We bought new bikes for this trip. Andrew got the Surly Long Haul Trucker and Hillary got the Kona Sutra. In sum, they are pretty similar. Both steel touring bikes, Shimano bar-end shifters, Tiagra triple in the front and XT in the rear. The main difference is that the Surly has cantilever brakes and the Kona has disc. If you want the gory details, Google them. If that was too much detail, consider this: the Surly is tan and the Kona is dark brown. Saddles: Brooks Imperial for Andrew and Terry Falcon for Hillary. We’ll post more on our packing and gear soon.