Cycling UK Forum

ossie

This photo is of a gorge in the Pyrenees I did in June, the road followed it for about 20 miles- great downhill ride.

ossie

Do you think your wheels are up to the job? The reason I ask is that I loaded two panniers and a tent onto my modern cyclocross bike and 3 days into my tour it was over when I hit a pot hole. The rear wheel was wrecked and I limped home.( I was in the UK)( These bikes are designed for abuse but carrying loaded panniers and camping equipment was too much for it.

Worth a thought before you have to contemplate a visit to a spanish cycling shop and their crazy opening hours (thats if they open at all). ebay is your friend for a second hand £20 Blackburn rack or similar.

ossie

strong, decent wheels would appear to be the number 1 priority for peace of mind. That along with suitable gearing and I guess you could tour on almost anything (within reason)

ossie

simonhill wrote:Have you thought about weight? A simple cardboard box weighs 3-4 kgs. The hire hardcase mentioned above weighs 11kgs! You are normally allowed about 20 - 22kgs on a plane.

I have been pushed over the baggage limit by having the cardboard variety, you would be well into excess with the hard one.

I know on Ryanair that a bike counts as sporting goods and there was no weight limit when i flew, so I stuffed my tent into the box as well. It went on the excess baggage belt but wasnt weighed. You would struggle to break 22kg , I think a Surly LHT only weighs in at 14kg barebones.

ossie

slowpeddler wrote:"Nil hassle at tall, bike was packed the night before in a cardboard bike box, well protected"

What did you do with the box? How did you get home?

Just wondering

I bin the box at the other end (airport) and cycle home..

ossie

vernon wrote:
ossie wrote:The secret is to pick a budget airline and fly from a quiet airport where you and your bike are treated with care.

This only works if you live near a quiet airport served by a budget airline. If not there's the hassle of getting to the airport well in advance of the plane's departure. Possibly the xpense of parking a car in a nearby long stay car park. Bearing this in mind, the financial advantages of budget airlines start to diminish.

How do you get to the bike express pick up ?As stated I live near an airport but there is no reason why anyone couldnt cycle to an airport and wrap the bike in a plastic bike bag when you are there - flying is as easy or difficult as you want to make it but for some reason people have this impression that its a load of hassle. I would argue that the convenience of a couple of hours in the air compared to 8 hours on a coach, plus the massive price differential makes flying the better option.

ossie

MartinBrice wrote:Went in September Dover-Narbonne. Excellent ride. Comfy, quiet as it could be, I got several hours sleep. Bike was no probl;em, not a single worry about it. Cost was £140 I think, which we worked out was cheaper than any other service. People talk about flying but it is non-stop aggro, there are weight limits which is a problem if you are camping, and you never know if the bike will survive. Had we flown to Montpellier we would have had to get the train to Narbonne. Not to mention get the the airport hours before the flight. Not to mention worry about the weight of kit in the hold. The EBE picked us up from a place that was dead easy to get to (Dover) and dropped us exactly where we wanted to be (Narbonne). The ride was comfy and the service from Jason was excellent. We looked at hiring a car at £132 for the two of us but the tolls and fuel took it to more than the combined cost of the EBE. In future, I would start from the EBE routes and see where I could do a tour that fitted with it, the travel was simply something we didn't need to worry about. I also looked at the train. Then realised I'd have to cross Paris with the bike. not to mention get it on Eurostar, then:
either change at Lille and get a TGV to Narbonne, which was expensive or
change at Paris and get the bike across Paris.
I'd go EBE every time and you'd be mad not to, IMO.

Disagree that flying is non stop aggro as you state .

ossie

hazecellar wrote:brilliant - thanks everybody for your help - i knew there would be somebody out there answer but there were loads - i value all your opinions as i have no experience in carrying loads and always travel very light and now it has gave me plenty of food for thought . thanks for your time . i know i could trawl through all the other posts to try and find help but there is so much on here and i struggle to find time so i really do appreciate that you took time to answer

Hi I did France Spain to UK in June. I had 2 Altura Arrans on the rear (they didnt fall off) and 2 deuters on the front.

You dont need waterproof panniers. I use B & Q rubble sacks, saved a shed load of money and the beauty of sacks is that you can leave the wet dirty panniers on your bike and take the sacks with all of your stuff into the tent porch / or tent where you can access stuff at your will.

If I was touring on a more regular basis I would go for higher quality but these have lasted me fine so far. I just replace the rubble sacks when they look a bit worn.

ossie

Hi

I did Spain to the UK (France bottom to top)

linky http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=1 ... =8963&v=3U

I stuck to D roads. Some were busy some were not. As you will see I did the Pyrenees first and plenty of hills in between. My training was a daily commute to and from work plus the odd 30 mile weekend ride. No real problems apart from sore knees (Nurofen plus sorted them).

Before I did this ride a friend at work told me that life wasnt a dress rehearsal. How right he was.I am now planning next years route

ossie

damienmcguigan wrote:Hi John,
Thanks for the tips. I am going to get a Michelin map for the trip. I don't have GPS at the moment - i think i will probably buy a Garmin one so that I can use the OpenStreetMaps on it so a gps campsite link would be appreciated.

If you download OpenStreetMaps onto your Garmin when you get it and use the menu button to search for 'lodgings' it will highlight all nearby campsites to your location. They are not all listed but it will give you something to aim for. I also researched camp sites and marked them as way points on the map before I went so that I had a large choice of sites to aim for. More often than not you will just stumble across them and come across some real gems.

ossie

I did some sections of your proposed route as per my crazyguyonabike journal. You are missing out the best bit between Moissac and Cognac (Lot & Dordogne)

Seriously though your route looks great,very hilly down in the South Eastern part !(Massif central) I dont know if you have considered the terrain, I found a Michelin map useful as it shows gradients on the roads. (little chevrons)

ossie

531colin wrote:Ossie
Its your bike, so your choices, but I confess to being puzzled by some of them.
Tricross is a cyclo-cross (type) bike, yes?
So I'm guessing 130 OLN (road hub) not 135 OLN (Mountain hub) ie, Deore won't fit (you can spring a steel frame 5mm, though)
130 OLN builds a more dished wheel than 135, so not as durable.
If you are only using these wheels for camping/touring, you won't notice heavy rims....big strong rims build durable wheels.
A cross bike will have plenty of clearance, go up to 32mm tyres (at least) and big rims and get the most durable wheels possible....also useful for spiked ice tyres, if you like.

Colin thanks for pointing that out ref the Deore. Yes its a cyclo cross bike using 130 road hub (Tiagra)

I tried some 28mm Marathon HS308's from Spa on the Open Pro's for the tour. They were a very loose fit and I had 3 blow outs where the tube escaped from the tyre under pressure. Appreciate that it may have just been the tyres in question. Thats not the issue however, the Issue is that I want something a bit a bit stronger than the Open Pro's, so as advised will look at whats on offer at Spa ie the Rigida Snyper rims or the Exal LX17's with a Tigra hub as suggested on here.

Many thanks for all of your suggestions, will probably give Spa a bell next week.

cheers

ossie

I vary between 13 and 14 stone
Quite happy with 28mm tyres for touring
Fully loaded as in 4 panniers and tent- (I limit the total pannier / tent weight to 20kg)
Tarmac mainly (European and UK roads)- although a few tracks will always pop up.
Use the wheels for touring only as will use the Open Pro's for day rides etc.

Something nice and reliable, strong but not too heavy would be great!

cheers

ossie

531colin wrote:Ossie
Have a read of this old thread...http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=49702&hilit=spokes&start=30

I build wheels for Spa, so I will rule myself out from giving you any direct advice.
I may still be accused of commercial activity or of deliberately alienating potential customers, you never can tell.

Many thanks Colin. I guess I was attracted by the price of these factory built wheels as I am in a bit of a catch 22 situation. I have toured on my tricross for a few years now, its also my commuting bike. I would love to buy or build a more dedicated touring bike but funds dont allow. After suffering broken spokes on one tour on the stock wheels I replaced the rear with a hand built 36 spoke Open Pro that has done me well for a year or so and one long tour of France. Its not ideal for touring as the rim is too narrow to take a comfortable tyre.

In short I want a set of wheels that I can fit to the bike that are suitable for touring, ideally hand built. It may be a bit of a loaded question but what rim would you recommend that is lighter than a Sputnik but will cart me and my fully loaded bike over the mountains next year? I guess I am happy to pay an extra £30 for the knowledge that they will do the job.

ossie

CREPELLO wrote:Why not? They're used on plenty of off the peg touring bikes. Just make sure they spokes are properly stress relieved and tensioned.

cheers, however the last bit is beyond my ability at the moment. Is this something the supplier would do or do they just ship them as they come from the factory?

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