Kazakh Wheelers Cycle Club believes in the spirit of amateurism. Its members consider professionalism a blight on society designed to hinder the creativity of the masses and suck the pleasure from existence. Nowhere is this more evident than in the field of professional sport.

Dominic would have used a c.1958 Peugeot 650B randonneur but unfortunately it had a slow puncture, after a little hesitation he settled on a 1984 British Eagle Touristique, a light tourer which was cluttering up the place. Ebay provided Lucy with a British Eagle Randonee, which a gentleman in a bike shop suggested that under no circumstances should be used to ride to Mongolia. A joyless attitude typical of the professional. Though not custom built the bike frames were pretty good, especially the Touristique which had better clearances and brakes, though worryingly a month before departure it was discovered to have a fractured chain stay. This would probably not have happened with a hand built frame as more care in manufacturing would not have weakened the tube as much. Thanks to a quick repair by Barry Witcombe the bike was as good as new, actually a little better. We got a little carried away and decided to completely replace both drivechains, this was only partly necessary as your legs and fitness adapt to suit the gearing to some extent and until Japan I barely touched the smallest ring. All that could be left as was was, including Lucy's awful brakes. For the sake of simplicity we left the friction levers, an excellent decision I think. 

A couple of choices we made differ from popular opinion. Firstly the use of 700c wheels over 26"; mountain bike wheels are fractionally stronger and the wider tyres better on seriously poor roads, rarely were roads so bad that we would have preferred them and the thousands of miles covered on good roads the extra speed of the 700c wheels was a boon. Suitable 700c tyres seemed to be available in the bigger cities. In Vladivostok, after my rear wheel was squashed by a coal truck, I was able to get a cheap 32 spoke wheel which lasted 1200 miles, I left it in Japan due to excess baggage but it seemed to hold up fine. It's a myth that 26" wheels are readily available all over the world, many local bicycles across the former USSR had 700 x 45 tyres and finding a decent 26" rim or tyre would be as awkward as finding something in 700c.
Hub Gears, possibly a little less maintenance but our drivechains managed 5000 miles through rain and desert with very little attention, a service and new chain would probably have got another 5000 miles. I'm not sure that I'd want to spend a fortune on a Rohloff for the benefits they afford, should they go wrong you would not be in a good position anywhere east of Germany. I would use whatever is available or what you are familiar with.
The steel frame being repairable anywhere around the world argument is not one that I would concern myself with; though I prefer steel, I'm not sure that had one of our frames failed we would have been any less stuffed than with aluminium frames. 531 is a very thin tubing and braising the stuff is quite a specialist skill, if you really want to be able to have your frame mended in the far reaches of the earth go for a really basic tubing.  For 8 hours a day in the saddle the comfort might be a little better with a steel frame, but all touring bikes tend to be fairly comfortable due to their longer wheelbase and wider tyres.

My advice is not to get carried away with new stuff, it is easily done, we all like new stuff but it does not take a Pinarello to cross Russia, not even a Thorn or Koga-Miyata. Something that is more useful is a good practical understanding of how a bicycle works and how to improvise a repair as well as the motivation to clean your bike now and again. Wheel truing is a good skill as is the ability to recognise an unfamiliar sound from the bike. It is also good to not have a bike so valuable that should it get stolen you would be seriously out of pocket, as well as seriously stranded. Good bike shops are around in the big cities but you may be several thousands of miles from the nearest one. Also although they will get you back on the road, they may not have exactly what you need. For example there are not yet 9sp drivechains in most of Russia and the 700c size is often only available for racing equipment. 36 hole hubs are were unheard of in Vladivostok. Front racks which are consistently the least durable piece of equipment are not available beyond Germany so possibly worth investing in something more solid like a Tubus.

The bikes behaved impeccably, almost, only the headsets caused minor ongoing problems by coming undone unless very tight, this is quite common when carrying luggage on the front, this is less likely with a threadless headset I would think. A coal truck ended a prolonged spell of roundness for Dominic's rear wheel. despite looking a little the worse for wear by the end they would have gone on. General maintenance was carried out sporadically, the chains swapped every 1000 miles, a policy which seemed to work well. bolts worked their way loose however attentive we were and our stock was worryingly low after a couple of months of shedding them.

We traveled in relative comfort with quite a lot of food (one front pannier) and cooking equipment, this was the main area where we could have cut down on but it really is nice to have cooking apparel, it gives you something to do in the evening and is great when it's cold. When we really got out into the wilds we made fires which we cooked on, but you still need pans, unless you skewer buts of chicken with the spare spokes.
In general it is best to head out with the minimum and if you need something you can usually find it, if you have an item you do not need you find yourself carrying it unnecessarily for thousands of miles.

Please contact the club for advice or information, we are quite happy to divulge our secrets and opinions.


The equipments are as follows, I may have forgotten one or two things but this is basically it:

frame	British Eagle Touristique 531ST throughout British Eagle Randonee 531 with 501 forks	faultless, once repaired by Barry Witcomb tyre clearance not so good as the Touristique, and required rack eyes to be brazed on
headset	unbranded 1" threaded	came apart quite often until very firmly tightened
handlebars	GB Randonneur	good shape, useful shallow drop, very elegant curve
chainset	shimano XT Octalink 48, 36, 26	works its way lose very slightly over the miles, good ratios
cassette	LX 11-34 and Deore 11-28 9 sp	both lasted, no noticeable difference in wear
gears	simplex friction levers	excellent, trouble free, the best friction levers made.
	deore rear mech	cable adjuster broke off after 5000miles, otherwise fine
	LX front and rear mechs	faultless, though a bit squeaky at times
chain	SRAM cheap, grey	about 2000-3000 miles each, no problem
	Shimano 8sp	not so good in a 9sp setup and no powerlink
brakes	modolo rocky cantilevers	no problem here, though fiddly to adjust
	weinmann cantilevers c.1990	pretty poor, like applying a soft sponge to the rim and a bugger to set up
	Tektro aero levers	fine, useful not to have cables with a bar bag
	Weinmann levers	alright, just
	koolstop and Aztec pads	no worries, hardly any wear to pad or rim
	cables	cable snapped once, that was hairy
wheelset	M:Wheel Mavic A719 on XT hubs	one rear XT hub in a bad way after 5000miles, and a spoke pulled through the eyelet rims will not take the weight of a coaltruck but otherwise solid. Wheels needed truing several times but this reflects the roads and the building rather than the components
tyres	Continental Top Contact 37mm folding	sidewalls on both rear tyres failed after about 3000, and 4000 miles not puncture resistant but can't really complain
saddle	Brooks Pro and Ladies	no other option, though doesnt like the rain. had to buy some shoe polish, bring proofide if you're going some way
pedals	Shimano M324	clipless on one side, trouble free, good choice for touring, heavy
racks	Blacburn low rider custom	failed after1500 and 3000 miles awkward to set up
	unbranded low rider	failed at the dropout bolt hole after about 600 miles, replacement lasted 3500 miles Beware these get caught in your front wheel giving a hell of a fright, best to sort it out when first noticed
	Blackburn rear	one fine, a weld failed on the other after 5000 miles though not catastrophically
Luggage	AGU XRain? barbag	no problemo, good n waterproof and surprisingly durable as was the Clickfix attachment
	Ortlieb front	great though a clip broke and a couple of nuts came loose, possibly due to a problem with the rack
	old Tika cotton duck rear panniers	excellent though a bit tatty by the end. I think these were the biggest panniers ever made, simillar to Karrimor.
	bungees	bring some spares as they go limp after a while
mudguards	sks crudcatcher	good not so good
cycle computer	Blackburn Delphi 3.0 wireless	had a tendancy to crash or to be affected by random electromagnetic waves. top speed 126mph!
lock	Trilock cable and D-lock	these are solid enough for london, but a bit excessive in other parts of the world, though it was good the couple of times we left our bikes outside hotels overnight
Toolkit	puncture repair kit	naturally, bring many spare patches
	headset spanner	very useful as low riders tend to exert quite a bit of force on the headset
	allen keys	a multitool plus a couple of loose ones in the common sizes
	medium adjustable spanner
	various bits of wire	you can usually get these en route, by the side of the road
	spare nuts and bolts	these have a tendency of scattering over the place, bring plenty in varying lengths
	spoke key	essential
	a Leatherman	not as good as a Swiss knife as cheese gets stuck in the hole in the blade but necessary for the pliers.
	cable ties	useful, though unexpectedly not essential
	string	you'll need this at some point
	gaffer tape	dont leave home without it
	electrical tape	a bit neater for the bartape
	cassette tool	these came loose eventually so we didnt carry it for nothing
	chain splitter	useful if you are not using a powerlink, though i'd carry one anyway just in case
	bottom bracket tool	not needed, but if the crankset had gone in russia whe could have been finished
grease	chain lube	not used as aften as we should have
	solid grease	carried around a whole tub, not really necessary
	petrol	useful to clean chains, a splash in an empty coke bottle and bungee it to the back. Also used for the stove
spares	1 folding Top Contact tyre, bought one mitchelin en route	less of a problem if you use 26" wheels but i'd still bring a spare, or buy one when the miles pile on. The folding conti is excellent for this purpose.
	chains	good to rotate them I think, and to be able to clean one while riding
	brake blocks	replaced only one set surprisingly
	brake cables	these last surprisingly well, 1 spare is all that was necessary
tent	Hilleberg Nallo 2	a joy to put up and still in good condition
stove	MSR XGK2	not to everyone's taste but we found this great. doesnt work too well with sunflower oil
	MSR stainless pans	light good quality
	stainless plates	good quality Ukrainian replacements as the pastic ones broke
	enamel cups	taste a little metalic, I found
	Katadyn pocket filter	used twice in Baikal, not really necessary
sleeping	Thermarest	small, light, comfortable; better than a rollmat
	two season sleeping bags	small but not warm enough for siberia, a good compromise though
	silk sleeping bag liner	this is indispensable, good when it's too hot or too cold, and stops the sleeping bag from getting too grubby
headtorch		wonderful, wonderful, I don't understand why it has taken me so long to adopt this clever little device
clothes		You'll look like a hobo in no time, even if you bring a your sunday best for the towns, it'll still get covered in filth. This is terrible.
	lycra cycling shorts	despite being pactical these were highly unsatisfactory, I recommend some tweed plus twos.
	cycle helmet	Lucy carried one for a while but seldom wore it, then it died.
	waterproof thing	it does rain
	tshirts
	trousers	pre-torn saves time
	coat	I used this in the first week when it was cold and carried it 5000 miles until I threw it out in Japan, inefficient.
	sun hat	a puppy stole mine in Poland
	spectacles	usefull when travelling thorough billions of flies in Mongolia