Tires:
IRC HP 90
(Made in
Later I
purchased new tires and tubes from Wal-Mart. Used one heavy duty tube from some
hardware store in
Racks:
Front- Blackburn - actually
made in 1983. Price $40.
Rear- Delta
Universal Mega Rack. Price: ~ $25.
Absolutely didn’t remind of itself throughout the whole trip.
Panniers/bags:
Front- Round town panniers from REI. Bought on sale for ~ $30.
Panniers caused no problems whatsoever.
Fabric
didn’t fade under the sun in 3 months.
Top was
made from black material and sewed on with a zipper around the perimeter.
Pretty
amazing, bags were loaded with up 12-15 lbs of water. Sustained throughout the
whole trip without failures. Unfortunately, in
Rear – Compackteam Backpacks. Bought on
campus for $15 each. These didn’t cause any problems either, in
addition, turned out to be water-resistant due to rubberized material on the
inside.
Pump:
Topeak – Roadmaster
Blaster. Purchased at REI
for $25. Pump costs more than a
bike! J Provided
exceptional service throughout the whole trip. Pumping the tire is easy
and quick with this pump. Many times, I could go further only because I could
inflate the tire with this pump – in the middle of nowhere. Recommend J
Tent:
Ozark Trail 6’x5’ Two Person Junior Dome Tent. Purchased at Wal-Mart for $19.99 J Hey, the tent was fine,
ok? J J As a matter of fact, I
was honored to cycle with an amazing guy Gilles, who was using a tent of the
same size and design, except green color. The tent did let the water in
when it rained all night in
Sleeping
bag/ sleeping mat:
These are
also from Wal-Mart. Sleeping
bag – rated to 45 F. Price $10. Sleeping
mat $5. Extremely important item - stands
in the group of most immediate items. Makes sleeping on concrete or stones
possible, not to mention soil, grass and other imperfect surfaces. Protects from cold as well as moisture.
Camera:
Sony Mavica FD 100, 1.2 Mega
Pixels. Floppy disk capability made it easy uploading pictures from
public libraries. Heavy, but battery lasts for 130 minutes without using LCD
display, which would require charging once in approximately two weeks. Very convenient. Price ~ $300.
Helmet:
Just
regular Schwinn Helmet fromWal-Mart.
Price ~ $27. I chose silver color to reflect more heat waves. The sun visor
helped tremendously in the shading the eyes from direct sunlight. Helmet caused
no issues during the trip.(The only attribute of cycling clothes). :)
Miscellaneous
items:
Clothes- 3 or
4 short sleeve shirts. 4-5 long sleeve shirts.
1 pare of
shorts (made from cutting off the pants), 2-3 pairs of regular pants,
were thrown away as soon as ripped or got too dirty from the contact with
chain. Purchased few more pares in
Plenty of bungee cords. Plastic ties. Black electrical tape.
Computer – Cateye Enduro 8. Price $30.
Headlight with dynamo is a set from Target. Price $10.
Tools: 3/8 full
size ratchet. (sold with bunch of other tools to a guy
in
Bicycle tire repair kit, chain tool, free wheel removal tool, 5 extra spokes for the rear
wheel. (bought plenty more in
Math books (actually
4 of them – quite heavy). How much I used them – that’s another question ;) J. Notebook with pencils, of course documents.
Plastic eye protection glasses. These are useful in the swampy areas where flies, bugs
and mosquitoes are like dust.
After experimenting with various combinations, I’ve reached the perfect for me balance
of gear.
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