Across Canada by Bicycle

Bike Touring Equipment

Equipment to Bring When Biking Across Canada

This is something that a lot of people email me questions about. While it is important to bring your survival gear with you when you bike across the country, it is not absolutely necessary that you bring the best or the lightest or even the shiniest for that matter. For instance the bike that I used to cross the country was purchased second hand over eBay from a man in the US (Bob Maxcy).

My Univega Gran Turismo was built in 1985 and had a few alterations made to it to improve handling and controllability. The handle bars go straight across rather than curved down like other road bikes. The bike has 18 speeds, 6 of which are fairly low and the other 12 are fairly high for cruising down the highway at maximum speed. When I tell people that the bike is from 1985, they wince and say things like "Why are you riding an old piece of junk like that" or "why don't you get a new bike". My response is that the old technology works very well and that the quality of manufacture is probably as effective today as it was when it was made. I can honestly say that I have no regrets with that bike.

In the emails that I have received since I did my trip, one of the most common questions was as to what equipment did I bring when I biked across Canada. The gear I brought with me wasn't necessarily the best gear that money could buy. This is mostly due to the fact that I didn't have any money to buy good gear with, but I did win through in the end. However, this money thing is something that became a recurring problem for me before and during the trip. I would highly recommend that anybody thinking about an adventure like this one to build a budget. (But that's a discussion for a different page) :)

So to help anybody else thinking about a long distance bike tour, here is the equipment that I brought with me when I biked across the country.

Please enjoy responsibly!

Equipment List

Custom Univega Gran Turismo Crank

There are many pieces of equipment that are useful and sometimes critical to carry along when bike touring.

The following list of equipment is more or less what I brought with me on my cycle tour across Canada. Along the way, various parts broke and needed to be exchanged but nevertheless the following set of touring gear is what I brought and more or less what I would recommend anybody else bring as well.

Univega Custom Touring Bike
It's a couple years old but in really fantastic condition, totally worth the $770.00 cdn it came to.
Helmet
Not wearing a helmet is illegal in most parts of Canada. Besides, it keeps your head safe in accidents. This is a basic requirement.
Water
This is absolutely critical. Personally I had two water bottles which were constantly empty. For a while I carried an additional 4 litre milk jug but it was too difficult to support it. If I were to do the trip again, I would fasten additional water bottle holders to my trailer.
Bike Panniers or Bike Touring Trailer
Remember, the more you bring the harder it gets to move. I took the BOB (beast of burden) COZ touring trailer. It worked well, but wasn't designed to handle the large amount of weight and stress that the trip took. It eventually required some serious repairs to make it viable again. I hear that the BOB YAK trailers are much more durable.
Tires
Tires let the bike move.... good ones move the bike better. The nature of tires is that they eventually wear out so don't buy $100 tires as they will not survive the trip. I personally went through 4 rear tires and 2 front tires by the time I hit NFLD. I started out with good Panaracer Tires that lasted a long time, but the Continental bicycle tires were much easier to come by.
Bike Computer
Tells you useful info, like how far you've travelled and what your current speed is, average speed, max speed etc. You don't need to spend lots of money on one of these. However it is really important for you to know where you are. I took some run of the mill Cateye Computer and it worked very well.
Reflectors
If you don't have them, get them and get good big ones. Its critical to be seen in the evening. Then again, try to organize your biking so you are never on the road in the evening.
Lights
Headlights are useful, rearlights should be those annoying but highly visible blinking ones. My suggestion is to completely avoid biking during the evening or night so you don't need them at all. As for a flashlight I took a small one that uses those super high power LED's. It was great because I could hold it in my mouth while screwing around with my tent or whatever and the electrical draw of the lights themselves is so small that you could leave it on in your luggage for days and it would still be running when you took it out.
Tent
Whether you are roughing it, staying in a campground, or living it up in a backyard with a hot tub, I highly suggest sleeping in a tent instead of a mosquito net or a bivi sack. They are roomy(ish), keep you out of the elements and are fantastically light. I took a one man Eureka! tent and it worked well, but now that I have some practical experience I would take a 2 man tent just so I could have some extra room.
Sleeping Pad
These are pretty good to have if you don't like sleeping on rocks. I got myself a military air mat which scrunched up really tightly. It was on discount from its regular price of something or other because it was painted the wrong colour of camoflage green for our troops in Afghanistan. Sigh.
Sleeping Bag
Bring one that scrunches up really really small, because space is a premium for all cycle tourists but also get one that will allow you to stay comfortable when it gets cold out. Of course I managed to bring a bag designed for comfortable living in the arctic winter which didn't even come close to fitting in my trailer so I got a water proof sleeping bag scruncher and then bungie strapped it to the top of my trailer.
Cooking Gear
Pots, pans and a stove. I managed not to need a stove becuase I depended on the generosity of canadians everywhere to let me use their kitchen to cook, but I certainly noticed the abscence of good meals on some isolated occasions.
Fire starting stuff
Matches are not as good as those nice fire starter thingies.
Bike Tools
I brought a universal hex key set, a spoke wrench, tire irons, a wrench for every nut on my bike, chain lube, pliers,bike pump.
Bike Parts
Spokes (10), Tire Repair Patches, spare tubes (3), chain, brake pads, brake cable, shifter cable, fenders, cleaning rags, zip-ties (a must), bungies.

If you feel that there is something I should add to this list or if you have any questions for me please contact me. If you would like to see the route that I took across Canada, then please look here.

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