Kung Fu Byk Ride: Splurging On My Chariot Of Steel

I've spent more time than I care to admit obsessing over my bike touring set up. I have the intractible conflict of being a thrifty gearhead, which makes for some interesting mental tug-of-wars. I was sure, positive, absolutely decided, that I was going to go for a traditional touring setup; something classic like the Surly Long Haul Trucker with the front and rear racks for a full four pannier setup.

The blog of bikepacker Cass Gilbert changed my whole touring philosophy, including how I wanted to do my own setup. Who was I to go "classic"? I wanted to go offroad, rugged, off-the-beaten path, versatile and needed a bike that could handle it all. And so I decided to go for the Surly Troll.

This, of course, created the dilemma of a new setup. I started drooling over Relevate Designs and Porcelein Rocket bikepacking gear. The gearhead side of me wanted to buy all the bags! The thrifty side of me kept reminding me that um... yea... you already bought all the regular panniers... So I did a test ride from Pittsburgh to DC to figure out what my dream bike touring setup would be. I mean, thrift is great, I paid off $200,000+ in student loans over 5 years because of my talent for thrift, but if my bike is going to be my home for a year or more, I damn well better love the setup.

Well, I think I've found it. I'm not so minimalist given the length of this trip that I can bike in a single pair of bike shorts and eat from food stalls every day. I decided to keep the rear panniers, run a framebag, insulated water bottle holders on the handbars, fuel bottle on the downtube, and Salsa anything cages on the front fork which will hold two Nalgenes in insulated bottle holders. This required some custom work, including a custom framebag by Porcelein Rocket since framebags are not yet sold retail for my midget-sized Troll. It also required extra water bottle bosses on the front fork and downtube. It took some time, but Tom Palermo of Palermo Cycles in Baltimore told me he could do it...