Gear

I guess I should make one thing clear - I'm not a "touring cyclist". I've got loads of respect for those that go the whole way when it comes to roughing it / self-sufficiency - carrying tent, sleeping gear, cooking equipment, spare parts etc. etc. - but that's not how I roll. I love the simplicity, efficiency and not least ease of just carrying the absolute minimum of equipment. I'm also a bit too soft to sleep in a tent every night for up to 2 months. Finally, I like cycling fast when the mood takes me and I'm heavy enough without adding more weight to slow me down.

So I keep the equipment down to the absolute minimum, stick it in a cyclist friendly backpack and stay in hostels where I can get a good night's sleep, cook breakfast and dinner & wash my clothes.

This means I've put quite a bit of time into selecting each and every part of my equipment list. From my choice of which bike to take, through tyre, gearing & mini-pump selection on to which cycling and off bike clothing to take. I've also got a few trips under my belt so I've learned a lot through experience.

So - with my objectives of lightweight, comfort, function, form as prerequisites - here's a full description of all the gear I have with me in New Zealand:-

I'll start with the bike, it's components and which spares I have with me...

The bike: Gios A90

I bought my Gios in 2003 - my first "proper" road bike, an upgrade from my entry level Merida which I'd bought as my first racer the year before. Up until 2010 when I bought my Pinarello Dogma the Gios was my trusty workhorse, not only a training bike which got me through 5-6 rides per week but also my touring companion on trips to Norway (Viking Tour 2007, Smygehuk-Nordkapp + Viking Tour 2010), France (TdF 2009), Spain and various other trips.

As any Gios enthusiast will know, this is an extraordinary bike. Used by as many as 4 pro teams at the same time in the 80s & 90s (before they demanded getting all their equipment for free), the winner of all 5 monuments, Roger de Vlaemenck's bike on his 4 Paris-Roubaix victories.... The Gios pedigree is the length of your arm, notably in the tough cobbled classics. It's comfortable, reasonably fast, responsive and (of course) hand-built Italian style! It's a joy to ride and is perfectly suited for long stages on varied and sometimes challenging terrain.

So, that's the bike chosen. Next choices are much more specific to the type of riding I'm doing in New Zealand - gearing set-up and tyre selection.

Gears: Campagnolo 11 speed compact crankset with 11/25 cassette

The terrain in New Zealand is varied to say the least. Some days it's pretty flat and, depending on the prevailing wind, there might be some opportunities to grind along in a big gear. Other days have both long, medium gradient climbs and/or short, very steep ascents. From experience I've found the best all-round choice is the combination of a compact (50/34) crankset with an 11/25 cassette. 34/25 is easy enough to get you up almost anywhere and 50/11 is actually better than a standard 53/12 when you're on those long, slightly downhill straights with the wind on your tail (I wish!).

Super Record is not worth the money for the type of riding I'm doing and Chorus cassettes are good enough, however I pay the extra money when it comes to going for the Record 11-speed chain.

Tyres: Schwalbe Marathon Plus 700x25

This is possibly the most important choice I've made for the New Zealand trip. I'd normally ride Conti GP4000s but on this trip I've got quite a lot of sections of gravel road. I'm hoping it's not sharp, rough gravel but you never know. My 2nd day is a bit of a challenge as it includes 150 kms of gravel through New Zealand's biggest cattle farm. Shredded tyres after day 2 would not be a good start!

These tyres are apparently the ultimate choice for road bike touring. The blue layer is Schwalbe's SmartGuard layer for "guaranteed puncture-free" riding. Here's their video...

Then of course I can't be carrying spares of these tyres with me as they're not foldable so I'll be taking one Conti GP4000s with me and if I have to use it I'll buy another spare at the first opportunity. Add to that 4 spare inner tubes and a patching kit in case of emergency and I'm hopefully well prepared.

Mini pump: Lezyne Micro Floor drive HPG

The improved new version of a pump I've been using for several years. It's lightweight, attaches to your bottle cage with a mounting, has a foldable "floor stand", a gauge, a lengthy rubber tube and can be swapped between Presta and Schrader valves by turning around the adaptor. The little pressure release button on the side is the best improvement - this helps you avoid pulling off your valve (if it's the detachable type) after pumping due to build up of pressure.

As the maximum recommended pressure on my Marathon Plus tyres is 6 bar and my Lezyne pump can take me all the way up to 11 bar I'm well covered and don't need to worry about getting hold of a proper track pump during the trip.