Selle Anatomica Saddle - Loaner

After trying many saddles over the years I was very happy with my Brooks Champion Flyer. So happy that touring with padded bike shorts is a thing of the past. I was quite surprised when I tried a Selle Anatomica Titanico saddle and found it even more comfortable. It's hard to quantify saddle comfort and of course everyone is different so your experiences may not agree with mine, but here goes:

• Brooks: no need for padded bike shorts, at the end of a long day of touring I can tell I've been riding a bike saddle, but there is no significant discomfort.

• Selle Anatomica: no need for padded bike shorts, at the end of a long day of touring I can't really tell I've been on a bike saddle at all.

The SA saddle I had stretched out too fast [which was a problem with a small batch that has since been corrected] and SA sent me a new saddle for free even though mine wasn't under warranty.

I still have my old SA saddle and it works fine. If anyone local wants to give the old saddle a try you are welcome to have it. You may only get a week or two of use out of it before it stretches too far to adjust, but at least you'll have a free trial to see if it works for you. The new saddles cost about $200 with shipping so it's nice to know your going to like it before you take the plunge.

Cranky

My injury has resulted in a lot of time spent surfing and chatting online about bikes. It's a nice distraction from being a prisoner in my apartment and provides lots of motivation to get back on the bike. However, I've noticed more objectionable behaviour recently on online forums than I can ever remember in the past. Folks launching personal attacks because they don't agree with your comments on a bike part, pointless flame wars, racist slang, etc... It boggles the mind that people can get so worked up and negative over bicycles.

Don't get me wrong I enjoy a spirited discussion, but the hallmark of a good debate is that the discussion stays focused on the facts and opinions of those involved. You can disagree with someone that doesn't share your point of view, but when you start passing judgment on them personally there is no possibility of a constructive dialogue.

One thing I decided on a long time ago was to use my real name on online forums. I always try and get "Vik" or some variation on it when possible. I usually provide links to my blogs at the bottom of posts I make. This means that I have to take ownership of what I say online. If I behave badly I can't hide from it the way I could with an anonymous user name. If you want to you can easily find my full name, photos of me, where I live and contact me - no stalkers please!..=-)

To be honest I've had my moments of childishness and gotten into a few pissing contests that in retrospect were pointless, but I don't think I've ever crossed the line to being disrespectful or hurtful to anyone online. As we seem to be moving towards more and more online interactions with each other [I can't remember the last time I went to the bank and spoke with a teller in person] I hope we can bring along the same social skills and consideration that we routinely use in our face to face interactions.

Himalaya by Bike

A few posts ago I mentioned a book about bike touring in Tibet and noted that I'd like to do some touring in India first as a warm up to the more challenging conditions in Tibet. Well Laura Stone's new book Himalaya by Bike tackles this very subject. I've read some good reviews of this book online and will be ordering up a copy in the near future.

Laura has a website that is out of date, but she has said in the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree Forum that she'll be updating it in the near future.

Lonely Planet Thorn Tree

I've known about the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree forum for quite a while, but have only recently taken the time to delve into it more throroughly. They have a cycle touring sub-forum which is really useful when you need up to date info on border crossings or cycling conditions in far flung parts of the world. If you are traveling or planning a trip this forum is well worth visiting.

I also just noticed that LP is selling individual chapters of their guides online in an electronic format. That's brilliant as I tend to travel very lightweight [10-15lbs in a day pack] when on foot and my LP guidebook was one of my heaviest single items. However, if you end up buying the whole book electronically one chapter at a time it will be much more expensive - hopefully they'll provide a whole guide as a PDF at better price. One step at a time I guess!

Bike Touring Tibet

I came across this book at MEC a few weeks ago and have enjoyed reading about bike touring in Tibet. I can't vouch for the accuracy of any of the information published in this book, but it seems quite comprehensive and is well written. Although I think tour journals like those at Crazy Guy on a Bike and travelers' forums like the Lonely Planet Thorn Tree are the best places to get up to date information on a touring destination, it's nice to have a hard copy book to read when you aren't near a computer - particularly while touring. Kym McConnell has gone the extra distance by setting up a website with a forum so you can get Tibet specific info updated constantly - that's smart. You get the book plus a website that provides updates...=-)

Tibet is one of those places that fires up my imagination and I'd love to do some exploring there on my bike. Based on reading Kym's book I'll probably get my feet wet riding in India and SE Asia first before I tackle the more challenging political environment in Tibet.

Lazy is MIA

Sorry for the lack of posts. I'm in a cast at the moment so no biking and very limited mobility. I don't want to blog about my foot simply because it gets enough air time in my day to day life the last thing I want to do is spend more time on it. I figured I better at least let you know why I'm not blogging much these days.

I've also been on the road for work the last little while and haven't had regular access to the net or a comfortable workstation. Getting around on crutches while traveling is even less fun than it sounds and quite tiring. For the first time in years I have watched a ton of TV. I don't have one at home, but being tired and unable to get around is a perfect combo when you have a TV close at hand in your hotel room.

I'll be home on Monday and I've got a backlog of items, in particular product reviews, that I should jump on since I've got a lot of time on my hands at home.

I should be back on the bike by the middle of November and I have some fun winter bike trips planned, but I don't want to jinx them so I won't post about future plans until my foot is all better.

Rohloff Geek

You know you are a bike geek when you pack a Rohloff User's Manual in your luggage for some light in flight reading...=-)

Bill's Thorn Comfort Bars

I had the pleasure of meeting up with Bill S [a Bike Forums member] on Friday and check out his lovely Thorn Nomad S&S. It's an impressive bike - very functional and much nicer looking than it appears on the Thorn website. I wish I had an opportunity to test ride it a bit more thoroughly, but that wasn't in the cards. My camera battery was dead so I wasn't able to snap any photos which is a shame.

This sort of encounter is why I love the internet. You get interested in an obscure product from the UK and a few search engines later you are looking at it, test riding it and chatting with someone who lives in your city and owns one.

Bill brought along a set of Thorn comfort bars he wasn't using for me to look at. I was interested in buying them and seeing how I found the shape/hand positions. To my surprise Bill very kindly gave them to me. Thanks Bill!...=-) I'm going to try them out on my winter MTB. They offer quite a bit of rise and more rearward sweep than typical MTB riser bars.

Here is what Thorn's PR spew says:

"The ultimate alloy riser bar for touring. Physio-designed geometry gives great confort levels. Expertly made of 1.8/3.0/1.8mm 2014 double butted Al Alloy. Generous 25.4mm dia centre section for bar bags, lights, computers etc followed by tight bends (to save space). Overall 620mm wide, 50mm rise, 190mm straight grip section each side, 40mm rearward sweep, 100mm straight section in centre, 25.4mm bar clamp. Weight 294g."

You can get them in quite a few different versions:

- alloy black
- alloy silver
- alloy silver [heavy duty version]
- carbon wrapped alloy
- carbon wrapped alloy [heavy duty version]

Strida

5.0 Specs

• 22 lbs (10 kg) 7000 series aluminium
  
• Disc Brakes
• Black, Skin Wall, Reflective Stripe
• Alloy Cold Forged SS
• Four Spider Cast Aluminum
• Welded AL Mount
• Internal Rear Hub Freewheel
• $800 USD

I've been having a weird fascination with the Strida folding bike recently. I know it looks goofy, but...okay there is no but - it does look goofy. I'm still intrigued. If it cost less than $400 I'd buy one just to see what I thought and loan out to friends. Luckily the $800 price tag makes a purchase highly unlikely - too many other bike goodies that I could make better use of once you get within striking distance of $1000.

Eric & Dylan's Lost Coast Trip

Eric and Dylan made it home safe and sound from their Alaskan Lost Coast Trip. They posted some reports and photos here. It's worth a moment to check out their adventure...=-)

Eric & Dan's Indian Bike Tour

Epic Eric and his partner Dan rode the same route as Al & Ulrike and then for good measure they rode back to the start! Click on either of the photos in this post to jump to more pictures from their trip.

Touring the Indian Himalaya

Photo: Al Downie

Ulrike Lange and Alastair Downie cycle toured in the Indian Himalayas - Leh to Manali via Tso Moriri, Aug/Sept 2008 and have some spectacular photos here as well as a Bike Forums thread here.

I haven't got a lot of details about their trip, but if I can find any I'll update this post and provide the link.

Epic Eric Rides Bolivia

Eric Parsons of Epic Designs took his Surly Karate Monkey to South America for a nice bike tour and had an article published about his adventure in Dirt Rag Magazine.

Some photos from Eric's trip in SA

More detailed info on Eric's trip posted at MTBR.COM.

Garage Antics

Photo: random forum post

Bike Ballet?

Mark's LHT Brevet Light Setup

Mark W writes:

"Vik, per your request, here are three shots of the front lighting on my LHT, that also show the dual stem set up.

Needless to say, I don't subscribe to the French pechant for handlebar bags and/or small front panniers--especially since the LHT doesn't have the appropriate front end geometry. For brevets I use one or two small ortlieb panniers--which don't affect bike handling at all, get the weight low, minimize aerodynamic drag etc. And for touring involving camping, I use a Nomad. So that allows the area between the drops to be used for lighting."




"This set up works better than I thought it might. The lights aren't in the way of anything, there are no restrictions on hand placement on the bars, plenty of light for road riding at up to about 30 mph, the lithium AA's last for over 100 hours, and while the light pattern on the cateye EL-530s is inadequate if you only use one, by using four the pattern is quite good, even in the corners--better than the Fly IQ powered by a Schmidt SON on one of my other bikes.

Rgrds,

M"

Tetsuro & Hiro's Excellent Adventure

I first met Tetsuro & Hiro [on the right with helmet] up in the Yukon on my way home from the Dempster Highway this summer. They were headed from Alaska down to Ushaia on a long bike tour. Their English was limited and my Japanese non-existent so we couldn't communicate much, but I did offer them a place to stay if they passed through Calgary. We exchanged one garbled email after that and I didn't hear from them again so I assumed we were not going to cross paths a second time.

To my surprise a few weeks later I ran into Hiro hanging out in an alley near my apartment. When I inquired about Tetsuro he was surprised himself as he thought his friend would already be at my place. A bunch of emailing, text messaging and mobile phone calling later we tracked Tetsuro down and steered him to my apartment.

Sadly Tetsuro would have to end his trip in Calgary as his father was gravely ill. I helped him arrange a flight back to Japan and the three of us spent a week hanging out waiting for Tetsuro's flight home. Our poor language skills were a bit of a trial, but we managed to figure out the basics. Eventually Tetsuro boarded a flight for Japan and later that day Hiro embarked on the next leg of his bike tour to South America.

You can see some photos from their visit here and here. Tetsuro's blog is here.

If you are a cycle tourist and need a place to stay or some support in/around the Calgary area drop me a line and I'll see what I can do to help you out.

I'm a bike slut...

Photo: On the Bright Side

I've sold two bikes this year and have another I'm thinking of parting with. You might think my fleet is shrinking rapidly and I'm headed for one-bike-nirvana. Not to worry I'm very good at recycling bike money back into new projects. I've got a new MTB frame hanging in my office slowly accumulating parts eagerly anticipating its fat tire debut. I have a second bike project in mind - actually about three of them, but I'm working my way towards deciding which one will become reality this winter.

Why so many bikes? Why not? Besides travel, bikes are the only thing I spend money on. I enjoy thinking about new bikes, getting the parts in, building the bikes and then riding them. Although I enjoy the process no matter the outcome I don't fall in love with all my bikes. That's partly due to the high caliber of the rigs in my fleet. There is some stiff competition when a bike gets voted off the island. The bikes that don't make it aren't bad rides - in fact their new owners usually fall head over heels for them, but in the bike-eat-bike world of my fleet they couldn't find their niche.

There are some bikes that never have to worry. I can't recall the last time I made any significant change to my Surly Long Haul Trucker. It's been years really and even after the initial build I've only tweaked a couple things. I was going to say the LHT is perfect and that's why I haven't changed anything, but that's not true. I can think of a more comfy saddle I could put on it and nicer fenders. I was contemplating some faster tires. So why don't I just get on with the upgrades? Well the LHT isn't perfect, but it's a darn nice ride. Everything on it has served me well. No matter what else is going on with my other bikes I know it's ready to saddle up and it can handle 90% of my cycling missions with aplomb. I appreciate how reliable it's been for me and I value that more than tweaking it to be perfect.

Goodbye Taifun

I took the Taifun to the UPS Store on Friday so it can start its journey to a new owner. Naturally I used the Surly Big Dummy to haul the bike box.

55cm Novara Randonee Touring Frame For Sale

Frame/fork have been sold!

Anna wants to sell her 55cm Novara Randonee touring frame/fork. This steel frame was bought new in 2006 and used for one season. I gave her a Surly LHT frame which she swapped all the parts over to. The Randonee frame has been in storage ever since. This is a great frame for a 700c touring bike and is quite attractive. With long chainstays and relaxed geometry there is lots of room for panniers and the stable handling inspires confidence. It's in excellent shape mechanically with some minor cosmetic blemishes as would be expected from a bike that has been on tour and seen some commuting action. This frame was ridden for one riding season covering about 1500kms.

She would like $150 for the frame/fork + $75 shipping [if shipping is less than this the difference will be refunded].

If you have some parts laying around this would make a wonderful inexpensive touring rig or a fine commuter bike.