Gear

Alright, lets get this out of the way. I'm riding a Ghost gcs 2000. I've had it for 5 years now, first time on a long tour-first time for me as well. I came to Asia without any particular plan, just an idea of a final destination(prone to change) and more or less the countries I'd be visiting on my way(changed twice already). What I didn't know was the type of roads I'd be riding in. For too many reasons I've done mostly dirtroads/trails, the most important being that I find them more demanding and thrilling. My bike seems to agree with me most of the days. It's been hit, dropped, gone to places no bike should ever go, crashed to rocks, fallen in rivers, fought with mud, shoved in, behind, under and over buses and its aluminium frame-save for a few scratches-is still smiling.

Front and back Shimano diskbrakes. I can go as fast as I want on steep muddy descents knowing that they won't fail. What I didn't think of before I left was to switch to cables instead of fluid, but so far I didn't have any issues. You learn as you go.

The Shimano Alivio rear derailer was a bad choice as well, too low profile for this type of riding. It's been hit so many times that the arm is bent beyond repair-still functioning but I might consider replacing it for a shorter one soon.

Front suspension. Life saver, can't imagine riding without it. I lock it when riding on tarmac but that's just 1500 out of 8000km so far. Got some rust, had too many river crossings/humid days. I always thought it was inox, seems not.

Tyres: Panaracer on/off. Good compromise, lightweight, good grip on dirtroads. A bit puncture-prone.

 

Saddle: Brooks flyer, basically a b17 with suspensions. Got it right before I left and didn't have time to break it in. After 8000km it's nearly there, every day a bit more comfortable. I decided recently to give padding a go, lets see where cycling around in tights gets me. I'm sure that the suspension has saved my back from serious injury a million times.

Zefal aluminium racks. With all this bumpy riding I've been doing, the clips of the panniers eat their way through the racks. Next time it's steel. The front one required a bit of ingenuity to install without blocking the suspension.

Panniers:

Front: Vaude Discover Pro. Love the lid pocket, something that somehow has escaped most of the other manufacturers. The material used to be waterproof but is clearly not meant for this type of riding. They've been scratched and torn repeatedly and look like they've been through much more than they actually have.

Rear: Vaude Karakorum. The only reason I bought them was because they come with a backpack that zips on top. Turned out a bad investment because a)I don't need a 5^th bag while riding so the backpack is always wrapped inside one of the paniers defeating its purpose, b)The side zipper is a huge misfire, requiring some effort to shove everything in up to the top. Since the very beginning I've been meaning to cut an opening on top and sew some velcro but never got to it. c)Low quality. They are already torn in a couple of places-nothing some mending, rubber glue and tie-wraps won't fix- and the zippers don't seem that heavy duty. The waterproof cover does its job but is a bit of a hassle.

Front left:

The all-important, day to day bag. Multi-tool, opinel knife(lost it recently, a sad day), ipod(hardly ever use it when on the road), compass, maps, head/tail lights, book of the day/week/month, notepad with lots of indecipherable scribbles, wind/rain jacket, snacks(don't trust myself with buying anything the day before, I tend to eat them all the same night), electrolytes(Royal-D is the brand you want to look for, found in most pharmacies in Cambodia, Laos and Thailand), passport. Sleeping bag goes to the bottom.

Front right:

Cooking bag. My trusty old MSR Whisperlite stove. Never failed me in almost a decade or reckless usage, been feeding it with any flamable liquid I find along the way, had to clean it twice in its lifetime. Pot, chopsticks, spoons, a “spork”, my little vietnamese coffee machine, two Lufthansa cups(Greek-German friendship, remember?), the dreaded instant noodles and depending the ride will add some veggies to make the soup a bit more interesting.

Spare parts. Been a work in progress for a long time, now it's got everything needed. Spare tube and tire, a shimano key for the cassette-only a few of these seem to exist in se Asia giving every repair shop the right to bang your wheel to oblivion until their “other key” fits. 5-10 spokes, puncture repair kit, bicycle tool, toothbrush and cloth to clean the chain, chain rings, rivets and lube, shifter cables, spare bolts and tighteners for the racks, rubber and super glue and lots of little unnamed thingies that will serve their purpose over time.

Rear right:

“US Army” hammock with mosquito net, saved me many a night in the wild and is the only thing I regularly take out of the bag. A strong but heavy lock. A handlebar bag I only use on side trips, same goes for the backpack. Raincover for the rear panniers. First aid kit, mostly use it to give away medicine. An extra book might end up here as well, together with 1-2 extra pairs of sunglasses, my t-shirt's colour and the environment dictating which one I'll wear.

Rear left:

The other all-important bag. Enough clothes to last me 5 days, can push it to 7 if there are no ladies around. A sharong and towel, the former very useful when staying in villages and have to wash in the river. Toiletries(bare minimum), a little bag of wonders, eg. Mini speaker for the ipod, all sorts of cables/transformers, sewing kit, tape, batteries, markers for the maps. An HP netbook. It might not have the horsepower I'm used to but does the job just fine. I'm shooting raw and do anything from hdr to panoramas, even edited videos in Vegas, I might have to wait sometimes but time is all I got...

This pannier, together with the front left will come with me in my room when in guesthouses, the rest stay below.

My latest addition, a map/flip flop/fruit/other stuff box. Had to cut a few holes here and there to fit the pannier clips, waterproofed them with pieces of tube and glue to 97%, soon to be 100.

I use a Panasonic Lumix LX-5. It's the closest thing to a DSLR I could find but in a cyclist-friendy form factor. Its zoom throw is a bit of a let-down and the jpeg processing sucks balls. I don't care much about the later since I shoot raw, but the former is one of the reasons I hardly ever shoot any portrets. I find its quality both sensor and lens-wise outstanding-though it loses sharpness in the edges when fully open. The aspect ratio switch is a brilliant idea, saving the hassle in post processing.I attach it in the handlebar and been practicing the descent-at-65km/h-and-shoot-a-photo-without-falling-technique for some time now.