Touring Equipment

Have done a bit of touring...Vietnam, Sweden and Sardinia. Vietnam I didn't take a tent with me but in the latter two which I've done more recently I've done with a tent but not taken cooking equipment.

Typical equipment:

Pannier bags
Tent
Self inflating air matress
Sleeping bag (3 seasons)
Bibs, shorts and merino wool tops (less stinky after a few days riding), lightweight cycling jacket
Basic set of tools (multi tool, pedal spanner)
Plenty of inner tubes (you can seemingly never have too much...)
Pair of light trainers and jeans for when not riding
Plate, knife and spoon for eating

Have done a bit of touring...Vietnam, Sweden and Sardinia. Vietnam I didn't take a tent with me but in the latter two which I've done more recently I've done with a tent but not taken cooking equipment.

Typical equipment:

Pannier bags
Tent
Self inflating air matress
Sleeping bag (3 seasons)
Bibs, shorts and merino wool tops (less stinky after a few days riding), lightweight cycling jacket
Basic set of tools (multi tool, pedal spanner)
Plenty of inner tubes (you can seemingly never have too much...)
Pair of light trainers and jeans for when not riding
Plate, knife and spoon for eating

Cheers Gus, I was waiting for you to chime in, since I know you are pretty experienced at the whole touring thing :)
what kind of mileage did you ride on your various trips?

I'm not vastly experienced but every "tour" or "trip with a bike which involved at least one night out" I've done has had a different purpose so the kit and bike has been different, non of them very long though so I can't speak for month after month type touring. Some conclusions I've come to.

The equipment choose is determined by the terrain, the expected whether, the purpose of the trip, the length of the trip and the company.

When I'm with my girlfriend we tend not to travel to far, be largely on road or smooth tracks so it's a bit more comfort based. the other extreme was a overnighter with Momentum where we just used bivi bags, I would not want to do this for more than a few nights in dryish weather though.

On a road, on a flat route weight is fairly unimportant, unless you're pushing big days, adding hills and / or off road and it soon becomes important.

bike
I don't think it matters that much as long as it's not a CF race bike, check out the tours http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Hibell did and some of his light weigh bikes, as long as you relatively comfy, it's never going to be an amazing ride once you have either luggage on the bike or on you if you use a backpack like diki it's still going to be a funny ride. Decent size rear, tyre, personally on road and with a lightish load I would not want anything less than 28 mm pref 32 mm just for the sake of a little comfort and give for the rear wheel.

Baggage
never needed four panniers but never done a really long trip, might go for four pannier for next trip with girlfriend though as stated above I take more then and carry some of her stuff. If you're going off road flexibility is important. I'm pleased with my recent setup of two small panniers with heavy stuff like food, cooking stuff, maps e.t.c and light stuff like cloths and sleeping bag in a backpack strapped on the top on road and smoothish tracks, when it got really rough or pushing up hill or flying down rocky hills I put the backpack on. This however is all irrelevant is you want to keep to roads.

Cooking, one pot, plastic mug, spork and pen knife and I've tried gas and home made alcohol stove. Currently I'm loving the home made alcohol stove, but it does make cooking a simpler affair as you don't have the same control as with gas. I'm on mark 3 of wood burning stove too, heavy but great fun, pairs well with an alcohol stove for mixed conditions. Buy food as you need. I'm a misanthropist (grumpy cunt?) and like to keep my contact with others on my terms, hence, on my last trip I carried a bit too much food but it meant I could avoid towns and villages easier. If you're sticking to road in western Europe you probably bearly need to carry much more food than the next meal may be one days food at the max.

If you can handle it I'd vote for no padded shorts, just comfy trouser or shorts. Ron hill tracksters are good. Personally I'm ok doing 50 -60 miles without padding, especially if I'm geared so can freewheel and stand up, I only really need it when hitting up mileage toward the 100 mark without many breaks. When you can't wash easily every day or it's too cold and wet to do have a flannel bath having a sweaty pad next to your skin is not good for you. One dry top and bottoms to sleep in and spare under wear + extra jumper for cold and maybe an extra top and light trousers if you really want is all you really need.

Camping
I'd like to do some more experimentation with bivi bag + tarp for short trips, not sure I'm convinced for anything over a quick few days away yet but it was great fun. Tent, only a cheap decathlon one (three man 3kg) and a argos one (one man 2kg!! but only 20 quid), would like to get a new one when I've saved up, cut some weight off my load. I like the look of this modular and light. Mini air mattress (a nice luxury) and a cut of peace of foam karrimatt for feet and sitting on around camp.

Learn about the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leave_No_Trace.

Don't get hung up about equipment or the bike, do some practice weekend runs so you can weed your kit down, and find out what equipment is crap, just ride and always carry a knife, compass, duck tape, zip ties a hose clamp and some emergency cash a combination of these will sort 99% of problems.

Learn about the leave no trace ethos.

Yeah, take a trowel/mattock if you're headed into wild country with no lavs and where you need to dig up turfs to make fires...

Credit card touring: Not taking any stuff at all is pretty awesome. I did a round about coast to coast over 3 days with a waterproof stuff sack tied under the saddle on a road bike with 23mm tires. We took a change of clothes, tools and that's about it.

rucksack by Karrimor
bivvie bag by Terra Nova
sleeping bag by Snugpac
fleece by Lowe Alpine
bike by Cannondale (R500)

Brand names are essential

fixed

crazyguyonabike.com is esentially for travel journals but has equipment reviews too.

Yeah, take a trowel/mattock if you're headed into wild country with no lavs and where you need to dig up turfs to make fires...

Yep plastic trowel, 50p and very light.

lighter for burning the loo paper (with care).

This guy managed to cycle all the way to Thailand on a cheap mountain bike and cheap tent, panniers etc. Just goes to show...

http://kidderminstertothecaspianbybike.blogspot.com/

Would highly recommend reading the whole blog, very interesting for anyone who is thinking about touring long distance.

Yep plastic trowel, 50p and very light.

lighter for burning the loo paper (with care).

As long as the paper is white, it rots fine in a covered-up hole in the ground ...

I think I'd have to have a proper mattock for those [st]early morning biggies[/st] nicely turfed fireplaces.

I popper mattock is a massive tool, really useful for digging trenches ...

Touring doesn't = camping.

Oh yeah tommy I meant one of those little army ones... called trenching tools. Not mattocks.

Touring doesn't = camping.

No but if you are not staying in B&B hostels e.t.c you will be camping and you need to respect your soundings.

thought l logged on to CTC for a sec! :)

packlists are dependant on the tour type as already mentioned. l would add, how optimistic you are feeling!

all good advice so far above. l like to travel light/fast/self-sufficiency. you can save space/weight in myriad ways, eg., dual-use items, no bulky electronics, why people take laptops or DSLRs with 3 lenses l shudder! l can't get going in the morning without a brew or 3 and rolling into a village to sample their local produce is one of the best parts of cycle touring. cold food, dehydrated meals and cous-cous only go so far. my favourite bit of kit is the wood stove.

my audax bike has 700x28 36spoke wheels, used for S24O's with just a saddlebag and bits strapped/stuffed onto rack/back pockets. 700x35 36h wheels loaded with carradice super C's + bar bag for 2weekers.

I've short toured most of UK, parts of France, would love to do a expedition tour in future, maybe trans-Americas, or silk road.

S240s?

http://www.woollypigs.com/cycle-touring/

Sub 24 Hour overnighter?

my audax bike has 700x28 36spoke wheels, used for S24O's with just a saddlebag and bits strapped/stuffed onto rack/back pockets. 700x35 36h wheels loaded with carradice super C's + bar bag for 2weekers.

What sort of volume are the Super Cs and how do you find that kind of space? Is the larger tyre size for taking the extra weight or to allow for unpredictable road/trail surfaces? Cheers, I'm learning stacks here.

I've got the front super Cs that I run on the rear, they are excellent, largely waterproof but under a lot of rain some water seeps in (mine are very old though and need reeproofing), just use dry bags or rubble bags inside. The good thing about them is that if you damage them you have not lost your water proofing + they can be easily sown up any rip + natural fibers (may not matter to you)+pockets.

No but if you are not staying in B&B hostels e.t.c you will be camping and you need to respect your soundings.

Of course I totally agree, my only point was that touring doesn't necessarily mean that you have to be camping as well.
Your input on this thread has been very informative Tommy, as a Touring Virgin i'm learning a lot here and can't wait to put it all into practice :)

Sorry dude mis interrupted. There is not much too it really, you learn very quickly doing it.

I am bang into all this at the moment... so much to learn.

What do you guys think of this with the appropriate frame mounted Rack also from Topeak, seems like a really cool concept, I like the idea of the weight being higher up than with panniers and not having stuff hanging off the sides.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=28705

I plan on travelling super-light when I do this, so I am thinking I could get away with one of these, a saddlebag, plus a couple of bottlecages for what I want to do?

I'm planning on it doing it fixed/ss so spares needed will be minimal.

Amended...I pasted in the wrong link

Why do you like about having the weight higher up? Just curious.