My touring rig - post yours

[Wingnut]

Finally to satisfy il Padrone, it exists

Ok, how do those little black bags fit on your main pannier bags?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk...

[Baalzamon]

It's part of the ortlieb system. Those are Ortlieb small pouches, accessories for Ortlieb panniers and all accessories for Ortlieb panniers use the same system.
http://www.ortlieb.com/_anleit/bottlecage.pdf Instructions on how to fit one of the accessories. Now that I have done my panniers I can get any of their accessories and quickly add extra features to my paniers.

[rifraf]

With the Aussie dollar so high against the US, Euro the Pound you'd be insane not to make your purchases now!

That was then and this is now - damnit
The damn dollar is falling through the floor!

[RonK]

With the Aussie dollar so high against the US, Euro the Pound you'd be insane not to make your purchases now!

That was then and this is now - damnit
The damn dollar is falling through the floor!

Wrong - the US dollar is going up, but the Euro and Pound are going nowhere.

It's doubtful the US dollar will stay high for long.

[rifraf]

Wrong - the US dollar is going up, but the Euro and Pound are going nowhere.

It's doubtful the US dollar will stay high for long.

I hope not as my damn wheels are nearly built (in the US)

[Aushiker]

Wrong - the US dollar is going up, but the Euro and Pound are going nowhere.

It's doubtful the US dollar will stay high for long.

I hope not as my damn wheels are nearly built (in the US)

The US dollar is around 98 cents at the moment. So when did you order the wheels? Already paid for? At the moment you are looking at what around 8% increase in cost, if that? Is that really that bad or are the wheels expensive little ones?

Andrew

[rifraf]

The US dollar is around 98 cents at the moment. So when did you order the wheels? Already paid for? At the moment you are looking at what around 8% increase in cost, if that? Is that really that bad or are the wheels expensive little ones?

Andrew

I think the dollar was at $1.08 when I ordered them which encouraged me to get them in the first place.
It took me longer than anticipated to get my hubs to them.
I'm a tight ass and hate spending money so am always miffed when I feel I'm paying over the odds.
I think I'll ring tonight and ask them to bill me immediately which will hopefully mitigate any further drops in the $AU.
I was estimated $700US and starting to panic after reading
http://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/Aussie ... 3.html?x=0

[Aushiker]

I was estimated $700US and starting to panic after reading

Ahh expensive little things so you are looking at around a $70 increase ... That would hurt

Andrew

[elStado]

It was good while it lasted. Wish I had bought my Showers Pass jacket a month ago though.. might just hold off and see how the dollar fares over the next few months, wont need the jacket until next year anyway. Can't see the USD recovering too well in the longer run, so we should be back to a good exchange soon I hope.

On the longer term, though, Citi's Elmer is optimistic the Aussie should behave like a safe-haven thanks to Australia's solid fundamentals. He looked for the local currency to outperform the dollar and euro over the course of the next few quarters.

from the article linked

[rifraf]

It was good while it lasted. Wish I had bought my Showers Pass jacket a month ago though.. might just hold off and see how the dollar fares over the next few months, wont need the jacket until next year anyway. Can't see the USD recovering too well in the longer run, so we should be back to a good exchange soon I hope.

On the longer term, though, Citi's Elmer is optimistic the Aussie should behave like a safe-haven thanks to Australia's solid fundamentals. He looked for the local currency to outperform the dollar and euro over the course of the next few quarters.

from the article linked

I had one of those jackets on my wishlist as well, which is where its going to stay by the looks of things.
It appears that my desire for a US custom micro adjust Ti seatpost is off the cards for a while as well although its still looking cheap
compared to:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/230674987685 ... 1438.l2649
which isnt even micro-adjust but in my unusually sized 31.8mm (from my research)

[jet-ski]

Mine is the one with the front panniers.

[rifraf]

Hi Jetski,
a sidepic would be awesome if you have one of your trailer combo.
Cheers

[Aushiker]

Mine is the one with the front panniers.

Where where you riding?

Also and more importantly how did they compare in terms of riding? I am thinking of the difference in weight distribution.

Andrew

[jet-ski]

hey rifraf, I really don't have any side on shots - most of the pics are at campsites and the like so they are all rear-end sorta pics.



different angle....

a bit of riding in France and the Rhine Valley - combination of road and tracks which varied greatly in quality.... the only issues with handling are reduced braking capability with all the weight on the back, and the little wheels on the trailer dug in a bit when the trail was wet and muddy... but that was only an issue where the trail was soft, was OK where they had put new gravel down.

The bike itself is a very nice ride, in fact I commute on it most days (short commute by standards on here though, just 17k round trip) - could do with some more road-friendly rubber on it though, the touring tyres are a bit 'buzzy' on the pavement

the trailer is a little bit wide.... which means it is a pain in the butt to tow over the Perth Ent Centre bridge here with very tight ped gates, you only have a few mm to spare.... but if you hit the trailer on anything, or drop a wheel off the edge of a curb, the thing just bounces around, no harm done. The case put up with some very rough handling on the aircraft on the way home and the central handle jammed shut, I had to lever it open with the claw of a hammer, but no harm no foul, it's still going!

there's a very brief outline of my tour on my blog.... with more pics, though no real side-on shots....

[rifraf]

hey rifraf, I really don't have any side on shots - most of the pics are at campsites and the like so they are all rear-end sorta pics.


there's a very brief outline of my tour on my blog.... with more pics, though no real side-on shots....

No thats great!
I wanted to get a sense of proportion with regards the bike and trailer.
Theres talk in a Moulton forum I habit, of someone using a Bike Friday trailer for his Moulton.
I got me thinking is all.
Theres a couple of Bike Friday trailer frames on fleabay recently albeit without the Samsonite(?) case.
Just started to peruse your blog now.

[John Kennedy]

My Rivendell Atlantis crossing the Murray at Swan Reach.

[rifraf]

Very nice John,
looks especially strong with the extra cross bar there.
Nicely co-ordinated luggage on the rear.
Who made the rear top rack (trunk?) bag?

[spirito]

My Rivendell Atlantis crossing the Murray at Swan Reach.

Wow !!! Beautiful looking bike.

[tmac100]

My arvon2 is built I will fly back to Canada for a visit, remove it from the box and assemble it, try it out in the snow (!) and on a gravel road, then fly to warmer climes and see how it works on sand-surrounded bitumen roads. Then in July-August I expect to really use it between Perth and Adelaide.

Sorry, but I only have a bunch of e-mails from the Canadian builder and this link which shoiws pics. I am quite pleased with the 20" X 20" X 12" box that folds into a "layer" 20" X 10" X 2" to sit on the rear rack. 4 panniers will replace the Bob Ibex that i used on my last 2 Australian tours with my arvon1 touring bike.
The cost of the bike was about $3000, the box another 10%. Brooks saddle not included as I have 3.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.ph ... e-in-a-Box.

[GregLR]

Below is a 60cm Surly ‘Long Haul Trucker’ I built up earlier in the year to use on our British ‘end to end’ tour in June/July (except the wheels, which were laced by a Canberra wheelbuilder). The bike replaced a 20 year-old tourer custom built with Columbus SL steel tubing for motel and B&B touring.

I found that the large Columbus SL frame flexed too much with a 2-pannier load, although it has done many tours and it has also been a great audax bike when carrying only a rack top bag. I wanted to see if the LHT's relatively inexpensive, bigger diameter & thicker gauge cr-mo frame in the same size would be more stable carrying two panniers. I was very pleased with the bike during our ‘end to end’ - no feeling of 'sway' at the rear or any tendency to shimmy.

The key features of the component spec are set out below.

STEERING: Bars: Modolo; Stem: Nitto ‘UI-5GX’; Headset: Chris King ‘NoThreadset’

DRIVETRAIN & BRAKES: Bottom bracket: Genetic 'Chromozone' JIS square taper; Cranks: UK Spa Cycles 46/36/26, 175mm (Sugino XD-2 with TA rings); Rear Derailleur: 2010 Shimano XT (with barrel adjuster added); Front Derailleur: used Shimano XT (1991); Shifters: Shimano ‘Dura Ace’ 9-speed downtube; Cassette: 12-32; Brakes: Tektro CR720 wide-profile cantilevers (ie, cyclocross style); Brake levers: Shimano R600

WHEELS: 2005 Shimano XT hubs built onto 36-hole Mavic A719 rims with double-butted spokes; 35mm Panaracer 'Pasela' Tour Guard tyres.

OTHER: Pedals: Shimano A520 touring SPD; Saddle: fi'zi:k 'Arione'; Seatpost: Ritchey alloy; Mudguards: SKS P45; Rack: Tubus ‘Cargo’ cr-mo
[sorry, photos got cut off a bit at the front, not sure why]

[Uncle Just]

Nice build Greg.

Did you find the fork mounted cable hanger reduced brake shudder? How did you add the barrel adjuster to the XT rear mech as Shimano in their wisdom have now eliminated this useful feature?

[rifraf]

Nice build Greg.

How did you add the barrel adjuster to the XT rear mech as Shimano in their wisdom have now eliminated this useful feature?

Well spotted Uncle Just
Having just added a M772 Shadow derailleur, to my bike, I'm curious about this too.

[Slim]

Nice work and good looking bike.

[sorry, photos got cut off a bit at the front, not sure why]

Reducing the size of images will fix this problem. There are many free tools on the web that you can use. On Macs I use ImageWell.

[GregLR]

...Did you find the fork mounted cable hanger reduced brake shudder? How did you add the barrel adjuster to the XT rear mech as Shimano in their wisdom have now eliminated this useful feature?

Thanks for your comments re the LHT build, Justin & Slim. I haven't experienced brake shudder with the wide-profile Tektro CR720s, though there is sometimes a very muffled squeal when the front brake is applied, but nothing like the loud squeal I've experienced before with the high-profile cantilever brake design. Since I fitted the uphanger when I built the bike I can't say whether there would have been brake shudder had there been a long bare cable run from a hanger with the headset spacers.

Re the barrel adjuster on the rear derailleur. I was shocked when I fitted the derailleur and found that it had no barrel adjuster, meaning I couldn't adjust the indexing ! It hadn't even occured to me to check that there was a barrel adjuster, because I'd never seen a rear derailleur without one. However, I bought a barrel adjuster from a LBS (Bike Culture in O'Connor, Canberra) that easily solved the problem. It screwed into the end of the deraileur and the end of the cable housing (with a ferrule) in turn slotted into the adjuster when I threaded the cable through. I don't know the brand of this item, but I can check with the LBS to see where they obtained it from or if they can supply one by mail.

Reducing the size of images will fix this problem. There are many free tools on the web that you can use. On Macs I use ImageWell.

Thanks for that advice, Slim. I thought that the only way I could include images with posts on this forum is to link them from a web address (rather than upload from my computer), so the images are ones that I posted to a blog - it's just occured to me that I can resize those images and post them again to the blog, and then edit the web links in my post so that they pick up the smaller image.

Greg

[Uncle Just]

Thanks Greg. I can follow up on the barrel adjuster as you've given the name of your source. A local shop catering to the touring crowd may even have one.

BTW I didn't mention it but I do like to see DT shifters on touring bikes, so simple to set up, easy to use and uncomplicated. Ideal for touring the back blocks and in keeping with the slower ethos of touring imo. You don't have the same need for quick gear changes when touring so they are ideal.