Boulder Bikepacking Gear & Salsa Ti El Mariachi. I call it my “Horse with no name”
-Tanner Morgan, Yuma, Arizona
I’m doing the Tour Divide on a recumbent, because that is what I ride. Reason is I’ve ridden thousands of miles with no sore butts, hands or necks.
Bike: HP Velotechnik Street Machine GTE (Grand Tourismo Expedition) Dual suspension Yes, it’s a tank but a comfortable tank.
Hubs: Rohloff on 26″ wheel Son Dynamo 20″ wheel the smaller wheel keeps the dynamo producing at a useful level with virtually any forward motion
Panniers: Radical Designs, with backpack covers for more complete waterproofing , Tailbox : Otivia Out of business as far as I can tell. Altogether it is 80 liters of capacity. My gear is standard stuff but certainly not over-compressed. I have a generally unused capacity for 2.5 gallons of water.
The equation on the frame is used to compute power relative to drag. The big panniers and tail box, aside from carrying stuff, are intended to reduce turbulence behind the seat, and thereby reduce drag. Any time you are on a bike wind is the climb that never ends. The math says if you are riding at 10mph into still air with a power output of 1, a ten mph headwind will double your relative speed requiring a power output of 8. A fifteen mph headwind, with 10 mph speed, will require almost 16 times more power. It just seems to me that loading the handlebars and front forks with gear gives the least aerodynamic shape possible– a flat surface.
-Chris Malloy, Dillon, MT
It is Triton 29er with a Rohloff, Enve rims, Whiskey carbon fork, a mix of Revelate and Phantom packs, Exposure dynamo.
–Lorenzo Serra, South Salem, NY
Here’s my TD set up. Salsa El Mariachi Ti. Her name is Rosalita. Aero bars attached to a Fred bar. Revelate Designs packs. Garmin Etrex 30 GPS. Five water bottles: Two on the fork, two in mountain feed bags on the handlebars, one big bottle on the down tube in a Salsa Anything Cage. No backpack. Everything is on the bike. Wish me luck.
-Mark Seaburg, Hopkins, MN
Superfly 100, Specialized Ground Control 29×2.1’s, Revelate Seat and Framebag (funny story on the framebag) and Rogue Panda handlebar bag
-Jill Hueckman, Englewood, CO
It’s a Moots YBB 29er with rigid carbon fork, Rohloff hub, dynamo lighting, and full J.Paks bags
–Andy Amick, Castle Pines, CO
I just made all of these bags for the Tour Divide. It’s the first handlebar roll type of bag and the little bag at the seat post and top tube. So we’ll see how those work out. I also tried a little seam sealing experiment on the hobo roll and fanny pack. Hopefully that helps out. A couple of things you can’t see- I made two taped seam/no sew cuben fiber dry bags for the fanny pack and hobo roll to help keep things totally dry and I also made a down quilt, bivy sack and sil nylon tarp as my shelter. They seem to keep me warm and dry so far. barkingbearbagworks.blogspot.
-Jason Snell, Conway, MI
Big Dave took to Youtube to share his rig, check them out here:
Part II – Seat Bag Contents
-Big Dave Wilson, El Paso, TX
My Pivot Les from 92Fifty Cyclery. Carousel Design Works bags and Nuclear Sunrise Stitchworks frame bag. Geax Saguaro TNT tires. Running 1×11 with 30 tooth up front. Could prob go 32 but want to be conservative. Ergon Biokork grips and saddle, profile T1 aero bars, XTR brakes, xo1 drive train with race face next crank, two Princeton tech push 100 lumen lights, Pearl Izumi X-Alp launch shoes, Etrex 30. Crazy stoked to get this adventure underway! I call it the Orange Crush! Looking for a twenty day crossing.
-Leslie Handy, Denver, CO
Specialized Carbon Stumpjumper HT, Cont X King tires, 2.4 front, 2.2 rear, Revelate bags all around, total weight is 35 lbs.
-Aaron Denberg, Big Horn, WY
June 10th @ 7:30pm
Just getting settled in the Calgary Westin – complements of United. I will say they were very accommodating once they saw the damage. The great guys at The Bike Shop Calgary checked the frame and installed a new wheel (the only built one they had) and rotor. Toughest job is getting to the starting line. (WOW)
-Sheila Reiter, Austin, TX
Giant composite xtc. Specialized Fast Trak tires. Sram XO drivetrain shifters, derailleurs, and cranks. All homemade bags by my wife Kammie except a Revelate handlebar bag.
–Andrew Schuhmann, Littleton, CO