On 6/3/2018 10:20 AM, Emanuel Berg wrote:
Perhaps this was approached from the wrong
angle, if one desires wide tires, perhaps one
should get a 28" MTB steel frame and only have
the gear loaded the same way?

I've certainly seen a lot of people touring on a hardtail mountain bike,
using narrower tires than the bike came with. But good luck finding a
steel mountain bike these days. They exist, but they are expensive.