.html (Himalaya cycling, Fox forks/ discs, but with tubus swing)
And those springs in the brooks saddle look more and more comfy...;-)