JaccoW

The weather is supposed to be pretty good this weekend so I am going for a 3 day tour with my father doind the Camino Brabant cycle route. A bit like the Santiago de Compostella but much, much more recent.
It is originally a walking route but there are cycling specific GPX files available for a small donation and you can either get a pin or a patch with a certificate if you finish the entire route.

It's a 304 km (188 miles) route with a mere 320 meters (~1050 ft.) of elevation. It looks a little something like this:


For me it is just going to be spending a couple of fun days with my dad and a short test run to see if everything works as intended mechanically.

Even though we won't be camping I'm going fully loaded. It weighs about 32kg (70 lbs.) in its currrent form but will probably gain a bit more when I fill the bottles with water and add a few more bits and pieces.
Pretty much what is noted in my Lighterpack list

I think I will look for crosslevers in a different size so I can move them further outwards as there is plenty of room on there. It will also free up some space for some aero bars if I want to, though I have to dig into some reviews and figure out a budget.

When I took these pictures I couldn't figure out why my bottle didn't fit under the downtube anymore. Did somebody swap it?
Then I double checked my earlier pictures and figured out I mounted it upside down.

JaccoW

So I just came back from the Camino Brabant in my previous post. Rode it together with my father and we cut down the 300km in 3 days down to a more manageable 180km over 3 days.
Still, great trip, even if the weather was drizzly on day 1 and we got caught in a big downpour on day 2. The last day was just nice and sunny and a good test of the bike and equipment. More tour pics in the Where'd You Ride Today -thread.

The night before we started there was a weather warning in the area as a lot of rain fell and it was kind of interesting to see how high the water was in a lot of places. Most of the land is adjusted to it though with many of the designated floodplains being covered in 50-100cm (20-40") of water at the highest points. It made for some cool shots with trees in the middle of a lake.

Mechanically, most of the bike held up well with some notable exceptions:

1. Rear light connector needs to move. The lights started flashing intermittedly before crapping out altogether after 1.5 day of rain. It's caked in mud so clearly not the best place.
2. Brakes felt weak with a fully loaded bike. Not being helped by the canti studs of the rear slipping under pressure. Might be user error, might be something is cracked and needs replacement. The grey paste from the rims grinding down aren't helping either.
   • Might even consider replacing them with V-brakes or other canti's. Though I've never had any big issues with these in the past on tours.

On the plus side:

• Waxed chain felt good and barely got dirty from 2 days of wetness without any chance to dry the chain again. Though I did lube it again on day 1 and woke up to a smooth and quiet drivetrain on day 2.
• Bags held up well. Not leakage into the sensitive bits.
• Bringing sleeping bag and matress was very useful as one of our hotels was overbooked and I slept on the floor instead.

Day 1:


Day 2:







Day 3:

JaccoW

So my holiday pay came in this month and we're in the home stretch for preparations. So I spent a lot of money these past couple of days for the last couple of parts for the bike and some first aid kit and clothing. Let's see if those Assos cycling shorts are worth the money!

On my last trip I noticed some issues with the brakes when they got wet. And not the kind that you think.
I noticed the posts that hold the pads into place were slipping under pressure and no amount of tightening was going to fix that. So essentially over the course of a day the brake lever would just hit the bar and stop braking.

From experience I know this either meand the pad holders were old and in need of replacement (they were) but it could also be that the bolts themselves were slowly failing. I could have gotten a pair of cheap Shimano BR-CT91 to replace the hardware on the Deore cantilevers but I decided against that. Don't worry, they are going to get cleaned and to to my parts bin for later.

Instead I read up on what the best and latest available cantilever brakes were and while the SRAM Shorty Ultimate are still very highly regarded, as well as the very expensive Paul Components models, I opted for the Shimano 105 BR-CX50 instead.
They are still readily available, do not have posts that can slip, and can use widely available (and colour matched) Shimano Ultegra R55c3 pad holders to simply swap the brake pads without the need for toeing things in.

If you are curious what else I am bringing; Lighterpack list with weights and links to the items themselves.
I will probably be going over the entire list several times before I leave and add/remove certain items.

So today the brakes arrived, same with the extra thick Silca Nastro Cuscino bar tape, a small jar of chamois cream and the small aerothan tube. I ordered some cheaper TPU tube knock-offs from AliExpress to see how those perform.

First installation of the brakes went... okay-ish. The pad holders are still on the way but it seems like I stripped one of the screws of the front cantilever brake that hold the rack in place. Well, I think I bulged one of the cantilever studs from the inside so I can no longer take the brake off. But it still spins freely. Ordered a new pair of bolts.

That being said, these brakes are pretty damn powerful. Curious to see how they are when set up with a pair of dual compound Koolstop pads.

To be continued!