Final setup & Test Ride

After getting together the final pieces of gear it was time to set everything up and take the bikes out for a final test run, Fully Loaded this time..

With the bike, racks & panniers coming in at about 14kg unloaded I was anxious to see exactly how much weight would be added when loaded. And more importantly how it would ride.

The panniers can certainly hold quite a bit, and with the tour deck as well it would be easy to overload the bike.

My bike fully loaded with the gear I expect to be taking it came in at 25kg.

Ben and his steed

Rishi and her Kona Lisa

It all adds up quickly, even with packing light as possible, with quite a bit of room left in the panniers.

Getting it up and downstairs is quite a mission, considering I had added close to 10kg at the rear wheels.

Once out on the road and trail it was brilliant when up to speed, albeit a little sluggish off the mark.

Handling on the single track was pretty similar, with not too much movement in the panniers. Hills are a bit of work with the extra weight at the back. I'm predicting plenty of spinning in granny on the longer climbs.

Now it's time to get the bikes stripped back down and into the boxes.

Bike boxing time

At 25kg fully loaded minus some carry on weight we are looking on track to make the check-in luggage weight of 23kg

Espana here we come!