Equipment

BICYCLES

At the beginning of 2022, after cycling with our MTBs across the Canary Islands, we decided to purchase two steel all-rounders, with which we could bikepack all (unpaved) trails. Harry opted for the Kona Sutra LTD 2022 and Roelie eventually opted for the Kona UnitX 2022. The color of these two bikes is the same and they are both equipped with countless options to carry your luggage and they are both so-called hard-tails, but for the rest they are quite different from each other.

 

KONA Sutra LTD

General:

The Sutra LTD is one of those bikes that just changes everything. You thought you were a mountain biker, but you find yourself sneaking out on an adventure and enjoying the drop bars on the LTD. You thought you were a roadie, but you find yourself secretly enjoying singletrack when no one else is watching. And suddenly you just want to be able to cycle just about anything with your bike! That's the best thing about the Sutra LTD - it's everything and can do everything a bike should be and do.

 

Specs:

  • Kona Butted Cromoly Frame
  • Kona Project Two Cromoly Disc Touring Fork
  • WTB KOM Light Team i25 TCS Wheelset
  • Sram Rival 1 11 speed Groupset
  • TranzX Dropper +RAD Internal 31.6mm Seatpost
  • Maxxis Recon Race EXO TR 29x2.25" tyres
  • WTB Volt Saddle


Adjustments:

The TranzX Dropper had Harry immediately removed, because it is not useful with a large saddle bag.

The cassette Harry later changed and put on a larger blade (46). As a result, the front cover has also been replaced by a smaller one. It turned out that he could no longer turn the pedals on climbs of well over 15%, while Roelie still had at least two gears left.

The pedals have been replaced with Rose flat pedals.

The Maxxis 2.25" tyres are replaced by the same one but 2.4" width.

And finally, from our friends at the PilotCycles Distribution Group, we received a Kinekt suspension seatpost to try during the rough work through Eastern Europe.

At and on the bike:

  • Saddlebag (seatpack): Revelate Designs Terrapin System 14 liter
  • Handlebar bag (handlebar bag): Blackburn Design Outpost elite + drybag
  • Frame bag: Blackburn Design Outpost elite size L
  • Snack pack (for water bottle): Agu Venture
  • Fork bags (fork bags): Ortlieb fork pack 5.8 liters

For longer trips of more than a week, we exchange the saddlebag for two panniers on a rear rack:

  • Panniers: Ortlieb gravel pack 25 litres
  • Rear carrier: Old Man Mountain Divide

KONA Unit X

General:

If the UnitX posted a personal ad for its ideal rider, it might look something like this: "Cromoly, single-speed badass is looking for someone to go on an adventure with. Some people call me rigid. I guess I'm just classy . I like long rides in the sun (or mud or snow), I can carry all your stuff, because I have bolts everywhere, I will last forever and stay loyal to you just as long. Together we can tackle the steepest slopes Let's party!"

 

Specs:

  • Reynolds 520 Butted Cromoly Frame
  • Kona Plus Fork
  • WTB ST i30 2.0 TCS 29" Wheelset
  • Shimano Deore 12spd Drivetrain
  • Kona Thumb w/Offset 31.6mm Seatpost
  • WTB Ranger TCS 29x2.6" Tyres
  • WTB Volt Saddle

 

Adjustments:

The pedals have been replaced by (initially) flat pedals from Rose. These did not last long at Roelie on the European Divide Tral and somewhere in Germany they were replaced by pedals (with old-fashioned reflectors) of which we cannot trace the brand.

From our friends at the PilotCycles Distribution Group, we received a Kinekt suspension seatpost to try during the rough work through Eastern Europe.

 

At and on the bike:

    • Saddlebag (seatpack): Revelate Designs Terrapin System 14 liter

    • Handlebar bag (handlebar bag): Blackburn Design Outpost elite + drybag

    • Frame bag: Blackburn Design Outpost elite size S

    • Snack pack (for water bottle): Agu Venture

    • Fork bags: Blackburn Design Outpost cargo cage with 2 drybags Sea to Summit Big River 8 liter drybag (not pictured)

    For longer trips of more than a week, we exchange the saddlebag for two panniers on a rear rack:

    • Panniers: Ortlieb gravel pack 25 litres

    • Rear carrier: custom-made rack from/by TimTas+Rek

    GEAR & GADGETS

     

    Smartphones for navigation (and more of course) both an iPhone SE 2022

    We don't know otherwise: once (with multiple devices) belonging to the Apple family, you don't get out that easily. Two benefits for us: MapOut (see below) which we use for routing and navigation is iOS only. And we also take our MacBook with us on long (> 1 month) trips and it is of course nicely compatible with the iPhone.

     

    Mounting system for smartphones Quadlock

    This simple design has been a proven and user-friendly mounting system for our smartphones since 2018.

     

    Navigation Komoot, Google Maps and MapOut (iPhone)

    The secret of good navigation lies in the combined use of the aforementioned Apps, plus common sense and a little bit of luck. With all route apps, including Maps.me and Mapy.cz, we have experienced that a road ended in a dead end or did not exist, or that they 'send you into the reed with a bunch' and those are really incredibly annoying moments. Apps often avoid main roads and suggest an annoying and laughable route (example: your day's destination is another 20 kilometers of cycling on a quiet paved main road; it suggests that you take a gravel road of 180 kilometers, with 1500 extra meters of altitude, just to get that Maps.me maps can be downloaded for free and offline use is no problem at all. Maps.me also provides a lot of information about important facilities for cyclists, such as local shops and campsites. Yet we hardly use Maps.me anymore We use Komoot the most. Komoot is nice because it shows how many altimeters there are in a stage and provides reliable information about, for example, the road surface. Komoot's maps are not free and it works offline (without downloading in advance) With Komoot in particular, we regularly cycled effortlessly through busy world cities that are not really known as 'cyclist-friendly', such as Kathmandu, Rangoon, Bangkok, Jakarta, Sydney, Buenos Aires. On Google Maps we find information about the facilities along the way. That only works with the internet. You can download areas in advance, but navigation or searching will not work. Since 2022, we have also been using MapOut in addition to Komoot: this is not really suitable as a navigation app, but a super handy route planner. Maps can be downloaded after a one-time purchase. Routes can be imported and exported, and can be combined on a surface with all possible types of cycling routes. We are quite excited! However, MapOut is only available for iOS (Apple).

     

    Water filter Katadyn Pocket or Care Plus water filter

    The Katadyn is all Swiss solidity. Very reliable in functioning and in terms of the quality of the filtered water. For example, we have used this to filter very dirty water from a cattle trough: perfectly drinkable without strange tastes and we have never been ill from the filtered water. The filter is heavy and it is also quite laborious to filter water; in principle you have to do this in pairs.

    The Care Plus water filter is certainly compact, light and easy to use compared to the Katadyn. You fill a bag with water to be filtered, screw a small filter onto the bag and push the water through the filter. You can do that on your own. However, we wouldn't use this filter with really dirty water...

     

    Water bag MSR Dromlite jerry can 4 liters

    Lightweight, strong and very practical for us, as they still fit in our frame bags when fully loaded. The weight of the water is therefore centrally located on your bicycle. It depends on the travel conditions whether we take one or two.

     

    Power banks Isium 5,000mAh and Blue Built 20,000mAh

    We bought the Isium somewhere in France after our old power bank from XStorm was stolen from the toilet block of the campsite. It is a (compared to XStorm) very compact power bank that we are quite satisfied with. We purchased the Blue Built in 2022 in case we are without electricity for several days. The big advantage of this power bank is that it has a USB-C in and out port, which allows you to charge and charge a lot faster. User experience with charging an iPhone SE 2022: Isium 1.5 times and Blue Built 4 times. With both, the indication of how far the power bank is charged is rather lousy.

     

    Solar panel Anchor PowerPort 21W

    In Australia we bought a mini solar panel for the first time and used it extensively. This one broke down in 2022. In 2023, after some tips, we bought a solar panel from Anker. As soon as we gain experience with this, we will report it here.

     

    Tracker SPOT Gen3

    Thanks to this device, the home front (in this case both mothers) can follow us 'real time' and see where we are cycling, camping or staying. Fortunately, we have not yet had to try the SOS function. Particularly in connection with the SOS function, there are costs (subscription) associated with the use of the SPOT. We use the device in combination with 'SpotWhalla' to permanently map the route traveled. Unfortunately, SpotWhalla has not been allowed to use GoogleMaps since 2020 or so, and we found that to be a great advantage for the home front. For example, Roelie's mother could ask herself a week before her birthday why we stood for a few hours in front of a florist in Darwin Australia..., would they send a flower? The disadvantage of the SPOT is that it consumes quite a lot of batteries and is not rechargeable. We have set the device to send a signal to the satellite once every 10 minutes, but that means four new AAA batteries every two weeks.

    CAMPING EQUIPMENT

     

    Here is a (non-exhaustive) summary of our camping equipment, which we usually take with us.

     

    Tent MSR elixir 3 pp

    This MSR has been our tent since 2021 and we are happy with it, especially compared to its predecessor, the Exped Gemini. Against many pluses there are two minuses: the tent is heavier than the ultra-light nylon ribstop tents: it weighs about 3 kg, or at least 1 kg heavier than the UL variants. Second flaw: the groundsheet is limited to the surface of the inner tent. The two vestibules where you put all kinds of things, therefore, do not have a ground sheet. Tip: even if there are two of you, always opt for a 3-person tent!

     

    Sleeping mat  Exped Synmat UL Lite Medium

    The mat from Exped  is comfortable, good insulation, easy to inflate/deflate/fold and a good pack size and weight. We inflate super quickly and easily with the pump sack Exped Schnozzel UL Medium. Very satisfied with it!

     

    Sleeping bag  Cumulus Light Line

    Bought early 2017 and still very satisfied with it! Good enough to at least 4 degrees Celsius and, in combination with the sleeping bag mentioned below, for temperatures down to freezing point

     

    Cloth bag Sea to Summit Traveler silk+cotton mummy

    Top stuff, very nice, expensive and also quickly broken. Small repairs have been carried out repeatedly and if that is no longer possible, we will buy the same new one again.

     

    Travel pillow Sea to Summit Aeros Premium

    Easy to wash, nice and small, light, fits easily in its pocket, the valve is practical and it sleeps wonderfully.

     

    Stove  SOTO StormBreaker

    What a genius multi-fuel burner from the Japanese! Reasonably insensitive to wind, a lot of power and just very cleverly designed. Absolutely recommended.

     

    Cookware SOTO + GSI cutlery + Sea to Summit X-bowls

    We always had a pan set from GSI Outdoors. After four years, we replaced the dented pans somewhere in SE Asia with exactly the same set. Still, we found it quite disturbing that the non-stick coating is peeling off and we don't feel like ingesting any more PFAS. In 2022 we replaced the GSI set with a lighter and (even) more compact set from the Japanese brand SOTO. This fits in Harry's frame bag, which contains all the cooking equipment. So far very satisfied with it. The titanium cutlery has been indestructible since the purchase at the beginning of 2017. As far as plates are concerned, we opted for the foldable silicone locks from Sea to Summit in 2023. Now the plates also fit in Harry's frame bag.

     

    Knife Victorinox Swiss army knife

    A pocket knife is indispensable because it has a sharp blade, but also because of the can opener and the corkscrew. Unfortunately, one is often lost or has to be handed in to customs for a flight. We now have a larger, heavier version that also includes scissors and a saw blade.

     

    Headlights Black Diamond Cosmo 350 lumens

    One is still good after more than six years of use. This is powered by batteries. The other was replaced after five years by the same type, but rechargeable with USB. With the old Cosmo you have to be careful when storing them in a bicycle bag: they go on quite easily and it has therefore often happened that they were on all day while cycling. The new Cosmo has a digital lock that allows you to prevent this.

     

    Chairs Helinox Zero

    We had already used our set in the Rocky Mountains. We can but don't want to do without them, they are comfortable, strong and ultra-light. However, you should keep in mind that they can break after a long period of intensive use. But within the warranty period of 3 years, Helinox will send you a new chair! Super service thanks to Bever and Helinox.

     

    >> If you want to know what our equipment was on previous trips, including the cycling trip around the world (2018-2020): have a look at out archive.