Messages

1

Gear Talk / trailer pulling and old guys

« on: June 05, 2008, 07:07:24 pm »

This will not really help you with your trailer decisions but , you might find it amusing . I found an old bicycle trailer beside the road and replaced the tires . and removed the rotted canvas and I am building an aluminium "tiny tear drop trailer " it's about 75% done . It's about 18" high by 60" long .
   Ray

Razor

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Gear Talk / trailer pulling and old guys

« on: January 21, 2008, 08:17:48 pm »

Sounds like a fun challenge . I'm sure you've read the usual books on long tours and so forth , have you checked out the web site crazyguyonabike.com and WarmShowers.org . One for Ideas and inspiration the other for help .I'm sure there are many more .
  Smooth raods and clear minds , Ray

Razor

3

Gear Talk / trailer pulling and old guys

« on: January 20, 2008, 05:55:20 pm »

Hey geezer , you don't HAVE to have a pile of money . Sure it's nice to have the latest stuff and coolest gee-whiz gear .But the most important thing is to be willing to go . JUST DO IT . You can go on a fun tour where all your gear came from K Mart and/or yard sales . My first tour was on a ten speed that I put a rack on the back and bungeed a army duffel bag on with some cut-offs, tee shirts for clothes  ,a big piece of plastic for a tent and a jar of peanut-butter and loaf of beard and mess-kit from scouts . Is this the best way to go , NO. But , I did bike about 500 miles on that trip . Just because someone else needs something on their trip doesn't mean you will . I met an English couple touring around the world and they were carrying 150 lbs of stuff on each bike and they were staying in hotels and mailing anything they bought back home . It seemed like they were trapped by their stuff . Get stuff you think you will need to enjoy yourself ,not to impress me or your ridding buddies , then do it and have some fun and let us know how went "if you feel like it " .

Razor

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Gear Talk / trailer pulling and old guys

« on: December 23, 2007, 09:15:10 pm »

   Hey Geezer have fun with your tour . As someone who was looking into the subject this has helped alot . I am 51 and been on some longer tours . Please take some time out and check out links for ultralight touring and hiking it will give you some good ideas about what you really need to take . Also with the fancy wheels these days make sure the wheels can handle the load you want to carry . The wheels are being engineered with little or NO margin for extra weight designed in . Just watch out for the cool looking wheels that some salespeople might pawn off on you otherwise you will spend all your time replacing spokes . Been there, done that .

Razor

5

Gear Talk / Changing from Drop bars to Straight bars

« on: January 06, 2008, 09:06:36 pm »

Cycleguy , I no longer use that one shop . I am lucky to have two other shops in my area that have great people that are willing to help . I only wanted you to know two things , one that an unorthodox change could work for you and if it was not what everyone was expecting you might meet road blocks . Whatever you decide good luck and enjoy your trips .

Razor

6

Gear Talk / Changing from Drop bars to Straight bars

« on: January 03, 2008, 08:56:55 pm »

  I have had 4 different bike shops work on it over time and 3 have told me the brakes would not stop the bike . After I showed the mechanics at 2 of the shops they believed me particularly after testing them for themselves . Not something I have a problem with as I am a hands on kind of person myself . The 4th one told me they wouldn't work without even testing them . And when I asked him to just look at them he gave me a song and dance about how he was manager of repair and told me he had 35 years experience working on bikes . I had just wanted it checked out for an up coming charity bike ride and just needed a check off sheet filled out , but he held onto my bike a week without even looking at it . Now , I was trying to do the right thing as I could have just filled the sheet out myself .I went to a different bike shop and they took care of me that same day . I got upset at a number of things ,first he wasted a week of my time , second supervising 3 teenagers does not impress me , third I built my first bicycle from junk bikes when I was 12 years old and still do work on them , and fourth I have worked as a maintenance mechanic in heavy industry for almost 30 years in many different plants on a lot more complicated equipment then this joker has even seen .
    Most bike shops will at least try to help and if they can't they will tell you so and most of the time tell you why , don't have the parts , no time , "darn , I just have no idea what's wrong ." Most of the time I let the mechanics at the shops work on my bike so I don't have to buy a lot of specialized tools and store them as I do wood working and carving as a hobby . I don't think sawdust works well in the bearings on bicycles , maybe that's just me . As to assuming I have and still work around hazardous " stuff "  explosive , flammable , poisonous , acid , caustic ,and known carcinogens . I do not like to assume anything . How's that for way more than you really wanted to know . As you can see I am not impressed by smoke and mirrors .
  What kind of handlebars do you like I have gotten away from the drop bars ?

Razor

7

Gear Talk / Changing from Drop bars to Straight bars

« on: January 02, 2008, 10:05:06 pm »

LOL , Russell it's nice you're trying to save me from myself but you're making a number of assumptions .Really I am not suggesting anyone use STI levers with straight handlebars , I am using Bike Nashbar " Nashbar Trekking ATB/Hybrid handlebars " they are mostly flat but ,not straight , each end kind of loops around till it almost touches the other .I have the STIs on the curved ends lined up about where they would be on drop bars . While the levers are close to the bars they will not touch them when closed and actually bypass the bars . This is great if you have short fingers like I do . When I put them on "temporarily " I was very careful to make sure it would work . Now 3 years later and thousands of miles they still work great for me .  They have been field tested on 5 trips of between 350 miles and 830 miles , and many , many shorter trips . They have stopped me when I was tearing down a hill at 50 mph headed for that stop sign hidden behind the tree branches and so on . I do not live in a flat area and most of my trips have been in Appalachian Mt's from Virginia to northern Maine .
  I'm not sure what you mean by V brakes , center pull , side pull maybe ? I have cantilever brakes on my bike and have been able to lock the wheels up when that bone head pulls out in front of me . Enough about the brakes they work ,they just don't look the way some people want them to .
   The nice thing about the handle bars is the many positions for your hands , and the way mine are set I can rest my forearm on the back part and hands on the front part like aero bars .Will these bars work for you ? Maybe , just find ones that more than one place for your hands .
    Clear minds and smooth roads .

Razor

8

Gear Talk / Changing from Drop bars to Straight bars

« on: January 01, 2008, 01:24:22 pm »

 I have to say that I changed out my handle bars and love it, after years of drop bars I'm glad I did; I put on mountain bike bars that kind of circle around in a loop . It gives me about 5 different positions . I was just experimenting with them at first and reused the road brake/shifter levers temporarily . Not only did they work to my surprise , but I found I really liked them . The only problem is I found some bike mechanics tell me they won't stop the bike .The fact that they will stop it with loaded panniers in Appalachian mountains on 14 percent grades doesn't change their preconceived ideas . I guess changing anything on bikes must give them fits , I wonder how they deal with all the innovation in gear and equipment over the last 30 years ? It is a very long list .

Razor

9

Gear Talk / Digital Cameras

« on: January 01, 2008, 12:43:57 pm »

I want to thank bogiesan "David" for all the information and insight into " affordable " digital cameras , from someone who probably doesn't need to use them very often .This thread has been very helpful.   Ray , Phila.

Razor

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Gear Talk / Digital Cameras

« on: December 23, 2007, 08:32:22 pm »

I realize you folks are out of my league as photographers , but I am looking for a bullet proof digital point and shoot . I have had some nice cameras that were gifts and they just fell apart . One broke before I could use it . Since then I have been using disposables . I am not looking for an expensive camera as my budget is for the trip . I just want to preview my shots and sent e-mail pictures .

Razor

11

Routes / Cape Cod to Philly ?

« on: December 11, 2008, 10:51:54 pm »

Are there any good routes from Province Town , Cape Cod to Philadelphia , Pennsyvania ?It seems ACA ignores most of the east coast . I am thinking of taking a train to Boston in June and riding back to Philly .I don't need completely carless roads just bridges I can get across .I want to go through Rhode Island and Connecticut and try to pick up the ACA spur from New york , New York to Philly .Let me know your thoughts and it would be great if I could incorperate some of your ideas in my trip .

Razor

12

Routes / East Coast Trip Suggestion

« on: December 12, 2008, 06:38:36 pm »

  Sorry , I havn't ridden in Conn. or Mass. yet .You could order a bunch of the free state brochures and show them to the family and ask them where they would like to go and work around that .It's worked for me .

Razor

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Routes / East Coast Trip Suggestion

« on: December 11, 2008, 09:57:00 pm »

The route north all the way to Conn. anyway is very nice . There are a few spots where the route goes though towns that the roads can be busy , very few . I would not go in Feb. it's not just cold but some of the places you would stay are seasonal and you will be climbing up to where there will be ice and snow . The route just north of the Delaware Water Gap has almost nobody living there even in the summer ." Go figure , in NJ no less ."They were going to build a dam and resivore on the Delaware river and forced the people to sell and move out .I would try late May or early June .I live just a block off the route not far from Bull Island State park and have ridden from the Conn. border south to Doylestown Pa .

Razor

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Routes / HELP! CHICAGO TO NEW YORK CITY

« on: December 11, 2008, 10:15:59 pm »

Barbara ,I highly recomend the free maps from NY state they are very good and the person you order them from was very helpful .I have used them in the past and they were great and kept you on good cycling roads .

Razor

15

Routes / Cycling Trip On Cape Cod

« on: February 22, 2007, 10:13:05 pm »

Thanks Ed, do you think they would let me park a pick-up truck at one of these campgrounds ?

Razor