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.
Weight | 17.9 kg (as pictured) |
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 |
