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The Simplicity of Ian Hibel

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The Simplicity of Ian Hibel

Old 03-19-17, 08:10 AM
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The Simplicity of Ian Hibel

I credit him with influencing me on the bike and how to pack. By today's standards he seems like a minimalist.
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Old 03-19-17, 08:34 AM
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All the weight on the back, though. It looks the back tire needs some air.
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Old 03-19-17, 09:43 AM
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Put those two water containers in some front panniers, and you have the same configuration as a lot of the folks use today.

It was a configuration used by a lot of us because most of us did not have touring specific bikes.

Last edited by Doug64; 03-19-17 at 09:04 PM.
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Old 03-19-17, 09:50 AM
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I had no idea who Ian Hibell was before this thread, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Hibell

I never get tired of seeing @Doug64's pic of him touring on his PX 10 (is it a PX 10?)
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Old 03-19-17, 10:27 AM
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Hidden under the bags, is a Rack the Framebuilder made part of the frame, its not a bolt on.

Note: there is an additional lug for a rear facing tube on the seat tube behind the Cairo to Cape Town Map ..



...

Last edited by fietsbob; 03-19-17 at 10:31 AM.
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Old 03-19-17, 12:42 PM
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Originally Posted by Doug64
Put those two water containers in some front panniers, and you have the same configuration as a lot of the folks use today.
Kind of my thoughts as well. I don't see how that is significantly different than most of the rigs I see posted, other than the aforementioned front load being strapped on the back.

I'd actually argue that some of the bikepacking setups are even more minimalist.
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Old 03-19-17, 12:57 PM
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You can see online pictures of him pushing the bike across Sahara Desert Sands..

He went Thru the swamps of Panama's Darien Gap, to do the Alaska to Tierra Del Fuego Route, 1st, the real way,

not going around it like People Do, Now.
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Old 03-19-17, 01:23 PM
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Originally Posted by bikemig
I had no idea who Ian Hibell was before this thread, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Hibell

I never get tired of seeing @Doug64's pic of him touring on his PX 10 (is it a PX 10?)
Yeah, I know, but it is the only one I have digitized. However, I'm in the process of scanning a huge pile of old negatives and slides, so maybe there is hope for more variety It is a PX 10. I suspect Hibell's bike was also French made; at least the crank looks like a Stronglight. It was hard to put a rack on most competition bikes, but the older Blackburn racks worked pretty well. The good thing was that most bikes in that era had eyelets for fenders, even those ridden in the TDF.


It just used the rear brake bridge for support. I think this might have been more stable that Hibell's setup, and should have been available at the time.

This was on my wife's Gitane from about the same era.

Last edited by Doug64; 03-19-17 at 09:02 PM.
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Old 03-20-17, 09:34 AM
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All that weight on the back of a PX10.... you will get the death shimmy.
Here is my rig for 10 day ride... stayed in motel one time.
No way I would put a rack on PX10.
Sleeping bag, plastic sheet, sandals, spare tire and tools bungee'd on the back of Brooks pro.
Small backpack for clothes and lighter items. Front handlebar bag.
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Brooks PX10001 copy 2.jpg (54.7 KB, 130 views)
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Old 03-20-17, 09:44 AM
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I credit this Blue Peter segment on Ian Hibel with planting the touring seed in my teenage mind.


When I got my Claud Butler Majestic I toured with two friends around Northern England using Carradice saddlebags; we split a single tent between us to keep the load down.

Hibel's set up looks heavy for today because of the 1970's materials, but it shows the philosophy of the lightweight tourer.

Another inspiration to me when I got back into touring was Henry Kingman's Rambouillet setup.

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Old 03-20-17, 10:56 AM
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Originally Posted by bikemig
I had no idea who Ian Hibell was before this thread, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Hibell

I never get tired of seeing @Doug64's pic of him touring on his PX 10 (is it a PX 10?)
Riding across the Sahara is something you do when you are bored with ordinary rides like Cape Horn to Alaska.
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Old 03-20-17, 11:11 AM
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Originally Posted by trailangel
All that weight on the back of a PX10.... you will get the death shimmy.
Here is my rig for 10 day ride... stayed in motel one time.
No way I would put a rack on PX10.
Sleeping bag, plastic sheet, sandals, spare tire and tools bungee'd on the back of Brooks pro.
Small backpack for clothes and lighter items. Front handlebar bag.
I did 1000's of miles on that PX10 just the way you see it. I was leaving on an 11 day 1100 mile ride from the Idaho/Canadian border to southern Oregon—not exactly flat. I did get the start of an occasional shimmy, but it was easily dampened by pressing my leg on the top tube. Anyone who rode a PX10 knew the technique. Heck, if you tried, you could get them to shimmy without a load I rode what I had, and it was only 20 lbs of gear on the rack.

It seems like with all your weight up high like shown, you would be more susceptible to a "death shimmy"?

Last edited by Doug64; 03-21-17 at 01:02 PM.
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Old 03-20-17, 11:29 AM
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I had the weight behind the seat tight so I could stand up on the bike going uphills.... as the stock gear was....on the high side.
And yes, I could get the death shimmy without anything on the bike.
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Old 03-21-17, 11:03 AM
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On a solo trip in the French Alps one year I had the pleasure of meeting the Dutch equivalent of Ian Hibell, the extreme bike traveler/author Frank Van Rijn. We met at a campground in Barcelonette (Alpes de Haute Provence) and traveled together for several days into Provence where he was meeting his family at the conclusion of his trip. Like Ian he was very simple without fancy needless gear. He was riding in street shoes, casual shorts, ordinary knit shirt and baseball cap on a beat up Gazelle touring bike with a top tube repaired with a weld. He's been lots of places...

https://www.frankvanrijn.nl/my-travels/

Frank Van Rijn: a life on a bike - Bicycle Touring

Frank Van Rijn...

Col des Champs...

FrankVR and BobG...

Gorges de Daluis...

So long Frank! Nice to have met you...

Last edited by BobG; 03-21-17 at 01:21 PM. Reason: spellin of Hibell
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Old 03-21-17, 11:21 AM
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Trigger shifters on his drop bars... I guess Frank Van Rijn isn't a fan of bar ends.

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Old 03-21-17, 11:38 AM
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My Paris Sport ready to tour in 1979:


My Paris Sport on tour in 2016:

Last edited by BigAura; 03-21-17 at 04:05 PM.
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Old 03-21-17, 12:18 PM
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Originally Posted by BigAura
My Paris Sport ready to tour in 1979:


My Paris Sport in on tour in 2016:
On a fixie no less. Man I'm way to old for that...
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Old 03-21-17, 01:34 PM
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Some very cool tourers.
It may be because I had done lots of backpacking before my first tour, but my first load was pretty minimal. On a bike that was new in 1975, though it did have a 32 tooth low suntour rear freewheel. Motobecane Grand Touring I bought for 30 dollars and rebuilt using a Glens book from the library.
[IMG]bike trip with chad and jason to arkansas march 2005 022 by onedollarmiyata, on Flickr[/IMG]

It was a cold march, did 600 miles with the gear pictured. Was wearing everything, not quite as fat as I look
Kind of cool, even though my first trip was only about 12 years ago, I did it with mostly the same equipment as some of the pioneers of the 70's.
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Old 03-21-17, 02:44 PM
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Just thought I'd directly post a picture of Henry Kingman's inspirational setup on a Riv Rambouillet

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Old 03-21-17, 02:52 PM
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Wonder if these legendary tourists, if asked, would give a motorist directions?
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Old 03-21-17, 04:56 PM
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Originally Posted by edthesped
On a fixie no less. Man I'm way to old for that...
Part of the tour was relatively flat, following the C&O, but I did also head up into the Pennsylvania, Maryland, and West Virginia hills. But at 63 I did do some pushing up the steepest parts

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Old 03-27-17, 04:18 PM
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I found an interesting video of Mr. Hibel.
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