Our Around the World Touring Bicycles
We custom built our around the world touring bicycles to be as bombproof as possible since we want to ride for tens of thousands of miles. Andrew is the foremost bike mechanic and figured out the compatibility of all of the different parts, and we each assembled our own bikes so that we’d be familiar with them when maintenance was required. Below is a breakdown of the components and luggage that comprise our around-the-world touring bicycles.
The Bicycles
- 2020 Surly Ogres
- 36h Rohloff Speedhubs
- 36h Son 28 Dynamo hubs
- Ryde Andra 40 rims
- Marathon Mondial 29×2.0 DD tires
- Avid BB7 brakes – 200mm front, 160mm rear
- Sinewave Cycles Beacon headlight/USB charger
- Son rear light
- Jones handlebars (710mm)
- Brooks B17 (Andrew) and Terry Butterfly Century (Jenny) saddles
- Tubus racks (Duo in the front, Andrew has a Cargo Evo in the rear and Jenny has a Logo Classic)
- Planet Bike AL fenders
Luggage
- Rogue Panda roll-top frame bags
- Ortlieb Back Rollers Plus rear panniers
- Bedrock Bags Hermosa front panniers
- Oveja Negra Snack Pack (Jenny)
- Revelate Designs Gas Tank (Andrew)
- Revelate Designs Egress Pocket
- Rockgeist feed bag – can fit a 1L Nalgene or some snacks
- 4 liter MSR Dromedary for water storage
Repair/Maintenance Kit
- Pedros tire levers
- Lezyne Alloy Drive hand pump with ABS Pen Gauge hose
- Spare tubes and patches
- Shimano tire boots
- Crankbrothers M19 multi-tool
- Pedal wrench
- Leatherman Squirt PS4 multi-tool with pliers
- Chain lube and toothbrush/rag for cleaning
- Avid BB7 disc brake pads
- Spare 4mm and 5mm hex bolts
- Spare Surly 10/12 adapter washers
- Presta to Schrader valve adapters (our rims are cut for Schrader)
- Spare Brooks saddle tension bolt with nuts
- Blue Loctite
- Schrader valve core remover
- 2 oz Stans tubeless tire sealant for inside of tubes
Overall we have been really pleased with this setup. The Rohloff speedhub, while expensive, is a game changer. No more fussing with derailleur adjustments or grease-clogged cassettes, fewer external moving parts, and shifting through many gears quickly are some of the major perks.
If we had to change one thing, we would have gotten Ortlieb panniers in the front as well as the rear. We opted for the Bedrock panniers because they’re lighter and we wanted to support a cottage industry company, but they aren’t waterproof and actually wind up holding water in heavy rainstorms. The Ortliebs, on the other hand, are always bone-dry and are practically like new after 6 years of use.
Feel free to leave a comment or send us an e-mail with any gear questions you might have! See Andrew’s Packing list and Jenny’s Packing list for more info on our camping and personal gear.
Hi Andrew and Jenny.
You may have received a post from me previously so my apologies if I am repeating myself.
Hello to both of you and congratulations on both the quality of your YouTube postings and the fact that you have managed to plan and embark on such a trip whilst the world appears to be still in turmoil with Covid19.
My previous post was regarding the route you have taken through the Alps to to the south Tyrol I believe.
It was really just about how that route was chosen because I have to say it looks fantastic. I’m planning to visit friends in St Gallen in Switzerland next year and was actually intending to take a scenic route from Basel and your choice of route would definitely fit that description. Do you have any further details that would help me?
I’m from the UK and have cycled quite a bit on the eurovelo routes that cross Europe
Also my apologies because prior to going onto your site I asked if you were riding Pinion gear equipped bikes but you confirmed you are riding on Rohloff gears. You would think I should have seen that as I have been riding with Rohloff gears for the last 10 Years!
Good choice of Surly as your frame makers and also patriotic! I did consider them but eventually decided on Koga signature and really get on quite well with this Dutch brand and the Rohloff of course which has not let me down over many miles. Now on belt drive which I would definitely recommend.
It would be great to hear from you.
Thanks. Chris
Hi Chris! Thanks for your message. We found the Swiss Mobility website to be really helpful when planning our tour through Switzerland. There are a ton of national and regional cycling routes in addition to the EuroVelo routes. We did sections of the Lakes Route and North-South Route, among others, and really enjoyed them.
We have a more detailed post on our route through the Alps that includes a map and GPX track if you’re interested in our particular route and experience in Switzerland.
We are loving our Rohloffs – we did consider the belt drive but were running out of time on our build and didn’t go for it this time around. But we’ve heard really positive reviews for it so maybe sometime in the future! We’ve also heard great things about Koga. Hope you have an awesome trip! Switzerland was absolutely mind-blowing, and I’m sure any route you take will be fantastic.
Hi Guys, Can you tell me what are the highest and lowest gear inches on your (heavily laden) bikes.
Cheers
Richard
Highest is 3.117, lowest is 0.592. Calculated using the CycleMonkey Rohloff gear inches calculator web page, we have 34t front chainring and a 16t Rohloff sprocket.
Hi Andrew and Jenny, We have been enjoying your videos! Thank you! What apps did you use for your routes and camping? We are planning a Western European bike pack trip in Fall of 2024 and are overwhelmed by all the different GPS routes. Thanks so much! Katy and Steve
We use OSMand for day to day navigation, and in Europe we started by choosing EuroVelo routes that generally went where we wanted to go. OSM has a cycling route overlay that shows regional cycling routes as well, and this was super helpful in finding nice roads. You can view the maps on a desktop as well:
https://www.opencyclemap.org/
There are so many routes to choose from, which can definitely be overwhelming, but it’s also hard to go wrong! If you have an idea of the places you want to check out, there is more than likely a great cycling route to get you there. Hope you have an awesome trip!