Bicycles & Equipment
Below you can see our different bikepacking bikes and packing lists we typically use on trips.
We love cycling. It's as simple as that. we just love cycling. And we especially love to challenge ourselves with hard terrain, over big mountains, on lonely stretches through sand-blasted deserts, over distant steppes, through cold snowy landscapes. We love everything that takes us far, far away from the black asphalt roads and everything that smells of adventure and freedom.
When we have cycled so many different types of bikepacking, it can only be done because we also have a great passion for the equipment. Both the bikes and the equipment that must suit the challenge. Whether it's a race in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan, a crossing of continents, or a winter expedition in -30 degrees.
In the following we dive into our different types of bikes, what they can do, what adventure they are suitable for. And how we typically pack them.
Mountain bike
Our mountain bikes are the ones we most love to cycle bikepacking on. They are light enough to be fast, and robust enough to be able to drive really rough terrain, or seriously many kilometers. That is why we use them both for the long expeditions when we cross continents, and for races where the terrain is extreme.
We adjust the bikes before each trip, in relation to the task ahead. Either they can be tuned with suspension, click pedals and light mounting for racing or fast easy tours. Or they can be set up with a rigid fork, luggage carrier, comfortable riding position and flat pedals, so they can ride day in and day out, over long distances.
Our current mountain bikes are hand built bikes from our friends at Legs Legs.
Custom built BenBen titanium enduro hardtail
BenBen carbon 29″ i35mm wheelset
- The front wheel is built on a SON28 dynamo hub
- The rear wheel is built on a DT Swiss 240 superboost hub
Rockshox Pike 120mm fork / Seido BPS fork
Shimano XTR brakes
SRAM GX 12speed gear group
Fox transfer dropper post. 175mm
Klite USB charging and lighting system
Kenneth's packing list for the Silk Road Mountain Race
Kenneth's packing list for a long expedition
Custom built BenBen steel enduro hardtail
Costume paint job by Carbel Colors
BenBen carbon 29″ i30mm wheelset built on DT Swiss 240 hub
Rockshox SID 120mm fork / Cotoc Alpaca fork
Shimano XT brakes
SRAM GX 12speed gear group
29+ bike
Our 29+ steel bikes are actually built like big, fun mountain bikes. But we have mostly used them for expedition bikepacking. Among other things. on the trip from Argentina to Alaska. But we have also driven them in Iceland and elsewhere. The bikes are custom-built bikes from Legs Legs. Despite the large 3 inch tires, the bikes are relatively light and the geometry is fun and playful. For many years, 29+ was the preferred wheel size for serious bikepacking, and you can safely say that this type of bike in itself has helped to define what modern bikepacking can do. The possibilities the bike offers for tackling terrain have moved the boundaries of what can be achieved on a packed bike. Although 2.6 or even 2.25 tires have gradually become more normal in bikepacking, 3.00 is still a golden standard, which has certainly not been forgotten.
BenBen custom built steel rigid hardtail.
29×3.00 wheels mounted on Surly Rabbithole rims and Hope hubs
SRAM GX 11speed gear group
Shimano XT brakes
With custom-built steel luggage carrier, for the big expeditions
Kenneth's packing list for a long expedition
BenBen custom built steel rigid hardtail.
29×3.00 wheels mounted on Surly Rabbithole rims and Hope hubs
SRAM GX 11speed gear group
Shimano XT brakes
With custom-built steel luggage carrier, for the big expeditions
Gravel bike
We often use our gravel bikes at home for day trips and training trips. But we also use them for shorter and faster bikepacking trips, especially in Denmark, but also abroad.
They are significantly faster than our hardtails, and agile enough to ride light singletrack. They require a very light pack-up so as not to strain the bike too much and maintain speed.
BenBen/ Hansen's ice bike. Steel.
BenBen carbon 29″ i30mm wheelset built on Chris King hub
Carbon front fork
SRAM Apex groupset
Kenneth's packing list for light and fast
BenBen Edition bike. Titanium.
BenBen 29″ i30mm wheelset built on BenBen hub
BenBen steel fork
Shimano GRX group
Fat bike
Kenneth invested in a fat bike in 2022, to embark on winter adventures by bike. In a way, the fat bike has always stood as the most useless bike I could imagine. But I must also admit it has a certain charm with its "I-can-do-everything" look. When I think about where modern bikepacking started, in the wilderness of Alaska, the fat bike is the perfect bike to get the rider safely through all kinds of terrain. I bought a Surly fatbike, and as they say on their website, it can “bunny hop a grizzly bear”! However, it is a bike that should only be used in its proper element, because on ordinary roads you don't win the sprint!
Surly Ice Cream Truck. Steel.
Upgraded with SRAM GX 11speed. 1 blade in front.
Upgraded with DT Swiss 80mm lightweight rims
Schwalbe Al Mighty 26×4.80 with spikes
Kenneth's packing list for Winter bikepacking
Cargo bike
Kenneth's very first long-distance bike ride, in 2014, took place on a cargo bike. It is absolutely the easiest way to go on a bike tour. You are free to think about special bags, because you just throw a sports bag on the load. The trip started from St. Petersburg in Russia, to Odessa in Ukraine. Riding the cargo bike was a gift because it opens up so many fun conversations with people. Everyone is curious about the bicycle, and thus it is easy to meet people. But on the trip I also found out that the small front wheel limited me in being able to drive on dirt roads and into the big forests. So already here the curiosity about more off-road bikes started, for the next trips. It should also not be underestimated how heavy the bike is compared to regular bikes. So the work was done well.
Omnium Cargo
20 inch front wheel – 700c rear wheel
SRAM X7 gear group
Shimano XT brakes
The packing list has been forgotten. But what I remember best is a tent for DKK 300 from T Hansen.
