r/konaunit

As the title states. My wife and I are getting prepped for an 18 month off road trip through South America.

For background context we have previously rode 10300km across Europe from the Arctic Circle down the eastern block of Europe to Portugal over 12 months. It was a mix of sealed and gravel riding.

Wild camping 3-4 nights where possible then backed up by a night or two in accommodation (to clean clothes, avoid bad weather, find somewhere to stay in capital cities etc)

A few questions I have for those who have done a big off road trip -

What tyres have you found the best for a big off road trip?

Have you run tubed or tubeless?

I’m switching my groupo over from SRAM to Shimano to have one group set on both bikes for the trip and from what I’ve read shimano is more easily available for parts in SA (tho I’m aware 12 speed is limited so will plan ahead for this).

After a previous experience of having rims fail (couldn’t source the rims I wanted due to the COVID pandemic before our last big trip) I’m getting custom wheels built for the Unit X for both our bikes).

What racks have you used? I’m having an issue with heel strike on our tubus racks so am looking at adaptors or a switch over to old man mountain with adaptor set up.

Any suggestions on custom frame bags( looking at bike bag man and Sackit), handlebar bags etc.

TIA