Messages

1

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

« on: September 30, 2021, 07:50:25 pm »

The Marathon Plus is pretty flat resistant, but it does still get flats.  I wouldn't advise running over goat head thorns with reckless abandon and not removing them when you pull off the pavement at stops. 

Just a note to say that the flat liners themselves can cause abrasion flat in the tubes, so be super careful in installing them smoothly especially at  the ends of the strips.  I do't run them myself, choosing a tire with a built in belt, but I like the idea of them better than an overbuilt tire like the Marathon Plus. I care about the weight, but perhaps even more I like a nice supple sidewall and the road feel and lively ride that it gives.
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I use to live in the Mojave Desert of California where goatheads breed far faster than rabbits, there was times during certain seasons I would be riding with a dozen thorns attached to the tire going around and around...but I was using Specialized Armadillo All Condition tires and NEVER got a flat in the 7 years I was there using those tires, before those tires I tried all sorts of tires and they all failed to stop those thorns.  Now if Specialized Armadillos can protect the tube from goatheads I really sure the Marathon Plus tires can survive since they're built to be more flat resistant then the Armadillos were.  Also don't forget I mentioned the Marathon Plus not the Marathon regular tire, the Plus has 5mm of flat resistance built into it than the regular Marathon which has only 3mm.

I'm aware of the flat liners causing the abrasion problem you spoke of, but I found two ways to deal with that, one is to sand down one edge that will be against the tube so that it's really thin; the other stunt is to use liberal amounts of baby powder.  I never had a problem with abrasion flats doing that stuff.

Weight of the Marathon Plus does concern me, but a ton of people use that model for touring so I guess they don't seem to care, but I think it would bother me.  The tires that came on my touring bike were Kenda Drumlin tires, those darn things weighed 1,600 grams a piece, what all that weight did for the tire I have no clue because they didn't last long, about 2,500 miles but only about 1,000 of that was loaded, and I got one flat.

2

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

« on: September 29, 2021, 07:51:36 pm »

Of course there is a tire made by Schwalbe called the Marathon Plus HS440, the anti flat guard can withstand a thumbtack without hitting the tube.  This tire is used extremely successful on touring bikes, plus the tire lasts around 6,000 miles of loaded touring miles, and Schwalbe built the tire with lower rolling resistance than some other touring tires even though tire weighs 1,000 grams people say it feels a like it weighs a lot less when rolling dragging along using 25.5 watts.

I go bike camping, touring will come later, but I use Schwalbe Almotion tires with a ultralight Mr Tuffy liner only in the rear tire, and so far no flats, a lot people tour on the Almotion's too, and they have the least rolling resistance of any touring tire/e tire at 17 watts, and it only weighs 490 grams.  I would rather roll on a lighter tire with less rolling resistance and deal with a flat or two then a heavier tire that doesn't roll as good, though the heavy one isn't bad.  But I don't think flats are going to be an issue especially with the flat liner.

3

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

« on: September 27, 2021, 09:05:04 pm »

Not sure how old your 105 and Deore were, but I have a 105 from 2013 and a Deore from last year, so far so good.

Oh, so pretty new.

Obviously it's not a common problem.

I could not find one incident concerning either Deore or XT breaking.

How did your derailleurs fail?

Interestingly enough, I had a Deore break last summer after about 30,000 miles.  Old or only 5 years' full-time usage?

The lead mechanic at the bike shop, when I described the symptoms, hollered over, "You need a new front derailer.  The spring rusted out.  That happens a lot, and your symptoms are what happens when it does."  He was right!

Obviously your mechanic never heard of WD40.

4

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

« on: September 25, 2021, 10:35:58 am »

I agree, but there gets to be a point where you have your gear weight down to what you either want, need, or can afford. After that accept your gear and start training. Buying lighter gear is not a substitute for training, although it sure can be fun and rewarding. I think getting packed weight down for some of us is like training - can you ride that hill faster versus can you get your packed weight a pound lighter. And sometimes, due to weather or schedule, your first weeks of your ride have to be your training.

Dumping bike gearing to save weight should be like dumping camping gear to save weight, Do you use it, do you need it, do you want it. If you never use your triple then dump it, but if you rely on it then the extra 1/4 pound is essential.  I typically don't need my first aid kit, but want it for peace of mind. Do you really need to carry that backup pack of Ramen just in case? You can go without food for days, and you could ride without lower gearing, but would you want to? For some people the answer is yes.

That is good advice.  I carry a first aid kit when touring/camping and just bandaids when not, but really any first kit you can carry is small and only designed for minor stuff, even moderate injury would be untreatable with those kits.  I made my own kit, it was cheaper than buying a kit, I used a clam shell water resistant case like those kits come with, and just used off the shelf stuff to fill it with.  Then I also carry superglue, if necessary I can close a deeper wound that a bandaid would not be able to contain with the glue since stitching would be out of the question on the road; then I would ride or hitchhike to a medical clinic some place and get it done right.

Don't laugh about the superglue, it does work.  I had a gash just under my eyebrow and the PA used superglue to close it up, she did such a good job it left no scar.  I asked her what that stuff was she was smearing on the cut, and she said it was nothing but superglue renamed for the medical field.

5

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

« on: September 25, 2021, 10:25:03 am »

I must be unusual.  I have had several shimano front deraileurs fail over the years.  Not a frequent thing or a big worry, but it hasn't been all that rare.

I don't think anyone would choose 1X for weight savings in a touring application, but maybe for simplicity.  It depends.  If the range is enough and the gaps between gears are close enough why add another one or two rings and a deraileur.  For me the range and spacing on some 1X setups seems adequate.  For some it wouldn't be.  Folks should choose accordingly.

I've never had any derailleur, front or rear, fail except one rear derailleur which was a Simplex with the black plastic body, what a piece of crap that thing was.  I have a front derailleur with over 150,000 miles on it without one repair or failure, but that is a Suntour Superbe Pro derailleur which is part of a Suntour Superbe group, and the whole group has the same mileage, and none of the parts have failed.

Geez there are crappy Schwinn Varsity, Continental, Traveller, Suburban, and Collegiate bikes out there with their original front derailleurs working just fine, I remember those bikes, the components didn't work all that well but they held up as their testament that lives on today proves

Interestingly enough, the ones that I have that failed were all fairly "nice" models.  The cheap stuff I had way back in the day of junky bikes never failed.  I can't quite picture exactly where they broke, but they were similar failures.  I think it was the arm the cable attached to.  It seemed like Shimano tried to use less material, to keep weight down I guess, and it was a weak point.  I think one was a 105, one may have been a Dura Ace, and one may have been a Deore or Deore XT, but I may be wrong on the second two since it has been a long time.

Not sure how old your 105 and Deore were, but I have a 105 from 2013 and a Deore from last year, so far so good.  I've always have in the back of my mind that if something fails I would upgrade it one, maybe two steps up but not to DA, DA doesn't last as long as the lower levels because it was intended for racing and not for long term street riding, so they made it as light as they dared. 

I haven't heard of any 105's failing, but I don't ask everyone in the world about it!  LOL!! maybe some that read this can respond if they had 105 fail, but I know in a internet search I came up mostly blank...there was one guy who's 105 front derail broke at the tabs that hold the side plates, both the front tab and the rear tap broke at the same time, it appeared in the photo to be poor casting, but his bike was so dirty I couldn't really be sure if it was poor casting or rust, but that was the only incident I could find on the internet!  Obviously it's not a common problem.

I could not find one incident concerning either Deore or XT breaking.

You could try finding incidences and let us know what you found. 

How did your derailleurs fail?

6

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

« on: September 24, 2021, 09:26:40 pm »

I must be unusual.  I have had several shimano front deraileurs fail over the years.  Not a frequent thing or a big worry, but it hasn't been all that rare.

I don't think anyone would choose 1X for weight savings in a touring application, but maybe for simplicity.  It depends.  If the range is enough and the gaps between gears are close enough why add another one or two rings and a deraileur.  For me the range and spacing on some 1X setups seems adequate.  For some it wouldn't be.  Folks should choose accordingly.

I've never had any derailleur, front or rear, fail except one rear derailleur which was a Simplex with the black plastic body, what a piece of crap that thing was.  I have a front derailleur with over 150,000 miles on it without one repair or failure, but that is a Suntour Superbe Pro derailleur which is part of a Suntour Superbe group, and the whole group has the same mileage, and none of the parts have failed.

Geez there are crappy Schwinn Varsity, Continental, Traveller, Suburban, and Collegiate bikes out there with their original front derailleurs working just fine, I remember those bikes, the components didn't work all that well but they held up as their testament that lives on today proves

7

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

« on: September 23, 2021, 08:53:35 pm »

Depends on the terrain you'll be riding, if there is a lot of mountain roads and you'll be packing medium to heavy loads then 3x is the only the way to fly, unless you track racer legs than a 1x is fine! But you want to spin fairly easily and effortlessly (I know, nothing is effortless in touring), so to save your knees go with the 3x.  Heck even if you will not be riding in mountains a 3x is good go have just in case in the future you find yourself riding in mountains. 

3x is not that more difficult to take care of than a 2x, and they are both extremely reliable.  I'm sure you have a bike now with 2x gearing, so ask yourself when the last time that front derailleur went bad?  NEVER!!

8

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

« on: September 19, 2021, 01:27:53 pm »

I don't think that bents are scary because they occupy more road space, I think their scary  because they sit too low and motorists can't see them very well if at all.  Almost all the bents I've seen don't even put up a 6 foot or taller pole with some sort of neon flag to attract attention, I see those poles/flags on extremely few of those bikes.   But that's been my observations while driving a car when I encounter bents.

9

General Discussion / Re: Communication

« on: September 16, 2021, 09:07:04 pm »

So how much is the monthly fee for sat connection?

10

General Discussion / Re: Communication

« on: September 16, 2021, 12:42:56 pm »

I went with the Garmin in-Reach Mini, you may want to explore that route. You may have to purchase two units and it may be out of your planned budget, since you need a monthly subscription for the service, but it should work anywhere in the world.

But that radio's range is only 1 mile according to their specs, so why spend all that money and get the same range you would with cheaper units? 

11

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

« on: September 12, 2021, 10:23:23 pm »

The problem is finding one in stock!!  But the only two that I would recommend for cross country touring and gravel is the Masi Giramondo and the Kona Sutra, the rest I saw in that price ranges didn't have as good of gears and other stuff as those two had, I went with the Masi but there is pros and cons to both, but for my needs the Masi fit the bill a tad better plus it was cheaper.  The Masi had incredible gearing range which is really idea for loaded touring climbing mountain grades, and it came with Tubus steel front and rear racks whereas the Kona just comes with aluminum rear rack.  The Kona is more suited for off road touring whereas the Masi is more suited for paved, dirt and gravel roads.  The Kona from the factory weighs 28 pounds whereas the Masi weighs 29 pounds BUT, the Masi uses 8 pounds of tires! so I swapped out my tires and saved 4 pounds of weight thus now I'm at 25 pounds which includes the heavier steel tubus racks front and rear, so overall the Masi is lighter.  The tires that came with the Masi are crappy Kenda Drumlins I now use Schwalbe Almotion tires, Kona came with decent Schwalbe Marathon tires; Masi also came with a cheap saddle, I switched it out for an old Brooks B17 I had, the Kona comes with a B17, the Kona cost $400 more.

So you have to decide if Kona due to it being built more for off road use if that appeals to what you will be doing on the bike, or if the Masi suits your needs better.

So all of that to say the Masi is the better buy, but neither are available now due to the bike shortage, not sure if you could order one and wait for delivery or not, you would have to contact Masi or Kona.

12

Gear Talk / Re: Solar battery/charger?

« on: September 12, 2021, 10:04:50 pm »

What you are wanting will not work!  Those little single solar panels connected to a charger does not have enough solar capability to put much of a charge into a phone, in fact from what I've read you would need 4 days of bright sunlight for those to fully charge a phone.  The idea is that you fully charge the charger which is a powerbank, and you charge your phone up with the powerbank, and then charge the powerbank with the connected solar thing, but even after charging the phone you might have 2/3rds or so power left in the battery bank, and that could take a couple of days to charge, so you would be basically always getting yourself into a negative situation till eventually you can't charge the battery or the phone, and that would take 2 to 4 days depending on the size of the solar panel.

But if you get a Anker 3 panel solar 21 watt charger, this thing will charge up your phone as fast as charging up your phone by plugging it in...on a sunny day of course.  The more panels you have the better the thing operates in less than sunny days but you pay the price of weight and bulk.  I have 3 panel unit and it is a bit heavy but it doesn't take up much space, but that weight also includes a Anker slim 10,000 powerbank I bought separately so I could charge up my phone on dark days.  WORD of CAUTION concerning these solar panels and powerbanks, you have to make sure you order one that is compatible with your phone type, android or IPhone, otherwise it won't work and you'll be pissed.   The Anker solar and powerbank combined with taxes and shipping will set you back under $100, and since it is a 3 panel system it will charge faster than a 2 panel system like the Goal Zero Nomad 7 system.  These panels can also be laid open on top of your rear rack, using bungie cords and the eyelets to hold it down you can be charging while riding.  These are generally waterproof as well so even if it rains on your panels you'll be alright.  The Nomad 7 system is no longer made and Goal Zero raised their prices a lot, thus the newer Nomad 10 dual panel unit is $100 instead of just $59 it once was, and their 3 panel unit is $150, so you can see that the Anker is the better deal.  Anker too raised their prices because I got mine for $39, they're now $59, and powerbank prices went up because mine was only $13 now it's $39?!  after just one year??

13

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

« on: September 12, 2021, 09:41:49 pm »

Click Stand...never even heard of it till just now!  Interesting idea, much better of an idea than a kickstand, and if you have tent that needs a pole on each end or in the middle I wonder if this would work for that as well instead of using a walking stick as those tents recommend using?

In 40 plus years of riding I never needed a kickstand, but I do use a Velostrap cinch strap of Velcro that I use to pull the front brake lever closed and hold it closed, this way when I lean the loaded bike against something it won't move and fall over.   I only use the Velcro on the touring bike, never needed it for any other type of riding.  On my old Schwinn touring bike (the one the fork got bent on) it came with some sort of wedge, for lack of a better word, that you put into the top of the lever so that it would apply pressure on the brake lever and thus onto the brakes so your bike wouldn't move, and it dangled on a piece of string off the brake lever, not sure what it's called and I couldn't find it on the internet, but that thing worked good too.

14

Gear Talk / Re: A couple of clothing questions and comments

« on: September 12, 2021, 09:23:35 pm »

I bought a Showers Pass Waterproof Breathable Syncline CC jacket because I got it on a sale for less than $100 and it was a lot cheaper than Gore Tex jackets I saw at bike shops that cost over $300, and this cheap jacket works great, in fact it worked so good I bought their rain pants later when they went on sale.  One night it got to cold for my supposedly 40 degree rated bag, I woke up shivering, so put the rain jacket and pants on and I was nice and warm after that and slept through the night without shivering.

I was going to buy a wool long sleeve jersey to reduce stink but prices went skyrocketing on wool so I went with a much cheaper jersey made of a fabric called Polygiene, and it works great for just $22 instead of $140 plus.  I wore it on a camping trip and was able to wear it couple of days and it still didn't stink.  Plus this polygiene stuff dries fast, faster than wool, maybe a bit less warm than wool but it does evaporate fast so the lack of water on the fabric helps you to remain warmer.

I carry a windshield vest as well for when I don't need the full protection of a jacket

I only have one high vis jersey, and I only use it on overcast days, but I rely more on my 250 lumen rear tail light and run it during the day then to worry about wearing nothing but hi vis jerseys.  I did buy a 4 pack of extremely lightweight and very cool non cycling related air mesh T shirt from Costco, I really like these for hot days, better than my cycling jersey stuff, and they're anti odor and quick dry, and cheap!

The only I do that I wish I didn't have to do is to carry and wear padded liner shorts, I would rather go bare butt with a cycling MTB short, but I tried that and my butt was hurting in a short distance, I think it was around 10 miles when I started getting sore, so I have to wear a padded cycling short, then I tried a thinly padded short and that was almost as bad as no shorts.  But padded cycling shorts stink after the first day of use, then what? carry more so you change? but then that's added weight and they take up space, for right now I carry enough to last a weekend or 3 days, but when I do a tour across the US I can't take 4 or 5 sets of shorts, so I have to figure out something.  One thing I did discover recently is if I wash my padded shorts in regular detergent, added in a cap full of Biz, and then added in a cup of vinegar and a cup of baking soda, and then use a soak cycle in the wash, they don't stink as bad after the first ride and probably could get away with 2 days of wearing, I'm still testing this, I just read about that last week so I don't have a long term in the saddle yet to see what happens, but so far the stink seems to be less.   But I'm open to ideas on the padded cycling short thing and how to get away with something lighter and less bulky.

15

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

« on: September 12, 2021, 08:35:39 pm »

Why are used bents so cheap now?  Brand new those things cost a lot of money.