our Long-distance gear list
How much should you take on a long-distance bike trip? We heard that question a lot. Fortunately there is tons of inspiration out there from other cyclists, that helped us in the decision-making process. Very recommendable: Rausgefahren, Saddle Stories, Vaegabonds, Pushbikegirl, WheelstoWander, and of course Iohan Gueorguiev, the Bike Wanderer (RIP).
There are those people who cut their toothbruth neck in order to save some weight and space. And there are those who try to be prepared for every possibility. We are somewhere in between. Probably we have too much stuff (you have to make at least one beginners mistake, right?). We were selecting all items according to our ideas, there is no Sponsoring and Affiliate-Marketing involved. But if we are happy with a brand, we’ll tell you anyways. We probably constantly have to adapt our equipment during our trip and send some things back home. But that is all part of the process.
After a long time of organizing and preparing we have selected the following equipment:
Our bicycles
Touring Bicycle Pinion 853 from the german company Rennstahl
We are very happy with our almost maintenance-free touring bikes from Rennstahl (they weigh about 21 kg each). We adjusted them to our needs i.e. with a step-through frame for Lisa and a titanium fork for both bikes. The Schwalbe touring tires Supermoto X give us a good grip on tarmac and dirt roads equally and make us feel very safe. We have bought the bicycles a year ago and tried them on different terrains and they are extremely solid and reliable. So far, so good.
| For all the cycle-nerds out there – these are the specifications |
| Frame: Steel frame Reynold 853 |
| Fork: Titanium Fork by Falkenjagd |
| Drivetrain: Pinion P1.18 |
| Gates Carbon Drive |
| Brakes: Disc brakes Magura MT5 |
| Wheel size 27,5” |
| Schwalbe Tires Super Moto X 27,5” x 2,4” |
| Mudguard: SKS Blümels extra long |
| Dynamo Hub: SON 28 |
| Light: SON Edelux II und SON backlight |
| E-Werk Cinq Plug III (not happy with it) |
| Saddle: Brooks Saddle B17 (the best so far for us) |
| Seat Post: By Schulz G2 |
| Grips: Ergon GP3 |
| Rack: Rennstahl Edelstahl Ultimate |
| Lowrider: Rennstahl Edelstahl Ultimate |
Panniers and Bags
| 4x big Panniers Ortlieb Backroller |
| 4x small Panniers Ortlieb Frontroller |
| 2x Rack Packs Ortlieb 49l |
| 2x Ortlieb handlebar Bags |
| 3x big Ortlieb Extension Bags |
Sleeping
| Tent: Hilleberg Kaitum for 3 persons |
| Some extra poles and stakes and a tent stake hammer |
| Sleeping Mats: 2x Exped Synmat 3-D 7 MW |
| Exped Coupler Kit |
| Sleeping bag Dario: Highlight Absolut -10 |
| Sleeping bag Lisa: Highlight Early Grey -10 |
| 2x Cocoon silk sleeping inlets |
| (we’ve replaced our old ones during the trip) |
| 2x Cocoon Travel Pillows |
Big beach towel (for everything)
Kitchen
| Soto StormBreaker Multifuel with windshield (we’ve replaced our MSR WhisperLite stove) |
| Hobo Stove Bushcraft Essential (sent back home, we only used it once) |
| Grill (was a present, but sent home) plus TinderSticks from Light my Fire |
| 2x MRS Alpine chrome steel cooking pots |
| 2x Tatonka chrome steel plates |
| 2x Snowpeak Titanium cups |
| 2x tea strainers (were a present as well), that we sent home and replaced with a bigger strainer for washing rice or lentils |
| MRS Foldable cutting board |
| Opinel switch-blade (very sharp, we love this one) |
| 2x Swiss Army Knives (Victorinox) |
| 2x Sea to Summit Titan-cutlery set (we sorted out our knives as we didn’t use them at all) |
| 1x big spoon (sent home) |
| Wooden spoon |
| Peeler for our veggies |
| Ortlieb Folding Bowl 10l (our portabe dish- and laundrymaker) |
| Dr. Bronner’s Lavendel Magic Soap (for everything) |
| Sponge |
| 1x microfibre towel |
| Tupperware |
| A big selection of everyday and exotic spices |
| Many small ziploc-bags |
| New and much loved addition for Lisa: portable coffee machine Wacaco Pipamoka |
Electronics
| 2x MacBooks (we bought a second one during our trip as one laptop wasn’t enough to efficiently work during a day off) |
| 2x Tolino E-Readers |
| GoPro Black 7 and an external microphone from Rode |
| Sony 4K Cybershot RX100V |
| Tripod from Joby and a bigger photo stand that we bought on the road |
| 2x headlights |
| Solarpanel Sistech 10W |
| Sitech PowerBank (13’000 mAh) for our solarpanel |
| 2x Hard Disks WD Elements 3 TB |
| Waterproof bluetooth box Rockbox Bold S that we sorted out and replaced with 2x Air-Pods |
| 2x Dual Powerbanks (10’000 mAh), one of them sent home |
| 2x Powerbanks Cinq5 (3’000 mAh) for Plug3 at our touring bikes |
| USB 4 port device |
| Universaladapter |
| Many charging cables for all different devices |
Bike tools and spare parts
| Lezyn bicycle pump |
| Spare tubes |
| Magura disc brakes Repair-Set |
| Magura brake pads und 1x extra brake disc |
| 2x Pinion Oil service set |
| Extra Carbon Gate |
| Replacement for derailleur cable |
| “Leather Dressing” for our Brookes saddle |
| Extra spokes and nipples |
| Swisstool (Multitool) |
| Allen Wrench key set |
| Screwdriver (sent home) |
| Side cutter (sent home) |
| Pipe wrench (sent home) |
| Pinion lockring tool |
| Bolts and Nuts |
| Tire levers |
| Special repair tool for our Brookes saddle |
| Scale |
| Tires puncture repair-kit with glue and patches |
| Sand paper, duct tape, cord, wire strap, gaffa, sewing-kit |
First Aid and Toiletries
| Gauze |
| Ringana Thermo Active Gel |
| Panadol |
| Bepanthen |
| Eye drops |
| Antiseptic wipes |
| Tiger Balm and Ayurvedic Balm (for everything) |
| Disinfectant, face masks |
| Samahan-Tea (many spices pressed in a tea bag in Sri Lanka, works wonder against colds) |
| Bandages |
| Soap box with soap |
| Toilet paper and wet wipes |
| Toothbrush, toothpaste |
| Shampoo, Shower gel, Body Lotion, lip balm, Deodorant a.s.o. |
| Organicup |
| Sunscreen from Ringana (very recommendable, we never get burned) |
Wardrobe Lisa
| Rain gear: Patagonia rainjacket, rain pants |
| 1x Arc’teryx warm dawn jacket with hood |
| 1x light Fjällräven jacket against wind |
| 1x warm Kaikkialla sweater with hood |
| 1 set of warm Merino shirt and long Merino pants from Icebreaker |
| 1x light longer cotton shirt |
| 4x T-Shirts from my favourite fabric tencel |
| 1x cycle shirt and shorts |
| 1x nicer blouse |
| 1x light summer dress |
| 2x light long summer pants |
| 1x pair of hiking pants from Columbia |
| 1x pair of jeans and a light jacket for the city |
| 1x pair of Leggings and a shirt for sleeping |
| 1x swimsuit |
| 3x pair of socks incl. warm merino socks and hiking socks |
| 2x sport bras, 2x normal bras, underwear for a week |
| 2x pairs of gloves (light gloves from Arc’teryx and Goretex waterproof gloves for the real nasty weather) |
| Various items: Buff, headband, light summer hat, wool beanie |
| 1x pair of Sunglasses from Bonocler |
| 1x microfibre towel |
| 1x face cloth |
| 4x pair of shoes (sandals, practical keen-sandals, light sneakers and hiking boots / probably more than most cyclers carry, but we use all of them regularly) |
Wardrobe Dario
| Rain gear: Mammut rain jacket and rain pants |
| 1x Synthethic Jacket with Hood from Arc’teryx |
| 1x Softshell-Jacket from Arc’teryx |
| 1x warm Merino Jacket from Icebreaker |
| 1x light Lycell Sweater from wijld |
| 2x long Lycell Shirts from wijld |
| 1x warm long shirt from Icebreaker |
| 4x Lycell T-Shirts from wijld |
| 1x Merino cycle shirt |
| 1x hiking shirt from Fjällräven (sent home) |
| 1x light jacket for the city |
| 1x pair of long pants |
| 1x long trekking pants from Columbia |
| 2x short pants |
| 1x long Merino underwear from Icebreaker |
| 6x pairs of underwear |
| 6x pairs of socks including hiking socks |
| 2x pairs of gloves (light gloves from Arc’teryx and Goretex waterproof gloves for the real nasty weather) |
| Various items: Buff, warm headband, light summer hat |
| 1x swimsuit |
| 1x pair of sunglasses from Bonocler |
| 1x microfibre towel |
| 1x facecloth |
4x pairs of shoes (sandals, practical keen-sandals, light sneakers and hiking boots)
Miscellaneous
| 2x Camping chairs Nigor Morning Bird |
| 2x light Backpacks, 2x Erfahrung der Welt cotton bags |
| Pocket Shower from Sea to Summit (10l)(sent home) |
| 1x water bag Sea to Summit (10l) with shower option (replaced the ones from Ortlieb) |
| Water Filter Lifestraw Flex from Vestergaard (never used) |
| Shovel for our outdoor toilet |
| Physical Maps (yes, we still like to use them) and travel guide books |
| Diary, small notebook, writing material |
| Pepper spray |
| Packing cubes for our panniers |
| Langenscheidt Picture Dictionnary |
| 2x saddle covers |
2x bicycle helmets
And of course our wallet, important documents such as passports, health insurance card, vaccination card a.s.o.
Our Review
We’ve been on the road since 2020 and would like to draw a conclusion to perhaps help others when planning their equipment for a long-term trip. We have gained experience and learned what is really important for us and have constantly adapted and sorted out our equipment accordingly. Basically, we sent everything we never used back to Switzerland or gave it away. In addition, we often left our bikes behind and went for a trekking and so we bought new equipment in Kathmandu and then sold it or gave it away again and Lisa also needed new clothes and utensils for her yoga teacher training.
Our biggest tip for your bike trip: Invest in high-quality equipment for things like sleeping bags, rain gear, stove, tent, etc. But don’t worry about the smaller things, because your needs will change as you travel and your equipment will constantly change and reassemble.
We talked a lot with other cyclists and realized that there is no such thing as the ideal equipment, as everyone has different priorities and in the end you have to be able to carry everything up that next mountain yourself. We tend to have a bit too much spare equipment and clothing with us and we could probably do without a camping chair, yoga mat and coffee maker.
Nevertheless, we’re very happy with our equipment and have been lucky that everything has held up more or less well so far. We’ve got used to sewing and repairing things on the road so that we don’t have to replace anything. And yet there are a few things that we would no longer take with us or have already replaced, namely the following:
- Hobo Stove Outdoor Grill – it soots strongly, the pots turn black and it takes long to cook and when we’re hungry we prefer to use our petrol stove and make a nice fire afterwards.
- Ortlieb water bags – unfortunately they smell like plastic and we couldn’t drink the water out of them.
- MSR WhisperLite petrol stove – we kept having problems with the petrol pump and we decided to buy the Soto StormBreaker Multifuel stove instead.
And of course we would also like to share our favorite items with you:
- For Lisa: The Ortlieb folding bowl for washing dishes and clothes and the portable Yoga Travel Mat from JadeYoga.
- For Dario: Our super cozy camping chairs and the packing cubes to keep some order in the panniers.
In the meantime we’ve got used to our portable household and for us it’s a wonderful feeling to live with just a few things.