Messages

1

General Discussion / Re: Best book you've read on bicycle travel

« on: October 30, 2021, 01:32:04 pm »

I read this initially as Best book you've read about bicycle travel.  English is hard.

In which case it would be 'You & a Bike & a Road' by Eleanor Davis.  It's a sketch chronicle of her cross-country trip with some accompanying poignant text on notable encounters and wrestling with personal struggles.  I thought she brilliantly and hilariously captures some of the banal experiences of touring, like life at the convenience store counter.

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General Discussion / coffee coffee

« on: October 30, 2021, 01:21:01 pm »

I used to travel with instant coffee which was a part of every morning and evening.  I recently took my Aeropress Go travel press on a car-camping trip, and oh gosh, I'm never going back to bad coffee.  But -12 ounces!- I won't be taking it backpacking and it gives one pause for bike touring. 

I once traveled with a cyclist who carried a Moka pot as his singular luxury, but that seems likely even heavier and cleanup looks a nuisance (the aeropress cleans up in moments with a dash from a water bottle). I have some light french presses, but just not a french press fan.  And again, cleanup.

It occurs to me that a Chemex style coffee maker might be a good compromise.  I don't make pourover at home because I'm far too important and busy (haha, no, but I do have a short attention span), but traveling I'm more in so-what-else-am-I-doing mode, or should be.

Recommendations, comments?

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General Discussion / Re: The best music for touring

« on: October 30, 2021, 08:56:52 am »

I'm going to put in a plug for bone conduction headphones.  They rest on the bones just in front of your ears and conduct sound directly to the inner ear structures.  They don't block your ears and ambient traffic and nature sounds are still easily heard.  I'm not an audiophile, but I was pleasantly surprised with the sound quality.  The Trekz bluetooth version throws in a handsfree phone function (although callers complain about the wind noise unless you stop).

Driving (and riding presumably) with headphones is illegal in my state (GA) .  You might argue that the intent of the law was to ban items that block the ears, but they still market them as bone conduction -headphones-, which I believe is what the law specifically bans.

HikeBikeCook, I like your mix.  A single Nirvana cut will get me over a hill on a training ride around town, but I'm going to have to think about what I'd want to listen to for an hour long grind.

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Gear Talk / Re: 1X, 2X, or 3X

« on: September 30, 2021, 10:49:54 am »

<<experience with road tubeless>>
I was using Continental GP5000 TLs on a velocity offset rim.  Seating the tire always splattered sealant around the shop and it took a lot of pressure to keep it seated.  Since the 25mm tire had so little volume, it was a real challenge to screw the valve stem back in before the tire unseated.  Finally one of the unseatings peeled the rim tape off of the spoke holes and I gave it all up.  To be fair, when I pulled the tire off there was a piece of wire stuck through the tread that I never knew about.

Currently building a mountain bike with tubeless and have the wheels set up already.  Mounting and seating those is a much less stressful affair. 

If I was a racer and someone else was setting them up, I would definitely want road tubeless.  Hassles vs charms is on that continuum where everyone picks where they want to live.

I investigated putting tubeless sealant in tubes and apparently they are not chemically compatible.  Anyone have experience with 'Slime' in tubes? 

I also picked up a 'thorn-proof' tube in goathead territory - tremendously heavy.  Are they worth it?

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Gear Talk / Re: 1X, 2X, or 3X

« on: September 30, 2021, 09:21:42 am »

<<if you like a lively feeling supple tire with a flexible sidewall this is the absolute opposite of that>>
Oh gosh, I'll second that.  I describe it as feeling like you're riding in mud all day.  I have a set of 35mm Schwalbe Almotions on a commuter/shopper and they're pretty spry.  They'll eventually find their way onto the tourer.

<<totally unable to get them off the rim>>
Like Staehpj1, I haven't experienced this with the Marathon Pluses.  I do think Schwalbe has some variability in manufacturing and I don't doubt that there are some tight ones out there.  But I can't imagine them being worse than tubeless. 

<<I wouldn't advise running over goat head thorns with reckless abandon>>
Someone mentioned the Southern Tier in relation to goatheads.  I saw them for a day on the TA and picked up one.  I gather that I'll see a few more on the Southern Tier?

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Gear Talk / Re: 1X, 2X, or 3X

« on: September 28, 2021, 05:38:32 pm »

I have triples on bikes because they were rare in the 70s and I always wanted one when I was a teenager.  I would do just fine on my road bike with a compact double.  I think your gravel setup gives you a low gear around 26 which many (me, anyway) would find a little high for touring.  Tinkering around with easily available parts for a touring setup, if you set up a 48/34 double and an 11-50 cluster you'd have ratios from 120(!) to 19, with the possibility of going lower by tinkering with the crank cogs. 

I'm with you on touring tubeless.  I tinkered with road tubeless for a while and finally quit it and threw tubed tires back on the bike.  It was the exact same feeling of relief I felt getting off graveyard shift where I could quit lying to myself about how well it was working out for me.

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Gear Talk / Re: Velocity Cliff Hanger for tubeless

« on: September 26, 2021, 10:58:25 am »

No nibbles on this one after a week.  wow.

Always easiest to find the countervailing opinion on the forum.  I have a bunch of Velocity rims, but I'm not overly enamored of them.  One wore out on the braking surfaces after just a few years (not a worry for your disk build).  To be fair, the bike had sticky Shimano OEM pads and I rode it in the rain a lot, but I have some 30 year old wheels and I've never worn out a rim.

When I went to replace the rim, they had quit making it.  I had to sub a different rim, and eventually was bothered enough by the mismatched rims to rebuild the other one.  Could just be supply chain issues, but your inability to find unpolished rims for your needs could be more of their arbitrariness.

They also don't grommet their rims.  Can't point to a failure and they are pretty thick in cross-section at the drillings, but grommets seem to make it easier to adjust nipples.  And I like their look.

Why do I have all these Velocity rims I'm unenthusiastic about?  Velocity is one of the last holdouts on offset rims.  It's so much easier (and better) to get a rear wheel set up with a few mm of offset to work with.  I swear I don't know what magic is keeping all these 11spd low spoke count wheels rolling.

Of course, Velocity isn't the only one to drop product lines.  I was going to recommend the plebian CR18 rim, but apparently SunRingle has quit making it.

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Gear Talk / Re: ActionBent Recumbent

« on: September 26, 2021, 10:14:45 am »

Well, let me stir something up here.

Bents with single booms load in bending, as opposed to diamond frame bikes which load mainly in compression and tension.  Having designed a 'boom bike', I know that getting bending loads down to a manageable level is a challenge and loading a bike with gear would make it worse.  So I would be concerned about fatigue in a used, loaded boom bike.

Of course, I'm concerned about fatigue in everything.  Good chance that the forum can offer empirical evidence that it's not an issue.

Maintainable? Does it have standard components in good condition?  Are the chain idlers mounted on the frame some weird unobtainable custom thing?

I'm guessing you're a dedicated bent rider (are there any other kind?), but if you're just toying with getting your first, I don't know that I would jump into touring.  The arguably lower stability on slow climbs would be a key issue.  I did ride briefly with a bent rider in the Rockies, though, and he seemed happy.

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Gear Talk / Re: 1X, 2X, or 3X

« on: September 20, 2021, 06:17:40 am »

FWIW - typically, the most physiologically efficient cadence for the average research subject is 50-60/min.

I had seen this somewhere also, but can't recall the source.  Anyone help?
Lots of confusion on this point as everyone pays attention to maximum power which occurs at higher cadence, but apparently maximum miles-per-calorie is at the slower grind.  I can keep a good spin darting around on club rides, but on a tour I always end up down at 50-60.

Hey John Nettles, how'd you get to that 14.5" gear? I'm down near 20 like everyone else but there have been times...

When I was a kid I ran across a Cincinnati machinist who had married a 5-spd hub to a 5-spd freewheel.  He had 50 gears with an unusably wide gear range of something like 10"-150".

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General Discussion / Re: Hillbilly dogs

« on: September 19, 2021, 10:10:42 am »

I can recall 3 dog encounters on the TA
1. Somewhere in western Kansas a pack of 6-10 dogs surrounded me preventing changes in course and speed while a pair nipped at my heels.  They were having a grand time and apparently intended only limited malice.  It was concerning at the time but mainly annoying in retrospect.  I'm still plotting revenge.
2. A large dog in Missouri embarked on a spirited chase with apparent ill will in his heart.  As noted, TA dogs often respond to faked pepper spray and shouts of 'Bad Dog', which fortunately worked just well enough here.
3. A tiny dog in Virginia ran along for too long nipping at my heels.  Just annoying.

There's a nice gravel ride near my home ruined by a pack of aggressive dogs that will run you off the bike against a bramble hedge until their redneck owner calls them off.  He calls them home but doesn't exactly discourage them.
Another roadbike ride nearby is universally avoided because the owner will run after and intimidate bikers in his car if someone sprays his aggressive dogs with water.

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General Discussion / Re: Finding accommodation

« on: September 19, 2021, 09:13:37 am »

Further down the stray camping thread...
I just (yesterday) discovered the website and app Dyrt.  Google is miserable at finding campgrounds but Dyrt seems to have nigh all of them including the primitive campgrounds with no website or phone number.

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General Discussion / Re: How to build a world-class touring bicycle for under $250.00.

« on: September 19, 2021, 08:59:07 am »

I've never seen a trike that wasn't dawdling along, and never seen a bent that wasn't flying.  Sampling error?  Can't think of a reason trikes would be slow.  Seems like the aero-resistance of the extra mechanics would be cancelled out by the  super-reclined rider position.

They seem scary to me, occupying all that roadway, but at a logical level they're probably safer since most of the bad things that happen in accidents are likely from being thrown from the bike.

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General Discussion / Re: How to build a world-class touring bicycle for under $250.00.

« on: July 25, 2021, 07:41:05 am »

A guy down the street from me rode around the world in the 30's (maybe more accurately rode across eurasia).  His single speed frame held up, but he broke chains which he somehow held together with safety pins until he could get replacements.  Quite the read:
https://www.amazon.com/Around-World-Bicycle-Fred-Birchmore/dp/1887813128

After too much worrying I realized that on a stateside tour in our modern age, almost any mechanical calamity could be resolved by hanging around in a small town for a day and waiting for a part to be overnited.  I don't even carry a spare tire anymore.

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General Discussion / Re: Deciphering AMTRAK

« on: July 24, 2021, 05:30:57 pm »

The box is huge

Bring your own tape

Two super useful factoids.  And the FAQ link was clarifying.
I'm currently befuddled though.  The Atlanta station sells bike boxes but they don't have checked baggage.  That doesn't make sense, does it?  Hopefully a typo or a temporary Covid or staffing thing.

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General Discussion / Deciphering AMTRAK

« on: July 24, 2021, 11:21:29 am »

I'm in early planning of a C&O/GAP ride.  I see that the AMTRAK Crescent passes sort-of-nearby my home late enough (1a) to catch it after a day's ride and arrives in DC early enough (2p) to get the heck out of town.  But their bikes-as-baggage language has me befuddled.  Any comments on what to expect?  If they don't have walk-on service do they want you to box your bike? If the rack is full are you off the train?  In general, what is their organizational demeanor towards bikes; helpful or airline-hostile?