October 15, 2013
What Worked and What Didn't
We have now been cycle touring for three years and almost 22,000 total kms. In some "circles" this is a lot, while compared to some of the real cyclists we have met it is just a start. We certainly have just scratched the surface of understanding the geographic areas we have cycling in, and strangely we still have not perfected the equipment we are taking along.
So here is our list of equipment that was (mostly) a new addition for this trip and that worked out, and then there is the stuff that ended in the garbage, or mailed back, or maybe put up with because right now we have no better answer.
Right now this is just a list, but in the coming few days each item will be expanded, with a photo and explanation of what was good or bad about it.
WHAT WORKED
Folding bikes
The original idea for the folding bikes was to avoid airline surcharges by fitting the bikes into ordinary suitcases. This works in general, but has some significant glitches. These are firstly that on arrival you need a place to stash the suitcases, and are then are forced to end the trip at the same place to recover the cases. The idea of using the suitcases as trailers is not good, because the resulting trailer is not high enough quality for a long trip. Next, the disassembly/reassembly needed to fit into the cases is a bit of a bug. Finally, some carriers, notably our local bus company, do not care that it is only a suitcase and will charge a hefty surcharge if they realize there is a bike in there. Hint: do not wear your cycling helmet when checking in.
This year we did not fold the bikes for the plane, but put them into supplied plastic bags. Also our particular airline charged less ($30) for the bikes than they would have charged for an extra suitcase. So this called into question the rationale for the folding bikes. The bikes still made it into the "what worked" column when we clearly saw that we were not going to get north out of Paris by train unless the bikes were folded. With full sized bikes we would have been out of luck.
Photo credit: Michel Fleurance, Ste Luce, France
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Plastic bags for the air flights
There has been lots of discussion about the relative merits of bike boxes vs plastic bags in Crazyguy forums. Some cyclists prefer to counter the gorillas employed by airlines to crush and damage luggage with armored and padded boxes. Others throw themselves on the mercy of the gorillas, slipping their precious rides into plastic bags suited only for collecting the parts that fall off during handling.
This year we switched camps and went plastic. We did notice a calming effect of this on the handlers, sort of calling to mind those images of real gorillas with pet kittens. Anyway, over two flights our bikes survived. So plastic bags made it into the "worked" column. We also found that the bags supplied by the airline were pretty robust, eliminating the need for the mattress bags we had secured from a furniture shop.
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Windscreen for gas stove
Almost any of the single burner stoves that sit atop a gas canister will gutter and heat poorly in a wind of any kind. Some stoves come with custom wind screens, or have screens that can be obtained as accessories. However, most do not.
We fooled around for a while trying adapt one or more of the custom screens to work with our stove, the MSR Superfly. None could be set up satisfactorily. Next we threw up a surround made from light aluminum, but this kept blowing down. Finally, in Globetrotter in Hamburg we found the pictured metal surround. This has solved all our problems, and probably doubled the amount of heat we are getting out of a cannister of gas.
Quick release pedals
Any time you are putting your bike in a box or bag the pedals have to come off. This normally requires a pedal wrench, which can be a hefty tool. We opted instead for quick release pedals, in our case, made by MKS. The pedals have one bit that screws into the crank arm in the normal way. But the bit has a sliding collar that allows the main pedal body to be detached quickly.
We found this not only spares carrying a pedal wrench, but also opens the possibility of pulling the pedals off quickly to help deter theft.
Wool tee shirts
There are quite a few "breathable" fabrics designed for athletic use. We found, though, that in time (usually a short time), these start to stink. Washing then does not help much. Lightweight wool shirts go a long way to controlling this. Surprisingly, given the reputation for warmth of wool, the new lightweight wools are breathable and cool.
Icebreaker is probably the best known brand for this, but though we started with Icebreaker we have found perfectly good and cheaper "merino" products. You can tell its a good one if it smells like a wet sheep while being washed.
Collapsible silicon dishes
Dishes that collapse can save a lot of space and so can be useful if space is at a premium. I like to have hot coffee in a thermos on the bike, so that having a cup very handy is a boon. That means keeping the cup in the handlebar bag, a place where space is at a premium.
The orange cup shown was bought at a sporting goods store in Germany and I was really happy to have found it. Only thing, it takes a lot of dexterity to make it fold down again. The blue one, though, with a rigid ring around the top, folds and unfolds in a jiffy.
Rain proof bike covers
Whereas I have held the opinion that the bikes are outdoor creatures and should be happy enough spending the night outdoors even if it is raining, Dodie innately hates to see bikes rained on. This is so much the case, that she will pack and carry fairly bulky covers for them.
One other justification that has found some favour is that if a thief can not easily see a potential target they will be less likely to go to the work of getting underneath to see what it is all about. On the other hand, once the bikes are covered, even the owners need to put in an effort to retrieve anything left on/in them, like a toothbrush.
The actual covers that we found are lightweight, efficient, and quite pleasing in their own way. They can be found on amazon.com and are called:
KLOUD ® Silver & Black 190T nylon waterproof bike / bicycle cover. Each costs $21
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Waterproof shorts
When riding in winter, or otherwise cold conditions, all but the toughest of us would agree that rainpants are a good idea. When during a day's ride the decision is made to put on the rainpants, the feeling of warmth and security that results is really great. Even in summer, rainpants can add a lot to comfort in a downpour. On the other hand, even with zippered cuffs and articulated knees, they are admittedly a bug to deal with.
The solution we found was rain shorts. In summer, you can tolerate having your legs and feet wet fairly well, but if your shorts and liners are soaked, chafing and general discomfort follow. Rain shorts pack much smaller and lighter than full pants, and are very easy on and off. The ones we found were in the Globetrotter in Hamburg and are made by Vaude. They seemed pretty costly, like 75 euros. As with anything, you have to decide if it's worth it. Once we bought them and the sting of the cost died away, we decided we love them. Only thing, 3/4 length does not do it - they remain hard to put on and off and if the knee articulation is not enough, will literally be a drag.
Dynamo tablet charger
Last two years we used a 10" netbook for doing this blog. It was the ASUS eeePC, initially claimed to have a 14 hour battery life. The truth was more like 7 hours, but that was still good, and the netbook stood up to all kinds of pounding. The only thing, the charger though small by computer charger standards, was still pretty big, and the device required 19 volts to charge. That put us in a desperate search for wall plugs day by day, and opened the netbook to the risk of getting stolen as it sat plugged into a washroom wall, or suchlike.
This year we took the much smaller and lighter Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7" tablet. Everything about this, from the toy (Android 4.2.1) operating system to the lack of keyboard made doing the blog slower. However the giant plus was that it fit easily into the handlebar bag, and that it could be charged by 5V USB.
Charging was still best from a wall, but now the option was there to charge from any number of batteries or other USB compatible setups. We carried a small solar panel, but the best power source seemed to be the front wheel dynamo.
A dynamo produces AC power, so that needs to be groomed a bit before going into the tablet. First comes conversion to DC at 5 volts. A popular gizmo for this is the eWerk from Bosch and Muller, however this is quite costly. We used the Biologic Reecharge. Early models of this used to fry when the bike was moving fast and if they were not connected to a load that was receiving the generated power. Our later model (threw the fried early one away) is supposedly protected against this.
Once the power is converted to DC 5 volts it is best to store it in a battery, rather than ask a tablet or phone to accept it directly. The tablet or phone is smart, and often will become crabby if the incoming power varies as the big speed changes or you come to a red light. So we used the dynamo system to first charge on of two small Energiser auxiliary cell phone batteries, plus a Power Monkey Extreme. A fully charged Extreme could pretty much fully charge the tablet, while each Energiser could boost the tablet charge by about 12%.
With this system, we could wild camp for a few nights and still be updating the blog, watching movies on the cell phone, and checking GPS with the tablet, a bit. We did not generate enough power, though, to be off grid forever.
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Android offline maps
If you are using GPS at all for bike touring, then having the ability to consult maps offline can be critical. In Europe, 3G signal is pretty universally available, but can be very costly. In North America, there are huge gaps in coverage beyond the cities. If you are touring, then beyond the cities is where you are going.
We initially bought a Nokia phone, because they were the only ones with offline mapping. However, we quickly ran up against the lack of bicycle specific route finding, no GPX compatible program that we could understand (though there was FileRanger), and nothing that could show the major bicycle routes, such as is found in Open Cycle Maps.
Then one day last year we ran in to Rene, from Zurich, along the Donau. He was carrying few or no maps, but pointed happily to his Samsung cell phone and the program it was running, Orux Maps. This, he said, was all you need.
This year, now with an android tablet, we looked at Orux Maps, but landed on Locus and Osmand+. Compared to the Nokia mapping, these are a bit obtuse, slow, and hard to deal with. However, between them they can create a bicycle specific route, show the location of established routes, such as EV 3 or 6, or show or follow an imported GPX track.
Dodie is still highly uncomfortable with such tech aids, and likes to rely on paper maps, signs, passers-by, and her compass. She is not alone. We found that our experienced world travelling friend Juul, in Katwijk, feels the same. Still, on more than one occasion this time out, the offline maps found the campground, the bike route, or the city we were trying to reach, when maps and signs failed.
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Shorts with padded liners
"Lycra warriors" is what we call the hoards of cyclists who take to the paths and roads on weekends, clad in flashy skin tight outfits sporting real or fictional endorsement of or by various companies or teams. Despite a bit of scorn for this class of cyclist, we did inherit from them the notion that we needed lycra shorts, even if just plain black, and that these shorts needed to have lots of padding in the seat area and give muscle support to the legs.
After that, though, we progressed to what might be called a mountain biker's outfit, which is fairly regular (but stretchy) shorts with a padded liner beneath. The liner is lighter than a full lycra short, but is built along the same idea.
One thing about the mountain outfit is that the shorts have pockets. This can be good for holding your train ticket, hotel key, or PowerBar. The other thing, is that you don't look totally out of place when visiting a church or museum.
Well, if we can back off from lycra warrior to mountain warrior, can we go all the way and just wear regular shorts? I think some round the world travelers have ended like that, but the Crazyguy consensus is that you need that extra padding.
So that leaves the shorts plus padded liners as the winner.
p.s. We have settled on no underwear with that.
Summer weight sleeping bags
This one might be pretty obvious. Most sleeping bags are kind of three season affairs, fluffy enough to withstand a bit of chilly Spring or Fall weather. In Summer one might end up sleeping on top, or at least with the thing mostly unzipped. So if it's a mostly Summer tour, why not avoid carrying the extra weight and get a lighter weight bag than your normal one? It seems like a no brainer, but this is the first year that we actually went out and did that.
btw, the bag need not be an "official" summer weight. If you are a cold sleeper, it will just be lighter weight than what you would use in the shoulder seasons.
12x Zoom Pocket Camera
Some cyclists pack a giant camera, looking for great and high quality photos out of their trip. Others are content to use something like a cell phone. We found that a compromise, pocket camera is a good choice. It (and the cell phone too) will produce photos of at least the quality limit of the Crazyguy site.
The reason this entry is here, though, is our switch from pocket cameras with 3, 4, or 5x zoom, to one with 12x. The reason is that last year a lot of our subjects seemed to be distant, like typically, a ruin or castle up on the hill. or some swans in the middle of a lake. A camera with 12x zoom will necessarily be bulkier than one at 3x, but now they can still fit in a shirt pocket.
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Folding Stools
It was Tricia Graham who first alerted us that campsites in Europe commonly do not offer picnic tables. The reason, we would guess, is that camping in Europe normally involves sitting in a trailer, cabin, or maybe camper van, jammed in with others doing the same thing. If anyone is foolish enough to show up with a tent, then they should be shunted off to a field somewhere, normally as far as possible from the sanitary facilities. In the field, normally, are no services other than grass.
All this is OK, because the foolish people with the tents are young, and must enjoy sitting and cooking on the ground!
Since Tricia and Ken, and the Grampies, are old, this model is not the best. The answer is the folding stool. These are actually a bit heavy and bulky, but if you are 65 or older, can actually be a necessity. There are a few models around, but we are successfully using the REI Trail Stool. It costs $22.50 in the US and looks like this:
Tricia is priceless, and looks like this:
Thermarest Neo Air Mattresses
We used to think that self inflating mattresses were the cat's meow in lightweight camping comfort. A 1 1/2 inch model, usually (in North America) from the Thermarest company, was the unquestioned way to go.Yes, our backs often hurt, but otherwise how would we know we were having fun?
The tables began to turn when first one, then two, then three of the things failed, either by developing giant bubbles or by springing thousands of pinhole leaks. We were not amused, but dutifully went out an bought another two. Now in steps the notorious Tricia Graham. She reports that she is tired of sore back and has tried the Neo Air non self inflating, and declared it very comfortable. It is also extremely light and compact, but by the same token, costly.
So we trooped down to our local store and had a look at one. Without self inflation, I had to huff and puff into it - almost passed out. Then it was crinkly and threatened to keep the would be sleeper awake with the rustling. Finally, deflating the thing seemed to take a long time.
That's when we spotted a pamphlet describing a very miniature pump for the thing. We hunted this down, and having found it, decided to try the non self inflating route.
Now we are happy to report that the pump worked great, using up two AAA cells per month. The mattresses were easily adjustable as to how hard or soft they would be, the crinkliness did not bother us at all, we had to patch no leaks, the time to expel the air was no more than with the self inflating models, and the compactness opening a huge amount of space in our panniers. Winner!
Bolero Style Sunsleeves
Dodie is allergic to sun. When it shines on her arms, an itch is set up that can last half a year. So it is important for her to keep covered. A long sleeved shirt can seriously overheat you, though she has tried several light and billowy ones. The traditional answer is sunsleeves. However, these tend to slide down, or bunch up weirdly, or still be hot.
The answer is the bolero sunsleeve. This fits over the shoulder, connecting the two sleeves. Dodie describes it as a "bolero", dummy. She got hers from the Terry company in the US (terrybicycles.com), which specializes in ladies cycling stuff. The Terry bolero did not bunch up or fall down, and there were minimal complaints about being too hot. Dodie wore it faithfully each day, and that worked!
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WHAT DIDN'T WORK
Schwalbe Greenguard Tires
I first heard the name Schwalbe three years ago. I was asking the bike mechanic at the REI in Missoula. Montana what would be the best tire for touring. Schwalbe, he said, but we don't carry it. Well, I tracked it down, and learned along the way that Schwalbe means Swallow in German, and that you can only pronounce it properly if you think of it as Schwelbeh.
The Schwalbe tires we used to cross Canada worked great, as did the ones for cross Europe last year. They were the Marathon Plus model. We got cocky then, and put on the cheaper Marathon Greenguards. Only one of the four Greenguards made it back from Europe this year.
Well, that seems clearcut, go with the Plus. Only thing, we have a Guestbook message from Hugh Wilson, who had four Pluses fail on his Bike Friday tandem this year. Well, what can we do? So we bought four Pluses, and will just see what happens with them on the Southern Tier. We have one Schwalbe folding tire and will at least bring that along too. Or maybe we'll strap a full Plus on the back of a bike, but it looks at very least that Greenguard is out.
Bike Friday Mini Stand
Although our Bike Friday model has the word "Tourist" in its name, in some respects the company does not really believe you will load the little thing down and seriously go touring. This is very apparent with the supplied stand. This flimsy little thing might be able to support the basic bike, but when the thing is fully loaded, forget it.
Both our Bike Friday supplied stands failed early, last year. One did temporarily find a job as a navigation device: When it died we laid it to rest on a rock. Two hours later while cycling along we spotted the stand on the rock again. That way we knew the Grampies had been cycling in Circles.
So in Passau we had sturdy looking Esge two legged stands installed. The housing of one of these cracked too. This year we set out with flimsy one legged stands again, but bolstered by walking sticks that could be used to prop the bikes up. The sticks, when combined with locking down a brake lever with a velcro strap, produce a rock steady result. Only thing, it takes too long for a quick stop.
The first one legged stand died in Netherlands, and that's where we found a stand by "Ursus", that held up for the rest of the trip. While the stand held up, the stand mounting point on my bike ripped its weld open. Again, something not built quite sturdy enough for actual touring.
Though it is over two years since we bought the Bike Fridays, the company says it will repair the stand mount and also a stripped rack dropout, and then repaint the bike, free of charge under warranty. Kudos for that, Bike Friday!
Android tablet in the sun or rain
As mentioned above, the Android offline mapping worked out pretty well. However, without a mount on the handlebar it was very difficult to follow along with a route. I know Collette and David (Europe, Bottom to Top) would slip their ten inch iPad into the Ortlieb map case, but it seemed for me very tough to see or control the tablet from in there. If it was not raining, then I could velcro strap the tablet and its add on keyboard onto the top of the handlebar bag in some way, but in the rain this was obviously out. Also, in brightish sun the high touted super amoled screen was mostly invisible.
Next time out, we will try a Samsung Galaxy SIII phone, in a handlebar mounted weatherproof case. Official, weatherproof, GPS is of course available for $300-400, but the screens and displays seem too small and vague. Some exceptions are the 4" touch screen Garmin Montana series, and the $700 Garmin Monterra - which is a weatherproof GPS that runs Android on a 4" screen.
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ZAGG Bluetooth Keyboard
I am always amazed to see people typing away on microscopic cell phone keyboards with two thumbs. I have more than enough trouble with the giant black thing that sits in front of my desktop computer. So when confronted by a virtual, glass keyboard on a 7-8" tablet, I went looking for an alternative. Just as the tablet needed to be under 9" wide, to fit in the handlebar bag, so too any keyboard could not be too wide. I tried, and actually bought, a few. All were actually made for Apple (grrr) and so not all keys mapped correctly. However there also the usual problems with keyboards, like keys too cramped, space bar too small, no backspace key, etc.
Finally one popped up - the $100 (yes, $100) Zagg, that had amazingly widely spaced keys, arrow keys, backspace key, etc. You could type actually pretty fast on it. Plus it was USB chargeable and Bluetooth, which does not use up the one multipurpose input port that the tablet has. Great.
Only thing, unpredictably except that it always happens a lot, the keystrokes turn up onscreen as doubled. That is, doubled would appear as douubled. I am sure readers of this blog have spotted lots of this that I missed. But boy, does fixing these wrong strokes ever slow you down.
One of the daydreams that I had on the road was to have the time and resources to find the answer to this problem. Now that I am back, I find that neither Samsung, nor myself, nor Zagg has a solution. Even so, the Zagg is still the best I have found. The search goes on, I guess.
Black Diamond Vista tent
Our first time out, three years ago, we had a tent with a rain fly that only skimpily covered the inner tent.Consequently, the "bathtub" of the inner tent - the floor plus the bit of floor that comes up the sides, was called on to repel water as the first and only line of defence. It quickly showed that it was not up to this, leading to some pretty desperate sessions with seam sealer tubes and waterproofing spray.
So we reacted by going to the Black Diamond Vista, and tent with a fly that comes all the way to the ground and clips securely to the ground sheet/footprint. The inner tent is almost all mesh, so there is little condensation inside the inner tent, but on most mornings the inside of the fly is soaking.
To go with this, Black Diamond has gone ahead and supplied a tarp material that has the unique characteristic of being completely waterproof but also completely unable to dry. To actually dry the fly, you have to lay it out in baking sun for 1-2 hours! Just as the restickable Post-It Note resulted from a failed glue attempt, there should be a great use somewhere for an undryable fabric. A tent fly does not appear to be the right place.
As we have lurked around the campgrounds of Europe, we have seen that literally all the "serious" campers are using Hilleberg tents. These are tube designs, held up by typically three hoops and lots of guy wires. Under the first two hoops is the sleeping area, and under the third is a huge vestibule. The owners all say ventilation is good and none reports any problem with condensation or drying. Hmmm, all we need, apparently, is 800 euros!
Collette and David, on the other hand, have recommended their similarly designed Vango Spirit 300+. Maybe we should have a look at that. Then maybe we too can be serious campers!
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