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If you're carrying a lots then 28c would be a little too small.
Single rack with a pair of panniers, even 23c would be fine.
Triple is not a necessity, compact (50/34 or 46/34) is plentiful with a wide range cassette on the back (11-28 or 11-32), 8 speed is much cheaper, very strong and last for ages.
You can run an mtb derailleur and cheap friction shifter on the downtube to keep cost down with the additional benefit of being cheap and easy to look after/replace.
edscoble-
Cool, cheers. So something long cage like http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/shimano-deore-m610-10-speed-rear-mech/rp-prod108792 with compact rings?
Just going to go friction shifting on the downtube yeah so there shouldn't be any compatibility issues right?
The cheaper I can make it the longer I stay away for
nauls
I ignored someones advice on here last year and took a 20 quid mountain bike away for a few weeks in west europe and I ended up regretting it a bit, not this time.
Still on a serious budget though so I'm going to use this and hopefully whatever I have. I'm thinking I'll need a triple for Scotland? Double sounds like a recipe for pushing. Also my tyres can only take 28c, I was on 1.5" things last year which were grand obviously but is 28c too narrow?
Will be carrying everything, tent,bag, stove etc