Selecting a drivetrain for touring bicycle I am planning to build a touring bike with a Surly LHT frame. I'm looking for some advice on selecting a drive train.

My requirements are:


Reliability - I am planning on doing weeks or months long tours.
Ease of repair if necessary in remote locations, including in the developing world.
Ability to get parts in the future, I am building it to last 10+ years.


On my current bike I have a Shimano 7-speed drive train. I am quite happy with that. I tour around the UK over all terrain without problems. But 7 and 8 speeds are becoming less common now. I don't fancy going above 10-speed, it doesn't provide any advantage but make it less reliable.

Should I go for 8 or 9-speed? If so what drive train group set is good?
Any recommendation will be appreciated.
As other posters already mentioned: Rohloff seems the way to go...Super reliable and sturdy, but: hard to service for yourself "on the road".

On the other hand: if you have a Shimano (most common) 9 or 10 speed Deore XT drivetrain, it will also be hard to find (and thus service) spares in the middle of Africa..:)

If cost is no subject: forget the Surly (albeit a nice platform), and go for a rim-brake Pinion bike.
Why?:
Super reliable, more then enough spread in gears, it enables you to switch wheels (obviously not possible with Rohloff without losing your gears..) and the rim brakes don't make it a pain in the A@% when your wheel is broken and you want to use an alternative..

Maybe not the straight forward answer you were looking for, but if "the Ultimate touring bike" is required this might be the ticket!