No bags in this pic but I am still waiting for them (carradice super C). German handbuilt touring bike originally built for straight bar but successfully converted to drop bar. Only thing missing (apart from bags) is a mudflap.

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1987 Kuwahara Cascade - expedition version

Am now ready to do some test rides before we tackle the mountains this summer...

Photo from trip in 2006. (Long time ago I know!)

I've finally jumped on the Surly bandwagon. Not ridden it fully loaded yet, but that will change this weekend
It's pretty much stock, bar me changing the tyres, brakes, adding mudguards and a B17 narrow. I've got a set of Tubus racks to go on too.

annual opening day, drive-ins only, over nighter to Hammonasset State Park from Meriden, CT (only 64 miles round trip).

Donut stop in Madison on morning ride back home:

I strapped on my tent and sleeping bag to take a "loaded" photo.

It an early 70's (1973-1974 ish) Raleigh Grand Sport.

60cm frame
700c wheels
700x28 serfas seca tires
11-32t cassette
52-42-30 shimano sora crankset
tektro long reach brakes
tektro brake levers
and the most important spec of all, fun to ride!

Is that a later XO with dropbar treatment? The only B-Stone I see in your sig is RB-1 and I KNOW that isn`t what`s in the pic.

I think it's his Nashbar frame with Bridgestone emblems on it. Bridgestones were never TIG'd.
-Gene-

Sheesh, I think you`re right- I didn`t even notice the fat tubes.

I used rope hooks to hang the buckets and 1" webbing to secure them to the racks. I really like using the webbing because it's a rigid hold opposed to using bungee cords that could flex/break. I posted a how to make bike buckets article with pictures if you want to see how I did it.

Lovely pictures, and bike!

right on. Guy I work with knew how much I like Bridgestones and gave me the tire decals to put on the homely Nashbar as a joke.

My 2005 Trek 3900 - The Pilgrim - right before its maiden voyage this past Saturday.

Here is my Surly LHT. I guess it's unique because it has the new shimano ultegra groupset on it.
I built it myself in December to cross the Nullarbour desert in Australia in January this year. That was my first tour but definitely not my last.

Pics from last weekend. (Pardon the quality, they were taken with my BlackBerry)








Group pic when we stopped to pick up steaks for our Memorial day bbq. (the kiddie trailer was pulled over 115mi with a cooler, guitar and gear ... these guys don't give up the important things)

These are from my first tour. Did the Southern Tier east to west a few months ago. The first is on a bridge on our first day out of St. Augustine. The second is on the beach in San Diego.

I never bought this bike with the intention of it becoming a long distance bike. I originally got it so I could get into cycling more and go on the group rides with the LBS. Then, as most do, I became an addict. I started using it to commute to work and then last summer I did several centurys with the urge to combine something else I love, camping. Luckily, because I have been into hiking for years, I already had all of the fancy light weight stove, tent, air pad, etc. I didn't have the money to get a dedicated touring bike (I want a surly LHT) so I had to make do with what I had. For less than $100 I got a Planet Bike Eco Rack, Sunlite Tourer 2 bags, and a new stem to bring the riding position up a bit. I have been on several over-night trips so far and want to take a 3-4 day trip soon. I am just waiting to save up the money to convert to a triple before I take on any longer trips.

I do know one thing for certain though: Once you do this to a nice road bike all the roadies look at you with disgust and will no longer talk to you.

This is a pic of my Salsa Fargo with Old Man Mtn Racks and Arkel Mtb Bike Panniers. This pic was taken last weekend while I toured the Outer Banks of NC (Kitty Hawk to Buxton and back). Short ride, but a great time.

Hi,
Hopefully somebody is interested in seeing what the peak of Great St Bernard pass looked like last week. This was before the road was opened to cars so it was wonderful for the few riders I saw riding on the Italian side. It was a small inconvenience hiking over the snowdrift they had left on the border between Italy and Switzerland. It was a bit steep in parts but I am not a very strong rider and I managed just fine with 26 teeth up front and 32 in the rear--the hill is long though so it helps to have a bit of patience. This is the first time I toured with a slightly wider tire up front than in the back--my shoulders and hands were grateful. If I had any core muscles I wouldn't have to resort to this kind of cheating.
The bike is a 1986 Miyata 215ST which performed admirably on the ride from Rome to Geneva. The other picture is from a few days earlier when I rode through the Cinque Terre park in Italy. Finally, one picture shows how I transported the bike box from the BS bike store in Geneva to my campsite and then from the campsite to the airport the next morning. It worked remarkably well with just a small but manageable impact on steering resulting from the box rubbing on the front pannier.

Cheers

mjansson, that snowbank is impressive and I am jealous of your trip!!!

mjansson, very cool pics, and I'm especially impressed with your bike box portage.

This is from a quick overnight trip to Angel Island in SF Bay. It was my wife's first "tour." She wants to do another one, but longer next time.

My Cross Check, her Volpe:


Camp site:

Hej valygrl,
I was a little worried about the snowbank. A few of them came down in the heat of the day and I did not want one to land on me. It was a wonderful, albeit short, trip. I'll try to post the route on Bikely this afternoon.
Cheers

Hej Brennan,
I am still amazed that it worked as well as it did. The hardest part was trying not to laugh too hard as people were staring and pointing. I am glad I discovered how to transport the bike and box to the airport because it has always been a struggle for me to get bike, box and luggage to the airport. Previously I have used airport buses in the developed world and taxis (with the box on top) in the developing. Neither is as convenient as riding there with the box. Of course, it wouldn't be so great if it had rained.

It would be so much easier if there were boxes available at the airport. People in Victoria, BC are lucky to have a a "Bicycle Assembly Station" complete with cardboard boxes twenty meters from the terminal:

https://www.victoriaairport.com/services-and-facilities


Cheers

This is an old Kuwahara Shasta that I built up for a tour in Kenya. These old mountain bikes are really ideal if you can't justify buying one of the newer touring bikes where Fatties Fit Fine. This was a special purpose built because I was scheduled to meet the woman I love a few weeks later in Sweden. She brought over an old Cannondale tandem frame and we transferred everying over to it (minus the unsightly threaded to threadless stem, seatpost, headset and bottom bracket) to the tandem and left the faithful Kuwahara frame in Gothenburg. Thus the unsightly long hydraulic brake line between levers and rear calipers. Hopefully somebody found the frame in Gothenburg and made good use of it. I felt a bit bad abandoning but I couldn't figure out a way to do anything else and these frames are hardly worth anything where I live.

The dual brake lever setup was easy to set up and worked surprisingly well. It wasn't really necessary for the tour in Kenya but the hydraulic is really nice for the rear of a tandem.

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