expedition bicycling: rack/carriers etc...

yo-eddy":ttezf2uz said:

yeti-man":ttezf2uz said:

ferrus":ttezf2uz said:

xerxes":ttezf2uz said:

eat nettles!

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Kellogg's variety packs of cereals are all the serious survalist needs.

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Yep - you're compelled to eat 5 days worth at a time, it's current survivalist-theory I'm certain

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Regarding food best energy vs weight there is only one; Real Field Meal (NATO prooven) http://www.drytech.no/drytechen/ind...ory&layout=blog&id=70&Itemid=53&preset=orange. The best thing about Real vs the standard old Military rations is that Real realy taste good and give you lots of energy. Real have been prooven in military services around the world, climbing expeditions, trans arctic and trans antarctic expeditions etc. Most other products (commercial branded) dont give you enough energy in relation to weight and mass. You might feel full, its like base you rations on rice and bread... not good! The Real Field Meal rations gives you 1400cal per ration. And if you put in 1dl grape oil in every meal and every thing you drink the effect of the calories increase. I tried this out on a three week winter climbing exspedittion. The average temperature was -25 degrees for the whole trip. After three weeks of skiing and ice climbing all participants had gained 3-5 kg during the trip!

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Did almost the same trip 16 years ago, lots has improved in gear and food since, good luck and enjoy your fantastic country!
ps, do you include the Rallarvegen (Flam to Haugostal part) and the very scenic pass from Laerdal to Aurland?

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Cool yes I am eager on this and realy looking forward. Planning and preparing is also great fun. I have ridden the Rallarveg many times in both directions so on this trip I am not including the Rallarveg. But I am going from Norkynn instead from Northcape and from Lakselv I go inland to Kautokeino and Karasjon - beautiful landscape insteda of going straight to Alta.

chris667":25g68sf9 said:

And who could forget the new tourist's best accessory?

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I have good experience with Spenol

yeti-man":2mxs9jkt said:

Another question is what bike I will use. I have several candidates and at the moment my Ritchey AscentComp is what I plan to use, but will be tested on a trial run this summer. But then I am thinking... traveling +3000km would a disc brake rigged bike be better, and should I go drop bar or flat bar? suspension seat or not? adjustable stem for making variations during the trip etc?

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The best advice for a bike is to choose the one you find most comfortable. Then, if you're riding with others, go for something that can keep up with them.

I'm sure your Ritchey will be great. I have a dedicated tourer which is very comfy and can cover more ground in a day than a mountain bike, but my best tours have always been on old mountain bikes with slicks and barends.

Oh, and discs don't belong on touring bikes. Nothing that needs special tools to repair does.

chris667":k5h99dtv said:

yeti-man":k5h99dtv said:

Another question is what bike I will use. I have several candidates and at the moment my Ritchey AscentComp is what I plan to use, but will be tested on a trial run this summer. But then I am thinking... traveling +3000km would a disc brake rigged bike be better, and should I go drop bar or flat bar? suspension seat or not? adjustable stem for making variations during the trip etc?

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The best advice for a bike is to choose the one you find most comfortable. Then, if you're riding with others, go for something that can keep up with them.

I'm sure your Ritchey will be great. I have a dedicated tourer which is very comfy and can cover more ground in a day than a mountain bike, but my best tours have always been on old mountain bikes with slicks and barends.

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As the true RetroBike member I am - I definitely have to go retro with one of my retro bikes

yeti-man":gwpyc9aa said:

I will look in to the Blackburns again - they have probably improoved over the years...

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Trouble is blackburn realised many years ago their profit is in volume not quality and the blackburns from 10 years ago would beat the blackburns of today...an ideal light rucksack/bag rack but not something I personaly would depend on for a tour..but each to their own but as I said earlier..it depends how much weight you are going to carry and I personally like the peace of mind of each piece of kit.

yeti-man":gwpyc9aa said:

Another question is what bike I will use. I have several candidates and at the moment my Ritchey AscentComp is what I plan to use, but will be tested on a trial run this summer. But then I am thinking... traveling +3000km would a disc brake rigged bike be better, and should I go drop bar or flat bar? suspension seat or not? adjustable stem for making variations during the trip etc?

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Look at most tourers and most will be v's or canti's..there are some of course with discs but in europe then spares for all kinds are plenty..so personal preference is your deciding factor. A good set of v's has always worked for me

For long runs and regular long runs I have a brooks b17 well broken in but I've always broken these in on short runs before a tour and padded shorts have worked better for me than a suspension seat..don't know why I don't get on with suspension posts, I just don't.

flats or drops...mountain bikes by build are not built to high speed over distance over a long period say such as a touring/racing bike. so the drops offer little benefit over flats on a mountain bike.That said it comes down to personal choice. I had drops on my thorn and couldn't get on with them but flat bar'd it and all was well in the world. Mine was a thorn sherpa world tour spec and not a bad bike at the price if this is going to be the first of many tours

as to adjustable stem..I left the post uncut and used spacers to vary the bar height dependent on the terrain and how I felt on the day but most of the time i left it pretty high for a more relaxed ride

Scott AT4 or AT4 Pros are by far the best bars for touring I've found.

ferrus":9wvxr132 said:

Scott AT4 or AT4 Pros are by far the best bars for touring I've found.

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But then no handlebars bag I guess?

Sylus: I have seen many trashed Blackburn racks. From My experience it seams like if they use cheap quality aloy that breake easy.

I think I will go flatbar since I can't see me going flat out 53/11 in the drops

elite504":2odyghcu said:

Tape some spare spokes to the chainstay..
Google for "tubus" racks, they should meet your expectations.

Yeti Yak, ideal tool for the job....

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Hard to get by a Yak these days, but hey I got a FRO laying around I could drill holes for fenders and weld on some rack mounts and more bottle mounts ;-)