As a life-long citizen of Latin America I’d like to give you some advice.

Try to use the toughest and widest tires you can get. Blacktops across Latin America are only fair within the bigger cities and some highways. Everywhere else you’ll have to deal with holes, cracks, loose gravel, and lots of dirt.

The ideal wheel size is 26″ followed by 29″, since mtb bikes are really popular all over Latin America. 700c are found mainly in the bigger cities due to the aforementioned road conditions.

Never drink water from the tap. In the USA bottled water is a scam, but in Latin America is the only warranty against amibiasis, bilharzia, or dehydration by diarrhea when you are far away from the town. Always drink bottled water or canned beverages, even in restaurants. Get a reverse-osmosis filter if you can: just like you first aid kit, you might have to use it only once, but it will save your life.

I’d recommend to stay away from the Gates belt drive for a simple reason: they are almost unknown in Latin America. But you can find 9-speed chains everywhere at fair prices, and 10-11 speed chains in bigger cities. You might want to buy a belt and can of Rohloff oil and leave them in a friend’s or your parent’s house, ready to be shipped to a major city when needed via UPS or Fedex.

When you have to get supplies or parts from outside the country you are in, try to have them sent by a big-name service like UPS, FedEx or DHL to a good-size city instead of a town.

Customs officers and law-enforcement people can’t be trusted. When they ask for your papers, give them a quality color copy instead of the original. If they insist on having the original, don’t let them get out of your sight.

Try to include Brasil in your trip. It’s the only Latin American country with a big cycling industry of their own, (with even a recumbent bike builder) and their products are top-notch.

While most people could warn you about crime, one common trait of Latin Ameican people is our friendliness to visitors. Lots of tourists and trekkers travel here to get amazed by the nature and to enjoy the unique foods and experiences we share. Once you spend quality time around here, you’ll understad why so many adventurers keep coming and returning. See ya!

Thanks José! If you can, please keep tabs on where I am via social media, and get in contact when I approach. I’d love to share a beer with you. Alee

If you happen to stop by Santiago, you’re invited for a beer or even a couch if that’s what you need.

Enjoy your trip!

That’s pretty cool! Pity they didn’t have Rohloff hubs back then…

Hi Alee,
In Northern Chile, where almost all surface water is saline & you can’t melt snow due to Sulphur contamination. We found we had to buy water in the Altiplano of Bolivia & Northern Chile as there was no surface water to filter.
Most of the trip we didn’t have to carry much water, as we could filter (MSR Guardian) from any suitable water courses we passed during the day. We never actually ran out of water, but had to filter out of a tiny soak one day when we didn’t think we were going to get to the next town & needed water for overnight.
IMO I would not recommend anything under 2.0″, preferably wider. We had tyres ready to post in Australia. When I asked our AirBnB host in La Paz, if I could use her address to send the tyres, she told us not to send them, as in her opinion they would be stolen or if they did show up they would be months late. The best is if you are meeting a friend over there & get them to bring them with them. Just our experience, obviously other people have been successful in receiving supplies, but my Spanish is not that good for organising the delivery & receipt of goods.
Regards Peter

Hi Vicki and Peter,

Thanks for sharing your advice! I’m planning on getting tyres sent in along the way, so that I don’t have to rely on bike shops for stock. I’ll be using 29 x 2.0″ tyres. Which section did you need to carry the most water?

Many thanks,
Alee