Wrap Up: Bicycle trip logistics

https://www.peterispedaling.com/blog/wrap-up-trip-logistics

190 99 4 years ago

this is a really entertaining and descriptive summary of the nuts and bolts of bike touring through south america written by a friend of mine. i recommend the whole blog!

peterispedaling10• 4 years ago

Thanks, bud!

matsemann• 4 years ago

How would a different kind of bike setup fare? Like tubeless, or belt-driven etc, any gains doing untraditional things? Of course, one value in doing it plain is it's easy to fix and get parts anywhere.

flylikeabanana• 4 years ago

one value in doing it plain is it's easy to fix and get parts anywhere

That's probably the main value. In the article it says he waited three days for a bike chain - I imagine it would have been even longer waiting for a belt. Belts also limit you to single-sprocket rear wheels since they don't work with derailers - hub gears can be reliable (see the legendary Rohloff hubs) but they're expensive and add another difficult-to-source part to the build in case something goes wrong.

There's even something of a cult myth in touring that steel frames are superior since they could be theoretically fixed by anyone with a welder. I'm not sure if I've ever heard of this in practice, though.

pixelbreaker• 4 years ago

I have a pinion gearboxed mountain bike with belt drive, 10000km and going strong, same belt.

loeg4• 4 years ago

This isn't a ton of miles for the period of time; the main complication is that he's doing it in rural areas, carrying a bunch of gear, in a foreign country. Given that scenario, bike tourers frequently opt for the equipment most likely to have replacement parts available. Which means boring, conventional stuff.

Arainach2• 4 years ago

It is a ton of miles for the period of time, because it's an average including all stops. If something breaks, you lose time. If you get sick, you lose time. If you get saddle sores, you lose time. Doing that many miles without a serious injury that sidelines you for weeks is a skill in itself.

Many people, with at most a month of practice, could survive riding 40-100 miles in a day, but many of them would be so worn out or would injure some sort of muscle such that they couldn't do 2 in a row - much less 200.

Citation: I've done a variety of 200-400 mile community group rides and seen people in all sorts of shape, but have done it enough times with enough different people to see a diverse number of outcomes.

dheera• 4 years ago

I've done long distance rides in Asia and I'd strongly suggest using as standard parts as possible, for exactly that reason: the bike shop in some middle-of-nowhere village will likely have something you can use.

When long distance touring you're also usually pulling around a fair amount of baggage, so don't bother trying to save a few hundred grams here and there on bike components if it isn't standard stuff.

peterispedaling10• 4 years ago

Hi! I wrote the post. I was pleasantly surprised how widespread the pads for mechanical disc brakes are, the rotors, and a 10-speed chain. In general, a complete new 26" or 29" MTB wheel is going to be readily accessible.

wl• 4 years ago

Tubeless is probably the least problematic of the newfangled bike tech when it comes to bike touring in remote areas. You get the benefit that most punctures will seal themselves. If the puncture is too severe for the sealant to work, you can easily convert to a conventional setup with a tube.

exabrial• 4 years ago

I agree with this, but you do need to "refill sealent" every 3-6months. The fallback from tubeless->tubed is an advantage that I've used for both recreational and racing.

The other nice thing about tubeless is less rotational mass, meaning less caloric burn.

akgerber2• 4 years ago

One popular bike touring writer is a big fan of belt drives: https://www.cyclingabout.com/belt-drive-best-bicycle-drivetr...

I started a long tour across Europe with my bike set up tubeless and gave up about halfway through. Even in Europe, access to consistent sealant to top up inconsistent, and reseating a tubeless bead with portable tools is difficult when possible. And one still needs to carry tubes in case of tubeless failure, which is generally messy. Tubeless ideally trades less roadside maintenance for more at-home maintenance.

Alternate ways to reduce flat risk while touring include armored touring tires (which can be somewhat slower & less comfortable due to how stiff they are) and/or by adding sealant to one's tubes.

dvzk3• 4 years ago

Tires and rims differ substantially but you often don't need to reseat the tire bead if you remove the valve core and inject sealant through the stem. High volume hand pumps and soap can usually seat tires in place of CO2 cartridges. If you do need to insert a tube, the mess from the sealant makes life absolutely miserable, you're totally right.

Toutouxc• 4 years ago

Topping up, reseating? My experience with tubeless (on a mountain bike) is that I buy a new set of tires, pour some sealant in (Stan's NoTubes), put them on a bike and then ride until there's no tread left. I don't think I've ever had the sealant dry up. And that's with a regular rim meant to be used with tubes, converted to tubeless with an aftermarket kit.

I agree with having to carry a tube or two in case the tire fails catastrophically, but other than that I consider tubeless bulletproof. No experience with touring though.

haspok2• 4 years ago

Wondering what "long tour" means here, because you usually don't need sealant top-up very often - maybe once or twice a year in my experience. You have to pump tubeless tires regularly though (lose pressure more quickly than an inner tube), BUT in exchange you need a severe encounter with something extreme to get a real puncture. I had travelled with finger-sized nails in my tires without even recognizing it...

dvzk3• 4 years ago

How feasible are tubeless setups on long tours? I'm curious. Anyone who MTBs knows about the dramatic improvement. In just the past year I would have had 50+ flats using tubes. I'm positive because I pull out thorns by the dozen. None require patching since the sealant fills the submillimeter holes immediately.

Being able to locally resupply with a compatible sealant is the main impediment. 4-8oz spare fluid in a packed bottle covers one refill. How often do you need to replenish sealant on wheels being used all day every day in mixed weather?

t0ps0il• 4 years ago

How feasible are tubeless setups on long tours?

Very in my opinion, but I'm coming from a bike packers perspective.

Start the route tubeless and run it until it fails. When that happens throw a spare tube (that you should be carrying anyways) in it. If that goes flat, patch it.

Converting back to tubes is easy: take the value stem out -> put in tube. Yes, it's messier but it's not like you're showering regularly anyways.

Being able to locally resupply with a compatible sealant is the main impediment

I would think that tubeless setup + plugs with spare tubes + a patch kit would get you far enough for this to not be a major issue. Carrying a small bottle of sealant would help. Worst case, you run tubes the rest of the trip.

Note: These are just my thoughts as a (formerly) sponsored bike packer.

peterispedaling10• 4 years ago

Hi! I wrote the post. I had a friend talk to me about tubeless before I went, and I'm happy I didn't do it. The sealant would need to be replenished. And the first real gash would mean going back to a tube. I was super happy with the Tannus liners (13mm of protection) despite adding some weight and rigidity (the bike was already a tank).

haspok2• 4 years ago

The bike was taken in to a mechanic for a full tune-up seven times, and for small things a few more visits.

Considering this, a tubeless sealant top-up at each of these visits would have been no extra chore. Just sayin' :)

usrusr• 4 years ago

One radically different approach would be going for low weight, basically the bikes you'd see in road racing with some minor changes for longevity. For 10k miles you'd want to carry two replacement chains and three or four tires (not pairs), and a generous amount of tubes (the author's argument against tubeless is perfectly valid, they are only tubeless until they are not). Even with all routine spare parts (and some selected not-so-routine) much lighter than the "unbreakable heavy duty" bikes that keep breaking in surprising ways, 10k miles isn't much to those fragile-looking speed machines. But the caveat is that you'd have to radically minimize luggage, because if you'd pack the fragile-looking like the seemingly unbreakable, they would quickly cease being fragile-looking. Just like the seemingly unbreakable would completely fail to disappoint, without the load they usually get burdened with. (bags impose far more stress on the bike per unit of mass than the rider, because the rider separates his mass from the bike with active, predictive suspension while the bags just hang on)

dvzk3• 4 years ago

Assuming that you still want offroad capability, you basically just described a cyclocross bike. And going on an ultralight tour on a modified CX bike sounds super fun!

rubyn00bie• 4 years ago

The title on HN seems to deviate from the one on the page. I say that because that's only 24 miles a day, and I've known plenty of people who bike commute and do _at least_ that. The article itself, IMHO, is also more interesting than the amount of miles biked.

loeg4• 4 years ago

Yeah. It's not a lot of miles per day "in civilization."

mikepurvis• 4 years ago

Riding 24mi (39km) a day for a few weeks is one thing, but sustaining that for over a year, including making up for days off due to weather, mechanical trouble, whatever is what makes this interesting IMO.

soperj• 4 years ago

There was a guy in Canada (Al Howie) who RAN about two and a half times (105km) that far every day for two and a half months(72 days, 10 hours). 2 weeks after he finished he set a world record in a 1300 mile race.

dont__panic4• 4 years ago

And of course there's the element of "carrying literally all of your clothes, water, shelter, and food" on the bicycle for the whole year. You might carry your laptop and a change of clothes to work, but probably not multiple litres of water!

s1mon• 4 years ago

Agreed. When I first glanced at the title, I was thinking about the RAAM (Race Across America), where the winners do roughly ~3000 miles in ~9 days (depending on course and year).[0] The actual logistics of this trip North/South along the western side of South America [1] are much different, and glancing at some of the blog entries and photos, very interesting. There's also YouTube videos. [2]

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_Across_America

[1] https://www.peterispedaling.com/the-ride

[2] https://www.youtube.com/user/pdbennett8/videos

samstave• 4 years ago

Yeah, 24 miles over how long time period, and that OK - ride as you like... but he mentioned *Patagonia* so im sure its not Flat like the Earth.

I HIGHLY recommend something like an Orbea Rise E-bike assist for a trip like this...

I am currently planning a 2,500 mile trip and am working with Orbea on it...

But first I am printing some addon parts for my unit and in process of designing a proper trailer using T-strut to build a trailer such that it can attach to my full suspension, have two wheels that are the exact same as my bike, ie spares... but as t-slot, aluminum, with the appropriate mesh interior area covered, can extend into a "cot" upon which I can put up the tent.

peterispedaling10• 4 years ago

Hi! I wrote the post. I stayed about 10 days in each big city because seeing them was my goal in doing the ride. I was probably pedaling only half the days. And yes, some of the kilometers were tough! Climbing, wind, weather, or gravel.

nroets• 4 years ago

Agreed. Plenty of cyclists have toured over 10,000 miles on a bicycle in a year and written journals about the experience: https://www.cycleblaze.com/journals/ https://crazyguyonabike.com/

Personally I rode 20,000 miles in 24 months (with 5 gaps, Covid being the longest gap):

http://kundi.ge/about-nic-roets/

insane_dreamer2• 4 years ago

I had a month where I sent only one email. All month.

this might be the best line in the article :)

Ptchd• 4 years ago

I was sending emails daily in the year 2000.... then I probably went 6 months without any internet.... I think I lost my rocketmail.com account during that time because of innactivity.

jamiek883• 4 years ago

Ha, if I ever get my tiscali.co.uk back (I won’t) I’d have some great memories ! Did the same as you. This was all pre gmail and webmail providers were stingy.

ericmcer• 4 years ago

I think you mean 9833km? South America is not that long unless he was riding in circles around it or something.

defrost• 4 years ago

From the author|rider [0]:

After 13 months, and 15,825 kilometers of pedaling, my South America bike tour is finished!

that's 9,833 miles.

The road distance distance from Cartagena, Columbia to Ushuaia [1] is ~ 10,433 km (by Google) so the actual distance pedalled over 13 months seems reasonable given side trips, indirect paths, back tracking, non main roads, etc. [1]

[0] https://www.peterispedaling.com/blog/wet-wheels

[1] https://www.peterispedaling.com/the-ride

peterispedaling10• 4 years ago

Hi! I wrote the post. The other reply got it right. But I did do some circles! ;)

hnthrowaway03154• 4 years ago

Just curious. For a similar bit shorter travel across Canada from east to west during summer, is there any recommended commercial bike? (commercial bike means can buy in Costco/Canadian Tire/individual bike shops and not too expensive, say under 3000 CAD)

newsclues• 4 years ago

a touring bike is what you want, lots of brands make them, find a local shop and try a few to see what you like.

calt• 4 years ago

The Surly Long Haul Trucker is a favorite base bike.

Getting the bags and racks etc won't be included. A good local bike shop would be my bet.

hnthrowaway03154• 4 years ago

Thanks, I'll check local shops. They are probably more familiar with the road and equipment needed.

wiredfool2• 4 years ago

The Surly he was riding isn’t a bad choice. They’re pretty stout, and have all the necessary braze ons for racks and fenders. You’re going to need panniers and/or frame bags, though current style is to put a bit more weight on the front than he seemed to have.

gnfurlong• 4 years ago

Most of the popular touring bikes fit your budget. Really you're just looking for durable, a wide gear range and the capacity to mount gear. Surly disc trucker has historically been one of the most popular as an example, but there are a lot of others.

Also, it can absolutely be done with cheaper. My partner and I finished a 4800 mile trip last year. I used a second hand cyclocross bike that I got off craiglist for ~500 a few years ago. She had a road bike that she bought for 200 from the local bike project.

hnthrowaway03154• 4 years ago

Thanks a lot. Touring bike then. I'll probably consult some bike shop owner to give opinions. BTW how did you train for the long ride? Did you go from say 100 and then inter-city?

ilyt4• 4 years ago

Literally anything that's not build out of bargain bin parts will do fine. And better one will not necessarily prevent that many failures, over some point it's mostly incremental improvements in experience quality, not reliability.

I had 3 bikes, 2 of them did around 10k, 3rd one, well, I bought it at start of pandemic, then we moved WfH so it did much less.

Around 20% was riding around local forests, rest in city.

The first bike was literally like $300 (...probably closer to $400 now with inflation and all). I only replaced the saddle for more comfortable one but that's all. No disc brakes, literally the fanciest thing on it was that it had shocks on front.

But after finding job in big city and moving there I was using it for commute every day so after few years I decided "well, might as well buy something nice", bought one for I think like $2000, nice disc brakes, rear shock, lighter, "good" etc.

Comparing those two I went from mechanical rim brakes to hydraulic disk brakes and they did feel nicer, but in the end the rim brakes stopping power was just fine, it didn't feel as that much of an upgrade. Sure, a bit lighter to use but I could still yeet myself thru the front tire on rim brakes (probably). And rear wheel disc brake was entirely a waste, there is way less braking force needed on rear to lock up wheel.

In general I liked it but managed to break the frame (I was on max range of weight for that bike which probably didn't help), and decided to get something slighty cheaper, no rear shock (not much use for what I drive), cheaper accessories etc. (think it was about $1000). After a bit of riding turned out that only thing I missed was that tiny screw to adjust preload on brakes as the pads wear out. Drove few K so far, think some bearing in pedal broke (it's a bit wobbly), but not annoying enough yet for me to fix it.

In every case I had to replace sprockets as they use, replace the saddle for more comfortable one and install some accessory bits, replace the handlebars for one that fit me better and few smaller bit. But even the cheapo was reliable enough.

Generally the thing worth investing most is frame (as that will not change) and derailleur, as that will generally stay, brakes depending on riding (as I said, people driving hard off hills will probably have different needs than me driving some random forest dirt roads). Everything else you probably want to fit to your needs and you want to drive the bike for a bit to know exactly what you want.

jamiek883• 4 years ago

I e never heard anyone use the phrase ‘drive a bike’ before, always ‘ride a bike’, you use drive several times - is this a regional thing I’ve not come across before?

zwieback• 4 years ago

I have a Kona Sutra, really like it. I see a lot of Surly, like the one in the post, they seem to have a good track record.

walrus013• 4 years ago

I must confess that I just cringed incredibly hard at the thought of trying a 6000 km tour on a canadian tire bike. The budget of 3000 CAD for the bike itself before accessories is a possibility, but I advise you to get information from specialty bike shops that focus on road bikes, and ask them about good touring bikes.

for the americans: a bike sold at canadian tire is often a $195 "bicycle shaped object" similar to what you'd see for sale at walmart.

some useful info on touring bike frames and components:

https://www.rei.com/learn/expert-advice/how-to-choose-a-bike...

https://www.cyclingabout.com/best-touring-bikes-you-can-buy-...

peterispedaling10• 4 years ago

Hi! I wrote the post. Good answers below. Decent generic mountain bikes with disc brakes are found all over South America, being pedaled by casual riders and kids in the town squares. Starting a tour with that equipment and adding racks and such would be affordable, and parts will be replaceable. Surly/Soma/Kona/Salsa/Fuji/Etc. touring bikes come with the main advantage of mounting points. But more DIY riders are rigging things up with hose clamps.

atdrummond• 4 years ago

I would suggest finding a touring bike from somebody who has maintained it well; there are many reputable forums and sites for these secondhand sales. You’ll get a considerable discount and have a better chance to ensure it has all the features you want.

I would then immediately ensure everything works to your satisfaction, using this post-purchase assessment to not only bring the bike to the state it needs to be but to inform yourself on how your bike is put together, so that you can more easily repair her whilst on your trip.

I myself was able to pick up an incredible secondhand race bike built by a Japanese man who constructed such bikes for both the JP and US Olympic teams. Not only did I only spend a few hundred on it but I also was able to meet the man who built it and learn so much more about bikes and sprinting on them successfully than I had prior to the purchase.

TL;DR: Go secondhand, you’ll get a better bike and you’ll find people in the community who will help you become a better and more knowledgeable biker.

mauvehaus• 4 years ago

Touring bikes are weird animals, and are built to a wholly different set of requirements than other bikes.

Classic choices are the Trek 520, the Surly Long Haul Trucker, and the Kona Sutra. REI has consistently impressed me with their offerings as well.

For the most part, frames get built with a carefully selected set of parts that balances reliability, repairability, and availability. Weight is really only a consideration for the wheels, and it's pretty far down the priority list even there.

Over 5000mi/8000km, everything is consumable, except hopefully the frame and associated components. I didn't blow up a hub over 7000 miles of touring, but I replaced chains, the cassette, the chainring that got the most wear, a couple of spokes, a rim, a saddle, and maybe a few other things. Oh, and several tires.

Mom and pop bike shop availability is clutch when you're miles from even a bigger town. A touring bike is not the bike to have the latest group set on, nonstandard spokes, or anything that you can't fix, replace, or make a workable substitution for in the boonies. AIUI, if you're touring internationally, you really want 559mm rims; 622mm is much less common outside of North America and Europe and finding tires can be a big problem.

You'll often find that frames get built up with an absolute hodgepodge of components that only makes sense if you consider all of the above, plus the fact that gearing runs more on the mountain bike end of the spectrum.

Components tend to run a generation or two behind bleeding edge, and manufacturers mix and match freely between road and mountain stuff as appropriate to get what they're looking for for durability and ergonomics. A good touring bike usually has mid-range components. Good enough to stay adjusted, beefy enough to hold up to a lot of miles with less maintenance than might be ideal.

All that to say, I haven't answered your question per-se, but I hope this helps you understand for yourself whether and answer put forward by a salesperson is a good one.

Most bike shops aren't making most of their money selling touring bikes. You run a very real chance of dealing with salespeople who are totally out of their depth when you shop for a touring bike. The ones that are both good and also honest will admit as much.

loeg4• 4 years ago

Over 5000mi/8000km, everything is consumable, except hopefully the frame and associated components

That may be touring-specific? I have tons of components on my regular bikes that last well over 5000 miles, including spokes/rims/wheels and saddles (derailleurs, shifters, pedals, cranks). Many tires even last 5000 miles, although not the lightweight racy ones I use.

plorkyeran• 4 years ago

Over 5000mi/8000km, everything is consumable, except hopefully the frame and associated components. I didn't blow up a hub over 7000 miles of touring, but I replaced chains, the cassette, the chainring that got the most wear, a couple of spokes, a rim, a saddle, and maybe a few other things. Oh, and several tires.

That seems... unusual? I'm at 11,000 miles on my current road bike and I've replaced less than that even though I'm using components designed for weight, not durability. I'm on my fourth chain, third cassette, second rear tire (although both tires need replacement soon), and other than those the only things I've replaced are brake pads. Hauling a heavier load obviously increases wear and tear, but I wouldn't expect it to be that much.

dghlsakjg• 4 years ago

Canadian Tire and Costco are two places you should absolutely avoid. If you aren't experienced with bikes their bikes look fine on paper for the price. In reality, you will spend lots of time and money to get them to perform properly, and will still have a bike that is likely untrustable.

Go to an independent bike shop and explain what you want to do and your budget. They will be able to kit you out appropriately. For Canadian made bikes, my wife has a Devinci which, so far, has been great for rugged urban use with panniers and racks. I suspect that it would hold up great to touring travel.

It should be totally possible to buy and outfit a bike for $3k CAD

olakease• 4 years ago

I have traveled from Spain till Iceland in a 300 euros bike. In my opinion, the bike is not that important if you do not carry too much weight, visit countries were certain spare parts are not available and finding someone that can weld aluminium is not impossible. Just avoid rear suspension. Do not put too much weight since this puts too much presion on the spokes.

Instead spend the money in: good tyres (schwalwe, continental), paniers (ortlieb) and racks (tubus) and saddle (brooks) since this are the components that wear out really fast.

Gas stove does not work well in moderate cold climate. I discovered this the hard way. If the temp. Is gonna be about 0C buy a petrol stove. You can save a lot of money being pragmatic. I.e chopsticks are lighter than titanium fork.

If you travel alone buy a camping tent for two. You will need extra real state for your stuff.

Enjoy the adventure!

hnthrowaway03154• 4 years ago

Thanks! I'll probably try intercity first and see what happens. Maybe there is a way for me to connect the dots without a tent.

wiredfool2• 4 years ago

This just popped up today: https://theradavist.com/cycling-africa/ Connecting Two Distant Corners: Cycling the Length of Africa. The two bikes -- a Knoa Sutra and a Surly Long Haul Trucker.

glaucon3• 4 years ago

"and attended a Spanish table"

I'd be curious to know what this means, it's outside of my experience.

akgerber2• 4 years ago

Likely a regular meeting in a cafe or library at which people practice their Spanish.

glaucon3• 4 years ago

Thank you.

tomcam• 4 years ago

I too immediately looked it up. No obvious match. Maybe it’s just dinner with someone in Spain?

peterispedaling10• 4 years ago

Hi! I wrote the post. Yes, this was a weekly meeting at a community center where language learners speak, or nearly fluent people. Ideally a mix, and people can make corrections.

glaucon3• 4 years ago

Thank you.

dekhn• 4 years ago

Recently a person I know celebrated climbing to space by bike in a year- their total climbed altitude was ~50miles which is generally recognized as the edge of space.

I misremembered and claimed they had climbed to the moon by bike in a year. That's about 650 miles per day, every day, for a year. It's likely beyond the world's best cyclists (the record is 637 miles in a single day, but not sustained over multiple days).

insane_dreamer2• 4 years ago

Reminded me an ultra cycling event in the Pyrenees called 8848 where riders climb an altitude of 8848 meters (roughly the height of Everest) in a single long day (with rest stops, but not sleeping overnight).

prostanac• 4 years ago

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everesting

jamiek883• 4 years ago

You’d be doing well to drive a car 250k miles in a year, never mind ride a bike!

layer8• 4 years ago

This made me realize that you don't actually need to reach escape velocity to leave Earth.

dendrite9• 4 years ago

I used to be on a running listserve that included monthly(quarterly?) updates on the million mile run. That kind of record keeping was beyond me, and I wasn't a terribly driven runner except in competition with a few friends. Still the scale of the race was hard to wrap my head around and you reminded me of it. http://ice.he.net/~mmahoney/ultra/million.htm

throwaway22032• 4 years ago

The record is also for distance traveled, not elevation change.

650 miles of elevation change in a single day is impossible once. Even a ridiculously steep gradient would have you travelling thousands of miles which would require an average speed of 100mph +, up a 20-30% gradient.

I don't even know if a car could ascend 650 miles in a day!

walrus013• 4 years ago

From the photo of the shoe, unless I'm wrong, this guy is using a crank brothers eggbeater system MTB shoe and cleat system which is very popular for hybrid road/touring/MTB purposes where you want a shoe you can walk in.

I've rarely seen 3-bolt full road cleat systems used for touring because the shoes designed for road cycling are not walkable at all.

peterispedaling10• 4 years ago

Yep, the Crankbrothers Mallett so I could also use the pedal in my other shoes. The shoe that broke wasn't durable enough but a Specialized one lasted the rest of the way. It was like a hiking shoe. I bought spare cleats at a shop once along the way but never needed them.

hondo77• 4 years ago

They're not walkable because the are designed for cycling long distances in a day. Some find the eggbeater platform doesn't work for long distances because the platform isn't as big as SPD or SPD-SL pedals. Not everyone is planning on doing big daily mileage when touring so it depends on the rider.

walrus013• 4 years ago

notably the eggbeater with a platform (Candy series) pedal has much more surface area for a MTB style shoe to press on than the bare eggbeater, and is popular for touring.

https://www.crankbrothers.com/collections/candy

It's marketed and sold as a gravel/XC MTB pedal but has many other uses.

dont__panic4• 4 years ago

Flats are increasingly popular for touring as well. Turns out that unless you're trying to maximize efficiency at race levels, flats work pretty damn well. And even for racing, the value of clipless pedals is dubious compared to a decent-sized flat. I suppose weight weenies shy away because a decent flat is probably twice the weight of a decent clipless pedal. Deity black kats are 402 grams, whereas the most popular Shimano clipless pedal is 228 grams.

I do a lot of my touring and even bikepacking in vibram-soled sandals. Socks get so smelly even after a day or two that it's better to just go without them IMO.

jwcacces• 4 years ago

I have that bell, it makes a beautiful sound. It's not quite loud enough, but it's real problem is that its spring is the only thing holding the striker on, and that gets bent out of shape way too easily.

Plus it was way too expensive for being a bell...

peterispedaling10• 4 years ago

Hi! I wrote the post. I agree. I got a $3 bell later (kinda like a hamburger) and it lasted forever. The beautiful bell may go on a sophisticated city bike distant in my future. (Oh, also, Knog replaced it.)

stevenwoo• 4 years ago

I have it on one bike, have the same issues. The stamped metal bells (Incredibell) with a plastic base are louder, are cheaper and are easier to actuate and are sturdier.

the_cat_kittles2• 4 years ago

wow great job dang, way to make the title completely uninteresting

googlryas• 4 years ago

It's only a slightly modified real title of the article, just giving context of it being about bicycles

Wrap Up: Bicycle trip logistics

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