Round the world Retro ride trip, bike set-up advice

[Jamiedyer]

Touring

Seems like a wonderful idea.
I would go rigid with everything steel. Build it strong and simple so you can get it repaired/welded easily in some remote village in the middle of nowhere.
Check out www.crazyguyonabike.com its the best touring site.
I'm thinking of building a surley long haul trucker to do longer tours and dream of one day riding it home to Australia. Just a dream but you never know.
Al, good idea of offering a place near lands end I am at the other end about 12 from John o'Groats so if you guys or anyone else is up this way theres a bed.
Cheers
Jamie

 

[dyna-ti]

your likely to get a million conflicting answers to this
So heres my tuppence worth-
If you are serious about this then email people that have actually done it ,and ask them these questions ,for instance Mark Beaumont ,he'll have some sort of contact details somewhere on his site[i think theres a site]
personally...............
A steel frame thats easy to repair ,not some fancy tange or Reynolds that needs a specialist welder [not all tiny villages have one ]

I'd stick to a rigid fork ,sus forks like bombers are great but not for continuous long distance trekking and they weigh over four pounds a sus s/post and stem should suffice to relieve some of the strains and road vibrations

wheels and tyres ,know what the average 'normal' size of wheel is may not be 26" ,replacement rims of your size may or may not be common
Tyres ,smooth rolling like conti's or some other high quality

Discs are good, great in fact ,theres next to zero drop off in terms of performance whatever the weather may throw at you and when your crossing timezones that could be rain ,snow etc,theres little or no maintainence to keepthem running

You'll also be carrying a huge amount of weight ,your panniers will prob add up to over 100 lts +yourself ,you'd be putting the max strain on all parts of cantis,unlikely to snap a cable but rim crushing is possible and you'll eat pads

Xt or equivalent mechs have stood the test of time on tourers

Simplicity is your goal
weight is your enemy
Hope this helps ,but if i were you id ignore it and phone Mark Beaumont

 

[NZretro'er]

"Where was that pic taken, it's stunning!!"

IMHO that's Mt Ruapehu to the left and Mt Ngauruhue to the right ... ? Desert Road, NEW ZEALAND

just a guess thou

and go ti for the frame

 

[yo-eddy]

"Where was that pic taken, it's stunning!!"

IMHO that's Mt Ruapehu to the left and Mt Ngauruhue to the right ... ? Desert Road, NEW ZEALAND

just a guess thou

and go ti for the frame

The picture is of Mt. Ararat and his little brother (little Ararat ) (in eastern Turkey near the Iran borders (1999)

Ti might be a bit too flexy imho allthough I've travelled quite a bit with a friend of mine riding a GT Xizang, I used a steel Scott for most of my trips (Columbus Max OR, and had it welded once at the black sea coast..... lasted more then 6 years since :shock: )

Magura's with steelflex cables are pretty much bomb proof in my experience

Can't stress enough on tubular steel racks as long and small as possible.

The reason why I finally dedided to buy a Rohloff is to be found here...
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/rohl ... sions.html

 

[kaiser]

Theres a small interview with Mark Beaumont in this weeks comic. Recommends thoroughly testing out contact points, he used 'butterfly handlebars' and an SMP saddle.

Add Ortlieb panniers to your list

 

[dyna-ti]

Theres a small interview with Mark Beaumont in this weeks comic. Recommends thoroughly testing out contact points, he used 'butterfly handlebars' and an SMP saddle.

Add Ortlieb panniers to your list

Ortlieb is standard for this kind of thing

 

[billinjah]

am i right in saying rohloff have never had a hub break?

 

[kaiser]

Theres a small interview with Mark Beaumont in this weeks comic. Recommends thoroughly testing out contact points, he used 'butterfly handlebars' and an SMP saddle.

Add Ortlieb panniers to your list

Ortlieb is standard for this kind of thing

Had mine about 14 years now and only need a wipe now and then

 

[Easy_Rider]

Had some great advice here chaps! I've updated first page for set-up so far. Yo-eddy, i love your travel pictures!

 

[yo-eddy]

am i right in saying rohloff have never had a hub break?

The only one that def. failed that I know of, was from the Dutch Police Bicycle squad that tested if it was really BULLET proof and they shot it to pieces Seriously :shock: