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Bicycle Travel

Bicycle Touring: Gear List

I’m not gonna beat around the bush here, I’m not a gearhead and don’t think it’s as important as people make out. Please don’t let “not having the latest gear” stop you from going out and having an amazing experience. A bin bag makes a great rain coat. But I get that these kind of lists can be useful as a guideline, so this is a post about the gear and equipment I chose to take on a multi-month cycle tour. To see the bike spec, click here.

There’s loads of different ways that people gear up for cycle touring, but if you’re thinking of doing something similar to the Vague Direction project that involves multiple months on the bike, through a variety of seasons, I hope this is a useful resource for you to figure out your own travel solution.

Clearly different times of year and different routes call for different gear lists, but something similar to this should give you enough options to stay warm in temperatures down to around -10ºC and handle fairly extreme weather conditions. (I will only ever recommend gear that I personally enjoy using).

Sleeping System

  • Thermarest
  • Thin Foam Matting (to be used under the tent on hard surfaces)
  • Bergans Compact Light 2-man tent
  • Bergans Senja Ice Sleeping Bag (long version)
  • Bergans Sleeping Bag Cover (for being discreet when putting a tent up wouldn’t be wise)
  • Sea to Summit Silk Liner
Cooking

Clothing System

It comes down to layers, being covered for even the worst weather, and easy temperature control.

  • Glittertind waterproof
  • Isfjorden light insulated jacket
  • Vier fleece jacket
  • Imingem trousers
  • Variety of Merino Wool undergarments and socks
  • Marmot Dri-clime jacket
  • Helly Hansen Balaclava
  • Montane ultra lightweight pertex jacket
  • North Cape thinsulate waist coat
  • Mountain Hardwear lightweight shirt

Specifically for cycling, I’m using:

Baggage

Lighting
Tools / bike maintenance 

Misc

There’s also a variety of filmmaking gear not on the list. All in all, including camera stuff too which isn’t listed, this comes in at around 30 kilograms. Oh yeah, and it all fits in the pannier bags!

10 replies on “Bicycle Touring: Gear List”

You are carrying TOO MUCH WEIGHT ! and taking kit you dont need or that if you do need or need to replace you can get it on the trip
Less Weight |More Fun

Cut down on Weight

Hi Sarah.

Thanks for your advice. I’m going to try it out with the full weight for a couple of weeks to see what it’s like, then may resort to sending stuff on.

But I like your ethos – Less Weight More Fun!

By Post Author

Hi Pawel,

Yeah sorry this page is due an update which I’ll do in the next few days.

I use two of these type of alarms (not the exact model but pretty much the same): http://www.misdefenseproducts.com/Personal-Alarm-130dB-p-19894.html

They’re insanely loud and super easy to set up. Generally I strap one to the GPS and one to wheel (when I’m sleeping / going into a supermarket etc). Combined with a bike lock it definitely puts your mind at ease sometimes.

By Post Author

Thanks for this quite long and complete list of gear. I’ve one question. If you travel with less gear, does the Kenti fits also in one of the backroller Ortlieb packs?
I will travel with bike in Iceland this summer and I cosidered the Kenti as a nice small camera backpack.
Thanks in advance.
Christoph

Hi Christoph,

I’ve never tried putting the Kenti directly in a Backroller – but I imagine it would fit snugly if that was the only thing in there! I use the Kenti as a top bag, held in place with thin bungee cord, here’s a pic to demonstrate: http://i2.wp.com/www.vaguedirection.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/blog21.jpg – gives me easy access to camera gear and rollmat!

Really like the F-Stop gear so if it works for your purposes it’d be a good choice!

Cheers,
Dave

Thanks for you answer Dave. I’ve tried the F-Stop and it fits completly in an Ortlieb Backroller classic (if the top compartment is not overloaded). So it is possible to protect the camera equipment against heavy rain, as it’s often the case in Iceland.
I’ve wrote down my experiences here (in german language):
http://www.fotografie-achenbach.de/2015/08/16/radreise-und-kamera-wie-packen/
There are also some pictures from my last bike trip to Iceland this summer.

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