The Wheels of Chance

I’ve recently updated my gear and have been touring on a Cervelo RS without a rear rack. I’ve changed out the stock Shimano wheels for beefier Mavic Open Pros with 32 spokes and I’ll probably go from the stock 11/25 cassette to a 12/36 to get a lower gear, but the current setup was very successful touring around Massachusetts for 10 days climbing some steep gradients in the Berkshire Hills. The weight of my bike and gear is 37.5 lbs and the weight of the clothes I wear and the food and water I carry is 10 lbs.

I’ve tried to be as thorough as possible, providing a brief discussion of each item, weights, where I carry stuff and a link to the item. I’d encourage all tourists to make a detailed equipment list so the utility of every item can be considered, I believe that it’s the first step towards lightening the load that you carry and making touring even more fun. Here is another post where I show all my bags and gear.

Item	Description and Discussion	oz	Location
	Bike: Cervelo RS. This is a relaxed geometry carbon bike. Gearing is 46/34 with 11/25 cassette although I intend to go to a new rear derailleur and 12/36 cassette to give me some lower gearing. Mavic Open Pro rims on Dura Ace hubs with 25mm ultra gatorskin tires. Brooks Swift saddle	304	N/A
	Rear Bag: Carradice Camper Longflap. Traditional saddlebag with 24 litre capacity and an extending flap for oversized loads. The weight includes two nylon cam-straps that can be used to lash stuff to the outside of the bag (although they are mostly used as a carrying handle or shoulder strap) and a red blinky light.	31	Behind saddle
	Front Bag: Ortlieb Ultimate 5 Classic Large. 9 litre capacity. The bag has a single compartment that stores all the stuff I need to take with me when I’m off the bike.	20	Handlebar
	Tent: Tarpent Contrail Single walled tent with sewn in bathtub floor and bug netting. I pack the poles in the bottom of my saddlebag and the fly goes in a small REI compression sack.	28	Saddlebag
	Sleeping Bag: Montbell UL Super Spiral Down Hugger #3 30F sleeping bag. It’s comfortable into the 40Fs just wearing a T-shirt, and with a jacket and long-johns you can be comfortable into the 30Fs. This is packed into an REI small compression sack.	25	Saddlebag
	Compression Sack: REI Light weight and used to compress then fly and sleeping bag so they’ll fit in the saddlebag. (Weight is 2.5 oz, but weight is included in tent and sleeping bag weights so is given as 0 in table).	0	Saddlebag
	Sleeping Pad: Thermarest NeoAir, Regular, (original) Light and warm inflatable sleeping pad	14	Saddlebag
	Stove: Evernew Titanium Alcohol Stove This is Ti version of the Trangia stove. It doesn’t have a simmer ring or a screw top, but I seldom used those on the original Trangia so I went to the lighter Evernew stove. Additionally the Evernew stove has two sets of jet holes and I’ve found that it works most efficiently with my TI mug when I just place the mug directly on the stove, blocking the upper holes so that it’s just heated by the lower ring of holes. This also means I don’t need a pot stand.	1	Saddlebag, inside my TI mug
	Pot: Evernew Titanium Mug This is my only cooking pot. I use it to boil water for tea, porridge, soups and couscous etc. My cooking kit fits inside.	2.5	Saddlebag
	Windscreen: I use a simple piece of aluminum foil. I fold it in thirds across its width. This gives the screen some strength and makes it the right height for my cooking set up. I hold it together with a paper clip.	0.5	Saddlebag inside TI mug
	Lighter: Bic lighter: Simple, inexpensive and light. I carry a spare in my handlebar bag	0.5	Saddlebag inside TI mug
	Cup: Sea to Summit X-mug. Collapsible silicone mug.	1.5	Saddlebag inside my TI mug
	Dish cloth: REI LightLoads mini towel. Used to clean and dry pot and to pick hot pots/stove up.	0.25	Inside Ti Mug in Saddlebag
	Water Bottles: Maxi Cincio one liter capacity. these are ok bottles, but the thing I like about them most is that they are one liter capacity and fit in a standard bottle cage. I carry two of them.	7	Cages on bike
	Shirt: Patagonia Capilene 2 with long sleeves and a zip neck. This is great for warm days. The zip allows for good ventilation and the long sleeves stop my arms from getting sun burned. The shirt is lighter and quicker drying than a merino one. It’s not a cycling specific shirt and there are no pockets on the back, but I don’t miss those much.	7	Saddlebag
	Trousers: Ex-Officio Convertible Long Pants Lightweight trousers with zip off legs so they can be turned into shorts.	10	Saddlebag
	Underwear: Rapha Merino Padded Boxers These are very comfortable. I use padded underwear rather than having a pad in my cycling shorts so I can wash them out at night and they will dry before morning. It also allows me to keep wearing my cycling shorts at night.	4	Saddlebag
	Socks: Smartwool PhD Good comfortable socks.	2	Saddlebag
	Long Underwear: REI Basic Running Tights I wear these when it gets cold. They fit easily underneath my trousers or my riding shorts and they can also be worn on their own.	8	Saddlebag
	Shoes: KungFu Shoes These have a hard rubber sole and are good for relaxing in after a day on the bike, going to the showers and walking around town. They pack very flat and take up very little room	11	Saddlebag
	Pillow: Exped Air Pillow This is a lightweight inflatable pillow that is actually quite comfortable.	3.5	Saddlebag
	Backpack: Sea to Summit Ultra-sil Day Pack This is a small backpack that I take if I need to carry stuff on a day hike. I don’t usually wear it while riding, but can if necessary.	2	Saddlebag
	Cord: Basic Utility cord. Used as a clothes line etc etc	2.5	Saddlebag
	Spork: Snow Peak Titanium Spork. This works well for eating just about anything, noodles, soup, couscous etc.	0.5	Saddle bag side pocket
	Fuel Bottle: Antigravitygear 8 fl oz fluid bottle. I use this to carry ethanol for my stove. It holds enough fuel for 20 meals, this means heating 2 cups of water; one for tea and one for soup or cousous.	1	Saddle bag side pocket
	Wind Jacket: Marmot Catalyst. This is my 3 season insulating jacket. It’s surprisingly warm and has a thin, soft lining so it can be worn comfortably next to the skin . When worn with a couple of base layers I’m comfortable into the 30Fs. It has a two hand pockets and a chest pocket too and it’s great for wearing around town or at night around a camp fire. It will deal with a light shower, but not heavy rain.	11	Saddlebag
	Tools: Topeak Alien II. A good multi-tool with everything you need to keep the bike on the road.	10	Saddlebag side pocket
	Parts/Spares: Brake and gear cables, AAA batteries, duct tape, cable ties, Fiber Flex spoke, patch kit, 4mm SHC screws, chain link.	6	Saddlebag side pocket
	Tubes: Continental Race 28, 25mm inner tubes, I take two.	6	Saddlebag side pocket
	Balaclava: Smartwool balaclava. I wear this when it’s cold, it works as a beanie too.	2	Handlebar bag
	Rain Jacket: Marmot Mica This a great light weight waterproof jacket with two hand pockets and a hood with a visor. The hood is a bit large for everyday wear as it’s intended to go over a helmet. The material feel nicer than most water proof jackets, but I still like to wear long sleeve shirts under it.	8	Handlebar bag
	Multitool: Leatherman Juice A good pocket sized multitool with a knife, various screwdrivers, can opener and pliers.	5	Handlebar bag
	Umbrella: Totes micro umbrella. I’ve used this many times. It’s just wide enough for one person and the locking mechanism isn’t the best, so you might find a better one out there, but having an umbrella is a nice little luxury. If it starts to rain I usually stop riding and if there’s no suitable shelter I wait it out under the umbrella.	6	Handlebar bag
	Wash Kit: Toothpaste and brush, comb, shampoo, DEET, sun screen. lip balm, razor, medium REI camp towel	9	Handlebar bag
	Sunglasses: Julbo race.	1	Handlebar bag
	First Aid Kit: Adventure Medical 0.5 First Aid Kit I’ve never used this, but obviously you need to include one in your gear. This kit has enough to patch you up if you cut or scrape yourself. I’ve added a few more ibuprofen tablets to it.	3	Handlebar bag
	Overshoes: Castelli Pioggia over shoes These shoe covers work well in the rain, but my touring SPD pedals rip the bottoms. I’ve sewn them together a few times now and they have kept my feet dry, but they are not really rugged enough for multiple tours.	4	Handlebar bag
	Smartphone: iPhone4, but obviously take what you like. I use mine for email, to take photos, maps, blogging with WordPress, books and for music and podcasts.	6	Handlebar bag
	iPhone External Battery: HyperJuice mini. This will recharge my iPhone 5 times. I bought it for my trip to Iceland and it worked really well. Whenever I have access to mains electricity I plug it in to charge. I allows for pass through charging of the iPhone too.	8	Handlebar bag
	Radio: Sony Walkman SRF M37W So Smartphones are great, but if you want to listen to the radio they don’t work well over 3G and you’ll use a lot of battery life. So a small radio still works best. This Sony uses one AAA battery and has good FM and AM reception.	4	On belt
	Cables and earphones: iPhone AC adapter, iPhone charging cable, Hyperjuice USB charging cable.	5	Handlebar bag
	Head Lamp: Petzl headlamp. This is great hands free lighting around camp and for on the bike. It straps around the head and has several different modes and lens configurations.	3	Handlebar bag
	Wallet: I just use my regular wallet. I carry 2x credit cards, bank cark, health insurance card, driver’s license, stamps and money.	4	Handlebar bag
	Pump: Lenzyne Pressure Drive. The hose and screw thread on this pump makes it easy to pump up a tire. It’s also small, light and will get a tire up to 100psi.	3	Saddlebag side pocket
	Lock: Kryptonite Kryptoflex 815. A basic lock that won’t stop the serious thief, but is good for locking the bike up in busy areas and at night.	10	Handlebar bag
	Gloves: Manzella Windstopper.	2	Handlebar bag
	Total Weight	601 oz	37.5 lbs

Below are the items I wear and the consumables that I carry

Item	Description and Discussion	oz	Location
	Cap: Rapha is a bit pricey, but this cap is excellent. Mine is now sun bleached gray rather than black, but that’s only because I wear it all the time. It has a good stiff brim, high quality elastic at the back and the cotton is a bit heavier than the throw away caps you get in many bike shops.	2	Worn
	Bandana: REI basic cotton bandana. Worn around the neck on hot days to keep me cool and used to wipe away sweat, or dry dishes.	1	Worn
	Shirt: EMS Techwick Midweight with long sleeves and half zip. This is slightly heavier than my Capilene 2 shirt and good for all but the hottest of days. By layering it with the lighter weight Capilene 2, my marmot Catalyst jacket or my Marmot Mica rain shell I can be comfortable in a wind range of weather.	11	Worn
	Shorts: EMS Touring Shorts These shorts are simple and just right for touring. They are light and have good pockets. I don’t use the liner they come with as I prefer the Rapha Merino underwear. For touring in cool weather I’ll substitute Rapha’s 3/4 length pants.	6	Worn
	Underwear: Rapha Merino	4	Worn
	Socks: Smartwool PhD Good comfortable socks.	2	Worn
	Shoes: Shimano M076 These are a great compromise between walking and riding comfort. The SPD cleats are recessed enough so you can walk normally, but the shoes are stiff enough to work well on the bike too. They have good ventilation to keep your feet cool on hot days, but your feet will get wet in the rain unless you wear overshoes.	22	Worn
	Food and Water: Raman, couscous, stock cubes, candy bars, dehydrated veggies	100	Saddlebag side pocket
	Fuel: Denatured alcohol	7	Saddlebag side pocket

Filed under: Bags, Gear