Gear List for the 2019 Silk Road Mountain Race

The Silk Road Mountain Race is literally a breathtaking and very challenging course through the high mountains of Kyrgyzstan. In 2019 over 140 participants took on the 1,070 miles route which featured a leg busting 94,000 ft of climbing. Below is a complete gear list which I pedaled and pushed to 5th place in a time of 8 days, 16 hours and 32 minutes. I should add, to prepare for this event, I used LW Coaching’s pre-built 5–10 day bikepacking race training plan. You can get the same 12 week plan for $99 here.

1. Canyon Exceed (size L) with Shimano XTR 2×12, Fox 34 SC 120mm fork with remote lock-out, Ergon SM Men Team saddle (size M/L), Ergon GS3-Small grips, Profile Design V2+ aero bars custom cut to length, K-Lite Bikepacker Ultra dynamo light, SPOT Tracker Gen3, Garmin eTrex 30 GPS.
2. Topeak BackLoader (size 10L) filled with Patagonia Stretch Rainshadow jacket, Gore Active Trail Pants, Primal Thermal Arm and Leg warmers, Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisperer Hooded down jacket, MontBell Tec Down pants, Gore C5 Gore-Tex Gloves, Buff x2, Gore C3 Overshoe, Gore C5 Windstopper Thermo overshoe, Primal QX5 bib shorts x2, Outdoor Research PL 100 gloves, Gore R7 Windstopper lightweight hooded jacket.
3. Topeak FastFuel Tri Bag filled with Sawyer Squeeze Water Filter and CNOC Vecto 2L water filter bag
4. Custom made frame bag by Eagle, CO resident Robert Tadlock filled with 4 Tubolito 29er tubes, Tubolito Flix-Kit, Park Tool Tire Boots, 2 oz bottle of Stan’s sealant, Spare parts kit, Medical/self-care kit, Topeak Mini 20 Pro multi-tool, Topeak Mountain TT G pump, Peregine Koa 22 Dry backpack, MSR DromLite 4L bag, Spare AA and AAA Lithium batteries, Zip-Ties, ID, SRMR checkpoint card and cash, Topeak 7800 PowerPack, Water Purification tablets in case filter failed in the field.
5. Topeak TopLoader filled with food.
6. Revelate Design Mountain Feedbag x2 filled with food/drink, sunscreen, chapstick, small LED pen light, Chamois Butt’r, resupply cue sheet, Finish Line Wet Ceramic chain lube.
7. 2020 Topeak FrontLoader filled with inexpensive lightweight foam sleeping pad cut to 3/4 my body length, Big Agnes Pluton UL 40º sleeping bag, Big Agnes AXL Air Pillow, Outdoor Research Aurora Bivy.
8. Custom built DT Swiss XR391 wheelset with front wheel laced to an Shutter Precision 8X Boost Dynamo Hub, Maxxis Aspen 2.25 EXO tires, Stan’s sealant.

Overall everything on this list worked perfectly. Knowing what I know now about the SRMR environment, I would change some things. I would bring warmer gloves or mitts for when the temps dropped to the freezing mark and below. I would also consider raising the temperature rating of my sleeping bag to between 20F to 30F. The 40F bag worked…but it didn’t allow for a comfortable nights sleep when sleeping in temps well below freezing. I would also ease up on my gearing. The Shimano 2x12 gear ratios where a bit stout for the endless steep climbing. If coming back to the SRMR I would run Shimano XTR 1x12 with 30T front ring and 10–51 cassette.

Questions or comments on my gear choices? Please post up a comment.