What to take on your bicycle tour? The age-old question for cyclists setting off around the world.
Our gear list has evolved over the years, but I’d wager that a few items will never change: sturdy Koga bicycles and robust Ortlieb panniers.
Our gear has gotten more sophisticated over time, in part thanks to sponsors. Great gear is good to have, but if it’s a choice between setting off on a second-hand bike, sleeping in an old tent and wearing second-hand shop clothing and staying at home, hit the road!
We’ve toured with an old backpack strapped on the rack and a set of beat-up panniers filled with low-tech clothes and had just as much fun as we do now with all our comforts.
World Biking Gear List
| The Bikes | Eric: Koga Miyata Signature Amaya: Koga Miyata World Traveller |
| We've been riding Kogas since the very beginning. After the theft of Eric's bike in Bolivia, he's replaced his original World Traveller with a Koga Signature touring bike. This is cycle design personalised: you build your bike online to your own specific requirements. We can't say enough good things about our sturdy Kogas. As long as you replace the components after normal wear and tear, they just keep on trucking. |  |
| The Panniers | Ortlieb roll-top panniers front and back, ortlieb bar bags plus a large dry sack on the back of each bike. |
| The perfect panniers for extended bike touring. With a little minor upkeep, they'll last for years and years. Be sure to buy a repair kit (aquaseal works well) and check regularly for any holes. The extra outer pocket is handy for storing sunscreen, extra water and all those little things you need to get to fast. We use PS 490 dry bags on the back of the bike to store the tent, sleeping mats and sleeping bags. We've got the 59 liter size to store all the extra stuff we've accumulated after 5+ years on the road. Yeah, we know we've got too much stuff, be we like our little comforts. |   |
| The Tent | Big Agnes Gore Gore Pass 3 |
| It's been Big Agnes all the way through Africa, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas. Being on a multi-year tour, we opted for a spacious 3-person tent. Double entry is an absolute necessity in tropical climates...you'll really suffer if there's no way to let in a cross breeze. We went with Big Agnes initially because they're great value for the money and are relatively light tents but still sturdy. We were amazed at how well the Gore Pass 3 stood up under the intense winds of Patagonia. Excellent customer service at this small company where the employees really seem to care. |  |
| The racks | Tubus: we've tried the Tara model and the Ergo model. |
| Choose the right racks and you'll save yourself a lot of headaches. The Tara model is very robust, practically indestructible and probably your best choice for rough riding. The Ergo model is a little lighter but comes with a cute low-rider kickstand that really helps distribute weight. Tubus has excellent customer service and if you ever run into problems with their products you can bet they'll be there to find a solution. |  |
| We use Ortlieb's 20 liter folding bowl for doing laundry, washing dishes and even the occasional bath. An ESSENTIAL piece of gear. Folding Bowl by Ortlieb |  Essential for laundry and doing the dishes. |
| If you plan on stealth camping, you'll need to carry extra water. Two 10 liter water bladders from Ortlieb work for us. |  |
| The First Need Portable Water Filter from General Ecology purifies just about any water imaginable. From brackish to perfectly clear in moments. |  |
| 650 Down Filled Sleeping Bags from Mountainsmith will be keeping us toasty at night. I've got the El Diente 5 degree Fahrenheit bag and Eric uses the lighter Sunlight 20 degree Fahrenheit bag. |  |
| Silk Sleep Sack's from Grand Trunk are great for dodgy hotel's and as a way to keep your sleeping bag clean. Incredibly lightweight and comfy. |  |
| A pillow is not a luxury item. If you ask me, it's essential for a good night's sleep after a long day cycling. Our lightweight compact pillows come from Grand Trunk Goods. |  |
| Our Micro-fiber Pack Towels from Grand Trunk are lightweight and they dry quickly. They can even double as a cover up for the beach. |  |
| The reliable MSR WhisperLite International makes cooking in the wild a snap. Ours has proven itself to be very reliable as long as it gets its monthly cleaning. |  |
| I probably wouldn't survive a single night in the tent without my thermarest! Our mats come from a garage sale...they must be 20 years old and not particularly light, but we love them. |  |
| We drag out our Primus Litech cookset almost every single day. We've got a skillet to go along with the two pans. Incredibly the teflon finish has held up after two years of wear and tear. I can still whip up pancakes and omelettes that don't stick. |  |
