Highslide JS

From cross racing to commuting to pleasure riding to fully-loaded touring, my first hand-built frame is a trusty companion.

Highslide JS

My first fillet brazed bike has served Carrie well. The little green tank can't be stopped!

Iceland by Bicycle

Our Gear

The balance between weight and comfort

All of you gear heads and bike geeks are probably visiting this page first. Forget the cool photos and tales of danger, all you really want to see is what we're packing. Well, as a full-fledged bike geek myself, I aim to please. Commence the real tour:

On the left are two fine specimens perfectly suited for hauling stuff and rolling around. The bike on top is my first attempt at making a steel frame from the ground up. The frame features Henry James lugs, Columbus SL tubing and a beautiful Doug Fattic paintjob. The frame on bottom is fillet brazed with mixed True Temper tubes and Henry James bits and wears a matte green powdercoat.

Both bikes carry Tubus racks and come complete with plenty of easy gears that helped us inch up hills and spin into the notorious Icelandic headwinds. Although our bikes survived the trip with only minor paint scratches, we often wished we'd brought bikes with suspension forks to comfort us over the inevitable washboarded dirt roads and larger tires to provide more stability in the sandier sections we encountered. At times we chose the busier paved road over the more scenic dirt road because we didn't want our bodies to rattle apart.

Below you can take a gander at what I stuffed into my panniers during our trip. Carrie's cargo was slightly different but similar enough to avoid repetition. My weight weenie senses tingle whenever I look at the list, but most things are on there for a good reason.