Cycling

THE BICYCLES
One of the most important things of our preparation has been our search for the right bicycles. We plan to cycle most part of our journey so our bicycles have to endure quite a lot. We both didn't have a lot of experience with buying a bicycle. To get an idea of what we needed for our trip we talked with a lot of people, searched on the internet and visited cycle-stores. At Cycletrend, the cycling-store in Groningen we first saw the brand Santos. The looks of the bicycles made a good first impression on the both of us. Another great advantage is that you can select almost everything by yourself. There is a standard frame and as a customer you can select the brakes, saddle, etc.
After a lot of searching we made de decision to ride on Santos bikes during our trip. We've a lot of trust in the power of the bicycles. We have aluminum mountain bike frames with 26 inch wheels. Because we could compose the bicycles by our selves we have chosen to give another color to each frame. Marlous cycles on a bicycle with a black frame. Steven has a silver bicycle.

Our bicycles have been built with the following components:

Frame	2.6 Alu
Headset	Chris King Ahead
Tires	Schwalbe Marathon XR
Barends	Cane Creek ergo
Cassete	Shimano XT
Crankstel + bracket	Shimano XT
Derailleur rear	Shimano XT
Derailleur front	Shimano XT
Panier, rear	Tubus Cargo Cr-mo
Panier, front (lowrider)	Tubus Tara Cr-mo
Handles	San Marco Leer
Chain	Shimano XT
Pedals	Shimano 324 dual function
Brakes	Shimano XT V-Brakes
Drive system	Shimano XT shifters
Handlebar	Ritchey MTB
Fork	Ritchey comp MTB
Fork	STAR: Travelmaster Cr-Mo
Wheel set	Exal SP19-DT Alpine + Prolock-XT
Saddle Marlous	Selle Italia gel flow lady
Saddle Steven	Selle Italia Flite
Saddle pin	Ritchey comp MTB

BAGS
To carry all our gear we've got Vaude cycling bags. We've chosen that we both have a set in a different color. At first we did this because we didn't want to cycle around with everything in the same color. Later we discovered that it's very handy to have two sets in a different color. When we need to find something we can search in the bag with the right color. For example, our kitchen is in the right red bag.
The bags are made of watertight and strong material. This makes our bags dust- and waterproof. Our rear bags are the World Tramp Plus II. These are bags with a lot of space and an extra little bag on the outside.
Our low-rider bags are the World Cycle II. This is a smaller version of the rear bags but without the little small bag outside. Beside these bags we also both have a bag on the handlebar. These are the Komet II en are spacious enough for our photo camera.

TOOLS
Most of the reparations we do ourselves. Normally it’s difficult to find a good cycle shop where they understand our bikes. We like to do it ourselves and it gives us the opportunity to repair something right away. For this we carry the following items:

Inbus
Chain tool
Tube patches/ glue
Spare tire
2 x tubes
Chain
Next Best Thing II (to remove the cassette)
2 x brake cables
2 x gear cables
2 sets brake shoes
Spare spokes
Spare bolts
Spoke key
Set of screwdrivers
Leatherman
Oil
Grease