Fredandsveta

Here the photos of our loaded tandem, in 3 steps.
We travel from August 2015,

In 2015 and 2016 with a Bob Yak trailer.
183 lbs all included (tandem, trailer, material, the clothes we wear)

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In 2017 with an Extrawhell trailer
160 lbs

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For our coming trip in USA and South America, no more trailer
about 150lbs

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linus

Looks great. Seems like you are ready now!!

nickw

I know that lighthouse....which one is it?

Fredandsveta

Yes, we patiently wait for our flight!!

djb

Fred or Sveta, regarding that last photo, I really think one of you needs to have a talk with the lazy one riding in front of the bike who appears not to want to contribute to pedalling power.
I feel this is not a very egalitarian sharing of work for your trip!

(il y n a pas de chaine, c'est un farce plat de mon part!)

translation:

(there is no chain on the front part of the bike....not a very good joke on my part...)

BigFinner

Hope so for your case. I am really interested in hearing back on your experience there. From what we faced it would rank on the bottom of countries to visit again.

Fredandsveta

Fred answering: keep it for you!!! the technical part of the tandem is on my duty and Sveta believe that it's normal like this!! 2 years now I just have to manage the handlebar, and the brakes when she is not tired enough.

str

what are the reasons you did not like Vietnam?

djb

funny
(d'accord, I won't say a word )

"keep it for you" should be "keep it to yourself"

15cms of snow coming tomorrow, so no riding to work as usual until wednesday or thursday...

Fredandsveta

Thanks to correct my happy English!! I need it
And good luck with the snow !

djb

it was challenging to keep up on two wheels, but it was fun and a good workout!

Fredandsveta

I can easily believe it !!

BigFinner

As travelers we were treated very poorly throughout the Vietnam. Didn't seem like they care much of having a tourist industry. When cycle touring we always say we eat our way through a country as we expend so many calories and eat so much. However the food was most often so bad that we choose to go hungry a lot of the time or just try and make our own meals (Even when trying not to get it more often then not meals would come with a lot of animal innards and oil). We felt like many residents had a lot of disdain towards whites or possibly what they perceived as "Americans" fyi we are Canadians but that didn't seem to matter. Very few people seemed willing to help when asked a question and would just shoo us away. Every other SE Asia country we visited was quite the opposite to this.

We have toured through a lot of SE Asia and absolutely loved the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Cambodia. Vietnam however was a very different story. All they travelers we met there conveyed similar experiences as we had.

str

thanks..

I know several people who have been in Vietnam and they loved it. good food friendly people.

how can they see in your face that your Canadians? ) and if they are distant to "Americans" I can fully understand that.

BBassett

Lots of time and lots of quality manufactures. Happy holidays to everyone.

BBassett

Backpack covers over the front panniers mostly to keep them clean. With the old side-stand and Salsa Bags in the front of the trailer.

cb400bill

Let's keep the Touring forum a political free zone, okay?

Thank you.

no rules

Moots Ti Touring set-up. Mavic a-719. Chris King hubs, headset, and bottom bracket. Dura-Ace 50/34 crank with Sram force and Sram XX long derailleur / 11-36 cassette can handle anything that comes it's way. Nothing like a Ti bike.

steve-in-kville 

Now thats a big rig! Whats kept in the big thermos on the trailer hitch?

linus

Looks like you are ready for the trip to the moon. I guess if you have E-assist, you can carry whatever you want.

Do you know how much weight are you carrying?

BBassett

One thing I try to do when I pick a piece of gear is to make sure that it can be used for multiple purposes. That thermos is the Stanley Mountain Vacuum Coffee System (3-in-1 Stanley Vacuum Coffee System) It is a french press and a vacuum thermos bottle. So it can be used for hot and cold, has two drinking cups and over 1/2 cup storage container built in. The best thing is that vacuum bottles can't be used for cooking over a flame but this system lets you cook in the exterior cup that has a built-in handle. I can fill it with hot coffee in the morning, ride all day and stop anywhere I want to cook another batch using any cook stove. I use my Jetboil mini-mo (https://jetboil.johnsonoutdoors.com/...cooking-system). It fits all my requirements when I buy gear. One drawback... The holder I use is made for growler bottles and allows just enough vibration to drive me crazy. Not much really, but enough. Also the builtin handle rattles due to design. I found that I could rotate the thermos until the handle straddles the cage and stop that noise and a releasable zip-tie keeps the bottle from vibrating. Oh, I almost forgot the 10 lb. Fugoo XL blue-tooth speaker, the hurricane umbrella, inflatable camp chair, solar oven....

BBassett

That was the whole idea. I don't want to forgo comfort. I like comfort, and I like to have lots of options on where I can stay too... like, hammock, bivy, pop-up enclosed tent, etc. I started calling it RidingLarge. When you talk about weight it starts to add up fast. The bike is hovering at 50 lbs. stripped clean. BaFang 750w motor is around 6 or 7 lbs. 50v/30ah li-ion battery X 2, about 14 lbs. each. The front rack weighs a couple pounds. So that is 70 lbs. with one battery and she is ridable. Bar-bag few pounds with about 10 lbs. of gear inside. I have set up each pannier to hold approximately 20 lbs, each X 4. The trailer weighs about 13 lbs. itself and will carry almost 90 more lbs. of gear. She is heavy when fully loaded. HEAVY. But like you said... with e-assist it makes it do-able. A couple of silicone wine glasses, some dry cheese and *******, and a beautiful original wine skin makes it all comfortable.

ksisler

Although I have done my share of experimenting, when it comes to things that would strand me, make me push a broken bike home or make my rife scope come loose 100 miles up in the mountains, I use blue Lock-Tite and have for many, many years. I also firmly belief in use of a torgue wrench after cleaning the holes with a bottoming tap and the bolts with a die or at least a stainless steel brush. FWIW and hope it helps the think through. /K

linus

I don't use E-assist, but seems like weight and E-assist cancel each other out. Great to know that E-assist can be used on a touring bike. I'm more old school punish my way through type though.

BBassett

Weight and E-Assist do cancel each other if there isn't enough torque in the deal. That why hub motors are less desirable to most riders.

Look into mid-drive or center-drive motors.... that is pretty much what all bike manufacturers are building now. You can get an add-on and not have to deal with all the limits that are built into manufactured ebikes. Any torque you add is sent to the bike chain and into the rear wheel. Just like God meant it to be. Termanology is tough because the Europeans screwed it up years ago. They understood that a pedal bike that used an electric motor to assist the pedal power was not a motorcycle or moped but for some dumbass reason coined the term Pedelec, rather than just saying pedal assist. The American Federal Government apparently thought it was a silly word too, they decided on the term "low-speed electric bicycle" and declared that an LSEB is to be treated as a standard bike. Not sure how Canada classes them, but have talked with lots of RCMP that could not care less one way or another. Except to borrow mine and leave me waiting, without music, for 10 mins. as he rode home to show his wife.

"I'm more old school punish my way through type though." You don't have to use any power at all if you are feeling froggy (or more likely you have run the batteries down), that's the whole point of the LSEB classification.

Check out Californias more recent ebike policy - (California governor signs law modernizing electric bike regulations | Bicycle Retailer and Industry News)

Watch out for Bears dude. I was told recently they aren't funny.