The Gear

August 11, 2024

Planning for a huge trip like this one is daunting. It feels like there are a 1000 decisions to make! Fortunately, I have significant backpacking and bikepacking experience to know that less is more.

Our goal for this trip was to pack as lightly as possible without taking on any unnecessary risks. That means we have to pack for heat, cold, sun, rain and potentially snow, although it's unlikely.

I only own 1 mountain bike so the choice of what to ride was relatively simple. I'm riding a RSD Middlechild which is a hardtail capable mountain bike, normally fitted with a suspension fork and dropper post (seat that lowers and raises with a push of your thumb). To eliminate as many maintenance failures as possible we've both removed the dropper post and gone with a rigid seat post. We may miss the dropper on a few descents but we can always manually lower the seat.

I zip tied the bottle cages on the downtube and added a velcro strap to secure the bottle. The bottles are 1 L which is rare for bike bottles.

We also have both swapped the suspension fork for a rigid fork that requires no maintenance. It has the other benefit of increased attachment points, and reducing effort ever so slightly, although it's definitely a rougher ride. There are always trade-offs.

The other thing we've done is rebuild our bikes replacing every wearable component. I bled the brakes and installed new brake pads, installed a new drivetrain, changed every bearing to new, topped up the sealant in the tires, and installed a new bottom bracket.

I'll carry bear spray and a bear horn in the right side feedbag for easy access.

The Salsa bag will be used for things I won't access frequently - bike maintenance, pump, toque, mitts, stove and fuel.

I rode without a strap and lost this bottle over a bump so I won't make that mistake.

For clothing I'm going super minimal. If I make any mistakes there will be opportunities to add or lose clothing along the way.

Here's the list of things I'm bringing, including the clothes I'm wearing:

Underwear (3), Long underwear (1)
Merino bike socks (3), Merino warm socks for sleep (1)
Merino short sleeve shirts (1), merino long sleeve (2), bike shorts (1), bike pants (1), bike gloves
Sun Hoodie
Ciele sun hat
Buff, Merino toque, Waterproof/wind resistant mitts
Puffy jacket, Gortex rain jacket, rain pants
Sunglasses
Helmet
Flat Mountain Biking Shoes, Flip Flops

For the sleep set up I also have a super minimal setup:

MSR 1 person tent (~2 pounds)
Inflatable sleeping Matt, Inflatable pillow
Rab summer weight sleeping bag (~ 1 pound)

I'm carrying water bottles with a capacity of over 5.5 L. There will be a couple times on the trip where we will need 8 L due to limited resupply options. When that happens I'll buy a 2L disposable bottle and carry it in the Salsa cage or strap it on with Titan straps. For water treatment I'm carrying a Bee Free filter, along with treatment tabs.

For cooking we each have a set of Sea to Summit collapsible cookware (1.8 L pot, bowl, mug). We will my MSR pocket stove and fuel cannisters. Aside from that I am carrying a sparker, lighter, Swiss army knife, and spork.

For bike repairs we have a whole arsenal of things:

Bike tubes, patch kits, tire boots, bacon puncture repair plugs, CO2 inflator, sealant

Allen keys, Wrench, Multitool, Leatherman, T10 & T25 Hex
Small section of chain, quick links (3)
Emergency spokes
Spare bolts and washers
Zip ties
Electrical tape, Duct tape, Tent repair tape

And then there's all the other random stuff:

Passport, wallet
Battery for charging electronics, miscellaneous electronics cables
Sunscreen, Toiletries, Medication, Vitamins, Lip balm
First Aid kit
Biodegradable soap, Sea-to-Summit camp towel
Bear spray, bear bangers, bear horn
Bone conduction headphones, hearing protection
Emergency Satellite Beacon
Thread and needle

Tonight I weighed the bike fully loaded as shown in the photos and it weighed 58.2 pounds, not including food or water. I expect at times when it's loaded with it will weigh closer to 75 pounds. That's a lot of weight to push up a mountain but I don't feel like I'm carrying too much. I'm sure with a lighter bike I could shave some weight but I don't feel there's much weight I can cut on the gear side of things.

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Rich FrasierLots of good info here. How are you planning to manage bike short usage and washing? I haven't been able to get below 2 pair for our trips, since when you wash the shorts at night, they don't always dry by morning.
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3 months ago

Andrew RichardHey Rich, that's a valid question. I am going to try going with 1 pair of shorts and if it's a big hassle as you pointed out I'll buy a second pair. I have space and I'd rather add than have to subtract (except on the warm side where I feel I have things well covered). Cheers!
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3 months ago