expedition bike

Disco Stu said:

Just playing around here.

Say you were going on a month long ride across the wilderness. During
this time you will see no other human beings and have no access to spare
parts (other than what you take with you).

A lawyer. Its illegal to ride in wilderness. ;-)

Quoted message said:

Here is what I came up with as a reliable bike that could be easily
repaired if things went wrong.

Frame - Steel or chrome alloy. Something that isn't going to snap and
leave you stranded.

Ti. You didn't say it has to be cheap.

Quoted message said:

Suspension - Either none or front forks only. The less things that can
break the better. Full suspension would add weight and make carrying
over your shoulder more difficult.

Solid rubber tires. No really. Eliminates the need for a lot of repair
paraphernalia & pump.

Quoted message said:

Breaks - mechanical disk. Better breaking than rim breaks, with more
tolerance if wheels should become buckled. Hydraulic systems would be
harder to jury rig if something was damaged. Mechanical would also
allow for spare cable sharing with the gear system.

Not a bad thought.

Quoted message said:

Gears - 21 speed with friction shifters. I know thats going back more
than a decade, but these things are just bullet proof. If a rapid fire
pod became smashed, I doubt there is much you could do to fix it. A
friction shifter is pretty damn basic, I'm sure you make a replacement
unit with a nut, bolt, pocket knife and nice piece of carvable hardwood.

SSers?
Why not older indexing with the friction/click selection lever? Hands
of everyone who remembers those.
Platform pedals
One piece crank
KC headset
Bars? stem? brake levers? rims? hubs?

Brookes Bro. Saddle The one with the springs. There's your suspension.

"scurry" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Disco Stu said:

Just playing around here.

Say you were going on a month long ride across the wilderness. During
this time you will see no other human beings and have no access to spare
parts (other than what you take with you).

A lawyer. Its illegal to ride in wilderness. ;-)

Heheheh, damned pedant! ',;~}~

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Here is what I came up with as a reliable bike that could be easily
repaired if things went wrong.

Frame - Steel or chrome alloy. Something that isn't going to snap and
leave you stranded.

Ti. You didn't say it has to be cheap.

Nothing wrong with an alu frame, if it's a well made one.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Suspension - Either none or front forks only. The less things that can
break the better. Full suspension would add weight and make carrying
over your shoulder more difficult.

Solid rubber tires. No really. Eliminates the need for a lot of repair
paraphernalia & pump.

Nokian Gazzaloddi 2.6's - no flats, no worries. Solid tyres are hard to
find, especially with a good off-road tread and enough flexibility to afford
adequate grip.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Breaks - mechanical disk. Better breaking than rim breaks, with more
tolerance if wheels should become buckled. Hydraulic systems would be
harder to jury rig if something was damaged. Mechanical would also
allow for spare cable sharing with the gear system.

Not a bad thought.

I must concurr. It should even be quite simple to have V callipers already
fitted but zip-tied out of the way, then converting over in case of failure
would be VERY simple, IMNSHO ',;~}~

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Gears - 21 speed with friction shifters. I know thats going back more
than a decade, but these things are just bullet proof. If a rapid fire
pod became smashed, I doubt there is much you could do to fix it. A
friction shifter is pretty damn basic, I'm sure you make a replacement
unit with a nut, bolt, pocket knife and nice piece of carvable hardwood.

You could do that with rapid-fire or twist grip just as easily - the cable
ends are the same in either case - there's absolutely zero difference in the
above scenario.

Quoted message said:

SSers?
Why not older indexing with the friction/click selection lever? Hands
of everyone who remembers those.

Quoted message said:

Platform pedals

Agreed. All the time! ',;~}~

Quoted message said:

One piece crank

For the big folks especially. Myself, I'd be happy with standard ones.

Shaun aRe

Shaun Rimmer said:

Quoted message said:

One piece crank

For the big folks especially. Myself, I'd be happy with standard ones.

All the one-piece cranks I've seen / used have had the structural
integrity of soft cheese. A set of cro-mo 3-piece would be much better.

bomba said:

Shaun Rimmer said:

Quoted message said:

One piece crank

For the big folks especially. Myself, I'd be happy with standard ones.

All the one-piece cranks I've seen / used have had the structural
integrity of soft cheese. A set of cro-mo 3-piece would be much better.

Hmm, I've seen some, seemingly, really stout Cro-Mo ones for BMX use,
but that's not my department. I figured the simplicity would be more
significant than brute strength.

scurry said:

Quoted message said:

All the one-piece cranks I've seen / used have had the structural
integrity of soft cheese. A set of cro-mo 3-piece would be much better.

Hmm, I've seen some, seemingly, really stout Cro-Mo ones for BMX use,
but that's not my department. I figured the simplicity would be more
significant than brute strength.

Theoretically, not a bad idea. In reality, however...

As the ultimate in reliability, I reckon an old UN-72 for crappy
conditions allied to a set of Primo Excel cranks for strength. Not sure
they're 100% compatible though...

This is from Marty Basch's book "Above the Circle," who rode 3,000 miles
around Arctic Circle on his Jamis Exile:

http://www.mountwashingtonvalley.com/top-of-the-world/circle3.html

The Gear
1. Bicycle: This was a new Jamis Exile mountain bike. It handled well
throughout the trip as roads changed from pavement to dirt. However, seven
spokes were broken on the rear wheel. I had never broken a spoke until this
trip. Each broken spoke resulted in me placing a sticker over the brand name
on the bike.

2. Panniers: The rear Jandd Mountaineering set have been with me since 1992
and traveled over 10,000 miles. Alas, the plastic frame interior finally
cracked on one of them. The other was fine. Luckily, I had duct tape. The
front set from Blackburn were sturdy and reliable. I would use them again.

3. Racks: Both were Blackburn. The rear has been mine since 1992. It's fine.
The front, well, let's just say I didn't fasten the clamps the right way and
they started breaking. Again, duct tape was fine. But a bike shop in Narvik,
Norway made custom clamps and all was well.

4. Tires: Went with Continental Town and Country. Front one made the whole
trip. Rear one blew and I had to replace it in Finland with some cheap
import.

<snip>

scurry said:

Disco Stu said:

Just playing around here.

Say you were going on a month long ride across the wilderness. During
this time you will see no other human beings and have no access to
spare parts (other than what you take with you).

A lawyer. Its illegal to ride in wilderness. ;-)

In the limited definition of wilderness used in the USA. Everywhere
else it just means wilderness, i.e. not the city or suburbs or ...

Greg
--
Destroy your safe and happy lives
Before it is too late
The battles we fought were long and hard
Just not to be consumed by rock'n'roll

G.T. said:

scurry said:

Disco Stu said:

Just playing around here.

Say you were going on a month long ride across the wilderness.
During this time you will see no other human beings and have no
access to spare parts (other than what you take with you).

A lawyer. Its illegal to ride in wilderness. ;-)

In the limited definition of wilderness used in the USA. Everywhere
else it just means wilderness, i.e. not the city or suburbs or ...

I figured the little winky thing at the end would cover that.

On Tue, 27 Jul 2004 18:16:50 +1200, Disco Stu
<stu@springfield_dance_studio.com> blathered:

Quoted message said:

Just playing around here.

Say you were going on a month long ride across the wilderness. During
this time you will see no other human beings and have no access to spare
parts (other than what you take with you).

Here is what I came up with as a reliable bike that could be easily
repaired if things went wrong.

http://www.sjscycles.com/images/otherimages/RavenBrochure2004_4.pdf

(1208 KB pdf file - right-click, save to your PC, print out & read
over a beer).

Pete Jones

"scurry" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

G.T. said:

scurry said:

Disco Stu wrote:

> Just playing around here.
>
> Say you were going on a month long ride across the wilderness.
> During this time you will see no other human beings and have no
> access to spare parts (other than what you take with you).

A lawyer. Its illegal to ride in wilderness. ;-)

In the limited definition of wilderness used in the USA. Everywhere
else it just means wilderness, i.e. not the city or suburbs or ...

I figured the little winky thing at the end would cover that.

Nah - it only just covered one eyeball.

Shaun aRe

RE/

Quoted message said:

Just playing around here.

Check out TracksterMan's web site. He's actually done a lot of this and has
some specific recommendations.
--
PeteCresswell

On Wed, 28 Jul 2004 23:53:03 GMT, "(Pete Cresswell)" <[email hidden]>
blathered:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Just playing around here.

Say you were going on a month long ride across the wilderness. During
this time you will see no other human beings and have no access to spare
parts (other than what you take with you).

Here is what I came up with as a reliable bike that could be easily
repaired if things went wrong.

Check out TracksterMan's web site. He's actually done a lot of this and has
some specific recommendations.

Not any more...

I've just about convinced myself to buy a stock rohloff-equipped Thorn
Raven Adventure Tour - replace various components with tried & tested
stuff from my expedition tourer, then sell the old frame and leftover
bits to offset the cost.

I've just sold my BOB trailer via Ebay - it sucked [censored], don't believe
the hype. Panniers are the way to go IMO.

Pete Jones

Pete Jones <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

On Wed, 28 Jul 2004 23:53:03 GMT, "(Pete Cresswell)" <[email hidden]>
blathered:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Just playing around here.

Say you were going on a month long ride across the wilderness. During
this time you will see no other human beings and have no access to spare
parts (other than what you take with you).

Here is what I came up with as a reliable bike that could be easily
repaired if things went wrong.

Check out TracksterMan's web site. He's actually done a lot of this and has
some specific recommendations.

Not any more...

I've just about convinced myself to buy a stock rohloff-equipped Thorn
Raven Adventure Tour - replace various components with tried & tested
stuff from my expedition tourer, then sell the old frame and leftover
bits to offset the cost.

I've just sold my BOB trailer via Ebay - it sucked [censored], don't believe
the hype. Panniers are the way to go IMO.

Pete Jones

What was the problem with BOB? (Isn't that a movie?) Elongated wheelbase?
/s

RE/

Quoted message said:

I've just about convinced myself to buy a stock rohloff-equipped Thorn
Raven Adventure Tour - replace various components with tried & tested
stuff from my expedition tourer, then sell the old frame and leftover
bits to offset the cost.

I've got a couple of Rohloff hubs, but didn't want to tout them because I've
only got about 6 k miles on them and don't have any idea of how they'd stand up
to the kind of use you envision.

One thing, though, the guy who spend most of his life riding around the world
uses an internal 3-speed hub. http://www.bikechina.com/heinzstucke1z.html
--
PeteCresswell

supabonbon said:

Quoted message said:

I've just sold my BOB trailer via Ebay - it sucked [censored], don't believe
the hype. Panniers are the way to go IMO.

Pete Jones

What was the problem with BOB? (Isn't that a movie?) Elongated wheelbase?

Pete's review: http://www.bikemagic.com/news/article/mps/UAN/3667/v/2/sp/

On Fri, 30 Jul 2004 10:09:57 +0200, bomba <[email hidden]>
blathered:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I've just sold my BOB trailer via Ebay - it sucked [censored], don't believe
the hype. Panniers are the way to go IMO.

What was the problem with BOB? (Isn't that a movie?) Elongated wheelbase?

Pete's review: http://www.bikemagic.com/news/article/mps/UAN/3667/v/2/sp/

Article in this month's C+, courtesy of Phil Davies -
http://www.btinternet.com/~peteajones/temp/trailers/

Pete Jones