Vivente World Randonneur - the best bang for your buck

[Stuntman]

Flat bars and Shimano hydraulic discs.

I spent far too long mulling over flat vs drop vs touring style bars.

Its likely I will experiment (natural born tinkerer) - maybe even with a jones bar. But right now it feels good.

[Stuntman]

If you have the Tubus Duo fitted, check that you have spacers to pack the rack at the mid-fork upper mount. I have seen people who have fitted it by just bolting the rack on, and noticeably bending the horizontal struts in to the fork. The two bars must be parallel. Bending one of these in under tension is NOT going to be good for longevity of the rack.

Yep I have a spacer - about 10mm (by eye).

[Tim]

More great service from Noel, the boss at VWR/Gemini Bikes.
I'd been having trouble finding replacement ramped and pinned Sugino chainrings.
Emailed Noel, snappy reply, a couple more emails and the new rings arrived at the PO today.
I haven't even paid for them yet. A complete surprise.

[rangersac]

That's a mighty good bit of info there, I was looking for exactly the same thing a few months back without much success, and now I know where to go.

[Tim]

I bought a complete new set of three rings; 24T, 36T and 46T.
The two smaller rings were about $48.00 each, not a bad price. Can buy 24T cheaper online but I couldn't find a 36T (nor 46T) R&P type anywhere.
The 46T was nearly double the price of the individual smaller rings.
I didn't mind paying the above and supporting Noel (his service is worth paying for), but it might work out cheaper buying a full new crankset if you need all 3 new rings. It's possible Noel stocks complete cranksets, unfortunately I didn't think to ask.
http://www.rivbike.com/product-p/cr1.htm

[RonK]

It's surprising that you would need to replace all the chainrings.

[Tim]

The 24 and 36 rings were cactus.
For some time I've been wanting to change the existing 48 to a smaller 46 to better resolve chain length and derailleur wrap issues.
I'm also hoping the 46 will be used more frequently than the 48 on the flat with a big load.

[B4HAdelaide]

Hi
I run a small charity in Adelaide - Bicycles for Humanity. We recently had a Gemini World Randonneur donated with a view to selling the bike to raise funds for shipping used mountain bikes to Namibia. I wonder if there is someone out there who would have a good idea about the value of this bike so that I can advertise it for a good/reasonable ..... if only I could work out how to attach a photo.....
Thanks, Angela

[TailWalker]

Hi Angela, it will depend a lot on condition. I'm happy to have a look if you're not too far away (I live near the airport) and give you a reasonable idea.

[Kaete]

Hello all, and many thanks for your views and opinions, and all of which I find much helpful.

Several months ago I bought a VWR Deccan from Metro bikes shop here in Newcastle, and had since added to it a front German made pannier rack. The total cost, all told, $2500. Its the second of my touring bikes I currently have, the first being the Gazelle Fuente Trekking, bought six years ago or so, at a similar price.

My daughter and I recently did a 350km ride for charity, down the NSW south coast. (See below, for details.) I have to say that the VWR Deccan went very exceptionally well along the ride, and that there were few difficulties had.

best wishes,
Kaete http://www.kaete.org

Hello all,

My disability service part time manager in the Blue Mountains/part time M Social Policy student daughter, Nonni, 30 yo this coming October, and I, 66 yo the week after next, had a magnificent time together in our 350 klm fundraising effort for Hunter Centre for Sex and Gender Diversity Inc (HCSGSD #), Beyond Blue, and Lifeline, this last couple of weeks down the NSW South Coast, from just south of Sydney to Batesman Bay (and the longest time spent with one another since the four weeks we spent together traversing southern India some two years ago), though some the roads we travelled, and which we wouldn’t want to do ever again, were absolutely treacherous. (At one stage, Nonni narrowly missed by just centimetres being taken to heaven by a four wheel drive Jeep vehicle, going along a 80 klms zone, plus there were numerous other times when semi trailers, caravans, and other vehicles, got way, way, too close.)

On the positive side, some of the scenery was absolutely spectacular, we were blessed with mostly sunny, warm, weather, and along the way we managed to catch up with some our relatives we hadn’t seen for many a while. That was so good. Plus, we raised some monies for three very worthwhile causes.

Nonni has put many of the photos she and I took along the way, and some the videos she made, at the Facebook site https://www.facebook.com/Huntercentrefo ... diversity/ if you want to take a look.

Would we do the trip again? Well, maybe, though I think we are agreed that in future, and amongst other things, we might take bikes similar in weight and tyre width. Nonni’s was a light weight Aventi bike, having narrow less road resistance tyres; mine was a Viventi heavy duty touring one, with wider, more road resistance incurring tyres. The difference was especially noticeable when climbing the many steep hills along the way, with Nonni zooming ahead, and me majorly struggling to keep up with her!

I look forward to catching up with everyone soon.

Best wishes, all,
Kaete : -)
PS. The fundraiser site, Nonni and her friend Gaby produced, is still accessible if you want to circulate to people you know. Its at:

https://www.mycause.com.au/page/148404/ ... good-cause

The totals to date:
*$855 for HCSGD
*$115 for Beyond Blue
*$40 for Lifeline

I was hoping that Beyond Blue and Lifeline would have gained more donations, than that which each did, but no matter, there is still time.

# http://www.huntercentreforsexandgenderdiversity.com.au/ https://kaete.org/hunter-centre-for-sex ... diversity/

[tehkernel]

I bought a complete new set of three rings; 24T, 36T and 46T.
The two smaller rings were about $48.00 each, not a bad price. Can buy 24T cheaper online but I couldn't find a 36T (nor 46T) R&P type anywhere.
The 46T was nearly double the price of the individual smaller rings.
I didn't mind paying the above and supporting Noel (his service is worth paying for), but it might work out cheaper buying a full new crankset if you need all 3 new rings. It's possible Noel stocks complete cranksets, unfortunately I didn't think to ask.
http://www.rivbike.com/product-p/cr1.htm

Replying in case anyone else is struggling to find compatible chainrings, I got a 36 tooth ring from wiggle that fitted well, description is "TA 110 PCD Zephyr Inner Road Chainring". Its machined rather than stamped, and I'm suspecting it can be flipped over to get a bit more life out of it.

[rifraf]

Replying in case anyone else is struggling to find compatible chainrings, I got a 36 tooth ring from wiggle that fitted well, description is "TA 110 PCD Zephyr Inner Road Chainring". Its machined rather than stamped, and I'm suspecting it can be flipped over to get a bit more life out of it.

Just sticking my oar in regarding chainrings due to you mentioning 110 PCD.

Pretty sure that was the PCD for my 5 arm crank rings and I found "Thorn" brand reversible rings at Sjscycles when I needed one for my cranks, at what I thought, back then, a good price.

Not sure of their current price and availability but as I've had less problematic service from SJS, I thought I'd mention them.