Both our bikes are Surly Long Haul Truckers with some slight modifications. As a foreigner living in Korea, options for buying touring bikes are somewhat limited and Surly was the one brand that we found easily enough. We toyed with the idea of a self build at first, and I like to think that if we'd been living somewhere where the language and cultural barriers were easier to cross, we might have tried it, but in the end we wanted to be sure of our bikes. It's going to be a long way home and a certain peace of mind comes from buying a bike like the Surly LHT. We did make some small changes to our bikes however and I've tried to list them as clearly as possible below.
Bikes
Bikes: Surly Long Haul Truckers (52cm for Stef and 54cm for Nick)
Pedals: MKS Sylvan Touring Plus Pedals
Saddles: Brooks Saddles (Flyer for Nick and Flyer S for Stef)
Handlebars: Humpert AHS Basic Sport Handlebars
Grips: Giant Connect Ergo Grips
Tires: Schwalbe Marathon Plus Tour Tyres 2.00cm
Brake Pads: Koolstop Dura 2 Salmon
Fenders: SKS Bluemels Front and Back
Racks: Surly Racks Front and Rear
Front Panniers: Ortlieb Front Roller Classic
Back Panniers: Ortlieb Back Roller Classic (N), Ortlieb Back Roller City(S)
Extra Storage: Ortlieb Rackpack Medium x 2
Handlebar Bags: Ortlieb Ultimate 6 Medium Classic x2
Speedometer: Generic
Headlights: Generic
Water Bottle Cages: Generic
Water Bottles: GenericBike Stand: Pletscher Double Leg Centre Kick Stand (not sure if we'll mount these)
Bike Locks: Generic
Camping Gear
Tent: Decathlon Quechua Quickhiker III 3 Man Tent
Tent Footprint: Vango PE Groundsheet
Sleeping Bags: Salewa Phalcon -7 x2
Sleeping Bag Liners: Decathlon Silk Sleeping Bag Liners
Ground Mats: Hansol Open Foam Cell Ground Mats x2
Stove: Colemans Exponent Multi Fuel Stove
Fuel Bottle: MSR Fuel Bottle
Cooking Pots: Coleman Camping 2 Piece Cook Set
Utensils: Generic
Water Filter & Steriliser: Steripen Ultra, USB rechargable UV Water Purifier
Tent Light: Generic
Travel Chairs: Helinox Chair One
Headtorches: Petzl x2
Electronics and Gadgets
Video Camera: Go Xtreme Wifi View
Solar Panel and Battery Pack: Goal Zero Switch 8 & Nomad 3.5 Solar Kit
Cameras: Canon Powershot G7x
Navigation: OSMAnd Map App on Android Smartphones
Books: Kindle Paperwhite x2
Laptops: Macbook Air (Stef) and Smasung Ativ Book9 (Nick)
Clothing
Most of our clothes are nothing special. However we both splashed out on warm down jackets for cold nights and high altitudes. After much research we went with RAB Neutrino Endurance Plus Down Jackets. We have also invested in some merino base layers to keep us toasty.
As far as tools and spare parts go, we are in the process of deciding what needs to come with us.
Things that will definitely be packed are: allen keys; a multi tool; an adjustable spanner; tyre levers, patches, spare tubes and glue; brake pads; a pump and pressure gauge; a spare chain, chain links and a chain breaker. We will also be taking an assortment of spare nuts, bolts and washers, cable ties, duct tape, chain lube and cleaning rags.
