We will be using a 2011 Tandemania Milano made by KHS bicycles. We spent a lot of time trying to find a tandem bike but the used tandem market is rather non-existent so we bit the bullet and decided to buy new. We are purchasing the bike from one of the only tandem dealers we could find in Ontario; they are called MBS Tandems and were extremely helpful. They adjusted everything and set up the bike exactly how we wanted it. Then they helped us learn how to ride it together and how to communicate with each other while riding. They even told us all about their cross Canada trip and a few other trips they've done. Also, they said they know another team who biked across Canada with this exact bike which was reassuring to know. So, what we thought was going to be fifteen minutes to pay for the bike and load it in the truck turned into a very informative and helpful afternoon, thanks Brenda and David!
Below is how it looks after adding a handlebar bag, rear fender, pump, bike computer, and trailer.
Why not? Just kidding, we spent quite a bit of time deciding on what bikes we should use and finally picked a tandem for several reasons:
- We both would have needed new bikes anyways.
- Patricia is alot faster than Chris on a bike so she'd have to constantly wait for him to catch up.
- We love each other so much we didn't want to be further than 20cm away from each other the entire trip and that would be impossible to achieve on two separate bikes.
- We're hoping once we get the hang of it we can hold a faster pace than we could on two separate bikes and thus, go further and expand less energy then on two separate bikes.
- 50% less tires to get punctured, less spare parts, and tools.
- It has almost the same amount of storage space(front and rear panniers) that a single bike has but, needs to carry gear for two people.
- The tires, frame, components, etc have to carry the load of two people riding and pedalling instead of one so they are stressed more.
Equipment Storage:
We haven't finalized our gear/packing list yet but we hope to pair it down so that it all fits in the trailer and handlebar bag.
Shelter:
We will be using a GoLite Den 2 Tent for shelter. It weighs in at just under 56oz(3.5lbs). We hope to camp in campgrounds, RV parks, public parks, side of the road, etc. We will try to avoid hotels/motels to save money. Below is a picture of the tent.
We have flip flopped a few times on whether or not to bring cooking gear. Currently we are not planning on bringing a stove and will be eating fresh foods bought every few days. However, we did test out several alcohol pop can stoves so, if we decide we really want a stove we'll just buy some alcohol and a small pot and make one out of popcans.
Electronics
We wanted to minimize how many electronic devices we took because it is no fun worrying about them(getting wet, getting banged and jostled around on the bike, battery charging, etc) but, there are three devices we've decided to take:
- A cell phone to call/text home once and a while and for emergency purposes(knock on wood).
- A digital camera for obvious reasons.
- A netbook + internet stick.
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| The netbook adapter is at the top and the wire removed from the adapter on the bottom. Weight savings of 3.25oz. |
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| Phone charger on the left and the wire removed from phone charger on the right. Weight savings of 0.5oz. |
Engine:
We've got a really strong engine that we're going to bolt on this baby.
More will be added to this page as we finalize our gear list.
Sexy equipment!
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