Equipment Review


We had mixed results with the purchase and use, with the equipment we took we with us, the following is our "personal" opinion of the following, lots of things were tested to destruction, but everything took a lot of abuse (especially Helen). Read on.

CYCLE

Dawes. Super Galaxy Tourer
Gears. 27 speed Shimano
Wheels. 700 Mavic rims on Shimano hubs
Frame. 531 ST tube
Saddle. Brooks B 17 leather

We found these bikes superb to ride and very stable under load. Mine was off the shelf; Helen had straight handlebars and a gel saddle fitted. We cycled some 14,000 miles on and off a variety of road surfaces with full loads with minimal maintenance and no servicing, the only real problems that we had were when Helen fell down a huge pot hole in the Los Angeles city streets, and Helens gel saddle which was not up to the job and got too hot to sit on in tropical countries.

As an observation I would say for truly international use, 27 gears is too many and the size 700 tyre is not readily available. Many countries in the world do not have such high-tech equipment on the shelf.

CYCLE SUPPLIER

We got our bikes from Les`s Performance Cycles, Long Road, Canvey Island (01268 695877) whose help and advice has been useful and their after sales service is excellent.

TENT

We chose a Wild Country Mistral as our tent it was picked for it's low weight, small packed size and (hopefully) big enough erected room. The tent itself is very well constructed proved to be very robust during use. It's low profile did give us some condensation problems but this made the tent very stable in high winds even on sandy ground where the pegs had almost no grip.

STOVE

Our choice of stove was a Primus multi fuel; we only used gas when available and petrol. With the gas the stove worked well but gas is expensive and was nearly impossible for us to get, regarding petrol when the stove was working well it was good, but I found it fiddly in use and susceptible to problems in the wind even with a screen round it. But it's low weight and pack down size where good and it is very easily maintainable in the field.

CLOTHING

Our total clothes kit for the trip consisted of...
Three pairs of socks three pairs of knickers
Two pairs of shorts one pair of long trousers
Three shirts one base layer fleece
One lightweight water proof coat one sun hat
Three bras (Helen only) one pair of cycle Gloves
One pair of sandals one pair of shoes (two for me)

In our clothing, were Crag Hopper waterproof coats, Berghaus Base layer fleece and Rohan trousers all of which were light, durable and easy to maintain (wash dry etc.) the rest was just bog standard gear from any shop. Apart from the shoes.

SHOES

I had some cycling shoes so I took them; we both took Salomon X Hiking boots. I only wore my Salomon's for general wandering about and a bit of trekking. After four months I was getting them patched by roadside shoe menders on a regular basis three months later they had to go in the dustbin. Helen wore her Salomon's for cycling, general wandering about and for trekking we had the sole stitched up in Borneo but apart from that they lasted the whole trip. Seven months of mine with part time wear or eighteen months of Helen's with full time wear makes it hard for me to assess their durability.

SLEEPING BAGS

Snugpak travelpak 650 with synthetic filling, as with every thing light and small was our key word, these bags with their half to one season rating fitted the bill, their construction proved to be very durable as well over the period we were on our travels they took a lot of abuse and apart from the loss of loft, (which is not surprising) they did very well.

AIR BEDS

We got two cheap self-inflating mattresses, which leaked after a short while so when we reached the east they went in the bin. In Australia we bought two more self-inflating mattresses with a life time guarantee, but after cycling some thousand miles from the shop they started to leak eventually (very eventually) they went in the bin.

SUPPLIERS

Some of our camping equipment and general bits and pieces came from Camping and General, Long Road, Canvey Island (01268 692141). Also at Arterial Road, Leigh on Sea. Their staff are very helpful and on previous occasions I have found their after sales service excellent.

Other equipment came from Field and Trek. Brentwood. They stock good quality gear and their staff are reasonably knowledgeable, end of story.