Cycling UK Forum

6-7kgs sounds like plenty of weight, rucks are usually used for off road UL touring though.

Try the following, Carousel sells UL bags for non-touring bikes and mountain bikes.

http://carouseldesignworks.com/main.html
http://adventurecycling.org/features/ultralight.cfm (lots of good links here.)

Trad Brit touring kit would be a Carradice Camper and a Ti Bagman expedtion,
but it'd blow your weight budget.

Scott G.
"Adventure is just bad planning."
Roald Amundsen

Surly puts their stickers on the surface, where they are easily removable, without munging the paint.

I also suggest some RustAll artfully applied to further discourage theft.
http://www.rustall.com/

Blencathra wrote:I know we are on touring forum, but I really do get the feeling (and I reckon justified) the old brit style touring bike is consodered highly rated compared to the American imposter / MTB derived bikes.

Have I got the measure of this, without offending anyone ?

Blencathra

Not offended, but the default touring bike in the US used to be the Trek 520, very Dawes Galaxy like.
The new default touring bike is the Surly Long Haul Trucker. Both the 520 and the LHT are
British style, rear loader, high trail designs. The LHT owes some to the Rivendell Atlantis,
having bigger tire clearance and lower bottom bracket, that Rivendell favours.

The other important touring bikes are French inspired bikes built
by the individual builders like Peter Weigle.

I am using Suntour power ratchet bar end shifters with Campy Mirage front and rear mechs,
works fine. Using 8s cassette and 7s freewheel hubs.

The friction setting on the Shimano bar ends is OK, a little harder to shift than the
Suntours.

I have been using a Harris helmet mounted mirror for about 10 years,
they are common in my area. A bent spoke holds the mirror and the mirror
pivots on a spoke nipple inside the mirror. They stay in adjustment
and are spring fit to the helmet. The spoke is covered in heat shrink
tubing and bent into a spring clamp that holds the mirror to the helmet.
More info in link.

http://www.momentumplanet.com/blog/walk ... nahbs-2009

MartinBrice wrote:£500? you can do calais-montpelier for that. you'd have to use one of those paper thingies with ink on though - i think they're called "maps". they cost about three quid. each.

Maps are old fashioned, I call them "Non-Volatile Fibre based storage" I pair them with
a magnetically powered direction indicator. Water proof, shock proof, with speedy
zoom location reconnaissance feature.

You could use both,

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris/surl ... index.html

Velo Orange has bolt on bag loops from Viva, one bolt, easier/stouter than the Cyclos.

http://www.velo-orange.com/vivabagloops.html

Nitto makes a nifty q/r for Carradices, no loops mounting.

http://www.rivbike.com/products/show/sa ... tto/20-109

Cyclenut wrote:And there's a bunch of Frenchies who think 584 is perfect because they have nice old bikes that take it. All these bikes are good to ride because they're well-designed and well-made bikes, not because their wheels are a magic size. It's sad that such fine bikes have become difficult to keep on the road on account of their obsolescent wheel size,

It is not the French,
The Americans and Japanese have brought 650b back, new tire designs and new rim designs are available.
Bikes too, Mountain bikes and Road bikes, Rene Herse is back from the dead too.

We are in the internet world, niche products can do quite well, small builders can sell around their country easily.
In Portland you can barely swing a cat with out hitting a frame builder who will sell you a French style bike.

Interloc Racing Design has better quality freewheels than the sunrace/shimanos.
Old stock Suntours are good too.

http://www.interlocracing.com/freewheels_steel.html

To swap a dynohub light system between bikes use a skewer mounted light.

I have a Cyo mounted to the B&M handlebar mount, the B&M mount then attaches
to a Velo Orange light mount. The Velo Orange gadget replaces the skewer nut,
so the light ends up a few inches higher than the dyno axle. Lowering the light
helps pick surface irregularities. Old British bikes had light bosses half way
down the fork for the same reason.

http://www.velo-orange.com/lowdolimoty1.html

A couple ways without the off center frame.

A Phil Wood freewheel hub with 135mm spacing setup for a 7 speed freewheel is 99% dishless,
according to Rivendell. A 135mm cassette hub with a Synergy OC rim gets very close to dishless
also.

From an American perspective, Britain or Western Europe is much friendlier than
home. Britain trails some EU countries in facilities, but the drivers are as good
as the Germans or the French.
The Swiss are ahead of everyone, when the trains have 1st and 2nd class bike parking,
you know you are in a civilized country.
The French have the advantage of better road signage vs. Britain, when trying
to navigate to small towns.

Handlebar bags suggestions, Berthoud, Ostrich, Inirushi, Gu Watanabe,
the Berthoud is the default choice, but others are very nice.
All but the Ostrich are waterproof.

wallbike.com/guu/may/may.html
www.guu-watanabe.com/frontretroe.html
http://www.wallbike.com/berthoud/racksbags.html

Can't stress using the Adventure Cycling Maps enough, they are great for finding food, camping, bike shops etc.
Things are rather far apart here, not like GB where there is a pub with rooms every 100 yards.
Plus you will be on routes that are used to seeing cyclists, that will make for less harassment from drivers.

What ever bike you get, try riding it with all your kit packed, BEFORE you ship it here, lots of "touring"
handle like damp noodles when loaded up.