Our Around The World Touring Bicycles (14,000 miles so far!)

We've spent the last 16 months touring across the USA and Europe on bicycles we assembled ourselves. This video is a quick technical breakdown of the components and bags we're using for our trip. This setup has served us well and been relatively maintenance free. We aren't sponsored by any of the brands we mention in the video.

The overall cost of each bicycle was around $4,500 including all the bags, racks, and components you see in the video. While you can definitely do an around the world bicycle tour on a much cheaper setup, we decided on these bikes because we wanted a reliable and low maintenance build that would hold up for years on rough roads all over the world.

Bicycle gear list below. We're running a mix of traditional panniers and bikepacking bags.

- 2020 Surly Ogres
- 36h Rohloff Speedhubs
- 36h Son 28 Dynamo hubs
- Ryde Andra 40 rims
- Marathon GT365 29x2.0 tires
- Avid BB7 brakes, 200mm front, 160mm rear
- Sinewave Cycles Beacon headlight/USB charger
- Ergon SMC Core (Andrew) Terry Butterfly Century (Jenny) saddles
- Rogue Panda custom frame bags
- Ortlieb Back Rollers Plus rear panniers
- Bedrock Bags Hermosa front panniers
- Tubus racks
- Planet Bike AL fenders

Camera Gear:

- Fuji X-T4
- Fujinon 16-80 mm f/4
- Fujinon 23 mm f/2 prime
- GoPro Hero 8 Black
- Rode VideoMic Pro
- Mavic Mini 1 drone

[ianmckenney]

So many miles with so little trouble shows that you got your research spot on when you built them. Well done. Good video as usual 😊☺️🐱🙂😜

[KlePhys]

Very nice video! I like the fact that you show your real equipment and not advertising super expensive things:)

[holgerjrgensen]

In 91/92 I'd vent around Earth with my bicycle. (10½ kg)
for 5 months, my weight is 62, and my luggage was 6½ kg,
in two bags, one in front, one in back, minimum air resistance.
(rocket-shape/sail-front)

Stayed mostly in hostels (10 Dollars) and cheap hotels,
cheapest 2½ dollar, clean and nice, (Randnangoon mid-India)
I am, Cykel Logisk Institut, this was a major inspection of the
cycle-infra-standard of the time. 4 of the 5 months I'd stayed in
large cities and capitols. (Most expensive, 9 Days Tokyo, 30 D/US a day)
My Cycle was on planes, ferry, trains, and bus, in total, 75 dollars.
Well, lots have changed since then, cycle-infra is improving,
and it is still possible the travel light, and economic,
the art of minimizing, and logical planning.

[Mraquanetchris]

Love the Jones H-Bar! Rode from Alaska to San Francisco totally comfortable - no hand, arm or wrist issues.

[pauldenney]

Great video by the way, been pausing your vids trying to work out your setup, but now I know. Keep up the good work. 🙂

[vermonthillsumc]

So glad that I watched this. Your knowledge and know how is impressive and I learned a ton. Thank you for taking the time to record and edit and post this.

[jolly]

Amazing! Really enjoyed learning about bike touring setups, something I've wondered about for quite awhile. It's pretty involved -- all the gear you use. The way you explained everything was just right! Around the world touring on a bike is something I can only dream about, but I am a fan of you guys for being so "adventurous" and knowledgeable on “bicycle tourology.”

[SNOWDONTRYFAN]

Swear by Rohloff gear hubs, especially when it comes to muddy roads etc, have also switched to using the gates carbon drive combo 😃

[Jamie.S.]

Excellent stuff. It’s always great seeing what serious hardcore bike tourists choose for their setup. They look like really well thought out great machines.
You didn’t tell us about your rear racks.
Thanks for sharing and safe and happy travels.

[connolm]

This was brilliant. Thanks for a clean and to-the-point video. I agree that avid BB7s are a perfect compromise of braking performance and serviceability. I'm used to them now and prefer them over many high-end options.

[matthewtaylor]

You guys have my dream setup. Thanks for explaining everything. I wish more people talked about how terrible dynamos are in general for touring. I was terribly disappointed and ended up just keeping a battery pack charged and never even using the dynamo on a 3 month trip. I love that double bottom hook trick on the Ortliebs. I'm gonna steal that idea.

[-Bicyclenomad]

Good selection of bicycle components 👍. I hope you have a good cycling trip. Best wishes from the Lower Rhine (Germany). All the best to you. Uwe✌️

[tomsitzman]

Looks like you take good care of your equipment, and it is taking care of you.

[philippes.]

very cool technical in depth view with very impressive stats at the end!

[stoutdog]

Thanks for the video and I appreciate knowing about your excellent choice of hardware. I guess that might be redundant given your experience. I'm envious of your adventure and maybe I can do a short one someday now I'm retired. Have a wonderful rest of your adventure.

[julians.]

I'll add a mirror for my absolute must haves

[maciejkolwas]

I also built a bike like this on a Rolhoff hub and used a chain tensioner from the same company as the hub to tension the chain, it is easier to remove the rear wheel when the tire is punctured

[melrichardson]

Great job thankyou for sharing very interesting stuff, thinking about some type of plastic ziplock freezer bags to stop things from getting wet, funny the material would be 100% waterproof love this stuff very cool.

[rcj]

You've done well. My wife & I each have a 2019 Surly Troll (basically a 26" version of the Ogre) and we've rigged them in much the same way you two have: BB7 brakes, Cascadia fenders, Tubus racks, 2" Schwalbe tires with reflective sidewalls, and large-area platform pedals with pins. It's nice to have one's decisions validated by seeing others (you two) arrive at similar conclusions and do well when putting them to practice. Two components where our rigs differ from yours are: we each have a Thudbuster seatpost & ShockStop stem and we highly recommend them. Best wishes on your continued travels. We'll be watching.

[scottbaker]

Thank you very much for sharing. This is a perfect video. You say what you said you’d say! Very informative.😊