Here is my bicycle touring gear list I used on a one week cycle tour around the Fens area of England. I was very happy with how it performed, and the bike tour was awesome! I used the majority of this bike touring gear on a later bicycle tour from Greece to England.
Testing Bike Touring Gear In The Fens
One of the reasons for cycling around the Fens for a week, was to test new bits of gear out. I wanted to see how each piece performed, so that I could come up with my ultimate bike touring gear list.
In the end, everything performed so well, this bicycle touring gear list ended up being almost my definitive kit. Obviously, each bike tour is different though, and so small alterations are made here and there depending where I am in the world.
Hopefully, this list of bike touring gear can help you if you are planning your own trip. As well as the list itself, I have also made a YouTube video.
It has proved to be quite popular over the last couple of years! – Bicycle Touring Gear for a One Week Cycle Tour. For more tips on touring, check out my bicycle touring tips.
Bike Touring Gear List
The Bicycle
I am riding a custom built Thorn Nomad touring bike with Rohloff hub, which has good quality racks both front and back. A Brooks saddle will keep my butt happy. The bike's name is Bea, by the way.
Panniers for Bike Touring
I will be using panniers rather than a trailer for this one week cycle tour of the Fens. Ortlieb Classic's feature in almost every cyclists bicycle touring gear list, and they do so in mine as well.
I will be using panniers on both the front and back, and will also be using an Ortlieb Rackpack which will provide additional room. An Ortlieb compact handlebar bag on the front completes the ensemble.
Bicycle Toolkit
As the bike is in good condition, I will only be taking a minimal bicycle toolkit for this one week tour. Most of the bike tools I should need will be on my multi-tool.
- Bicycle Pump
- Two inner tubes
- Puncture repair kit
- Bicycle Mutli-Tool
- Spanner
- Chain lube
Camping Gear for Bike Touring
I will be camping every night on this cycle tour around the Fens, which should give me a good chance to test out the following gear.
- Vango Lattitude 300 Sleeping Bag
- Sleeping Bag Liner
- Sleeping mat (foam style)
- Karimmor Deluxe Travel Pillow
- Swiss Army Knife
Cooking Kit for Bike Tours
As I am camping, I will also be cooking for myself on the road. (Although I do foresee fish and chips, full English breakfasts, and other treats on the way!). As I'm only away for a few days no need for water purification on this trip.
- MSR Whisperlite Universal
- Coleman resealable fuel canister
- Stainless Steel Cookpot
- Stainless Steel Cup
- Plastic cup
- Knife, fork and spoon set
- Lighter/matches
- Water Bottles x 3
Read here: Bicycle Touring Cooking Gear
Food for bicycle touring
I normally aim to carry approximately three or four days food in my panniers when bicycle touring. These are the items that I will actually leave the house with, and I will stock up with extra food as and when needed along the way. You can read up here about the best foods for bicycle touring.
- Oats (for 4 days)
- Rice (for 4 days)
- Brew kit comprising of tea, sugar and coffee.
- Cupasoups x 4
- Tinned fish x 3
- Peanut butter
- 1 main meal from ration pack
- 2 x ration biscuits
- 3 x cereal bars
- Half a loaf of bread
Cycling Clothes
No bicycle touring gear list is complete without including the cycling clothes! The UK is famed for its varied weather, and so I have packed a range of clothes to see me through warm, cold, and wet days.
- Endura Hummvee 3/4 length cycling shorts
- 2 x liner shorts
- Various cycling tops
- sunhat / sunglasses
- Bicycle touring shoes
Wet Weather Gear
- Sealskinz socks
- Sealskinz hat
- Gore jacket
- Waterproof gloves
Other Clothes
- A light pair of jeans
- 3 pairs of socks
- 2 pairs of pants
- Light fleece
Electronic Gear
There is no need to take the laptop for this week long cycling tour, but the list of electronic gear is still pretty big. Amazing to think that on my first cycling trip around New Zealand, not one single piece of tech featured in my bicycle touring gear list!
Additional – You will probably spot that I have not included a camera on this list. I wanted to take one, but managed to drop and break it a couple of days before I left. Thankfully, my phone has a pretty good camera.
- Garmin Touring Pro GPS
- Samsung Galaxy S4
- MP3 Player
- Acer Iconia A1 Tablet
- Kindle
- Tecknet Iep1500 Power Bank battery
- Various leads
Toiletries/Medical Kit
- Lip balm
- Toothbrush
- Toothpaste
- Soap
- Neurofen
- Napisan
- Life Venture Trek Towel
No doubt there are a few odds and sods that I have forgotten to include in this bicycle touring gear list, but this is about as thorough as I can come up with! Looking forwards to trying it all out 🙂 Here's that YouTube video.
You might also be interested in my bicycle touring gear list for cycling from Greece to England.
More Bike Touring Posts
You might also be interested in these bicycle touring blog posts:
Cycle Touring FAQ
Bike tourers are always trying to refine the kit they use and how much space it takes up. Here's some frequently asked questions that bicycle travelers have when planning for a long trip:
What gear do you need for bike touring?
Depending on the length of your bike tour, you might want to take camping gear, spare parts, cooking kit, and spare clothes.
Can any bike be a touring bike?
While specifically designed touring bikes are better when it comes to touring, you can really go on a bikepacking trip with any type of bike. The shortcomings of lower quality and non specific touring bikes become more apparent the longer the tour is.
What is touring on a bike?
The term ‘bike touring' refers to either touring on a bicycle or taking self-contained cycling trips for pleasure, adventure, or independence rather than sport, commuting, or exercise. Trips can range from single days to multi-day excursions and even years long journeys.
How should I dress for a road bike for touring?
The clothing you use when riding bikes on a long distance tour will vary depending on weather conditions and cultural sensitivities of the countries you are cycling. A pair of comfortable padded shorts is always a good choice though!
Article Author: Dave Briggs
Dave has cycled around much of the world, including multi-year bike touring trips such as cycling from Alaska to Argentina, and England to South Africa. Check out his reviews and tips about bike touring.
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Hi Dave,
Great article complimenting a well thouht out kitting list. The only thing missing though, for me, was how and where you pack your kit on the bike. What do you put in each pannier and why?
Sounds like you have just about everything! Would love to do a bike trip one day, still debating where to go. What was the total weight?
Just 22kgs of packed stuff, including the weight of the bags themselves, the food and the water.
What are these liner shorts of which you speak?
I tried paper pants under my cycle shorts against advice. I should have listened. It wasn’t long before the paper was soaked with sweat and bunching up. Iwas breaking in a Brooks B17 at the time so it was the worst of all worlds.
Thanks in advance
Andy
They are basically padded shorts, which have the padded around the backside. makes the whole riding experience more comfortable!