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Touring bike

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After 23,000 kilometres through America and Asia, we decided on the Aarios "Expedition" frame. Aarios, based in Gretzenbach, designs and builds its frames in-house.

The backbone is the hand-brazed, lugged 25CrMo4 tube set frame. Chromoly steel is very strong and flexible, and hardly heavier than aluminium. This no-compromise frame is built to our needs in terms of geometry, mounting points and cable routing. A powder coating protects the surface against corrosion.

As cycling globetrotters, we want to build up our bikes ourselves. The Shimano 9-speed groupset is replaced by a Rohloff hub gear, and a suspension seatpost will soften bumpy tracks. The SON hub dynamo supplies power for the lights and a USB charging plug. The racks and any connecting parts that could corrode are replaced by stainless steel products.

Aarios "Expedition" components

Weight: 17.9 kg
Aarios
Frame
Aarios Expedition ♀ 46 and ♂ 50 cm
Tubes
hand-brazed, lugged 25CrMo4 steel, made to measure
Headset
Chris King Ahead alu 1 1/8"
Fork
Aarios CrMo4 steel
Handlebars
Ritchey WCS Rizer ♀ L=610/rise 35mm, ♂ L=660/rise 20mm
Stem
Ritchey WCS 25.4mm 90mm 6 degrees ♀, 100mm ♂
Grips
Ergon GP5 ♂ large, ♀ small / Rohloff
Brakes
Avid Speed Dial Ultimate
Chain
KNC X1 single-speed
Tyres
Schwalbe Marathon Mondial folding tyres 26" x 2.0 (50-559)
Rims
Rigida Sputnik (front) and Rigida Andra (rear), 36 holes (ceramic-coated)
Spokes
DT Comp silver, rear 2-cross / front 3-cross + Prolock ProHead brass nipples
Saddle
Brooks B17 Titanium
Seatpost
Cane Creek Thudbuster ST
Crankset
Shimano Saint FC-M810-1 / FC-M815 9-speed
Chainring guard
Shimano Bashguard Saint FC-M810/FC-M815 crank, 38-42 teeth
Sprocket/chainring
Rohloff 17 teeth / Shimano chainring 42 teeth
Bottom bracket
Chris King bearing cups MTB BSA Hollowtech II
Pedals
Shimano XT SPD PD-T780
Hub dynamo
Schmidt SON 28 Original
Gear hub
Rohloff SpeedHub CC OEM EX 14/500 black, 36 holes
Mudguards
Curana C-Lite mudguard set 26", 55mm wide
Lights
Supernova Airstream 2 + Tail Light 2 (QR mount) with Security Bolt Kit
USB charger
Supernova The Plug III (a power socket on the bike) with Security Bolt Kit
Mirror
Busch & Müller CycleStar 901
Racks
Tubus Nova Lowrider (front), Tubus Cosmo (rear), powder-coated stainless steel
Lock
2 Abus Cobra steel cables 8mm / padlocks (keyed alike)
Kickstand
Pletscher centre stand (additionally reinforced)
Security
Saddle and seatpost, front and rear wheel secured with Pitlock
Bike computer
Garmin Edge 810 GPS / Ciclo CM 434 wired
Pump
Topeak Morph Road
Bottle cages
3 PET-Picker, stainless steel
Ortlieb panniers
Front-Roller Classic 25L, Back-Roller Classic 40L, outer pockets 3.6L, Rack-Pack 49L, handlebar bag Ultimate6 Pro E, map case Ultimate6, backpack Airflex 11L