Locking up gear when on the road?

[RonK]

My bike works double duty

Hmmm, I don't see your knickers though - are they the frilly kind?

BTW, didn't you buy one of those yellow Thorn frames?

[il padrone]

Not in service yet. Still waiting to get the Rohloff built into a rear wheel, gear cables set up, mugduards and lighting all fitted. My LBS is my wheelbuilder and he's away until Thursday. How dare he take a holiday !

[RonK]

Not in service yet.

I've tossed around the idea of getting a Thorn for a tour of Patagonia, as the pricing is quite reasonable for a Rohloff-equipped bike. Yesterday while inspecting the flood damage (ie. rubber-necking), I encountered a lady riding a yellow one and we enjoyed a lengthy conversation about touring. She and her husband are soon to embark on an around Australia tour to raise money for MS research. Sadly their daughter has MS and they wish to contribute in some way to the search for a cure.

It's a lovely looking bike, but I did get to pick it up and was astonished to find out how heavy it was - in full touring trim, but without any load.

Guess I'll be sticking with the Van Nicholas Pioneer.

[KenGS]

It's a lovely looking bike, but I did get to pick it up and was astonished to find out how heavy it was - in full touring trim, but without any load.

The weight of a Rohloff equipped bike can be deceptive as they are very back heavy

Guess I'll be sticking with the Van Nicholas Pioneer.

The Rohloff version?

[RonK]

The Rohloff version?

The Pioneer is only offered with Rohloff. I'd be opting for the Gates Belt Drive version. Weighs approximately 12.5kg ready to tour in my preferred configuration.

[rustguard]

nice bike, one question: What is the advantage of using hydraulic rim brakes in the age of disk brakes?
Personally, I wouldnt want hydraulic rim brakes on a new bike when I could have disks.

[RonK]

nice bike, one question: What is the advantage of using hydraulic rim brakes in the age of disk brakes?
Personally, I wouldnt want hydraulic rim brakes on a new bike when I could have disks.

You can't have disc brakes on the Pioneer - it's not offered with them, and in any case there are plenty of touring cyclists who don't like them.

The Magura brakes are an option that I personally would not select. I have no idea why anyone would be bothered with the fuss of having hydraulic brakes of any kind on an expedition touring bike. The standard configuration Avid Single Digit 7 V-Brakes are simple and effective, and these would be my preference.

[rustguard]

Yeah I agree with you. But I'm even surprised a expedition bike has belt drive

[RonK]

Yeah I agree with you. But I'm even surprised a expedition bike has belt drive

Well, it's a no-brainer really, they are more reliable than a chain and require virtually no maintenance.

James Bowthorpe just broke Mark Beaumont's round the world record by three weeks, riding a Santos Travelmaster with belt drive Rohloff. He replaced the belt once enroute. Santos also have a separate web site for belt drive. It's a pity that most of the site is in Dutch.

Toothed belts have been used for years as the main drive for Harley-Davidsons and some models of Ducati, and almost all overhead camshaft engines use them for cam drive, not to mention the blower drives for 1000+ hp top fuel dragsters. Toyota were already using them when I worked for the company 20 years ago.

The standard Pioneer comes with chain drive, but I'd choose the belt drive for sure.

[rustguard]

Not knocking belt drives at all, from what I can see touring guys are the last on the list to pickup on the latest gear.
What was the reason that he had to change belts? couldn't dig it up in his blog

[RonK]

Not knocking belt drives at all, from what I can see touring guys are the last on the list to pickup on the latest gear.

The European bike builders and the Dutch in particular seem to pick up innovations more quickly than the UK or US. This may be because of the popularity of cycling there - there is a huge market and no doubt, plenty of competition, so they would have to offer some point of difference. In any case, I can see a maintenance free driveline being a big seller there.

What was the reason that he had to change belts? couldn't dig it up in his blog

According to this interview James gave BikeRadar there was a "misalignment". He also mentions replacing a cracked crank, so I'm wondering if this was the cause of the misalignment. Whatever, there is some interesting reading about the bike here also.