This is not a comprehensive review report, since in many cases there's not alternative equipment to contrast. But it's worth noting for future curious bike tourists.
Biking gear
2010 Jamis Aurora Elite:
This was the workhorse. The office. The thin line between us and the road. Overall, it held up very well. The issues I had with it:
- could use a lower gear for touring
- front dropouts' paint cracked after I tightened up the QR a few times
- not the quietest pads, which is fine/good for touring, but might get annoying in civilian life
- the wheels are strong, but I managed to loosen the spokes and put the rear out of true in the last 200mi of the trip
I would recommend it to anyone. The 2011 Aurora Elite was probably the apex evolution of my ride, with SRAM brifters. The 2012 fell to the pressure of fashion and switched to bar-end shifters, which are lame.
Garmin 800 GPS:
I installed community-developed maps for the Pacific coast. These were pretty accurate, with one impossible road in Fairfax. They were a good complement for the turn notes on our route maps. We used the GPS more in cities where there were a lot of short turns, not to do the navigation, but to confirm that we were still on route. Of course, there was also the reward of having all our biking data recorded for posterity.
I got mine on sale for $300, and it's worth that if you train a lot.
Barfly 1.1 mount:
It's a center mount for your GPS. It did its job -- to free up space on my handlebars for other stuff. The default Garmin system is straps, which you could use to secure to the stem for the same space saving. But I use the stem for steering the bike when walking around. I'd say it's worth it.
POC MIPS helmet:
Designed by POC to its own standards instead of the very lax bike helmet standards, this helmet can in theory hold up to multiple impacts, which could help if you bounce your head off the road. It also has a system to reduce rotational acceleration to the head, which is likely to be a factor in concussions.
Like with my kickboxing gear, I take no chances with head protection. If a $200 helmet offers marginal protection improvements over a $50, it's totally worth it to me.
I never got to test the protection, fortunately, but the helmet vented just fine, and I never felt swamped on my scalp.
Ortlieb Classic Roller panniers:
You are gonna be in and out of your bags all day on tour. So you need a system that's easy to open and secure. I would say you'll open and close your bags 20 times a day. A system that's simple and not a pain is worth extra money. The Ortlieb Classics definitely deliver. They have a closure system that can be used in a variety of ways and definitely lock down tight when you want overnight.
The material is waterproof and tough. I scraped mine against a lot of things (including on the move) and they looked pretty new by the end. I wouldn't recommend anything else. This is the product for which I probably can give the strongest endorsement.
Bontrager MTB RL shoes:
They worked well. I wear 11-11.5 in real life and got 45 for these bike shoes. And E for width. The shoes were a little long, but were more than tight enough for touring use. The shop where I got fit didn't have a huge shoe selection, but these were the widest, and definitely wide enough for my wide feet. I'm aware that having stiff shoes is the essence of efficiency for bike shoes, and I don't think these were great in that department. Again, fine for touring.
The sole design was good for walking on gravel, dirt, grass, rocks, and other terrain. I used caution on very slick concrete or rocks, but I had no falls or slips from them.
Camping
MSR E-House Shelter:
Absurdly unbreathable. I guess that's why it's an emergency cover. Don't use it regularly. It's so effective at trapping air inside that it gets hard to breathe. I'm serious -- I couldn't get enough fresh air and would wake up hyperventilating. I ended up setting it up in a lean-to configuration to shelter me from potential rain.
The only plus I can give it is that it packs much smaller than the provided sack, which is novel for this kind of gear.
MSR AC-Bivy:
Light and compact. If you absolutely need to save space, this is better than a 1-person tent. It has problems with condensation worse than a tent. It also isn't rainproof by itself. I would often sleep under the open sky with my bivy, but in case of rain, I'd have to roll up the mesh part and hope water didn't seep in. This tactic would work fine in light rain. In heavy rain, I guess you'd have to fall asleep with your hands clamped. I can recommend this when you know you're going into a mostly dry climate.
Ledge Sports Scorpion Sleeping Bag:
Not real down, but still pretty good. The sack has a waterproof lining on the inside that wears off with a few packings. I don't think that's a big deal. I got mine for $40, which is an insane value for how well the bag functioned.
Matt's REI sleeping pad was effective, but very noisy whenever he turned in his sleep. I would say that was the dominant noise at night.
