Touring Equipment

Concur with the brick. Sounds like a great trip!

Great thread this, lots of useful information.

Got it. Im gonna keep the back 37 to support the the weight and for comfort and chuck a 32 on the front so it still looks fast when Im riding, thatll keep my mind at rest.

Quick question, are there any types of sleeping mats you would recommend for touring, or would anything do? I'm looking for something lightweight but comfy if you can get both of them things together?

The inflatable Thermarests are comfy and some, like the neoair are super light, but they do puncture and you'll need to take a repair kit. Alpkit have a good reputation amongst climberswho worry about weight as cycle tourists do. The foam ones (Ridgerests are good) are as light and indestructable. Cheap inflatables tend to delaminate leaving you with an enormous fabric balloon to sleep on (I've had this with older thermarests as well).

Try a night with a foam mat on the kitchen floor before you set out, a sleepless night will wreck yur tour.

The other good thing about the inflatable ones is they pack small and won't offer wind resistance unlike your foam version.

+1 on inflatable mats, way comfier.
I think I am gonna go for an alpkit airo or base, from reviews they seem to perform exactly the same as the thermarests but at a fraction of the price.

http://www.gelert.com/Products/X_Treme_Lite_3_4_Mattress.aspx
I got mine for £10 (now £25) in a closing down sale 4 years ago, still going strong.

I have a Therma-rest ProLite that works really well. I couldn't be arsed with blowing up the full-on inflatable ones such as the NeoAir, plus it feels and sounds like lying on a bed of crisp packets, plus they puncture relatively easily.

Which racks other than the Surly will allow both low-rider panniers and a load on top, over the wheel?

I think Tubus do some great low rider panniers, expensive but built like brick shit houses.
I have a Vega rear on my surly and its great.

Goretex bivi bag (if you're on your own), a Trangia stove, a really well thought-out tool and spares kit and the best sleeping bag you can afford. I used to have a piece of rip-stop nylon about 6 foot square with eyelets round the edge. It weighed fuck all, but I would stretch it out between some trees and sleep underneath. If it rains, you can still have your head out of the bivi bag and your luggage doesn't get soaked. And And nice wide tyres - Panaracer Paselas are great - and a really good-quality pump. You load a bike the opposite way round to loading a rucksack - heavy stuff at the bottom and light at the top for bike touring, and keep the weight balanced between left and right sides. Panniers are an absolute must in my opinion - I wouldn't commute with a rucksack, let alone tour. Padded shorts too. And pack everything in bin bags in case it really pisses down on you. I used to mix up my own muesli for breakfast with powdered milk in it - that way you can have a decent breakfast but just carry water.
Writing all this has made me realise how much I miss doing that... Itchy feet now.

the best sleeping bag you can afford

Surely only if you're in cold weather.
I use my £14 millets sleeping bag and it's excellent, I love it. When it's really hot you just want something that can unzip the whole way.
Often a sleeping bag liner by itself is enough.

I would argue cooking ecuipment is unneeded and will save you space/weight - although might be easier for me than others because i dont drink hot drinks. Lunch is typically bread, cheese, tomatoes, salami with dinner being stop off at a local (and cheap) restaurant

Decathlon do a cheap Thermarest clone which is worth checking out if you want a travelling mattress.

One thing that ive loved on my tour is a small elasticised cargo net that i picked up from Condor. Makes packing the rear rack a whole lot easier as loose items can simply be added under the net (much better than random bungy cords).

dinner being stop off at a local (and cheap) restaurant

Dinner is what I used my cooking equipment for.
Even the cheapest restaurant is no match for tinned ravioli.

Dinner is what I used my cooking equipment for.
Even the cheapest restaurant is no match for tinned ravioli.

And tinned ravioli halfway up a mountain looking at the sunset tastes pretty good too.

Exactement

cut and paste...

As mentioned in the last Cycle ...a new TV series will be broadcast later this month on BBC4 ...Britain By Bike ...with Clare Balding ...exploring the halcyon days of 50's-style cycle touring

Here's the book that accompanies the series...

http://tinyurl.com/3799o5r

...more about the prog

CALL OF THE WILD
Britain By Bike Ep 1/5
Wednesday 21 July
9.00-10.00pm BBC FOUR

Clare Balding embarks on a pedal-powered odyssey across Britain to rediscover the magical world of Fifties cycling.

Her journey follows in the wheeltracks of compulsive cyclist and author Harold Briercliffe, whose guidebooks – The Cycling Touring Guides – provide an evocative glimpse of by-passed Britain.

Pedalling Briercliffe's own bike, Clare begins her exploration in North Devon following his Cycling Touring Guide to the South West.

She visits Lynmouth, scene of Britain's worst flooding disaster in 1952; travels on the world's steepest railway up a 500ft cliff to the sister village of Lynton; and explores the unexpectedly mountainous delights of a Devon valley known to the Victorians as "Little Switzerland". It even boasts a population of mountain goats!

She then retraces Briercliffe's tracks through Woody Bay, where local publican David Orton reveals a hidden story of criminality, death and disgrace lying beneath the green tranquillity of this coastal beauty spot.

Then it's downhill to the Hunters Inn, a historic off-the-beaten track pub, before heading off to the secret silver mines of Combe Martin – whose riches were said to be a key factor in the historic English victories at Agincourt, Poitiers and Crecy – and on to the neat seaside town of Ilfracombe, once a more important port than Liverpool.

The town is now reinventing itself, attempting to harness the power of its natural environment through wind farms and the second largest tidal rise in the world.

Utilising the gifts of nature, or falling victim to them, has been a familiar story to this coast for centuries – and a constant theme of Clare's nostalgic cycle ride through this beautiful North Devon coastal landscape.

Britain By Bike is part of BBC Four's celebration of the outdoors – Call Of The Wild.

Noted on calender.

Which racks other than the Surly will allow both low-rider panniers and a load on top, over the wheel?

i looked and looked for ages, ended up buying a tubus low rider to match my rear rack. the surly one looks great though...

Ortlieb Bar-Bags

Has anyone used these? I have been eyeing both the Ultimate 5 Plus and the Ultimate 5 Compact.

The former seems massive while the latter too small. I'm trying to keep weight down to a minimum. Any insight at all would be awesome.

Cheers

i've got the ultimate 5 classic, which i really like. fits nicely on my 42cm bars, though i did have to use nokon cables/housing to reroute the shift cables back under the barwrap (using shimano sti's).

best feature is the detachable map case. and the stiffness of the bag means it's really easily accessible while on the bike.

Thanks Hassan. How relaible is the fixing mechanism? Does the bag get in the way of handlebar-mounted lights? Any experience of the little compact one?

the bag does get in the way of bar mounted lights. i ended up getting one of those accessory bars to lift the lights up.

I would love to not have to use the bar bag - but the map case is great (and i dont have a gps (or the time to program it for every ride)).

i thought about one of these to put lights on below the bag...

http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/product-Thorn-Thorn-Accessory-Bar-T-Shaped-105-mm-Extension--0-Deg-11040.htm

fixing mechanism is good, i read posts by people who said it wasnt, but clearly they are idiots.
all that said if i was to buy again, i would stick with the ortlieb bar bag i have.

the fixing mechanism is definitely solid (as UNChris says), the wire suspension bit really does it's job.

it does get in the way of lights, but i just use one of these mounted on the side of the drops. the mount allows the light to turn 90 deg to point straight ahead:

my wife has the compact one and she quite likes it, but she has overpacked it on a few rides, so the lid doesn't close well. and it's not as easily accessible while in the saddle, since it opens with the lid in the way. also it's tall and narrow, so if you want something from the bottom it means fumbling around a bit. i'd stick with the classic.

Which racks other than the Surly will allow both low-rider panniers and a load on top, over the wheel?
#

low riders + http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/src/froogle/product-Unbranded-Alloy-Front-Carrier--Cantilever-Boss-Mounting--Black-Alloy-14021.htm
or
http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/accessories/racks/product/m12-front-rack-16926

?