TomvanHalen's tourer - Raleigh 853 (sick flames ITT)

I've come to that point in every cyclist's life where I want to buy a leather saddle and some panniers and do some touring, starting with a jaunt around Wales in May.

I was going to half-arse it on my Pompetamine or try and convert my Kuwahara beater but inspired by the many rad/hip/on-trend builds on here (see: Spotter's CdF, Paradroid's Donohue 559, Hulsroy's shenanigans, Ed's everything) and all the fashionable wank á la the Radavist and UltraRomance, the goal is a middleweight all-road tourer. I need to buy stuff to offset all the tax I'd be paying on my couriering income anyway. So, list:

• Frame that isn't expensive/heavy/a Surly
  
• Big floaty rubber
  
• Front loading
  
• 1x9 gearing
  
• Mudguards
  
• Dirt drops
  
• Beard
  
  

I decided if I found something suitable I'd sell the Pomp to fund this, so I did what any sensible person would do and bought a NOS 1999 Raleigh 853 MTB frame. This will 100% work