Originally Posted by diana ruth

Single gear is just easier,relaxing.I carry a 80 liter backpack,pull a dog trailer with 90lbs of dog/spare parts.Have all my camping gear for a very comfortable 10 day trip.Yes,I do walk up steep hills pushing my bike,carrying my backpack,and walking my dog.And I love it.I plan well,fix my own bike, always have spare parts,and front and back spare rims. I use paper maps and a compass.The best part is my son does the same thing,except he has 105lb dog in his trailer.Go for it.

Originally Posted by DanBell

I have a couple of questions:

While riding are you carrying the backpack on your back or is it on the trailer?

Why do you carry spare rims? Do you often break rims on tour and find yourself in areas where you wouldn't be able to source a new wheel or rim?

I had a friend who toured on an old Cannondale. When the front derailleur broke he decided he didn't really need it so he took it off and didn't replace it. When the rear derailleur broke he decided he didn't need that and just rode the bike single speed. When the fork broke... well he didn't want to tour on a unicycle so he did actually replace that. We did several short tours with the bike like that. He is incredibly fit though. I was certainly glad to have gears on our trips.