Three weeks and six days until my first ever proper #bikepacking trip starts! Feeling nervous đ° Haven't had any tests with equipment yet and actually #cycling in the last few weeks has been a bit of a pain due to the dust, but I think my lungs are now starting to recover, yay. Just in time for #Kilometrikisa starting. Btw, we have an #Elokapina team this year too, wink wink any rebel riders out there who've missed the memo!
I've got most of the gear over the recent months. Just a frame pack (Ortlieb 6L, looking at you, assuming it fits my frame..) to fetch from somewhere, as I haven't spotted one second hand. Tent, sleeping pad and sleeping bag I managed to buy second hand, some other things like a Garmin and the fork bags not.
One of the biggest investments was actually on the bike itself. I had been considering whether to jump to #tubeless before the trip, and then decided to do so when taking the bike into spring service! Unfortunately due to my bike not having tubeless ready rims it ended up being a bit expensive (hello Fulcrum Racing 6 DB rims), but also wow the difference is like night and day. I read about "smoother rolling", but still my reasons to get tubeless were more about not needing to worry so much with punctures. Now I realize I was wrong, the improvement in how the bike rolls - no wait, flyes, was why I needed tubeless. What I am now worried about is the maintenance burden ironically, like how to deal with a leaking tire on the road. Apparently it's good to carry a spare tube anyway to slot in in an emergency? Tips welcome from bikepackers who have done long tubeless trips!
One of the other great things I added to the bike, with a much less amount of money, was the #SQLab Innerbarends (411 model 2.0). Given I have a straight bar, I wanted some bar ends to give different positions. Quite accidentally I ended up looking at the innerbarends from SQLab and the reviews seemed really positive, so I ordered some. And they are simply fantastic! Since installing them I think I've spent much more time with my hands on them than on the normal grips. Slightly lower riding position and a more central grip, obviously some of the benefits that I would imagine drop bars would give - but this way I keep my straight bars for better handling (and more space for gadgets :P).
Next: installing the fork bags and testing out different options on how to mount the tent and sleeping bag onto the bike. Then as many test rides as possible and setting up the tent in random parks to get used to that. Calendar looks like I wont be able to do any long overnight rides before the trip like I planned, but oh well.
