Messages

1

GPS & Digital Data Discussion / Re: New Garmin Edge Touring

« on: February 15, 2016, 06:30:19 pm »

The Edge Touring remains an interesting but often frustrating device for me. Updating maps over a broadband connection takes about two hours. The battery is exhausted on a good day of touring. The routing operation is unreliable and difficult to alter (it's fundamentally useless). The support software Xpress and BaseCamp are tedious and weirdly complicated. If you are thinking of getting GPS for you bike, I'd consider the 800 and 1000 series first just for battery life. Of course, they're more money.

There are are no new cycling products from Garmin, of which I am aware, targeted at the non-competitive cyclist.

2

GPS & Digital Data Discussion / Re: Help Us Improve Digital Map and Data Offerings

« on: June 12, 2015, 02:49:09 pm »

Hope this was a successful project. Got a progress update for us?

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GPS & Digital Data Discussion / Re: Change Data Display on Garmin Edge Touring Plus

« on: June 12, 2015, 02:46:03 pm »

The folks at the Garmin user forums are very helpful:

forums.garmin.com

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GPS & Digital Data Discussion / Re: New Garmin Edge Touring

« on: June 12, 2015, 02:45:28 pm »

I recently acquired a Garmin Edge Touring device. I spent many days researching the purchase and was aware of most of the pitfalls. However, putting thing to work was a bit more complicated and frustrating than I had planned. The volunteers who monitor the Garmin user forums were tremendously helpful. I'm enjoying using the device as a replacement for paper maps and for recording trips which are then downloaded to Garmin Connect. Trying to upload courses to the Touring is weirdly difficult.

forums.gamin.com

5

General Discussion / Re: Toe clips? Clipless? None of the above?

« on: October 19, 2014, 10:35:54 am »

A third option is Power Grip straps.  I haven't tried them, but they have a small, dedicated following.

My late riding partner put 10-15K on his powergrip straps and Nike running shoes.

6

General Discussion / Re: Bike Question

« on: October 19, 2014, 10:33:10 am »

There is a complete how-to-buy-a-touring-bike section someplace here on the Adventure Cycling site.

But before you decide to invest in a new bike, figure out if bike touring is for you. There are several ways to do that. You can try credit card touring, just ride from one town to the next with a backpack and stay in motels. You can try a fully supported tour. You can do a self-supported tour and rent  or borrow a bike.

7

Gear Talk / Re: Looking for a good touring shoe.

« on: October 12, 2014, 10:16:27 am »

You are unusual, yes. It's not just the fit that one needs to be happy with. Some folks go home and discover the color doesn't quite go with their bike or they don't have a jersey that goes with their new shoes. That's a disaster for lots of folks.
The reason I have mismatched shoes is an indiscernible calcium ridge. It gets bloody hot after about forty miles in one shoe but not ever in another. You can't tell that by walking around the store. You can't judge  if your heel slop can be trapped by the closure without reducing circulation or with heavy winter sox. You can't tell if you like Velcro or laces or both until you've tried to put your shoes on in differnt types of weather or need a wide range of adjustments. Is the cleat cavity deep enough?

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General Discussion / Re: Knees.... not the bees knees...

« on: October 12, 2014, 10:05:13 am »

Asking for medical advice here is, Umm, not a good idea. Your symptoms, as I read them, could be a meniscus tear or iliotibial band inflammation or just the result of inadequate knee care for several years.
Or you just might need a few days of ice and rest.

 Severe damage from which you might not recover is easy to do on the road. Hate to say it but you really need to see a sports medicine doctor who understands bikes. Even if it's just to rule out all worst cases and to get some good meds.

9

Gear Talk / Re: Looking for a good touring shoe.

« on: October 12, 2014, 09:52:53 am »

SPD is usually recommended because you can get them everywhere.
I use a mtn style shoe because touring involves walking. (I don't do self-supported rides but I do not enjoy watching the roadies stumble around in their hard shoes. Looks dangerous and uncomfortable.)
I get my bike shoes at REI garage sales because they're broken in and stupid cheap.
I wear a Giro left and a Shimano right. Due to some weird physical differences between my feet, out of four pairs of shoes, those are the two happen to fit perfectly.

The particular shoe(s) you end up with is a very personal choice. Closure sytem, fit, open or closed, color, brand, flexibility of sole, adjustability of closure (can you wear extra heavy sox), cleat placement, type of insole material, and price are all factors we can't decide for you. I have, however, determined higher price does not directly relate to longer life or better fit.

Whatever you buy, you will want several hundred miles on them, in varying conditions, before you start your adventure.

10

General Discussion / Re: 29er tubeless tires for Great Divide

« on: October 06, 2014, 10:11:33 pm »

my experience with tubeless (and disks ad weird spokes and non-spd pedals) is all observational. I can state with certainty that my observations indicate the failure rate of exotic systems increases dramatically with one's distance from civilization. ONe's  ability to get exotic sytems repaired has an inverse relationship with the distance from civilization and quickly approaches zero.

Just an observation. When you're in the backcountry you need total reliability and easily field-repairable gear.

I hope you get some useful recommendations and have a wonderful trip. Be sure to thuroughly test your tubeless system and know how to cope with everything before you head out.

11

Gear Talk / Re: Saddle Suggestion other than Brooks

« on: September 27, 2014, 07:43:48 pm »

Hope you all got this sorted out. I have ridden with folks on supported tours who hate their bikes which, of course, turns out to be a complaint about and inappropriately shaped or improperly positioned saddle.

I don't know how one shops for a saddle these days. The sales staff at one of the local shops are as confused as most of their customers. The experience of other riders is useless unless we can closely compare our anatomies. 
A quick googilian revealed no fewer than 15 saddles similar to Brooks, including three that are even more expensive and made of heavier, finer, thicker, and nicer leathers and that have larger copper nameplates held on with far cooler titanium bolts. REI lists 9 or more manufacturers and some 50 models of performance and cushioned bike saddles. The designs for men are clearly at opposite ends of physical reality. Support for the sits? Male-centric central void that, curiously, has arrived on female-specific saddles (news to me)? Long tongue? Narrow at the rear? Minimalist Italian elegance? Dual density luxury? 
http://www.rei.com/product/875586/fizik-arione-versus-x-kium-saddle-mens
http://www.rei.com/product/736826/serfas-lycra-dual-density-saddle-mens
http://www.rei.com/product/813902/serfas-rx-saddle-mens

One more reason I love my recumbent: My seat is 3" of open/closed cell foam sandwich and there's even a backrest.

12

Gear Talk / Re: Thule towbar rack and fenders help please

« on: September 20, 2014, 10:45:54 am »

Cutting the fenders is not a solution. That's mutilation. Just take them off.

If you want to keep your fenders you must find a different transport system. Front fork headblocks can probably be swapped out if this is one of Thule's modular systems. A headblock requires you remove your front wheels.

If you bought this Thule at REI or a similar outfit, return it unopened and get a unit that will properly accommodate your bikes.

13

General Discussion / Re: Sour clothing - after washing!

« on: September 20, 2014, 10:41:05 am »

I've done my own laundry since I was about 12. The idea that someone else should be cleaning my dirty underwear and cycling shorts is ridiculous. But the inability to properly and safely do laundry in the field may be genetic. Or men are just stupid.

Cycle Oregon's shower trucks always have a laundry area with a dozen Home Depot buckets and a supply of detergent. I watched in horror as men used a full scoop of this powerful laundry detergent in less than a gallon of water and rinse once. Do these guys live with their mothers? Has no one ever taught them to care for their own clothes? They can never get that stuff rinsed out! They'll wonder why their crotches are itchy or inflamed. Where did that rash come from?

A scant teaspoon or two of any soap or detergent is all that is required to get three days' kits completely clean. Rinse, rinse, rinse. You've got to remove the soap. And try to get things as dry as possible before packing them up.

If you don't know how to do laundry, ask someone who does. It's easy and liberating and an independent adult should be able to take care of his own underwear.

14

Pacific Northwest / Re: Astoria to Boise

« on: September 14, 2014, 08:21:19 pm »

The I84 freeway is usually available for bicyclists but is closed to bikes for a few months due to construction. The bypass adds a few  miles but the miles are very interesting. Be sure to check with ODOT before you try to use the regular highway route from Pendleton to LaGrande.

http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/HWY/REGION5/docs/Bike%20DETOUR%20Brochure%20Beta_WEB.pdf

15

General Discussion / Re: What is a century?

« on: September 14, 2014, 08:10:57 pm »

There are double centuries, 200 miles. There are 100/100's, one hundred miles plus 62 miles.
In Idaho we have the unique opportunity to do a special double century: 100 miles in 100 degrees.

If you want to do a century, train slowly and steadily, find some buddies with the same goals and then sign up for a sponsored charity centiry. It's a cool thing to accomplish. There will be food stops and supprot on the route, a t shirt and a post-ride lunch.

Solo centuries are a bit dangerous unless you have the experience of many supported events but, more than anything else, they're boring.