bmike

there will be winter overnighters next year...

IMAG1482 by mbeganyi, on Flickr

i have a front harness / bag and will likely sew up a frame bag...

sisddwg

1982 Miyata 1000

sjt78

Two beautiful bikes you got there...the Rivendell is trying to hide but it's too nice to miss.

bradtx

65er, Give me a couple of days, I started last night trying to massage the plastic SKS fenders into shape with a heat gun (the kind used on shrink wrap, which gave me an idea that shrink wrap might be good for handlebar tape retention, but that's another wild hair) and have had some success on the front fender, but the rear's worse.

Brad

Foxtrot

My Masi Randonneur fully loaded:

sisddwg

Much appreciated. The Rivendell took me from San Diego to St. Augustine, FL in 2007.

sjt78

I'm jealous of all the touring people do. One day I hope to be able to set out for a trip like that. I've got two little ones and I'm starting a new job in two weeks so the time won't be there for a long time...sigh.

Sixty Fiver

Went for a little shakedown ride on Friday... last year I put 4000 km on this bike alone although my tours were short ones with a 100 miles here and a 100 miles there and and a whole bunch of small c's.

This week I freshened up the tape, changed the canti's to V's and started building new wheels... the old rims were pretty low end single wall but over 4000 km last year they never needed to see a spoke wrench and I really worked them hard.



Built my new rear wheel last night... 406 Sun Rhynolite laced 36/3 to a Suzue cartridge bearing hub. About as strong a wheel one could build and still very light by virtue of it's smaller size.

sleizure

Thorn Nomad MK2 - my new ride after putting in some time on a Surly LHT (which is somewhere in this thread a few years ago).

scroca

So how do the 2 bikes compare?

djb

sleiz, how do you find those bars with the raked back angle?

charly17201

Don't be jealous. It has taken me almost 20 years to be able to finally go on the tour that I want. I leave May 1st - 12k miles and 29 states. But short weekend trips should still be within your grasp. The long ones will come, if you only keep the dream alive.

sleizure

@scroca - Night and day difference of course, different riding position, different setup in terms of internally geared hub and dyno hub on the front, and of course bars. I feel that it is much more sturdy when going down hills fully loaded compared to the LHT, but is a bit of a dog requiring a bit more effort to move the dang thing - Certainly not as nimble as the LHT which performed wonderfully in all sorts of conditions. I'm just getting started in trying to torture the Thorn to see what it can handle and will report back.

@djb - Tossed those Grips - they were Ergon GC3s? - I was concerned when moving to this bike that I wouldn't have enough hand positions when riding, and went ahead and put them on the bike. Within 2 weeks they were off, they do not handle falls well, and one of the bar ends snapped off. This was even before touring in a fairly controlled environment - wouldn't last a night in some of the conditions I've faced before.
The bars themselves are a refreshing change, sort of like using an ergonomic keyboard, less shoulder compression and a more natural approach to riding in my limited experience (I've only ridden 2 bikes in the past 3 years, prior to that it was 20 years since I rode something).

I wrote a review here: https://www.tiredofit.ca/2011/03/thorn-nomad-mk2/

djb

all the best with the Thorn, about it seeming to require more work than the LHT, I guess thats a slight tradeoff for the sturdiness of the new bike. I was quite astounded at your 44kg load, wow. I couldnt handle that but you obviously did for 17k km....
Any plans to shave off a bit of weight of stuff? I suspect this is a common question, but as someone who only ever did month long trips in more populated areas and I used to carry about 40 lbs or less than 20 kg, I have a hard time getting my head around nearly 100 lbs of stuff (forget my head, my knees and legs wouldnt get around it FULL STOP)

sleizure

Ha! I was just over 130lb with the Surly and all gear last year and now told myself I need to cut some things out and have really put forth the effort to merge things to save a few pounds - tent for example I'm shaving off 2 pounds, dumping some electronics, it seems the clothing is the worst though, as I like to stop places and have a couple pairs of clothes to change so I'm not "that guy" with the blue shirt. Where I'm heading now (down the east coast and then need to play around the USA for a few months before heading off to Africa) I'm positive I don't need to bring multiple layers of sweaters.

That being said though, I'm used to hauling a bunch of weight and I know nothing else otherwise, in fact people chuckled at me when I came out on a Solstice ride with them in the Northwest Territories last year and I had my panniers with me because I didn't feel stable without them on. I still kept at their pace, which was nice - but yes - less is more. We'll see what happens this round.

djb

I can see that you are set on having your "stuff" and taking a peek at your pages of your trip I get the impression that you will stick with what you are comfortable with--that said, being set for all kinds of weather and camping conditions means you just cant get away from having more stuff. Again, all the best with further travels and health issues as well.

c3hamby

First of all this is not me, this is my mom. I was visiting in Arkansas and did a two day overnight. I have the two front bags, but didn't need them this time.

20inchesoflove

here's a trek 520 frame up build i did for a friend, currently being ridden around the world after a shakedown xc trip with zero issues.

sjt78

I like it! The only thing that bugs me though is that Thomson stem. I'm not a fan of the cut out where you see the steerer tube on steel forks. I think it is fine for an aluminum or carbon steerer, but something about seeing the steel steerer bugs me. Maybe because I start thinking of the exposed metal rusting? No sure, but despite that it looks nicely spec'd out.

20inchesoflove

that stem got switched out for the mountain style thomson, still has the cut out. i've never had a rust issue with it, as i have thomson post/stem combos on all my bikes

the spec is insane, XTR hubs, brakes, rear derailleur, pedals, cassette and chain, european spec XT cranks with 48/36/26 gearing ritchey bars, ceramic open pros b17 ladies with matching tape, dura-ace bar end shifter. chris king headset and BB, gore cables...it's sex on wheels

sjt78

Sounds like a well thought out build. Is the 520 offerred as a frame-only as well? That is a lot of parts swapping if not.

djb

until a wet muddy ride and then those white fenders will make it into dirty sex on wheels....

very nice looking and great set of stuff, a really well set up bike. May the owner enjoy her trip.

bradtx

As I'm more meanderer than tourer this is likely the most loaded it'll be:



Brad

etroutski

Here's my tourer waiting patiently for front and rear panniers and the open road!

azesty

Do Trout swim upstream like salmon?

z