Touring Equipment

Good point, can't fault you about needing two water bottles, I reckon I have a smaller framebag actually, give me a minutes.

Found it (for real, was going through my boxes of stuff);

Ooh. I may take you up on that, if you won't need it for a bit and you don't mind the risk of it drowning in a week of rain.

it's reasonably waterproof, I don't think you'd need to worry about that, but yeah go ahead, the big triangle one is what I used the most as it got a bit more room, so it's surplus.

free on Thurs and Fri, so let me know when to bring it up.

doesn't the Alfine hub require a 1000 mile service?

I don't think I need to service mine, and I average 100 miles a week on it for a year.

The Alfine 11 make a great touring hubs as it's perfectly spaced (unlike the Alfine 8), you can also get a shifter for it now;

Jtek have an Alfine 11 bar end shifter in the pipeline;

I'd have though Scott will able to provided you with the necessary adviced.

Not everyone wants or needs my advice!

It got Vin Cox all the way round on two services from what I read. I can't find a definitive answer but 6000 miles seems to be closer to the mark.

Thanks, I do have a bar bag, I'd just rather not have to use it. I think I more or less have a plan except 1) I need a smaller pump and 2) shampoo may be an issue.

this stuff ftw:
http://www.walkoutdoors.com/product_info.php?prod=1360

It's even really nice feeling in the hair.

Matched with one of those travel towels= win.
(comes in 100ml package too, in case you're flying)

Hi, can anyone identify these forks. They are carbon, painted. they have lowrider bosses, canti mounts, and mudguard eyelets.
I can buy them from a guy near here, but they are expensive, and he hasn't told me the brand - don't think he wants to, and i don't want to push it! (he doesn't make them i don't think).
any ideas?

ta.

Won't tell you what brand they are? Sounds like a cock.

yeah, i think ill ask him straight up...make it sound like i want to do some research on them, durability etc.... but he wants $285 (CAD) for a pair. which i think is a little steep! but i can't seem to find any other forks like these on the net.
the guy, who is the frame builder shown above is clearly a great frame builder, and one of only a few out here from what i can tell, so i don't want to nark him off by trying to undercut him when he could be the very guy i turn to for a new touring frame in the future...

yeah, i think ill ask him straight up...make it sound like i want to do some research on them, durability etc.... but he wants $285 (CAD) for a pair. which i think is a little steep! but i can't seem to find any other forks like these on the net.
the guy, who is the frame builder shown above is clearly a great frame builder, and one of only a few out here from what i can tell, so i don't want to nark him off by trying to undercut him when he could be the very guy i turn to for a new touring frame in the future...

Have you spoken with Ryffranck, Naked, Marinoni, Brodie, DeKerf, Steelwool, Argon18, Devinci, Guru, Vitess, Aquila Cycles, Covebike, Cervelo, Rocky Mountain, Cycles Bertrand? I think they're all Canadian, and most will do some level of custom. I mean, if you're not getting along...

Thanks, that's very useful. I'm still not sure a 750 mile tour in October is feasible with just a saddlebag, hip pouch and top tube bag but I like a challenge.

Hi Tricity,

I lejoged in 11 days this sumer with a carradice saddle bag and topeak tri bag and bar bag and was fine. By the end, the bar bag was little more than a glorified map holder, and its carrying capacity was surplus to requirements. Next time I do any real distance, it'll be saddle bag and tri bag only. A bit of brutal / honest packing means you really don't need that much stuff at all.

With saddle bag, tri bag and hip pouch i'm sure you'll be fine. Actually, are you planning to camp or B&B? We stayed in B&Bs / YHAs and this made things much easier.

This seems to me to be not entirely true.
from http://cyclingthe6.blogspot.com/2010/12/nubian-way.html

So whilst a great hub, trying to claim they have never had a hub fail is foolish.

This mirrors the experience of a chap I know who's had trouble with his Rohloff flanges shearing off. Mind you, I think these tales come to the foreground specifically because there are so few other problems. We don't fret endlessly about the failure of seals on XT hubs do we? Oh, hang on...

Hi, can anyone identify these forks. They are carbon, painted. they have lowrider bosses, canti mounts, and mudguard eyelets.
I can buy them from a guy near here, but they are expensive, and he hasn't told me the brand - don't think he wants to, and i don't want to push it! (he doesn't make them i don't think).
any ideas? ta.

Cant help you with those^

But I have a carbon CX fork on the commuter with, lowriders, canti mounts, and mudguard eyelets. Its a Bontrager Satelite. Picked it up cheap off Ebay. You could look for one of them.

Or a Dinglespeed!

Surely they need a tensioner?

tensioner for what?

Surely they need a tensioner?

Tension comes vis adjust in the track-end only. In fact the idea is that you can step off the bike swap the chain with your hand and ride, so the total number of teeth should be the same (or close and you need to adjust the rear wheel). For single speeders, riding to the trail, something like 38:16, and 36:18 is popular.

Cant help you with those^

But I have a carbon CX fork on the commuter with, lowriders, canti mounts, and mudguard eyelets. Its a Bontrager Satelite. Picked it up cheap off Ebay. You could look for one of them.

cheers, ill keep my eyes out - seem like a cheaper option!

i now know what brand the forks are.
I thought that the frame builder would want to keep this info to himself to protect a sale. just goes to show that presumption is the mother of all fuck-ups as he has just given me a link to the website where he gets them.
a taiwan based company: http://www.evo.com.tw/detail/99794/99794.html

in the mean time i have also found these guys based in the UK who sell a columbus trekking fork, seems like a great option to me! http://www.ceeway.com/carbon%20forks.htm

cheers, ill keep my eyes out - seem like a cheaper option!

Bontrager satellite plus. Came in various versions. Its a heavy commuter fork, nothing fancy. But has all the ride of carbon, yet is uber useful.

No longer produced so EBay is your best chance.

Sold my mid 90's Kona Fire Mountain to a lad who was going on a Euro tour - I never knew what happened to him ... oh well! I was well jealous - buti know my limits Im only good for 50 miles then i need a kip :-)

quoted from the owner of those photos;

Longtail touring monster, custom made by Bilenky in Philadelphia. Two young sweethearts from Australia touring across the country, heading south to Baja before packing it in. The blue bike got the pink rack; the pink bike got the blue rack. Adorable.

Or a Dinglespeed!

17/21 Dingle gives a decent range but I'd rather have a freewheel in the low gear. White Industries double freewheel doesn't have as much range (only 2 teeth difference). It'd be cool if you could find/make an oversize freewheel, machine off the big cog from the dingle, and weld the freewheel over it. Then you'd have fixed/free on the same wheel without having to flip it round.

I looked into getting a White Industries double freewheel on one side and Dingle on the other, but I worked out that with limited sizes available on both, the lowest gear would be fixed rather than freewheel.

My old bike had 52/42 rings and 20/30 sprockets (cut from a freehub cassette) on a freehub wheel, a la Sheldon, giving 70" and a 37" granny gear. However I never really tested it properly (frame had no drilling for a rear brake) and ended up selling the lot. I might do it again on my current beater though.

An interesting article here by the Adventure cycling association on 'weight'.
http://www.facebook.com/notes/adventure-cycling-association/no-weigh-weigh/10150412350045795