Good gear = great tour. Bad gear = potential disaster. These are my suggestions for touring SE Asia on two wheels.

The bike

I ride a 2005 21″ Trek 520 and love it. This is a touring-specific model, meaning a wider wheel base, tougher tubing, and plenty of eyelets for fenders, racks, and other accessories (see below). It doesn’t fit mountain bike knobbies, but can handle much beefier tires than a road bike. Think of it as a hybrid that loves to travel. Eats up smooth Thai tarmac just as well as rutted Cambodian dirt track.

A mountain bike would also be a fine choice—I could have used the front suspension on the rougher stretches. Just make sure the frame can accommodate whatever racks you want to throw on.

Carriage

For my SE Asian tour, I had a set of Ortlieb Bike Packer Plus rear panniers. You won’t need more storage than this unless you’re camping. I didn’t, and never felt the urge to. Hotels are plentiful and sweetly cheap.

The Ortliebs, though, I’m not as sweet on. Super waterproof, but they feature a top-loading design, like a trekking backpack, and thus can be difficult to load/unload. If I were buying again, I’d go with my wife’s Arkel T-42′s.

I’ve got a top-of-the-line rear rack: the Tubus Cargo. It’s made of lightweight, hollow steel and is rated to 88lbs. Nothing beats it.

I also rocked a Lone Peak H-100 Alta handlebar bag. The pockets both inside and out are convenient. It’s not waterproof like the brands above, but it’s much cheaper. A plastic grocery bag worked fine as a rain fly.

Tires, accessories

3,000km, 0 flats. This was thanks to extra money spent on Schwalbe Marathon tires. 32″ Plus in the front, 35″ XR in the rear. I’ll never tour on anything else.

In contrast, the Planet Bike Hardcore Hybrid/Touring fenders were a tossup. Great at saving you from a water/dirt/mud bath, but pretty fragile when you’re shoving your bike in and out of bus luggage holds.

You’ll want a computer. Very handy for following the directions in the once biblical but now sadly out of date (and ridiculously expensive) Lonely Planet Cycling Vietnam, Laos & Cambodia. My cheap Topeak Comp 130 was terrible, the display immediately fogging up in the tropical climate. I now use a Cateye Micro Wireless, which works great.

Tools

Make sure to bring: hex wrench, multitool, tire levers, tire patch kit, lock, needlenose pliers, box/crescent wrench, chain lube/cleaner, bicycle grease, electrical/duct tape

Good to have: chain tool, spoke wrench, cable cutters, chain whip, cassette remover, emergency spoke, wrench set, screwdriver, super glue

Spares

Make sure to bring: inner tubes, assorted screws and nuts, batteries for computer/lights

Good to have: tire(s), gear/brake cables and housing, brake shoes, seatpost clamp, spokes, pedal cleats

SE Asia-specific gear

Sunscreen—the higher the SFP, the better
Insect repellent
Malaria medication
Mosquito net