Messages

1

General Discussion / Re: Security - locking your bike

« on: May 25, 2021, 02:33:57 am »

John -

the differences between the Trelock ring locks?  I went to the website and there are several variations of the same model, i.e. RS-453 POC (AZ, NAZ, Balloon)

- they vary in the tyre width and whether or not you want the ZR 355 plug-in chai.
Main differences between the varius ring locks is the tyre width.

2

General Discussion / Re: Out Of Shape and Wanting to ride the TransAm

« on: May 08, 2021, 03:28:27 am »

John - would you happen to know if there is a full gps set of this track (Eastern TransAm Express) somewehere? I have not bene able to find it yet.

3

Gear Talk / Re: Touring bike for 80% pavement, 20% gravel/dirt

« on: April 30, 2021, 12:45:34 am »

I would get a bike with as wide tyres as possible - even for just road use. I currently have Schwalbe G one al round 70 mm for tyres and really like it. Gives so much more comfort than 40 or 50 mm tyres (have had both).

Besides that what type of bars do you want: drop, Jones, regular MTB bar? I have salsa cowbell on my gravel (now indoor bike) and Jones H bar on my touring bike. If you really like to look around you I would chose the Jones bars for you sit up a bit straighter but stil have all the handpositions of the dropbar. Bar choice kinda decides what type of frame you want.

I second by the way the Salsa Fargo (my gravel bike) or Surley bikes but also important is do you want a derailleur or Pinion or Rohloff (my favorite).

4

Gear Talk / Re: Kickstand love it or leave it?

« on: April 06, 2021, 02:16:40 am »

I am also in favour of a kickstand on the bike (bike has a special attachment point for kickstands - at height of the rear axel) - no worries about tightening bolts to much and crushing the frame tubing.
Like having the kickstand so that i do not have to lay it down (pain in the....) imo to lift it back up or find something to lean against. Like being able to park it where and when I wnat.

5

Routes / Re: Female solo ride along Underground Railroad

« on: March 31, 2021, 02:35:17 am »

As a female cyclist I have not come across any dangerous situations, yet - main cycling done in the US and UK, Holland. I usually stay in campsites - it is illegal to wild camp here and to avoid hassle I simply stay at a campsite. Always nice to have hot shower at the end of a day  . In towns I never leave my bike out of sight and when shopping I ask if I can take the bike inside which is hardly ever refused. In major towns I spend the night in a hostel or hotel and when looking around town the bike stays there locked up safely.

As mentioned before use your common sense if you do not feel safe move on or leave the people you are with as soon as possible.

6

General Discussion / Re: Tires for a 29" Fargo

« on: March 24, 2021, 03:34:15 am »

Used schwalbe Almotions (622-50) on my 29er - now my indoor bike and on my outdoor bike 27.5 " I have schwalbe G-One allround 70-584 (27.5 x 2.80). Both really nice and comfortable tires.

7

General Discussion / Re: Just bought my first bike

« on: March 19, 2021, 03:20:00 am »

Welcome!

8

General Discussion / Re: how steep is the grade of the Golden Gate Bridge

« on: February 24, 2021, 02:34:41 am »

I did not enjoy my crossing of the bridge with a fully loaded touring bike - not on the w side since you are not allowed to stop on that side. A all those pedestrians - not looking where they are going - moving left tot right and back again + walking on the bike path made a pain pain in the ..... For me if I ever have tocross the bridge again it will be on the w side. For on the pedestrian side you can not stop anyway due to the amount of pedestrian tourists and cycle tourists who do not know how to ride a bike.

9

Gear Talk / Re: padded shorts vs padded saddle - newbie here so go easy on me!

« on: February 04, 2021, 01:51:26 am »

I no longer think you need a padded saddle and/ oror padded shorts.

I started out on a padded saddle (SQlab 602) when I got back into cycling some years ago. Though, found that on hot days the saddle got uncomfortably hot so changed saddles  and now only use a leather saddle (a Selle Anatomica (on my gravel bike) though I find their lifespan a bit on the short side and have since 1 year also a Gilles Berthoud Mente saddle (heavy duty touring rig). Both saddles once broken in are very comfortable. But it takes some time to break them in - Selle Anatomica did not need a lot of breaking in whereas the GB saddle took a lot longer to get comfortable on. I did break the latter in with padded shorts though for they are very hard saddles.

For a long time I have used padded shorts/ bibs on bike rides and when having a pair that fits wel,l for me (Sugoi, Assos, Rogelli), they can add comfort on very long rides. To find properly fitting bibs might take some trying of different brands. Though now that I get older I no longer like to ride in bibs, for various reasons, and have made the transition to MTB shorts and Merino boxers. This combo combined with a leather saddle for me is equally comfortable to cycling in well-fitting bibs. With the added bonus that when not on the bike I no longer stand out as a cyclist. I especially like NZO Doobies for shorts and for underwear I have Ortovox boxers (120 comp light shorts for I like the legs to be a bit longer).

I absolutely agree with Jonh on "Finally, you do NOT need to be able to ride up to 100 miles a day before touring.  I would suggest you be able to comfortably be able to ride 50 miles in a day though. But then again, you really do not need to be able to ride much just so long as you plan your days accordingly. "

10

General Discussion / Re: TOURING AFTER COVID

« on: February 03, 2021, 02:11:23 am »

You are Welcome!

IF you want to contact a Dutch dealer for further info - I very likely can bring you in contact with a very good Santos dealer (my LBS who also converts bikes intol ebikes) and very likely also with someone at Santos headquarters.

11

General Discussion / Re: TOURING AFTER COVID

« on: February 02, 2021, 02:04:51 am »

It sounds like you have already a good setup so why not use https://pendix.com/?&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fpendix.com%2F to convert your current bike with a Pendix conversion into an e-bike.
Santos in the Netherlands for instance uses Pendix eDrive on their bikes and people are very happy with them.

12

General Discussion / Re: Rain Jacket? Yes. Rain pants?

« on: January 31, 2021, 02:53:13 am »

Me, I hate getting wet - so yeah I carry a jacket = pants. When camping it can be a pain the butt to get things dry so I like to keep things as dry as possible. raingear does not only work against rain but also helps as an extra layer against the cold.

13

Gear Talk / Re: Rohloff SpeedHub

« on: January 28, 2021, 01:54:54 am »

What have you decided?

14

Gear Talk / Re: Rohloff SpeedHub

« on: January 27, 2021, 03:02:11 am »

John - thanks for checking  . Guess that gives indeed a bit of extra wiggle room (changing the 22t into a 24t).  Do not think that would make a huge difference though.

15

Gear Talk / Re: Rohloff SpeedHub

« on: January 26, 2021, 02:45:32 am »

John, I am going by what Santos has agreed with Rohloff - all I know is that I now have a smaller gear ratio than I have on my gravel bike (24tx36t) and that on the Rohloff gear1 allows me to pedal around 3/4km and gear 14 gets me to around 30km per hour. According to Santos this is a very light gearing system which until roughly a year ago would not fall under Rohloff warantee.

Just checked the cogs again and I have 46x22T - sorry for the mix up  - do not know why I got the numbers confused but anyway brings it to the following ratio: https://gear-calculator.com/?GR=RLSH&KB=46&RZ=22&UF=2240&TF=90&SL=2.6&UN=KMH&DV=ratio