nun

Wording in forum titles might be the reason. Something like "I'd like to share my new bike and gear list" reads as less boastful than "I tour on a setup weighing ~28lbs (Bike, bags and gear!)"

Squeezebox

Check out the "inexpensive build" thread for some serious boasting.
A lot of folks here don't like to hear the word quality. I think that's more the issue than boasting in and of itself.

Happy Feet

If you don't like a particular thread on BF just don't go there, plenty of topics to choose from. However, trying to throw shade on it for other members just creates a general negative atmosphere here in the forum.

Didn't you just get a 2 week time out for multiple insults? Why not try a different approach.

reppans

Just wanted to update on repurposing my old street ride....

The local REI had a garage sale (of returns) this past weekend and they happened to have a rack and panniers which I grabbed on a whim. Yesterday was unusually warm so I installed and loaded them for a test ride with my usual touring gear weight - total came in ~38 lbs dry (bike/rack-23, panniers-13, tool seatbag-2), plus an extra 5 lbs thrown in the panniers for wet weight. Seated handling felt fine/normal, but stand-up climbing took a little getting used to, only road on asphalt.

I was considering a bikepacking set-up, but I think I kinda like the commuter/grocery-getter look - might be helpful for stealth camping. Also (like my Brompton's pannier) these are quick-release, 1pc (magnetic), and are messenger-bag and backpack -able (which I use quite a bit on rougher sections to minimize the pounding of the unsprung touring weight). On the downside, this rig (like the Brompton) concentrates all the weight on just two screws/braze-ons so I feel a *need* to shoulder the weight on rough sections. Those frame bags look ideal for distributing heavy weight along the major main tubes - I'll probably get a forward triangle version so I still can still mount a water bottle and shoulder the bike.

The bike has clearance for 45mm tires, and so can be tuned for various terrain, but I'll probably need a new cassette for lower gearing - front's already a triple. With better tires and gearing, this bike is single-track capable, and if I can distribute the 20ish touring lbs better between rack, frame bag, and panniers rigged on my back, it'll be able handle some pretty knarly terrain (I'm also a recreational MTB'r).



All that said, I should disclose that my weights only include a cheap cable lock, I consider only good for takeout food, bathroom runs, and keeping honest folks honest. Since having a nice bicycle (and other unbolted stuff) stolen before, I've only since locked-up beater bikes or taking the Brompton inside with me. Theft worries are one of the primary reasons I stopped touring decades ago.

So I wanted to ask the advice of you ultra-light tourers - what do you guys do for bike/gear security given the dichotomy of ultra-lightweight (and cost thereof) vs heavy-duty protection? I know my theft risk/history is a function of the more populated urban/touristy areas that I've pursued in the past, but I've solved problem that with the folder - this rig will be used for more rural and unpaved rail-trail/tow-path touring. I'd just hate to throw 3 lbs of U-lock/cable on top of it all.

Do you guys feel comfortable locking your bike out of view for an hour or two, say for a nice restaurant meal or some attraction? Do you just lock up to a picnic table overnight at campgrounds? If so, what kind of lock (and weight), and do you leave or take your bags (for daytime lock-ups)? I'd especially love to hear from @nun and @sexy cyclist , since you guys have some seriously nice "touring" bikes.

Thanks guys, my apologies for the long post.

Squeezebox

Taking your front wheel inside with you makes it much less attractive to try to steal.

Doug64

Maybe, but in order to have some "serious boasting", you need to do something to boast about. If you are doing it, it is not boasting.

sexy cyclist

No, I do not. When I tour my bike is essentially never further than arms reach from me, and the few times it is, it never leaves my sight for any reason.

Let me emphasize my touring style is based around the idea of riding a bike above anything else. Every other possibility is secondary to that. When I tour, I do not intend to go on a camping trip, visit museums, eat fancy meals etc. I am basically out to ride my bicycle in scenic, primarily rural areas, and I carry the bare minimum I need to comfortably get to the next day of riding. So I carry a bivy or small solo tent instead of a more spacious shelter, because when I sleep I sleep, when I'm not sleeping I'm biking. There's no real in between, no lounging around camp for me. Same reason I don't cook. I'd rather eat bananas while I pedal than cook breakfast.

I have not taken any sort of bike lock with me since my very first tour on the mountain bike.

If I can't take my bike with me, I do not go inside wherever it is I was trying to go. So far I've never been refused service anywhere on a tour, or asked to leave my bike outside.

So far this hasn't been an issue for me. I haven't been on a single bus or train that took issue with this. I haven't tried to eat at any restaurant that refused me. Keep in mind the dressiest I get while touring is a dri fit T shirt and basketball shorts, so if its a restaurant where I'd feel uncomfortable dressed like that, its not on my list. The fanciest I've done is stuff like Ruby Tuesday, or a japanese sushi / steak house in Louisiana. I ask the manager or hostess if they have somewhere I can put my bike, and so far every time I've tried this I've been obliged. Typically I stick to take-out or restaurants with patios though, so its less hassle for everyone involved.

When I camp, 99% of the time I'm stealth camping. I have never been approached while stealth camping. I am a light sleeper so I doubt anyone who stumbled across me could get within arms reach of my bike before I wake up. I've used a legit campground one night on my second tour and that's the only time. I didn't lock-up my bike, I don't feel threatened by people in their 60's RV camping I just leaned it up against the tree I tied my hammock to and all was well.

Even stealth camping in less isolated places I've never had an issue. One night after riding through a full day of rain I camped out inside a motel laundry room that I saw in South Carolina. Went in around 10pm, left before sunrise, no one the wiser.

The times I've been invited to sleep in a house while on the road, I either brought my bike inside their house, or we were so far out in the country that their nearest neighbor was over a mile away and I could safely leave my bike on their porch.

The first tour I brought my cable lock and locked up my bike every time I went inside a shop to get supplies. These days I wheel my bike with me like a shopping cart in larger stores (grocery stores, walmarts etc) and at gas stations I leave it next to the door where I can see it with the tail light on strobe and I take my phone, go pro and wallet with me. Most places I tour no one would want to steel a bike, I'm usually in towns with populations of 200-5000 where people are more interested in trucks than pedal power.

There's never really a time I feel a need to lock my bike up using these methods. When I take a bus or train I remove all my bikepacking bags and string them together with some paracord, then carry them over my shoulder. They count as a single carry on this way as far as Amtrak / Greyhound is concerned


That's typical for me. Slept at a church, no one looked twice at me. Rode through rural West Virginia, stopping at a gas station or two for fluids and snacks along the way. Got lunch at the WV capitol at QDoba, eating on the patio with my bike next to me. Wheeled my bike into anytime fitness and brought it in the restroom with me while I showered. Brought it into the handicapped stall of a rest stop while I air dried my shoes and washed up a bit with the sink. Wheeled it into a walmart later that night to get dinner. Slept at a school where no one bothered me.

This is a pretty hard line approach that I doubt pretty much anyone else has interest in taking, so I'm sorry if this information is worthless to everyone reading it.

Lt Stonez

Very good info and video

reppans

haha... and to think I bought a folding bike to do all that Awesome.

sexy cyclist

Haha, here's some more photos. Some of them remind me of your collage, like the grocery store pic.



That's me getting some fruit for breakfast at a Walmart.



That's right before I broke camp before doing my shopping. Traveled ~130 miles, started feeling sleeping, didn't see any good stealth camping opportunities on google maps, so I pitched my tent behind a shipping container at that Walmart, lol.



Taking a break at a Hooters during a 145 mile day (New Orleans to Alabama in one go). Got some beer and shrimp and enjoyed the view



Parking my bike while I smashed crab cakes and mango tea in Florida.



Grocery shopping in South Carolina.

EDIT: Sorry the pics are huge. Too lazy to resize them all. Hold ctrl and press - to zoom out in your browser.

reppans

Wait... are you running straight pedals on century+ rides? no toeclips/clipless?

sexy cyclist

Yup, even on the Emonda.

BikeLite

Which GoPro Session, the Hero Session or Hero5 Session? It looks black colored so seems to not be Hero5.

1989Pre 

You didn't guy-out your Solitaire. Maybe putting a guy line through your wheel would improve security. Those trees are a much safer place for you.

nun

What's the point of scattering fairly typical randonneur/light touring daily mileages so liberally around in posts?....

sexy cyclist

To annoy people that care about trivial **** like that

Besides how many randonneurs stop by hooters for beers and boobs mid-ride?

sexy cyclist

Hero session. They're pretty cheap these days, 175$ or so.

Spoonrobot 

What an odd comment.

nun

Yes mileage is trivial.....so it really isn't worth mentioning. I understand some of the other posters now......shame.

nun

I take a cable lock with me that weighs about 3/4lb. I lock my bike up whenever I go inside somewhere and at night at campsites. I always take my handle bar bag as I carry everything I would need if my bike and gear were stolen. If I stay in a hotel/motel I always like to take the bike into the room or lock it up in a storage room. Hostels will usually have outside locked storage. I've only been refused once and that was in Ontario where the owner didn't want to get oil on his carpets and would not "take responsibility" for storing my bike.....I didn't stay there.

FYI I carry a chain condom to prevent my drive chain from getting oil on things and give my bike a good clean before I take it inside. Hotel owners appreciate the effort.

sexy cyclist

Sounds like you're going out of your way to find things to be annoyed by. Mentioned mileage twice in an entire page of posts, oh noes!

Ty0604

I've never bothered with a lock. Too much weight IMO. If I'm going to a store/restaurant I'll bring it inside. Only once was I refused (a little store in Goldendale, Washington) so I took my business elsewhere. If I'm downtown in a city I'll look for one of three places; fire station, visitor center or church. Never been an issue leaving it with one of them. If I stop at a store that someone has a booth up outside at (Girl scouts etc) I'll ask them to watch it while I run in. The adults, not the kids. Again never been an issue. If there's big picture windows where I can sit next to and see my bike I'll leave it outside leaned up against the window.

I did leave my bike unattended and unlocked for about 4 hours at Mount Rushmore over Memorial Day weekend. I asked the park ranger about it and was told there were cameras at the bike parking and, since Mount Rushmore is federally owned land, it'd be a federal offense to steal from there. He couldn't remember a time a bike had been stolen from there. All of my gear was back at Grizzly Bear Campground in Keystone so there wasn't anything to be stolen off of it.

At night I run a string from my tent through my bike. Not noticeable to a thief but it'll wake me up if they grab the bike and go.

Lt Stonez

+1 or a fishing line

bikemig 

Posters were having fun on that thread; they were not boasting. Why don't you post this on that thread so they can respond to whatever flame war you feel you need to start. Or better yet why don't you stop attacking posters in a completely unrelated thread.

Doug64

+1!!!