Specialized AWOL Comp

[dawgless]

Howdy all!  Pardon me if I've got this in the wrong location, but figured since it was a question, this  might be the best place to put it.

I'm looking to get into adventure-biking/bikepacking in the very near future.  this means I'm in the market for a bike that shall fulfill my needs for gravel road grinding, asphalt suffering, and single-track slaying.  A very good friend of mine and his wife both have Fargo's and love them, so I was initially leaning that route.  My buddy actually has two of them, one Ti and the other steel and I was able to ride the steelie and loved it! 

Currently I ride for a local shop sponsored team and have the ability to order Specialized bikes.  I was told by the shop that they can obtain the AWOL, which I finally looked at today on Specialized's website and seem to think this bike might fit the bill.  Does anyone on here have any experience with this bike?  I'd be looking at the Comp version. 

Thoughts/opinions? 

[hmaddox]

Seems like a pretty capable bike -- I like the all-steel construction. I saw a blog of some guy riding around Europe on one (http://wearegoingawol.tumblr.com/). Room for 2.0"+ tires seems adequate for all but the rockiest terrain (the rigid fork being another drawback if you'll be riding really rocky and technical singletrack). I haven't ridden one though, so take that with a grain of salt. Let us know if you decide to get one!

[dawgless]

Thanks hmaddox!  Yeah, might be able to talk with my local Specialized rep about it too.  I guess my two major drawbacks are the lack of many bottle mounts and the ability to only fit up to 2.2 tires.  I think that even with 2.1's, it'd be quite amazing on most anything, but yeah, really rocky stuff would be bad.  I've been riding my Crux CX bike on some really bad terrain, and that only had 32c tires, so 2.1 would be way better.  Once I sort out what I'm gonna selling my Crux to find this purchase, so it might be a few weeks.  Would love to have an AWOL for fall riding!