Touring Equipment

I think far too much time is spent by prospective cycle tourists agonizing over bikes, equipment and gadgets. I love planning trips so tend to do a lot of this myself, but am trying to cut down! The thing that really inspired me to do a big trip (London to Istanbul in 2007) was reading this blog: http://kidderminstertothecaspianbybike.blogspot.com/
(pearoast btw). It's written by a chap who cycled all the way to Thailand on a beat up mountain bike that he bought for £50. Last year I rode to Paris with a friend who had borrowed a very heavy raleigh step through and strapped a rucksack to the back - she managed fine!
As black rainbow project mentioned earlier, it is possible to get stuff delivered all over the world, usually in a couple of days (SJS are supposedly good at this), so there is really no need to worry about having a bomb proof bike with the right size wheels and universally replaceable parts. Just pick a destination, pack a bag and ride...

edit: what they said ^^

I'm as guilty as anyone for trying to make the perfect bike for long rides, for me. But It's been done by using the same bike and trying out different setups on decent length rides. It's like the three bears situation...eventually you'll get it just right. :]

...but even then...what is just right for me may be too hot, or too cold for someone else.

I will be building a bike for touring SE Asia next year and i was planning on going down the old frictions shifter 2x6 setup because chains, freewheels and derailleurs will be readily available cheaply wherever I go... setup and maintanence is very straight forward, and most what can go wrong should be bodgeable. Just thought this would be easiest way to go, having done alot of miles on a similar setup and never had any problems.

There may be a company that deliver world wide within a couple of days, is that really going to work in some little Vietnamese or Cambodian villlage? simpler to have something you can fix there and then in one of their many little bike shops....

I'm not sure why so many people seem convinced that if you go touring everything is going to spontaneously explode as soon as you get somewhere remote. :]
The chances of things breaking are far less likely than them not breaking.
People run components for years on commuter bikes, in all weathers...likewise, i know folks who have kept the same equipment on their mountain bikes for years, and ridden hundreds and hundreds of miles through shitty mud and gravel without things breaking.

You can't prepare for every eventuality. What if your 2x6 friction setup breaks in the middle of nowhere and you drag your bike to the next village only to find the bikeshop guy isn't anywhere to be found? You'd be no better off than the person who had the more modern kit. :]
If you're going somewhere so remote that modern kit might be difficult to find, you should ideally take spares anyway.
Pretty much everything can be bodged well enough to get you rolling anyway.

It's as i said...it comes down to finding what works for you, through real world experience and doing plenty of shakedown rides before setting off.

Or alternatively, just ask Ed. ;]

I'm not sure why so many people seem convinced that if you go touring everything is going to spontaneously explode as soon as you get somewhere remote. :]

...which reminds me of running into a group of people on a 2 week tour of West Africa (they were in Tiwai Forest, Sierra Leone when I met them)... and they were all on Bromptons!!! Apparently to save the $400 it would have cost to fly with a normal size bike... Tour of the rainforest = sane / Tour of the rainforest on Brompton = questionable...

At least they're well made, strudy and can be very comfy with a Brooks saddle and butterfly bars.

I haven't done any proper touring in wilderness myself, but so far all the long rides back home were done either on a big folder with 20" wheels and a coaster brake or a steel MTB.
Bike, rucksack on my back and a tent on the rear rack - no panniers. A tin of spam, some bread, crackers,bottle of water, bottle of vodka, aluminium pot and a lighter. We'd nick some potatoes from the fields. Ask farmers for a couple of free tomatoes or cucumbers. Sometimes hunt for pheasants.
Back then I didn't know any better.

Bike, rucksack on my back and a tent on the rear rack - no panniers. A tin of spam, some bread, crackers,bottle of water, bottle of vodka, aluminium pot and a lighter. We'd nick some potatoes from the fields. Ask farmers for a couple of free tomatoes or cucumbers. Sometimes hunt for pheasants.
Back then I didn't know any better.

I don't know why but I'm picturing that sung to music.

Because I'm all lyrical about those days.

When traveling through Europe - especially former Eastern Block where the farms are smaller and easy approachable (not manor houses with a 7ft wall) - you can always ask farmers/peasants for a drink of water, fruits, veg, bit of bread, eggs etc. They're friendly like that.
My cousin, who extensively travelled around the world, said the same about Morocco and Algeria.

You can always ask farmers if they need any help if they're not too generous or strapped for cash.

No need thinking about food then.

But could you ask them for a 1O speed quick link?

I'm sure you could.

Whether or not they'd have it is a completely different question.

I'm sure they will almost always have some standard single speed 1/8 chain link somewhere.
I know my grandad had spares in his shed.

He also had a hand grenade in case there's another war.

And that was my "touring" bike (only lime green). That's why I think a Brompton is more than doable.

There's s certain limit to how many cog you can fit on the back wheel, I highly doubt 9 speed will disappear in the future, plus you need to use a 10 speed specific crank/chain/etc. Wether 9 speed (or 8 even)are much easier to get ahold of and.sort out.

But I'm future proofing it Ed. Makes sense if I'm about to spend a lot of money on it.

for me future proofing is buying disc compatible hubs, not buying the full system up front.

It's 2011 now, so everything that is current is future proof.

One thing I'd like to have is ability to lock the derailleur into chosen position if cable snapped.
80's Shimano Positron system was like this, you could even change gears whit the cable snapped, up-shift pushing with piano wire and down shift kicking the mech with your foot.

Well and the face that 105 shifters really aren't that much more than tiagra. 105 routes all the cables under the tape.

Ed...How much proper touring have you actually done? Serious question.
How many miles have you actually put in on any of the equipment you recommend...how many centuries/double centuries/multi day rides/camping rides?

I'm not trying to be a dick here...but I haven't read any ride reports from you on any of the touring you've done.
It's one thing to tell people that you recommend this and that and that certain things are difficult to get or will break or are so comfortable or uncomfortable....but if those opinions are only formed by reading things on the internet or taking a certain product out of the box in evans, fitting it to you bike, and taking another photo of it, it's not experience....it's personal opinion.

The major tour I've done are generally credit card tour, a couple or days when I have time off work, mostly it's 200-250 miles stuff, nothing major, that's why I never had ride report - i just didn't think it's that important/necessary as it's just a weekend ride for me (well, weekend - 2 days free on a weekday)

The other thing is that in preparation for South America, I've done quite a lots of research in term of equipment and such, most especially reading diaries of other who done epic tour, such as Mark Beaumont whose book I highly recommended, the Travis (now divorced) who rode for 8 years and counting, whom gave me a great insight of South America, the Cranes brother who tour on epically lightweight touring bike a couple or so decades ago to the centre of the Earth, Jupiter Travels which is different as Ted use a motorbikes but still a tour regardless, currently I'm reading Miles from Nowhere by an American girl who decided to go round the world, also has been talking to several people whom has done epic tour and gain great insight/knowledge from them making it a lots easier for me to plan my tour properly without worrying about choosing the wrong equipment (going for says, a Phil Wood rear touring hubs instead of a Shimano MTB one as the Shimano isn't design for excessive weight).

As for equipment, you're completely right, the bike I have previously (and currently own) are perfect for it, but there's one thing you and I know is that the more bicycles we have, the more we notice a difference between each one.

for example the Thorn Sherpa I got right now is perfect, it's stiff in the right place (when fully laden won't flex like a noodle), long chainstay so my feet won't hit the panniers, low bottom bracket, etc.

trouble is, I can easily take my red utility bike once I modified it, but I know in my head that it'd be easier on the Thorn as when it was fully laden after hauling 120kg (trailer + panniers) worth of boxes from the missus' flat, it flex like a noodle, of which the thorn doesn't.

I have the unnecessary urge to be as helpful as possible and I do realise that it does come off patronising/snobbery (I think that's the right word), and I like to offer opinion/solution, I just need to work around how I come across.

this July, I'm riding with Stonehedge to the Lake District, and then later will do the DD with a friend, hopefully I'll be seeing you in this years DD, assuming if you're intended to go of course.

Ed we should meet up before the DD. I'll be riding it and it would be good to speak to you. I'll be on my audax bike - bugger doing it fixed.

Looks like it'll be a big ol' DD love in then as i'm hoping to do it again this year too. :]

Brilliant, riding back again as well? (and I'll be bringing compass and map to your garmin!!!).

I will watch for the moss on tree trunks.