Awesome - I have an old 80s touring frame that I have completely revamped with lighter 29er wheels and 35C touring tires (usually works pretty well on gravel),

Awesome - I have an old 80s touring frame that I have completely revamped with lighter 29er wheels and 35C touring tires (usually works pretty well on gravel), wide dirt drops, full racks, etc etc. Brooks saddle of course. Probably would work great for that (although maybe even wider tires would be better - bike has cantilever brakes so I can go pretty wide if I wanted)