Equipment needed for third world touring

• your bike
  • mountain bike
  • strong rear rack. Note: seatpost-attached types don't carry enough weight.
  • no front rack (see below for reason)
  • panniers
  • cyclocomputer
  • for sandy/desert areas place Specialized "extreme" type rear tire, (it's like a paddle tread)
  • front suspension is recommended. SoftRide or similar stem-spring is best for reliability and weight. Note: The extra traction given by fork suspensions is not needed for bike touring.
  • rear suspension is preferred: Moxey or other seatpost type.
  • fenders are important for most trips (unless dry climate). They're not necessarily to keep you dry, but to keep you clean. A warm tropical downpour will soak you with or without fenders, and it's fun to ride in. However, laundry facilities are minimal. Hand washing the jersey gets most of the sweat out, but not the muck spray.
  • Check over the entire bike, and replace worn brake pads, cables, chains, etc. before you go. Make sure everything works.
  • Note: you are unlikely to be able to rent a bike in 3rd world because rental mountain bikes, the rare places they are available, are usually junk and then not in your size.
• group equipment: I'll take care of group equipment
• personal equipment depends on the trip and time of year
  • It's similar to backpacking equipment + bike cloths
• toolkit

Don't use front panniers:

These significantly reduce handling of the bicycle when riding on dirt (unless it's hardpacked). Even when minimizing the weight in the front (by placing clothing), the panniers greatly increase the inertia [mass times distance to the steering axis] of the wheel, fork, and pannier assembly. This effect becomes even more pronounced on sandy roads, where fast feedback is required. Your arms moving the handlebar provide corrective feedback to keep the front wheel from going unstable (turned 90 degrees or oscillating wildly). With panniers on, you simply cannot move the handlebar as fast as without panniers because of the increased inertia. In engineering terminology, this lowers the frequency response of the feedback, and the system goes unstable (when the front wheel turns all the way and you're forced to stop). A friend touring in Canada states most dirt roads in Canada are hardpacked, and front panniers do even out the weight, a possible advantage. However, for the roads that are not hardpacked or paved, he ties his front panniers onto the rear rack.