The Bike and the Gear

January 13, 2026

After riding New Zealand on my then new Tumbleweed Stargazer, named Skylar, I fell in love with that bike. So, it's the bike I'll be riding again. I find the riding positions so comfortable and I returned from New Zealand with no repetitive strain injuries.

The bike itself is exactly the same. It uses mountain bike gearing with a 32 T chainring up front and a 10-52 T 12 speed cassette on the back. I've raved about this combination in the past and here I'll do it again. This gearing allows me to grind up almost any hill, while still being able to pedal at 38 kph. Beyond 38 kph it's mostly about gliding anyhow.

For the tires this time I'm trying a brand that's new to me but not to gravel riders. I'm using 40 mm Panracer Gravelking SK TLR MTB Tire. And while these tires have MTB in their name I don't think they are anything like MTB tires that I use. They are low profile with low rolling resistance which should be key to moving easily on pavement. They say that they are durable but I'll only find that out with experience.

For gear on this trip I'll be using a striped down version of what I carried in New Zealand. I'm ditching the warmer clothes (puffy jacket, long underwear), as well at the tent and the sleeping set up. That's an estimated 6 or 7 pounds plus a lot of space I'll free up. It means that I won't have a bulky bag on my handlebars and I'm generally trying to keep the front end of the bike light.

On the front of the bike I'll have my usual utility bag, and one bottle cage for carrying a 1 L water bottle on the fork.

In the cockpit I'll have two feedbags and a top tube bag for snacks, as well as my Garmin and my phone using a Quadlock. I have an accessory bar on the front that creates space for my hands on the bars.

On the frame I will have a full frame bag for lock, pump, tools and snacks. This is a decision that's yet to be made.

On the back of the bike I have a rack with panniers and a water proof bag in the middle for my clothes. I hope that most times the panniers will be super light weight carrying a small amount of food but we'll see.

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Rich FrasierIn total agreement on your gearing and tire choices. We have the same on our tandem and they’ve stood up to all the abuse we can dish out. Looking forward to following along!
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5 days ago

Andrew RichardTo Rich FrasierNice to have validation on the tire choice. I am excited to see how they stand up to a lot of riding. They are definitely low rolling resistance and that's what I wanted with mainly pavement.
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4 days ago