Almost everyone that is looking at this blog knows me and knows that I love gear. As a grown man that never grew up toys bring me joy. This trip has afforded me a reason for obtaining and trying out all types of new toys. I have no aspirations of being an influencer but I assume people are wondering what did I bring on a trip like this, what works, and what doesn’t. To that end I will endeavor to break it all down over the coming months with posts focused on the equipment I have with me.
To start I figured the obvious gear to discuss is my bike. After all there is no bike trip without a bike.
I have chosen to call my bike Alister. Alister is the protector of man and I felt I needed the help. It also sounds fancy and he is. Alister also has multiple personalities sometimes behaving more like an Al sometimes more like Alice. He also makes me feel like an A-Lister. (I could not help myself I do love a pun)
Alister is a 2023 Sala Cutthroat. Salsa calls this bike an “ULTRA-ENDURANCE MIXED SURFACE” bike. When asked to describe it I say it is like a touring bike and a mountain bike fell in love and had a baby. Fully rigid but with a slack head tube like a mountain bike and a tight rear triangle that quickly accelerates when power is put to the pedals. This bike was specifically designed for the 2400 mile Tour divide bike race from Canada to the Mexican boarder. 800 miles of which I hope to ride as part of this trip.
My criteria for selecting a bike were: Be tour ready with direct mount rack fittings, lots of braze-on attachment points, and internal cable routing. Clearance for 2.5” wide tires to go on almost any terrain. A comfortable posture. Wide handlebars to accept a handlebar bag. Low gearing ratios and be as light as possible. Alister has all of that and then some. He is a sexy beast!
He has a 12 speed SRAM AXS Eagledrive train with electronic shifting. Low end 34×50 so basically as low as I can peddle and still stay balanced upright. It is hike-a-bike for anything steeper. The top end spins out around 25 mph but considering how frightening that speed is fully loaded with touring gear it never seems like a disadvantage.
Brakes are SRAM Rival hydraulic disk. Nothing fancy but work well. Wheels are alloy DT Swiss 1900s (again not overly fancy) wrapped with 29”x2.2” Terrevail Sherwood tires. Enough tread to manage mild single track but smooth enough to zip on pavement.
It has a dropper post when the downhill happens. I changed out the seat with an Ergon SR All Road Core. It uses a sandwich of foam between plates to reduce vibration and still remain firm and not cause friction.
I did not pick the color-way as it is set by the component buildout but it is growing on me. Covering most of the pink with bags certainly helps.
I will cover the cockpit and bags in separate posts.
So far Alister has been everything I had hoped for.
GEAR OF THE WEEK:
I will pick a piece of gear that was MVP each week. Alister is not eligible since the bike is always the most important piece of gear on a tour.
As mentioned in earlier post the beginning of this trip has had a pile of road riding. The only thing that has made this possible without frying my every last nerve has been my Garmin Varia rear light with radar.
The light is fine but the radar is what makes this piece of gear the best gift I got for Christmas this year. Paired with my bike computer it senses anything approaching from behind me. The computer beeps (only complaint is there is no way to control the volume of this beeping) then displays a dot that rises on the side of the display as the vehicle gets closer. It picks up cars well before I hear them and while it occasionally picks up things not on my path (adjacent service road or parking lot) I have never had it miss a vehicle.
I cannot over emphasize what a game changer this device is for road cycling. Thanks mom! If you ride on roads (Joe and Stu) or love someone who does (Sherri and Jen) you need to get this. Outside of a helmet I can think of no more effective safety item.