The bike is an important component of a bike trip. That's obvious, isn't it? So please indulge me while I carry on a bit about my bicycle.

I'll be riding my Co-motion Pangea with the Rohloff internally geared hub.

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Since my trip through Europe last year, I've swapped out the handlebars from drop bars to Jones Loop bars. That was part of an effort to make the bike a bit more comfortable. I've been riding it like that for a while, and did a A Short Ride on the Mickelson Trail in South Dakota, and still wasn't happy with the fit. I just recently swapped the stem from 25 degrees and 100 mm to 35 degrees and 110 mm, and that feels better. Besides the effort to change my fit, the bar change had the benefit of allowing me to place the shifter onto the handlebars. I had it on the end of the drop bars. While it wasn't bad there and I didn't complain, the convenience and comfort of having it on the bar where it was intended is hard to argue with.

The Jones bars are quite wide, and the bike with those bars has a tendency to fall over more often when I lean it up against a wall. I tried to add a kickstand to the bike, but it didn't fit very well. So I ordered a click stand. That's basically a long stick to prop up the bike. It is built to order for the height of your bike, comes with a cradle to hold the top tube, and snaps together with an elastic much like tent poles. You do need to stop the bike from rolling with bands around the brake levers. It isn't quite as convenient as an attached kickstand, but seems to work well. You can see it in the photo above.

I've changed the seat to a Selle Anatomica, and taken advantage of the long saddle rails to push it back to get closer to the "knee over pedal spindle" fitting advice. Pushing the seat (and my weight) back was advised to help get weight off of my hands to improve comfort. I'm not sure whether it helped or not, but it certainly didn't make it worse, and combined with the taller stem I think I'll be okay. I did contact Selle Anatomica and ask whether the saddle, which is leather and seems to stretch a good deal more than the Brooks more commonly used for touring, was suitable for use in a hot and humid climate. I was assured that if it started the tour in good shape, and if I treated the leather with their saddle sauce, and if I used their tailor made saddle cover for the rain, then it would be okay.

I swapped out the chain ring for lower gears, which required changing the belt as well and adjusting the eccentric bottom bracket to provide appropriate tension to the belt. I hope the lower gears will help in the mountains of northern Thailand and Laos. Just for reference (and for the techies reading this), I've changed from 50 teeth in the front to 46, keeping 20 in the rear. That's an 8% reduction. The belt changed from 118 teeth to 115. This is the change suggested by Co-motion, to work within the range of the eccentric adjustment.

I'm also leaving the dynamo hub, and the dynamo driven light and USB power source, at home. I'm not expecting to ride at night (but I'll carry a battery powered light just in case) and I do expect to stay in hotels and guest houses where I can charge my electronics. I have a standard wheel on order from Chris Murray, a local wheel builder. It isn't fancy, but suited to purpose with an Aeroheat rim (to match the rear), an XT hub, and 36 spokes. I'll save a little bit of weight, and I'll save the wear and tear on the dynamo hub, and it will make the bike just a shade easier to pack without the light and the wires.

I added some vinyl tubing to the racks to shim the Ortlieb hooks. I've found the Ortlieb hook inserts designed to make the hooks fit various sizes of rack tubing to be problematic, deforming and coming loose. I removed the inserts altogether, and put some vinyl tubing of the appropriate size over the rack bars and zip-tied it in place. It looks a little odd with black zip ties and my silver racks, but so far is working well.

I'm hoping to go lighter than I typically do, with no need for camping equipment and no cold weather gear. I've decided to bring my tent as an emergency mosquito net, but I'll see. I hope to get by with just my front panniers and a dry bag on the rear rack. Since I've shifted my weight rearward with the changes to the bike, I hope that using just the front panniers will balance the weight better than if I use rears.

Since I'm riding a loop, I'll have the luxury of leaving some things stored in Bangkok, and I'm taking advantage of that to pack my bike in an official S&S case instead of a disposable cardboard box. Bearing in mind that most international flights have a weight limit of 50 pounds per bag in economy class, I've opted for the backpack case. The available hard cases, and Co-motion's soft-sided case, weigh between 15 and 17 pounds. The bike itself, with racks and accessories, weighs 35 pounds. Add in some packing material, and the packed case would be over the weight limit. So I'm using the 8 pound backpack case, and have bought the spacers to prevent compression if anything is stacked on top of it. I hope that the soft case is treated better than my cardboard box on my last trip.

Having worried about the luggage weight limit, I should say that I'm flying business class on my frequent flier ticket, and the actual allowance is 70 pounds. I'm thinking ahead to when I've used up my points and will be flying coach, and anticipate not wanting to buy another case.