cycle touring

dayshah

I'm surprised they are so expensive. I got my bike from Decathlon for €440.

It'd almost be worth buying a Riverside 5 or 7 and just stripping off the components for a touring bike (and then replace the deore components with some crappy ones for a hybrid bike for around town).

That or just use it for touring. At those prices it'd be worth the trip to Belfast.

TinyExplosions

Hub is 63 for the top of the line shimano (DH-3N80), 20ish for a rim (rigida sputnik), 45 for the spokes and a build, 128 for a front wheel!

Blorg is right though, I would be better off spending that cash on something else, but I dunno if I'll be doing that -I've never been sensible!

Not to mention that I could sell the existing (non dynamo) wheel for the cost of the dynamo

dayshah

TinyExplosions wrote: »

Hub is 63 for the top of the line shimano (DH-3N80), 20ish for a rim (rigida sputnik), 45 for the spokes and a build, 128 for a front wheel!

I've a fairly decent Shimano hub. I should check out the exact model.

Tis mad how much more expensive things are when you buy the bits separately.

feck sake lads

TinyExplosions wrote: »

Hub is 63 for the top of the line shimano (DH-3N80), 20ish for a rim (rigida sputnik), 45 for the spokes and a build, 128 for a front wheel!

Blorg is right though, I would be better off spending that cash on something else, but I dunno if I'll be doing that -I've never been sensible!

Not to mention that I could sell the existing (non dynamo) wheel for the cost of the dynamo

where did you price that lot;) seems a good price to me but what about the headlight did you sus that out.

TinyExplosions

feck sake lads wrote: »

where did you price that lot;) seems a good price to me but what about the headlight did you sus that out.

Hub for 63 (plus 6 for shipping)
Rims for 16stg (17.60 in proper money) (shipping can be pricey, I paid 14.50 though that was for a fully built up wheel and a rim and some other bits and bobs)
Wheel Build - On Track do it for 30 labour, + the price of spokes, which should be no more than 15 quid or so.

Headlight will be a B&M Lumotec IQ Cyo RT Senso Plus -60 quid is a great price for a well regarded light

Planet X

feck sake lads wrote: »

i don't really think you can mix the two ,i know my average speed is way down when im on my touring bike .but i enjoy the easy going now taking it all in as the man said.
but it's great to know there are tourers on the forum ,now if i can just get them to post there favourate routes '.
this summer I'm thinking of heading across to cavan camp at lough ramor in virgina next day head athlone or mullingar no definite plans yet .but i certainly want to tour ireland this time round.

Yeah, I'll do Ramor / Athlone if you fancy. Going up to Donard Campsite next weekend. Wicklow. A short spin just to get the tent and bag out which I didn't manage two weeks ago on my wet Roscrea trip.
Not to worry. Now that I know I can lug the kit around up to 80/90 miles a go I wouldn't mind giving the above a crack.
All practice before I hopefully hop on the ferry. (Won't happen!! :mad::mad:)

feck sake lads

Planet X wrote: »

Yeah, I'll do Ramor / Athlone if you fancy. Going up to Donard Campsite next weekend. Wicklow. A short spin just to get the tent and bag out which I didn't manage two weeks ago on my wet Roscrea trip.
Not to worry. Now that I know I can lug the kit around up to 80/90 miles a go I wouldn't mind giving the above a crack.
All practice before I hopefully hop on the ferry. (Won't happen!! :mad::mad:)

Hopefully this Friday i'm heading to lough ennell campsite in mullingar, camp fri/saturday nights head back sunday morn.i want to try the mountain hardware 2 man tent and new stove .
i was trying to go as light as possible but when i sorted all my gear looks like i will have 4 full panniers:eek:
friday is the only time i can go and i have to be back for sunday i already booked the campsite in lough ennell well actually i asked the owner to keep me a pitch.same thing:D:D if you fancy it pm me. anyone else interested.

Planet X

Nice campsite. Been there twice. Nice lake views. Site can fill up or used to anyway. Owner is a large chap from memory. Enjoy.
Committed to Donard in Wickla.
Next time.


Jeeeez, 4 panniers for 2 nights? Lot of kit?

feck sake lads

Planet X wrote: »

Nice campsite. Been there twice. Nice lake views. Site can fill up or used to anyway. Owner is a large chap from memory. Enjoy.
Committed to Donard in Wickla.
Next time.


Jeeeez, 4 panniers for 2 nights? Lot of kit?

no problem , yeah i agree 4 panniers but the sleeping gear is taking up so much space.and the tent is Hugh i have the akto but i want to try this new tent, i pitched it last week for the first time and it's class , but 3 times the weight and bulk of the akto.
any advice greatly appreciated;).
got everything into 2 rear panniers, just wasn't thinking straight when packing ,so just check over the bike and i'm all set to go .

TinyExplosions

That was insanely quick delivery... ordered the tent yesterday morning, and it's just arrived into work now!

On first glance, the box seems remarkably compact and light, so lets hope it's up to the job on Saturday!

CramCycle

TinyExplosions wrote: »

That was insanely quick delivery... ordered the tent yesterday morning, and it's just arrived into work now!

On first glance, the box seems remarkably compact and light, so lets hope it's up to the job on Saturday!

Are you going to take it out to practice pitching it/loading on the bike before Saturday? I'd love to hear a review after the weekend

dewindygap

That's great service TinyE. I assume you will pitch this before you take off. I wonder if you would post back and let me know if there would be space for a triple pannier and 2 single panniers (full) along with 2 bodies inside the tent. Am still in search of inexpensive alternative to my Coleman Rigel which I find claustrophobic with 2 people and baggage and time is getting short. Many thanks.

TinyExplosions

CramCycle wrote: »

Are you going to take it out to practice pitching it/loading on the bike before Saturday?

dewindygap wrote: »

I assume you will pitch this before you take off.

I don't think I'll get the chance (or space) to give it a test pitch, and sure, I'll only be in Donard, so if it all goes tits up, I can always cycle home again -will definately post a review come Monday (or a short and sweet "Fuck this tent!" from my phone on Saturday evening)

feck sake lads

TinyExplosions wrote: »

That was insanely quick delivery... ordered the tent yesterday morning, and it's just arrived into work now!

On first glance, the box seems remarkably compact and light, so lets hope it's up to the job on Saturday!

looks fantastic hope you enjoy the trip .i'm all packed up for friday heading to lough ennell in mullingar .
please dont rain:D:D

Canis Lupus

Wahay free!!!! (France just outside Roscoff)

feck sake lads

have a good one ,you might even get to see the tour;)

honkjelly

Canis Lupus wrote: »

Wahay free!!!! (France just outside Roscoff)

Nice! You'll want to lose those bags before take off!

serendip

I have about ten days for a cycle tour in early August. Here's what I have so far.

Start: La Fouly, near Martigny (SW corner of Switzerland; this is where I'll be for the couple of weeks before)
End: Frankfurt Airport, about ten days later

Plan A (good weather): Head up the Rhone valley, over a couple of passes and down the Rhein valley to the Bodensee (Lake Constance).

Plan B (bad weather): Cut through the Swiss "Flatlands" (say north of Bern) to Basel, staying away from the high mountains which tend to attract bad weather.

After that? The obvious thing would be the follow the Rhein north to Frankfurt. However, I've read that that stretch of the Rhein is not that interesting. An alternative (and longer) plan would be to head NE through Germany to pick up the Main-Donau canal, then follow the Main back NW to Frankfurt.

Any suggestions/tips would be appreciated.

Canis Lupus

feck sake lads wrote: »

have a good one ,you might even get to see the tour;)

We've been on the road it's going through today and tomorrow it's passing right past the hotel in pontorsen as they turn for le mont st michel. See if you can spot the loaded tourer in the middle of the peleton!!

ridertothesea_

Planning on doing a lap of Scotland for 10 days at the start of August.

Ferry from Larne to Troon then circa 500miles clockwise loop taking in the west coast, the across over Great Glen/Caledonian Canal,over the Cairngorms and down to Glasgow back to the ferry at Troon.

Has anybody done this or similar route in Scotland?

Ridertothesea

Planet X

Tiny Explosions and I;

A Tiny Arse,



Setting up,


Front seat passanger,


Twoomey's, a pint and a big bowl of chips,

Easy spin, 54k from my whack. Nice sunny weather. Nice campsite in a very quiet village. A German geez came over to us thus morning complaining that we were "Up too early and making noise" Up at 6:15am or so. FFS. Close to smacking him.
Nice trip, back home 9:40am just drying up the kit.
Might do a two nighter next weekend. Athy, Redcross Campsite Wicklow and home. Weather dependent.

TinyExplosions

Thanks for that first picture Planet X

For those asking about the tent... it's cheap, light, and keeps the rain off, but it's very bijou... I wouldn't call it a two man at all, and in fact if you're 6' or taller, you'll have a hard time fitting in it -I'm bang on 6' and my feet were jammed up against one end, and my head right up on the other end, so if you're smaller and need a one man, drop me a PM and I'll give you a good price on it

The vestibules are also quite tight, I could fit one full and one empty pannier in one of them, but they were pushed against the fly, so got a little damp this morning (not a problem with waterproof panniers though).

So all in all, a nice little tent, but only if you're travelling solo and are 5'10" or so. It is quite wide (though still not wide enough for two imo) so if you're a smaller person it'd suit quite well!

jebuz

Well after reading through this thread I couldn't resist any longer and decided to take the plunge, ferry tickets are booked and I'll be cycling solo from Enniscorthy to Dublin via Wales in a couple of weeks, ferrying from Rosslare-Fishguard and then Holyhead-Dublin. It'll be 5 days overall and daunting as it is, I'm really looking forward to it now.

I have decided to go the credit card route since it's my first tour and hey it's a holiday after all, I might even have lobster some night! I've ordered some gear on wiggle.co.uk including panniers, pannier rack, some repair/maintenance tools, nutrition and of course the essential chafing cream

I'll be taking my Giant defy 3 road bike with me, very comfy as it is for long cycles but I might look at getting a new saddle and someone suggested fitting a 28 tyre on the back to support the load which hopefully will be kept at a minimum, anyone done this before?

Still in early stages of planning but at least I'm committed to it now, if anyone has any good routes or places of visit along the Welsh coast, please let me know. I want a certain element of adventure and surprise to the trip but would also be nice to have a couple of spots picked out to visit.

feck sake lads

just make sure you have plenty room for 28 tires on the stays .panaracer ribmo are great tires i paid 40 euro each for them.
you can get a map from sustrans .uk on the welsh tour cycle route.
best of luck make sure you pack the wet gear;) just in case.
have you got a packing list sorted.

CramCycle

The roads in Wales are fantastic compared to our own, if you don't have space 25mm will be fine, I covered 600km over there on 23mm with no discomfort at all and I am a moany old git at the best of times.

Also make sure you have the camera out for Snowdonia, fantastic scenery up there.

+1 on the packing list, very important, get that sorted ASAP

petethedrummer

jebuz wrote: »

I'll be taking my Giant defy 3 road bike with me, very comfy as it is for long cycles but I might look at getting a new saddle and someone suggested fitting a 28 tyre on the back to support the load which hopefully will be kept at a minimum, anyone done this before?

I have. I'd go for a touring specific tyre on the rear. A continental contact or a marathon plus rather than something like a gatorskin. The reassurance of less punctures is worth the minor loss in speed.

jebuz

Thanks for all the info guys, pete looks like a lovely setup there, I'll be visiting my local cycle shop for advice on the 28's and whatever else I can get out of them I think you're right in saying the trade-off in speed is worth the reassurance of less punctures!

As for the packing list, that's underway Looking forward to Snowdonia, from what I have heard and read, it's something you really want a camera for!

blorg

petethedrummer wrote: »

I have. I'd go for a touring specific tyre on the rear. A continental contact or a marathon plus rather than something like a gatorskin. The reassurance of less punctures is worth the minor loss in speed.

That is really personal preference as to how much you value ride quality vs having to possibly fix a few punctures.

I am doing a much longer tour (1 year and 12,000km in) and even though I'm riding across Asia where it is difficult to get replacements I prefer to put up with a few punctures than let a Marathon Plus near my bike. For those sort of widths Gatorskins would be fine... he is only going for five days FFS! I did Ireland-Istanbul on Schwalbe Stelvio 700x28; I've done five day tours on my road bike on 700x23 Ultremos. (I am currently using a combination of Marathon Dureme and Supreme in 700x35, but that wouldn't fit on his bike anyway.)

Fitting the widest tyre the bike will take is a good idea, certainly 28 if it will fit, but I wouldn't personally like to put a Marathon Plus (or even a Marathon) on a road bike that is going to be ridden on good quality roads in Western Europe (that would include Ireland, the roads here are substantially better than most of the rest of the world believe it or not.) You can get good quality 700x28 slicks that aren't as slow or poor rolling as those tyres.

CramCycle

I agree with Blorg, Marathon plus are great if you never want punctures but the have reinforced sidewalls, so basically you feel everything, if you want your undercarriage to work for something other than urinating in the near future, use different tyres on a long trip, I'd recommend the GP4000S for a medium tour, comfy, no punctures so far, very little resistance but again it's a personal thing.

petethedrummer

Yeah Blorg makes a very a good point. I suppose I am overcompensating from my experience commuting round Dublin. I have a rack and panniers giong to and from work everyday, so punctures are a no no. If you're touring you're not likely to meet the same amount of glass on the open roads.

Also, I've never tried to Marathons, so I have no idea how they feel.