njkayaker

Because they are too heavy or provide a false sense of security or people don't leave their bikes where they can be stolen, I suppose.

Don't sleep where it could get stolen. It's much more likely that your bike will be stolen during daytime (when you are away from it) than it is in a dark campground in the middle of the night (which is not really the usual place that thieves hang out).

(Again, I didn't say don't bring a lock.)

BigBlueToe

I bought a Garmin Etrex after missing a turn and riding past a campground one year. I found it useful sometimes, but clunky other times. It takes a long time to transfer waypoints from Adventure Cyicling's routes. The first tour I took I didn't quite understand the process. Also, the Garmin street maps don't recognize bike paths so if your route goes on one you can't program it in. Garmin's topographic maps don't have every dirt road or singletrack and you can't make it go where it doesn't see a route. On the Great Divide it was very handy most of the time, but there were plenty of places where I had to rely on maps.

It has helped me find motels, helped me make my way across downtown Portland, Oregon to get to the Amtrak station, helped me find restaurants, etc.

I didn't bring it on my recent tour down the Big Sur coast. One day I needed gps to find a couple things. I used the gps on my smart phone. It worked two times out of three. Once we got routed into a residential neighborhood where suddenly the streets didn't match the map on the phone and we were stuck. We had to find a human to talk to.

The problem with the phone is that I try to conserve my phone's battery on tour and don't want to leave it on to use the gps feature. The Garmin runs off AA batteries which are easy to find. I can leave it on all day if I want and the batteries will last 2 or 3 days.

My final take on my gps is that I'm glad I have it, but would think hard about buying one if I didn't. For some applications (like the Great Divide) it's very valuable. For one of my normal tours through civilized parts of the U. S. it's less valuable. Of course, if you're like me and love to buy swag for your bike, go ahead, get one! You'll find uses for it.

As far as locks go, I just use a cable lock from the hardware store. I lock my bike whenever I go into a store or restaurant. I try and find a visible place where there are lots of passersby to notice someone tampering with it. In a campground I lock it to a tree or the picnic table, near my tent.

jhawk

I guess that Aerohip and I have the same issue, it'll be our first tours and nobody wants to get their bike nicked on their first trip out.

I don't plan on staying in massive cities, or if I do, I plan on being in a house with someone - in which case, I'll ask to bring my bike inside, or put it somewhere that's locked up.

As for the GPS, I'll not be buying one anytime soon. They're quite expensive and I've not got the money for them yet, there are other, more important things that I need to buy for my bike before next Spring/Summer.

Aerohip

Could I not get a Tent thats big enough to have my bike in it too?? Or is that a dumb idea?

jhawk

Not at all, many cycling tents are made to store the bike as well. And that's something I'm considering - I'm also considering buying an ENO Hammock, but I'm not sure on that front. Something I'm going to have to test out.

Aerohip

Hey Jack....got your message but I don't have 50 posts so I can't respond...email me...upthechels@gmail.com

Bicycle365

GPS: Nexus 7 Tablet inside the Ortlieb map case on my HB bag. SON 28 through a 5600mAh battery, to power it for up to 16 hours. ( I have all my ACA map segments scanned in and just scroll between them.)

Lock: OnGuard cable lock + Great White Shark Stainless Steel braided fishing leaders to loop the panniers. Ultra light weight nearly un-cuttable (have you seen the teeth on those suckers! ) and literally tons of test strength. weak link is what ever lock you use on the looped ends.

Bicycle365

I have a Lynx Pass 3 tent that has an "awning" to extend out from the top of the door. Instead of using trekking poles as recommended I use the bike to support it. Its not inside the tent but you would have to make some noise to free it from the guy lines and tent fly.

njkayaker

There are a few "cycling specific" tents that let you do that. Topeak makes one (do you know of any others?).

I think you'd be better off using a small separate tarp to cover the bike. That gives you many more options for tents (and for a tent that might work better for other purposes too). Also, it might be easier to pack if the tent and cycle tarp were separate.

Not having to deal with the clunky bicycle with the tent might make the tent more easy to use.

That's a big and heavy (at 6 lbs) tent. The awning isn't going to do a lot to keep the bike dry either. And the bicycle in the doorway has to be a nuisance.

https://www.amazon.com/Big-Agnes-Lynx.../dp/B0034VR8ZW

Doug64

I sometimes disguise my bike as a clothesline post, and no one seems to bother it



IMO- Most of the time you will not be camping in urban areas where there is likelihood of a "professional" bike thief prowling around with bolt cutters, or angle grinder. Just using a cable to secure the bike to a tree, picnic table, or some other sturdy object will suffice in most rural campgrounds.

One cable is around the lower portion of the "raccoon box".


The other cable lashes the 2 bikes together.


I don't even put my panniers in the tent unless I'm leaving the camp set up when we go on a day trip. They are usually stowed on the picnic tabel bench or under the rainfly at the rear of the tent.

In the rare occasions I feel "uneasy" about a campground, I'll run one of our cables through all of our panniers' security leashes. I fabricated these for my Ortlieb Classic bags. My wife has the Packer Plus series bags which can be equiped with the optional leashes from Ortlieb. It just reduces the risk of theft from an opportunistic thief. I think we've used them twice in the 7-8 tours we've done since we put them on. Actually, the closest of knowingly getting a pannier stolen was on California's southern Pacific Coast. A raccoon made it about 30 feet before I was awaken, got out of the tent, and retrieved my pannier.

Bicycle365

I prefer to call it spacious : ), I am a creature of comfort and like the huge space all to myself. I also use a 25" sleeping pad and a large rectangular bag for the same reasons. The bike in the door is no issue at all, it is about 5 feet out from the entrance you just exit right or left.I have a ny-sil tarp to cover the bike if needed, the idea was to hold out the awning for shade/ventilation not to protect the bike. As far as the weight (6lbs) I toured for many years with a 1980's era Eureka Timberline 4 (at 11 lbs I think )

As always YMMV and "to each their own".

The Lynx Pass must be a great tent to a lot of people , the amazon link you posted shows that the price for one as DOUBLED since they went out of production. I paid $125 in 2011 when it was a current model.
https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...1#post16145997

mm718

I understand this concern. I think theft at night in campgrounds is probably exceedingly rare but it does happen now and then (e.g., Pacific Coast) and you need to sleep well. In addition to a cable lock, I use a Click-Stand for a kickstand and it has "brake Bands" that keep the bike from rolling. they are black, blend in with the handlebar tape, and might frustrate a thief enough that they might abort the attempt. Even better is attach some fishing line to your tent and wheel so that your tent would be tugged if someone tried to steal it.

njkayaker

Some people might have had an idea that you were doing it to keep it from getting rained on.

That people are free to do "their own" think doesn't mean what they do make sense. Your "Timberline" is an example of that: it's objectively a poorer choice if there are reasonable alternatives. That is, with that choice, people's "mileage" won't "vary". It will be worse.

While there are exceptions, the more experience people get, the more they tend to carry less and lighter stuff. Many inexperienced people start-out with too much stuff.

It's great that your huge tent works for you but you weren't really clear about the trade-offs (it's heavier and harder to pack). Many people do fine with much smaller tents.

stevage

>The problem I find with a GPS for biking is the same problem that computers and smartphones create in our lives. If you follow the directions provided by the GPS, chances are you're going to miss some beautiful scenery or some memorable little towns that you might have otherwise gone off the beaten path to explore.

I think you're confusing a GPS (device for showing where you are on a map) with a satnav (device that tells you how to get somewhere). Obviously there's overlap, but most cyclists don't let the GPS plot a route for them - it's not smart enough.

I use my GPS for every trip, and have the exact opposite experience of what you describe. I plot very complex routes through interesting terrain, way off the beaten track, down 4WD tracks, through national parks etc. I can do it because I spend hours researching different routes, then download it onto the GPS, where I can follow it in the dark, through the rain, whatever. Without a GPS I'd be forced to follow a much simpler route that I could navigate by street signs and a paper map.

>I don't know how old you are, but I think the younger generation misses a lot by depending so much on what the damned little machines say.

I think the older generation could stand to be a little less sanctimonious and keep a more open mind.

Carbonfiberboy 

This is exactly what I do, also. I see and do stuff that map followers would never encounter. I'm of the "older generation." I don't think age is the issue.

dbg

And same here. I've been using GPS on a bike for 10+ years. Sometimes a route (track) is plotted and sometimes not. I become way more engaged in the surroundings than the map folks who have to stare at the map (queue sheet maybe also) and search for street signs and stop for page changes, etc. When not following a track, the GPS might show me which streets go through and which dead end. Or what other streets are nearby that look interesting. I've sometimes felt like riding a bike almost seems like flying. GPS adds a birds eye view.

dbg

I gave up on Garmin Street Maps (City Navigator) partly because it does not show bike trails and multi-use paths but also because of high cost for less than up-to-date data. Open source maps are free, include trails, and seem to be more accurate. We have finally settled on etrex-20 with OSM maps and ridewithgps. Very easy and very cheap. I still like to carry a map and smartphone in my packs but I never need them.

lurch0038

For me I will have a GPS with me when I go on a tour but that does not mean I would use it. I am guessing that if you are lost and need to find the shortest path back to the next town then the GPS will help.