The stuff, Part 1: The bike and accouterments

Warning: bike geekiness ahead

I'm riding my Waterford touring bike. It has seen some touring action in the past, a trip down the Oregon coast, as well as some shorter trips, and has been my regular commuter.

I've made some small changes for this trip:

The smallest chainring has been swapped out, so the crank is 48/36/24 instead of 48/36/26. It is a Shimano LX trekking crank from 2006.

I've changed the cassette to an 11-34 instead of 11-32.

Notice a trend here? Both of these changes get me to smaller low end gears which I hope will help me on the hills!

I also have a new chain and a new bottom bracket. It turned out that the middle chainring was worn out, so that was replaced, too. The symptom was noise form the new chain as it didn't mesh properly with the worn teeth on the chainring. I re-wrapped the handlebars, using a double layer of wrap above the shifters. I used some wrap I bought a long time ago and didn't use because I thought it was ugly. I still think it is ugly, but it is quite functional, and I'm happy with the feel of the double wrap.

I replaced the rear fender a few years ago for better coverage, but never got around to replacing the front. The older fenders come on and off more easily, and I like that, but I also like the better coverage of the new fenders. So...front old, rear new...a good compromise.

The bike on the Oregon trip. This is taken the first day. Later in the trip I ended up with laundry drying on the rear rack, as well as miscellaneous grocery bags tied on.

I'm carrying my gear on the bike, using racks and panniers. The front rack is a Tubus Tara, and the rear a Blackburn expedition. I have some older Lone Peak panniers that still look like new. The purple and turquoise colors may date them but they've held up well and the attachment system has been reliable. The downside to these panniers is that they are not waterproof, so I will be lining them with plastic bags. In the past I complained a bit about the tendency of the zippers to snag the contents, but I was not prepared to invest in new panniers for this trip. Besides that, the old ones are still in great shape! The item that is new is a handlebar bag with a mapcase. The bag is made by Racktime and I bought it for a good price from Sierra Trading Post. I bought the snap on mapcase directly from Orteib USA. (Racktime is a subsidiary of Ortleib.) The rust colored handlebar bag doesn't clash as badly as I thought it would with the turquoise and purple panniers! I'm looking forward to having my map, camera, and other items more accessible in the handlebar bag.

I should note that I am using Shimano Ultegra brake/shift levers. These are the older 9-speed style and have the cables coming out the sides. The handlebar bag fits nicely into the loop from the cables.

The bike on an overnight to Pawnee National Grasslands. Note the horseshoe on the back. I picked that up on the side of the road. I'm leaving it behind this trip, as I'm trying to be careful about extra weight.

New handlebar bag, new bar tape, new chainring...set to go.

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	1
Comment on this entry	Comment	0