Kit List
The kit list includes all the gear we have with us (just a few personal effects!) and some items we wish we had. The list excludes food (average load fills two small front panniers), any "souvenirs" we pick up along the way and up to 11 liters of water (combined).
Bicycles
Thorn Raven Tour bicycles with Rohloff Speedhub
Full Specifications:
- Rohloff Speedhub 500/14 CC 14 speed gear hub
- Panaracer Pasela Tour Guard rigid bead tyre with Kevlar belt 26x1.75
- Schwalbe Marathon XR tyres 26x2 (changed to after 5,000km on Panaracer tyres)
- Thorn Raven Tour frame & twin plate fork
- Thorn Mk2 comfort bars
- Ergon GP1-L Grips
- Shimano Deore HB-M510 QR Parallax Front hub
- Rigida Andra 30 Tungstein Carbide 26inch ATB Black Alloy rim
- SwissTop Blue brakepads for ceramic rims
- CroMo skewer
- Schwabe Sv13 Presta valve butyl inner tube 26x1.5-2.5
- Shimano Deore LX M580 V Brakes
- Shimano Deore BL-M511 V-brake levers
- Rohloff SLT-99 8 speed Road drive chain
- Thorn 110mm 5am reversable single ring
- Thorn chainset 170mm 5am cranks
- Shimano UN54 Bottom Bracket 68mm
- SKS chromoplastic 26inch mudguards
Accessories
- Shimano PD-M324 SPD pedals
- Profile water cage
- Thorn Expedition Steel Rear cycle pannier rack
- Thorn MKV Cro Mo steel low loader
- Ortlieb Front Roller Classic panniers
- Ortlieb Back Roller Classic panniers
- Ortlieb Rack Packs Medium
- Ortlieb Ultimate 5 Classic handlebar bags
- Ortlieb map case
- Cateye bike lights front and rear
- Bike computers (Cateye Micro & Scio Pro)
- Kryptonite D-lock and 7 foot cable
Compass - Rear view mirrors (DIY job)
- Sigg water bottles 0.75l and 1l each, plus holder for additional 1.5l PET bottle
- Brooks saddle covers
- Topeak Mountain Morph Pump
- Cheap backup pump (just for peace of mind)
- Specialized 2D Bike helmets
Tool Kit & Spares
- Adjustable 3/4 inch wrench
- Rohloff Torx TX20 wrench (required for unique Rohloff screws/bolts)
- Spare brake, hub & gear cables x 2
- Spare spokes & nipples x 6
- Inner tube patch kits x 3
- Super glue
- Ear buds (for bike cleaning)
- Small cotton towel x 2 (for bike cleaning)
- Assortment of nuts, bolts, washes and screws
- MSR spare parts kit for stove
- SRAM power links for broken chain
- Thermarest universal repair kit
- General purpose string
- 2 meters of 5mm width string
- 6 piece Allen key set with ball tip for angular adjustment
- Rohloff chain oil x 2
- Cable tires of various lengths
- Duct tape
- Leatherman Wave
- Spare inner tubes x 3
- Presta to car valve convertor (so can fit air gun at service station on presta valve)
Camping
- Hilleberg Nallo 2GT tent with ground sheet
- Small cloth for cleaning tent
- Western Mountaineering Versalite sleeping bags
- Silk sleeping bag liners
- Thermarest travel pillow cases
- Thermarest ProLite sleeping mats
- Thermarest Compack Chair converters
- Light My Fire seat pads
- Petzl Tikka head torches
- MSR Whisperlite stove
- 1L MSR fuel bottle
- Lighter
- Optimus pots and pan/lid set
- Titanium forks and spoons
- Swiss Army Waiter knife
- Wooden spoon for cooking
- Lexan plates and mugs
- Tupperware box
- Sponge
- Microfibre dish towel
- Small bottle of detergent
- Small nalgene bottles for sugar, salt, pepper, mixed herbs, olive oil, jam etc
Tea bags, instant coffee - Food staples (bread, cereal, cookies, spaghetti, tomato paste, tuna, honey, peanut butter, jam or nutella)
- Sandwich bags (for keeping open food items)
- First Need XL water filter
- Ortlieb 10L water bag
- Ortlieb 10L folding bowl (for washing dishes and clothes)
- Washing powder for clothes
- Clothesline and pegs
- Laundry bag
- Universal plug
Electronic Gadgets
- Garmin eTrex H GPS
- Ipod
- Iphone
- Acer 1810TZ 11.6 inch laptop
- Acer 1410 11.6 inch laptop
- Small external hard drive
- USB stick
- Roberts Travel Lite radio
- Canon Powershot G9 camera & spare battery
- Gorillapod tripod
- Universal power plug adaptor
- Battery charger
- Spare AA & AAA rechargeable batteries
- Global SIM card to receive and make calls cheaply.
Clothes
- Baggy cycling shorts
- 3/4 length cycling trousers (Freddie)
- Padded lycra shorts for underneath (2 each)
- Icebreaker merino wool T-Shirts (2 for Guy, 3 for Freddie)
- Polo shirt (Guy)
- Long sleeved Icebreaker merino wool tops (2 each)
- Long sleeved Craghoppers Nosquito shirt
- Gore wind breaker Rainjacket
- Rain pants
- Gore rainproof overshoes
- Sealskinz waterproof socks
- Underpants x 5
- Sports bra x 2 (Freddie)
- Swimsuit (Freddie)
- Smartwool socks x 3
- Zip-off khaki pants
- 3/4 thin tracksuit pants and tank top for sleeping (Freddie)
- 3/4 khakis for off the bike (Freddie)
- Belt with hidden money pocket
- Icebreaker merino wool leggings
- Baseball cap
- Buff
- Yellow high viz safety vest
- Cycling shoes
- Birkenstock sandals
- Flip-flops (for communal showers etc)
- Large all-purpose cotton square Trek cycling gloves
- Sealskinz waterproof cycling gloves
Health
- Insect repellent
- Sunscreen
- Medical kit
- Multivitamin supplement
- Sunglasses
- Toiletries bag
- Lighweight quick-drying towel
- Face washer
- Baby wipes
- Tissues
Miscellaneous
- Small travel kettle (only in Asia)
- Novels (fuel for the mind)
- Country road maps
- Guidebooks
- Language guides
- PointIt book
- Passport
- Insurance documents
- Vaccination certificates
- Sewing kit
- Notepad & pen
- Reading glasses (Freddie)
- Travel wallet
- Various bank & credit cards
- Money belt
- YHA membership card
- "Business cards" with website details
- Small foldable backpack for sightseeing
- Small foldable "handbag" (Freddie)
- Pepper spray (donated by other cyclist)
- Bungee cord to fasten extra luggage on top of panniers
- Frisbee (never had the energy to use it though!)
Wish we had
- Pump with built in PSI gauge. With the thicker Marathon XR tyres it's difficult to gauge the correct pressure.
- Kindle. English books have been difficult to find, and you never really get what you want at book swap.
- Butterfly handle bars. Could be tricky to fit with the Rohloff shifter but extra hand positions would be very useful.
- 2 x 5L Ortlieb water bladders instead of 1 x 10L bladder. That way we could share the load more easily.