equipment

 

the bikes

First off, none of us had a suitable bike for this trip.  A lot of thought went into whether we would be best on a mountain bike or on a touring specific bike.  In the end we decided that, while both would fit our needs, we were better going with a bike that we would get use of after our trip.  Obviously that meant mountain bikes.

Full suspension, hard-tail or fully rigid?  The main issue with suspension is when it comes to attaching racks and panniers to them.  This, along with the loss of pedalling efficiency caused by suspension systems, caused us to choose hard-tail and consider fitting rigid suspension-replacement forks before leaving for our trip.

We decided to go with Merlin Cycles due to good reviews, strong frames, excellent wheel building reputation, their ability to supply bikes to exact specifications (component wise), and very low prices. Their best frameset is the Malt 4, so we ordered three of these and kitted them out with full Shimano XT, the strongest Mavic touring wheels available, and various other quality components.  Amongst the XT kit was hydraulic disc brakes, which we're hoping won't be an issue on the trip due the them being more complicated to maintain/fix.  We also went for Marzocchi MX Comp ETA suspension forks, as they provide a lock-out facility which will greatly reduce the problem of the suspension bobbing up and down when going uphill.  We went with Fizik Gobi saddles as they are leather covered so will last and a very high percentage of online reviews rate them as very comfortable.  With the prospect of spending entire days on these, this was rather important...

Next up in order of importance is racks.  To cut a very long story short, we've gone for Old Man Mountain Cold Springs, both front and rear.  They're basically the only racks we could find which will fit a bike with disc brakes and will fit also fit on suspension forks.  We read many good reviews and haven't heard of them ever breaking, despite the many stories on the web saying that "your racks WILL break, accept it".  We ordered them from Margaret at Carradice Nelson (the UK distributors).  Margaret was very helpful and gave us a good price on all 6 - thanks Margaret.  We'll update this section if they break, but fingers crossed for now.  Virtually no time was spent researching panniers as the world seems to be in agreement that Ortlieb Classic Roller Waterproof panniers are the best.  6 of those please (ordered along with a huge order of kit from CycleStore.co.uk - who gave us a good price on the lot, so thanks to them also).

Tyres - Continental Travel Contact, 26"x1.75" with a Kevlar bead.  Tilmann Waldthaler endorses these as "the best thing I have ever had on a bike" and he's been cycle touring about the world for absolutely years.  9 of those please, along with a box of 10 Continental tubes.  All Terrain Cycles came up with the goods here, with a price which was way below that of the opposition.  I think it was Tom who we spoke to there - thanks heaps.
Update: all our tyres have developed sidewall defects and we're down to zero spares and running dodgy tyres.  ATC and the Continental importer/distributor for the UK are speaking with the Germans to see if they can get us some replacements sent.  Unless we hear of Continental updating the tyres, I wouldn't use them for a trip longer than a few thousand kms. We've met a few other cyclists who've had the same problems as we're now experiencing, and some have been saying that it's only the kevlar version which is dodgy.

Other gear - mini pump each, 2x large water bottles, Cateye cycle computers, Petzl Tikka Plus head-torchs, Topeak Alien II multi-tools, various spare parts, nuts and bolts.

camping equipment

A large proportion of our gear was provided by Tiso in Belfast for a very generous 20% off.  Thanks to Neil, the manager there, for supplying most of this lot.

Tent - Vango TBS Spirit 300+ 3 man tent.  If we could afford the ridiculous prices of MSR tents here in the UK (someone sort it out please!) we would probably have gone with one of their models as they offer better options for warm weather when necessary.

Stove - MSR Whisperlite Internationale multi-fuel stove, plus an MSR service kit and two MSR 650 ml fuel bottles.

Water filtration - can't be drinking stinking iodine purified water for 7 months! We spent quite a lot on this, with an MSR Sweetwater filter and a Steripen UV light pen to kill bacteria and viruses.  We'll be getting through our fair share of water so didn't think we should skimp in this area. Also Iodine drops as an emergency backup.

Sleeping bags - Dave already had a very good Mountain Equipment down filled bag.  Alastair went for a  cheaper Vango Ultralite 400 number which has a synthetic filling. Due to some last minute planning, or lack of, Col had to buy a Blacks own brand bag - should be warm enough but it is very bulky. Pluses and minuses for both but we made sure we had warm bags for use in the extreme south and especially at altitude.

Sleeping mats - After a lot of discussion we all went for a Therm-a-Rest ProLite 4-season self inflating mat and added the chair converter to it. The mats are much more compact than the closed cell foam mats and offer great insulation - lets just hope they don't puncture easily!
 
Other camping equipment: LifeVenture travel towels (giant), MSR Alpine Kitchen Set, peg-less washing line, thermal sleeping bag liners, MSR insulated mugs, generic plastic plates and some cheap, light kitchen cutlery, decent knives, hunting knife.

the good and the bad...

We'll keep this section updated on equipment we have had problems with and any gear we feel has been worth taking.

good gear

Therm-a-Rest ProLite 4 season sleeping mat - great! Just blow it up and you can get a good nights sleep just about anywhere (as we've proven repeatedly so far). One puncture successfully repaired so far.

Therm-a-Rest chair converter - just slip the sleeve over your mat, fasten the buckles and you've got an instant chair. It weighs nothing as well.

MSR Whisperlite International stove - boils water in minutes and easy to set up. Take MSR's advice and don't burn leaded petrol in it if you want it to last. White gas has been easy to obtain for us so far and works a treat. Very difficult, if not impossible, to adjust to simmer though.

Oakley eyewear - does exactly what you want and keeps doing it without breaking. Dave currently has a pair of mid-price cycling glasses, and a pair of Ray Bans fashionable numbers, both in pieces occupying space in his panniers.

bad gear

Altura bar bag - A rubbish design for a water proof bag. The lid blows partly open allowing rain to enter at the sides - wish we had spent a bit more on an Ortlieb bag.

Altura padded undershorts - best we don't get into detail here, but these are only good for wiping the part of one's body that it's designed to protect. Get some good quality lycra cycling shorts instead.

verdict still out on

Disc brakes - great stopping power as expected, and great modulation and control.  However, no-matter how often we adjust them they continue to rub against the pad on one side or the other!  It's slowly driving us mad but in reality it's just the noise - they're not causing any considerable friction which would slow us down.  We reckon the problems are accentuated with the amount of weight we have on the bikes, and especially with the hub/skewer mounting of the Old Man Mountain racks.

Old Man Mountain Racks - racks themselves seem to be very strong and well engineered (especially when you consider they fit onto suspension forks and disc brake bikes).  However, the mounting to the forks/rear seatstays using standard, mild steel P-Clips (not provided directly by OMM) is bizarre.  OMM have obviously spent time and money in engineering their racks to a great specification but relying on such a weak mounting just isn't good enough in our eyes. 
Dave has had both P-Clips on the rear rack break on our first day on unpaved roads.  We've got 2 spares but are now looking at getting a local handyman to fabricate stronger clamps.  Get your fingers out, OMM, and design something that fits with your overall goal of designing and producing world class, strong racks to mount to bikes which don't have specific rack mountings.  We finally managed to get some strong steel brackets in Ferreteria Bahia Blanca, El Calafate, and a mechanic able to shape them into what we needed, just around the corner. These are about 10 times stronger than standard P-Clips so should last, though we've got about a dozen spares just in case. Having said all this, Dave had a mechanic in Punta Arenas fit the standard P-Clips to his frame, and he did this so well (by carefully shaping the rubber in the clip/clamp etc) that they have held up since. Perhaps the moral of the story here should be to make sure you get your clips fitted absolutely perfectly, with no movement etc. But take loads of spares if you're going to hit unpaved roads.

Ortlieb Classic Panniers - some holes appearing in the bottoms already after only one month on the road. I guess this has to be expected though with the battering they have to take.