This blog describes the building of a fully loaded touring bike for a 5' 1 1/2" woman.
The only real criteria for the bike is that it be comfortable and robust. To fill the comfortable requirement requires finding a bike of the correct size that has a reasonable top tube length, and reasonable head and seat angles. And build that bicycle with a good saddle, bars and peddles.
For a touring bike to be robust it has to have (in the authors opinion) made from steel and have a threaded headset and and a standard BB. It should also use cantalever brakes and have a 7 or 8 speed drive train.
It is quite hard to find a bicycle that will fit a person that is just a tad over 5 foot tall. At this height you need a bike that has a stand over height of less than 72 cm (28 inches).
Looking for a bike:
Rivendell Atlantis - This bike meets all our requirements. The 47cm bike with 26 inch tires fits well. It has a threaded headset. All the essential brazeons. And as a bonus is quite pretty. However it is also very expensive.
Surly Long Haul Trucker - This bikes seems to meet most of our needs, but the head tube in 1 1/8 and the steering tube is not treaded or slotted. But that could be dealt with. It is not as pretty as the Atlantis (but that can be a security plus) and costs a lot less, and comes in a 42 cm size with a 70 cm stand over height. The LHT has 135mm read dropouts.
Parts:
Saddle - The saddle is going to be a Brooks. It is just a question of which one.
The choices seem to be between the Pro S and the B17 S. The womans version being chosen because it will give more room over the top tube and not because the rider is planning to wear many dresses.
Cranks - The cranks will likely be 145 mm Origin 8 triples, as these cost $35.00 and most of the other options seem to cost 10 times that.
Handlbar - This is likely to be either a butterfly bar or a moustache bar. This is mostly a comfort (butterfly) vs aesthetics (moustache).
