Messages

16

Gear Talk / Re: My Pannier Design

« on: August 17, 2023, 06:32:05 am »

Those are some nice looking bags.  Very impressive.

I still have my first canvas panniers that I conned my mother into sewing 50 years ago.  Yours are more feature-packed.

What are you carrying under your top tube?  It looks like enough spokes to build three wheels.

17

Gear Talk / Re: Bluetooth speaker

« on: July 01, 2023, 09:30:34 pm »

<<wind noise at 15 MPH is good for 85 decibels>>
Had not thought about this, but seems plausible. 

I recommend cat ears: www.cat-ears.com 
They are little fuzzy things that wrap around your helmet straps where the fuzz breaks up the wind noise ahead of your ears.  Their argument is that this is the reason that owls have feathery legs and pigeons don't, and your cat has hairy ears and you don't.

I can attest that they really work, and in the nebulous, subjective world of sound assessment, I would say they knock the wind noise down by half.  I bought a new helmet once and forgot to move them over.  The first downhill I hit, the wind noise had me wondering 'what is Wrong with this helmet?'   

Also recommend bone conduction headphones.  They don't obstruct your ears and are pretty comfortable.  There's a headphone law in Georgia, which they probably put you on the wrong side of, but you can easily hear traffic sounds.

18

Gear Talk / Re: Sandals for colder climate?

« on: June 22, 2023, 02:29:56 pm »

I've given up hiking boots for backpacking and wear trail runners.  On rainy days I wear waterproof socks with them.  I think they have a layer of waterproof neoprene and an inner layer of merino wool.  They are way more comfortable than they sound like they would be.  Haven't tried it, but in light of this thread, it seems like they would make good cold/wet day socks.

19

Gear Talk / Re: removing tubeless tire used with a tube

« on: June 21, 2023, 10:07:55 pm »

<<convert it to tubeless>>
Here's a vote for- DO NOT DO THIS

I ran road tubeless for a while and I would still be doing it if I were a pro racer and someone else were maintaining my wheels.  The balance of screwing around with it versus probable gains just sagged towards the 'screwing around with it' side.

On a tour, I find flats to be a minor nuisance.  With tubeless, they would be an opportunity to polish your profanity.

My experience was also that the air pressure leaked down about twice as fast in the tubeless vs tubed wheels.

This being the ACA forum, others' experience will differ.

20

Gear Talk / Re: Cross Spoking the Rhyno Lite.

« on: June 21, 2023, 09:19:29 pm »

I'm all in on this.  Zerodish's approach gives a little more dish on both sides, but it's desperately needed on the drive side with the wide cassette clusters the kids are using these days.
I would think there would be more lateral stability.  Spoke tension between sides should be a little closer.

I've been sticking to offset rims for rear wheels to get some dish on the drive side, but they are getting vanishingly hard to find. 

This is one of those obvious ideas that's only obvious when someone points it out.  Waytogo Zerodish.

21

General Discussion / Re: Sunglasses

« on: June 15, 2023, 10:53:27 pm »

Try a safety supply house like Full Source or Northern Safety.  You can get shaded, polarized, non-polarized, and lenses with reader insets.  Because of OSHA standards, most are wrap-around.  I've never paid over $10 for a pair.  And you won't poke your eye out, kid.

22

General Discussion / Re: Must have spare parts/tools

« on: June 15, 2023, 10:47:06 pm »

I used to be neurotic about having a way to remove cassettes to replace spokes.  I used to carry the cute little Stein lockring tool, but it puts a disturbing amount of stress on the dropout, especially if the lockring is torqued down properly (I used to run the lockrings undertorqued but dragons lie there).  I now use a Velo Orange hub that disassembles by hand and as a bonus uses sealed bearings.  I think fiberfix spoke doesn't require removing cassette so another plus for those.

Upvote on wire ties.  I cracked a rear dropout once and wire ties held the frame together well enough to ride 30 miles.

The luxury tool I don't carry (yet) is a pair of mini channel locks to pop loose Quick Links.

23

General Discussion / Re: Cpap machine (powering)

« on: June 15, 2023, 06:16:50 pm »

<<I've been wondering if a dynamo front hub could be used>>

Without devoting a lot of mental energy to this-

I sleep about as many hours as I ride, so the dynamo power should be somewhat commensurate with CPAP power.

I looked up power required for a small CPAP (Transcend Micro) and it was 30W (1.67A at 18V). 

A SON28 dynamo hub generates about 3W when you get up around 8-10MPH.  I don't think you'll find anything more efficient than the SON.  And a larger dynamo much above 3W I think would feel draggy.

I use a dynamo hub (the standard SON, wish I had bought the 28) to charge a smartphone, but in hilly or mountainous terrain it becomes ineffective.  On a long, slow climb it generates no useful power, but then generates lots of power, briefly, on descents.

24

General Discussion / Re: No refusal laws or practices nation wide.

« on: June 15, 2023, 05:57:55 pm »

Thinking the solution to homelessness is to outlaw it, Georgia is trying to pass a law banning camping on any public lands.

25

General Discussion / Re: The free-ranging dogs on long tours. Temporary annoyances, possible dangers.

« on: June 15, 2023, 05:53:38 pm »

I yell 'Bad Dog' at them, a variation on OPs method.  Most of the time they look visibly confused and lose their pace.

In a sleepy and dusty town in western Kansas (what other kind are there in western Kansas) I encountered a pack of a half dozen or so dogs who surrounded my bike while a pair nipped at my heels.  They were having the grandest time ever.  It was disconcerting, but they probably wouldn't have eaten me in the middle of town.
 

26

General Discussion / Re: Farewell for a while

« on: June 14, 2023, 11:58:26 am »

I'm guessing you're starting at Prudhoe Bay and the Dalton Highway, a trip leg that fascinates me.  I met a cyclist that had just reached the contiguous US after riding from Prudhoe.  His comment on riding the Dalton Highway: "Unless you just have to have bragging rights, go ride somewhere nice".  Still, it intrigues.

Best of luck, may your trip be interesting but not transcend to tragic.

27

General Discussion / Re: Average Weight Loss/Gain on Cross Country Tour

« on: June 14, 2023, 11:52:37 am »

I lost about half a pound a day on a 66day TA trip.  It left me at a good weight but my body wanted every one of those pounds back and I regained them in surprising short time.  (Have since shed that weight again in a less drastic manner).  By the end of the trip I was bored with eating.  I didn't have a smartphone with me and maybe armed with Yelp I'd have ate more.

28

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.

29

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?

30

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.