Just got the last piece of gear I needed to get going. Here's what I'm going to use for my first bikepacking trip. It'll be an overnighter in the Santa Ana Mountains, Southern Ca, and then I may be doing some of the AZ Trail(or something else in AZ) in the near future. My brother has a house in Mira Copa, so I'll be starting there.
Here's my bikepacking Equipment list.
Frame Bag-Custom, bought from MikeC here off the forum. Was designed for a Lenz 29er, but it fit's pretty well in my frame. I'm going to have another one made bike Eric at Epic Designs to better utilize the available space in the frame.
Sleeping Bag(s) For Winter I saw this deal pop up on Steep and Cheap(love that site!)
http://sac.gearattack.com/items/7359Big Agnes Moon Hill 0 deg down. 2lbs 12oz
139 bucks for a 0 degree down mummy bag, with insulated air mattress. The mattress is a bit bulky, and took too much room though, so I bought a Big Agnes Insulated Air Core Mattress. It is even more comfortable than the Hinman mattress, and it weighs a lot less, and packs down WAY smaller. It's insulated down to 15 deg.
For a Summer/spring/fall bag I saw this deal pop up on SAC.
http://sac.gearattack.com/items/13397Lafuma Warm and Light 600 40 deg down. 1lbs 6oz I'll use the Big Agnes Insulated Air Core mattress with this bag.
The handlebar bag is a Sea to Summit eVENT compression drybag. I picked these up at REI for next to nothing.
http://www.seatosummit.com/products/display/1I bought the small and the medium. I then bought some of these straps to secure the bag to the handlebar/stem.
http://www.rei.com/product/684830 The Tent goes in the front small compression sack. It's a Sierra Designs Lightyear 1 that I found in the clearance bin at Sport Chalet for 59 bucks
http://www.backcountry.com/store/SDS0369/Sierra-Designs-Light-Year-1-Tent-1-Person-3-Season.html?CMP_ID=SH_FRO001&CMP_SKU=SDS0369&mv_pc=r126Weighs 3lbs 6 oz with stakes, fly, guy lines, etc. I also picked up the footprint for it at the Clearance bin at REI for 10 bucks.
For a stove I'm using an Esbit stove for now, but I think I'm going to get a stove from this guy.
www.minibulldesigns.com His stoves look pretty cool, I like how he uses fiberglass wicks wrapped around the can to preheat the stove. You just tilt the stove and let some of the alcohol come out of the holes and soak the wick, then you light stove itself and it preheats itself. Much simpler than using a preheating tin under the stove.
I'm using an Osprey Talon 22 to hold the sleeping bag and pad, until I can get a saddlebag to hold the sleeping bag.
The bike is a 2008 Specialized Enduro Sl Comp. I bought the bike on the blem list brand new for 1000 bucks!(I work at a shop)
I then proceeded to strip the whole bike down and trade in the parts for my choice of parts. It's definitely not the most commonly used type of bike for bikepacking, but I think it'll do great. It weighs in at 30 lbs with pedals.
I'll get a loaded up pic later this week.
Frame size Large
-2009 Fox Talas 36RC2
-Chris King Headset
-Thomson 50mm stem
-Easton Monkeylite DH 31.8
-Formula "The One" brakes, with 180mm rotor and 160mm rotor. Best brakes EVER, bar none.
-Sram XO trigger shifters
-ODI Rogue Lock Ons
-Specialized Command Post Telescoping Seatpost with lever-Awesome piece of gear, I love this thing. It doesn't rattle or have excessive play like other telescoping seatposts. 4" of adjustment with one setting about 1" lower than highest position.
-Specialized Alias Saddle, Ti rails
-Shimano DX pedals(XT with resin cage)
-Shimano XT 11-34 cassette
-Shimano SLX Double Crankset. This is the best crankset for this type of bike IMO. 22-36 stock gearing. In 36-11, it's hard to spin out. And climbs well in 36-34. I might get the new Shimano 12-36 SLX Cassette when it comes out, and maybe a 20T Action Tec Ti Chainring.
-Shimano SLX Double specific front der. This is specially designed to shift a big jump(22-36) I think it should shift from 20-36 fine. The Enduro uses a chainstay mounted front der. It bolts directly onto the chainstay so when the suspension is going through its travel the der. is always at the right height. Makes installation a breeze and it shifts incredibly well. You basically take an E-Type front der. and unbolt the der from it's BB mount, then bolt the der onto the chainstay.
-E13 DRS Dual Ring Chainguide. Works VERY well, never dropped a chain. Also very quiet, I can only notice the noise of the roller when the chain needs lubing. Works great with the direct mount front der.
-2009 Mavic Crossmax SX wheelset, 1750 grams, which is pretty light considering how strong these wheels are. They don't use a bushing anymore for the freehub body, which was prone to wear and constant maintenance. Now it uses an oversized bearing, and 4 pawls instead of two. The engagement is very fast now, 60 percent faster than the old design, and faster than Hope's. There's a 10mm bolt on thru axle that's going to be available for them soon. The front is of course, 20mm thru axle.
-Specialized Eskar Control 2.3, running these tubelss with stans. They roll surprisingly fast and they weigh at least 200 grams less than most tubeless tires.
I use a Light and Motion Seca 700 Ultra, I plan on doing some night riding as well on some trips, but this lkight has been great for commuting and night riding. It's brighter than a TriNewt and weighs less. The battery lasts for 3.5 hours on high and 7 hours on low,which is just shy of how bright a Trinewt is.
