Messages

16

Gear Talk / 10 speed cassettes for touring

« on: December 07, 2006, 01:24:19 am »

10 speed x 3 chainrings !!  Yeah, I see no advantage at all when my 9 speed still has 11-13.......30-34. And I can order those cassettes for way less than $50 I think.  You need a more expensive and narrower, weaker, harder to clean chain I bet as well. If you do like me - touring with the same bike as you take day trips with, you can just swap out a lightweight rear wheel with road gears for a heavy duty touring wheel with the 34 tooth on it. Then put the BOB on the skewer and go.

17

Gear Talk / Trek 520 rim cracks -no warranty service

« on: December 07, 2006, 01:40:39 am »

Hi, I'm no expert on wheels - in fact I'm probably one of the most dangerous people to ask - I just built my first rear wheel ! AND I haven't stayed at the Holiday in 9 months, BUT here goes nothing.

Maybe you should check the spoke tension on your wheel? The book I used (by G. Schraner) as my guide recommneds a certain tension  on drive side of rear wheel depending on how strong a rim you have. Too loose and the spokes break especially on the left side, too tight and your rim cracks. Schraner also recommends double butted spokes so the spoke can absorb more of the shock in its thinner middle

I had the spoke breaking problem with my rear wheels pulling a BOB trailer for 4 years. Have not done a tour yet with my new Mavic CXP 33, 32 double butted spoke rim and I don't even know how tough they claim it is, but the web page looked good and the price was right on e-bay !

18

GPS & Digital Data Discussion / What is the best GPS for cyclist?

« on: February 07, 2008, 03:53:47 pm »

Magilla,

Look at my post two above yours and you will see I have had a DeLorme PN-20 since Thanksgiving. What do you want to know about it? I have never used anything else, so I couldn't compare it to other brands. I ordered it with the Topo software for my laptop. I have had no need to download any extra USGS quads or sat images, although for hiking the extra detail might be helpful.
Edwin

19

GPS & Digital Data Discussion / What is the best GPS for cyclist?

« on: November 26, 2007, 02:00:44 pm »

hi,
I just bought a DeLorme PN-20 handheld gps. I don't have experience with any other brands; just stayed with DeLorme since I have been using their map software for several years. E-mail me if you have any questions about it. Rode with it on a 2 1/2 day mini-tour after Thanksgiving and was pleased, although didn't know till I called tech support that I had to transfer pre-made routes onto internal memory instead of the SD card.
ALSO, the best general purpose mounting bar for your gadgets, and to give your wrists and hands a break is an aerobar ! I tried to put my gps on lower left bar next to my wireless Cateye on the lower right, but gps interfered with Cateye signal, so I had to put gps on the tip of the aerobar (using the DeLorme bike mount). Now I just put headlamp on the lower bar and everything works fine. Ask if you would like to see a pic of my setup.

This message was edited by edmilkman on 11-26-07 @ 10:02 AM

20

GPS & Digital Data Discussion / Handlebar map

« on: November 26, 2007, 02:06:51 pm »

have you considered an aerobar to give your hands and wrists a break as well as to have extra room for gadgets. Mine is a Profile Design mounted on a road handlebar; they should work fine on a straight bar too shouldn't they?  I'll send a pic if you ask.

21

Routes / Southern Tier - Nov. to Jan.

« on: November 10, 2007, 08:50:43 pm »

Hi bchaffins,

No particular suggestions except you can look me up on warmshowers.com if you are interested in that as you enter the Florida panhandle. I live about 50 miles north of Bonifay. Also I might consider riding with you from my house east for a week if the timing is right, even if you pass on my Alabama hospitality. I have done the whole route west of my home.

22

Routes / Planning time again

« on: November 26, 2007, 02:20:06 pm »

hi sailariel, do you know about the warm showers website? can't remember if it's .com or .org, but you can register there to extend your hospitality to kindred spirits, and look for others to give, if you take to the road on a bike.

23

Routes / Atlantic Coast Route

« on: November 26, 2007, 02:37:29 pm »

hi brad,
I rode part of this from NC to Charleston, SC in Oct 06. Just wanted to let you know that you can detour to enter historic Charleston from the east on a new bike/pedestrian friendly bridge on US 17/701 crossing the harbor. There is a great view as it is very high, with the WWII aircraft carrier Yorktown and other ships nearby.  The 2-lane rush hour traffic on SR 41 for several miles before getting to the 4-lane US 17/701 was not suited for a novice cyclist however. The naval museum is before you cross the bridge. I spent all day touring there. That was after I saw the USS North Carolina in Wilmington a few days earlier !

24

Routes / Southern Tier E2W vs. W2E

« on: November 27, 2007, 02:34:02 pm »

Paul and litespeed,
you guys have me figured out I guess! I enjoy getting by on as little as possible. This also allows me the pleasure of tinkering/fixing stuff,and have more interesting stories about my bike tours. I would never consider a B&B, or motel even in a pouring rain unless my friends objected (they always do, which allows me to keep up my image).
Skinny, you will love the yucca and cactus in bloom starting in west TX and the bluebonnets and indian paintbrush in the hill country in April

25

Routes / Southern Tier E2W vs. W2E

« on: November 26, 2007, 03:11:35 pm »

hey skinny butt,
One thing you need is not a new bike, but a good seat - 50% of which depends on how you postion it. I rode for three years on mine (brand not important) with so-so discomfort, before adjusting the nose down a notch below level so I'm more on my sit bones vs. my crotch. That may not work for you, but you just have to try different things.
By-the-way, I ride a Trek 1200 that I bought used in 2003 for $400 . I use a BOB because you get the whole thing for one money vs. having to buy two racks, two sets of panniers, and then still not sure if it's waterproof without buying rain covers and packing critical stuff in garbage bags.  
My BOB problem is the extra stress on your rear wheel from having weight behind it instead of over it; will force you to get a well-built wheel if you don't have one. I made it across the Southern Tier in '04 starting with a new wheel from my local shop and the first spoke broke about the 3rd day. I habitually broke spokes on these off-the-rack wheels (including a better Mavic Open Pro wheel I ordered ahead as I rode toward El Paso) until finally deciding to buy a wheel building book and do it myself with truing stand, "spoke prep" thread compound, tension meter, double butted spokes and a Mavic CXP rim.  Another rim that sounds good is the off-center spoked rims from Velocity. They allow you to tension left and right side almost the same on the rear wheeel.
Lastly, we got more tailwinds going west in March&April all through FL to east TX. I don't remember any bad headwinds till AZ.

26

Routes / Best route to traverse America

« on: October 18, 2006, 03:53:28 pm »

hi tipsy,
If you decide to carry a sleeping bag just in case you are stuck between motels, you really can do without the tent if you don't mind sleeping under picnic shelters or making friends with a vehicle camper who has room under the awning of his RV at night. You still need a mattress of some sort though. Most state parks have "day use areas" with picnic shelters separate from the overnight camp areas, but as long as you agree to be packed up and gone by 8am, they won't make you stay in the overnight area- do your bathroom & showering in the overnight area, then pedal over to the day use area. In city parks, the place for bike camping IS usually a picnic shelter. In private campgrounds, it's tougher because the only other place to sleep would be the laundry room or game room.  If you pull into a business or home and see the owner, they might let you sleep under the awning or front porch anyway if you look trustworthy. In good, dry weather, sleep anywhere out of sight (we call that stealth camping), there will be little dew if you are under trees.

27

General Discussion / carbon road bikes with a trailer???

« on: November 27, 2007, 03:15:30 pm »

all you need to do is chop off the last zero on your Trek, and it goes from a lite carbon 5200 to the old touring workhorse 520 !  I think the engineers up at Trek weren't even thinking about that when they named the new models.

28

General Discussion / Is there a good all-in-one clothes/body wash?

« on: October 29, 2007, 12:24:36 am »

I've been on many tours in the last 4 years, but have never asked how to compact one very basic need- washing my body and my clothes. I still carry three separate containers of shampoo, bar of soap, and some Dawn for grease on my bike jersey. Never have experimented to find out if soap, or Dawn, works on my hair, or if Dawn messes up my skin? I'm chicken I guess. The only thing I have discovered is that soap lasts way longer when I started using one of those puffy - girly looking sponges instead of a wash rag. /the only drawback to it is you can't reach all the way behind your back.

29

General Discussion / Bicyle (no-motor)home

« on: December 19, 2006, 02:04:20 am »

This just in from Portland ! A guy actually travels and lives in his bicyle-non-motorhome.
http://bikeportland.org/2006/11/10/motorhome-bike-makes-portland-appearance/

30

General Discussion / Southern Tier Advice Needed

« on: January 09, 2004, 07:57:44 am »

hi andinisto,
I want to go east to west on the Southern Tier then up the Left coast to San Fransisco also. maybe we can partner up. My e-mail is ednotmilkman@netzero.net
I want to leave from my home in southeast Alabama about March 20 and must arrive in San Fran on or before May 7. According to the A.C. info, this will be a 3380 mile trip. Dividing that by 70 miles per day takes 48 days. I have no self-contained touring experience except 3 day weekends with my YAK trailer, but I have done 6K miles of training and truck SAGed touring in 2003. I can ride 11-12 mph all day in moderate hills with my loaded YAK, but would go slower , or faster (if you "pulled"), to keep pace with parners. I can not afford to be on the road more than 7weeks however. Greyhound is my backup plan in case I get behind somehow.

This message was edited by edmilkman on 1-10-04 @ 4:20 AM