The most important thing about unitouring is the unicycle. After all, without a unicycle, you’re not unitouring, you’re just touring!

My big decision is on which wheel size to ride. Looking at the route, most of it appears to be gravel, which will be ideal for a 36″ unicycle. My choices are between a 36″ Schlumpf (too heavy/complicated), my 2003 airfoil Coker (bombproof but also heavy), or my ultralight Alchemist carbon 36. Unfortunately the latter two have rims that are extremely tight- I don’t fancy having to wrestle a tyre off on the side of the road after 80km. Punctures are fact of life, especially on a 3000km trip.

Stepping down to the 29″ wheel makes sense- the tyre is easily removed, it is light and compact, and I have a lot of experience, the majority of my unitours were ridden on a 29. I have a whole stable of 29″ wheels, but my trusty YUni 29er was my initial choice. It is one of the earliest 29 unicycles, and has been with me everywhere over 20yrs, from the deserts of Uzbekistan to the grassland steppe of Mongolia, from crazy traffic in Cambodia to carrying groceries in Dubbo (Australia). Unfortunately, it uses square taper cranks. I didn’t fancy bringing multiple cranksets on the trip, and the tapers are getting rather worn.

That leaves me with my race unicycles. I am a big fan of the Triton, and have four sets of the Russian made titanium frames. The original 2008 version is the one which has seen the most action, and, after almost 15yrs of use, still looks brand new. I am not riding disc brakes (or any brake), so the newer Triton disc 29″ isn’t necessary.

I paired this up with my racing wheelset from the last two Unicons- a Lightbicycle RM29C14 carbon built around a Nimbus Equinox ISIS hub. It is very light, but also strong- getting me around the Karapoti Classic multiple times.

Tyres are next, and is a tricky thing to get right. With lot of helpful information on the TA forum, I went with their recommendation of a gravel tyre- the Vittoria Mezcal 2.2. It is very similar in appearance to one of my favourite 29 tyres, the WTB Nanoraptor, but has bigger volume, and is relatively light (649g). A light tyre is no good if doesn’t go where you point it, but after a test ride, I was very happy. It has a square profile and stiff sidewalls, which means it handles camber very well.

The crankset is a Nimbus VCX triple hole 100/125/150mm, saving a bit of weight over carrying two sets of cranks and a crank extractor. Pedals- am undecided between my Wellgo MG1 or a set of Gusset Slim Jims. I’m leaning toward the latter, which are heavier and more solid than the MG1s.

Seat choice comes next- 3000km is serious potential butt hurt! More choices! I have been riding the Mad4One handle saddle for a while now- I love the simplicity and lightweight design. It is very strong- there are very few welds and no moving parts. However, I decided to use a carbon NNC flatfish paired to a KH T-bar. The extra hand positions will come in handy. There is also a convenient place to attach my Garmin computer.

The total weight comes to 5.1kg, fairly respectable for a touring configuration. I’m happy!