Andrew R Stewart 

Sturdy/studly/stupid not sure which you're calling me It turned I didn't live with the load, although the heat was the real issue. Having about a gallon of water does you no good when your stomach shuts down. It was in central MT that I had to stop and rent a van for a few days.

This shot was with a couple days worth of food (the usual stash) and my daily starting with near 1 1/2 gallons of water. The weighing in Missoula was at the end of a few days of riding so my food and water load was actually fairly light weight. I figure I had nearly 120 lbs total when geared up fully. My water filter and a few other items got UPSed home when I got to WI. Andy

djb

Dear Mr SSS (you take your pick ;-)
I know what you mean about the heat, Ive ridden a lot in really hot weather over the last few years, and am almost as old as you are you old geezer ;-)
When I did Central America two winters ago, I found that I handle heat pretty well. Ive always known that but it certainly helps with very frequent small sips, for the stomach I mean and avoiding that "shutting down" feeling--I say avoid, but I guess to be realistic I mean, "minimizing" it.
This summer in France I rode in 40c temps and missed the regular "corner stores" of Latin America where one could always find a cold drink of some sort or another, not to mention the gas stations that would be air conditioned and made a real diff of having a cold drink and some cooler air to cool your body down for a short break.

back to the weight. I made the mistake of taking too much weight on my first longer trip back in 90 or something, and so remember that lesson always, so cant imagine carrying the amount you had.
Remember that rough estimate of load weight adage, your bike+load should be about half your body weight. Given Im usually 140 tops tops, 70 is generally a more enjoyable total bike weight for me, although the latin american trips were more, but I have really low gearing on the bike I used for these trips, which makes a huge difference.
I think the most water Ive carried is about 4 litres, a bit over an american gallon (3.78 i think) and less than an imperial gallon 4.55 l. ) but then there were generally access to small family run stores along the day often.
cheers again
oh, and thanks for all the mechanical help you've chimed in over the years in the mechanics section, appreciated.

pera

Wonderful bike. Are those Tektro RL340 brake levers? If yes, can you tell me are they good for touring?
Bought a pair about a month ago, cant wait to put them on my future vintage roadie, which I think will also be used for touring.

Awl

2nd day of a 4-day tour to Superior WI.

Brittney

near the end of a 5 day trip across Wales and SW England.

Happy Feet

Just gotta say, That's a touring bike photo the way they ought to be taken. Shirt and socks hanging out for some air, mismatched water bottles... Real life touring

str

4 weeks Romania

mrv 

Fourth day of a four day, international, bi-modal tour. Worked three ferry rides into the trip, but working a train ride in would have required a 1 hour mid-night train ride.


the Walpone ferry leaving Canada - a short ride to Algonac, MI

ctbiker

Another kind of "loaded" bike rig:

ctbiker

Adventure Cycling's Great Divide through Canada. I think this was in the U.S. however.

Jim Bangs

Yup. That is how it should look!!

Jim Bangs

Marc, I like your water bottle mount right there on your stem. reminds you to keep drinking. I tend to ignore drinking enough and then get so dehydrated by mid day.

str

mstateglfr 

A few geek questions.

- is the head tube oversized? Looks that way in the pic. If it is, why?
- is the frame fillet brazed? Don't see lugs, and figure fillet would be the other option for you.
- H U G E chainstay clearance between the tire and seat tube. How long are they?
- why the blue tape?...seatpost slip?

Andrew R Stewart 

-Head tube is round but has reinforcing rings top and bottom. Likely lens distortion. 1.125" steerer.
- Filleted all over including the shell. This is what I've been doing for a while as it is less design constrained or lug modifying dependent.
- There's no chainstay clearance between the tire and the seat tube (as this term is generally considered to be between the tire and the chainstay ). The chainstays are 46cm. The tires are ISO 559x 37. This makes the stays look long to those who assume on a 622 tire.
- Blue tape is for seat height positioning upon the reassembly after shipping the bike to Portland. I removed the tape on the bars which indicated the bar's rotational angle in the stem. People who loosen these fittings when packing a bike and who don't indicate these aspects end up playing around to reset their position. This way I set it exactly as before.

Here's a link to my Flicker site on the build sequence of this and it's mating frame, the wife's. If you click back to my album page you'll see my tour's shots and a lot more, maybe more then you wanted... Andy (who usually posts on the Bike mechanics and the Framebuilding sub forums).

https://www.flickr.com/photos/731955...57658194060433

Andrew R Stewart 

mstateglfr- I see you're in Des Moines, IA. I drove through on my way to Grand Junction last May and stayed at what was one of the worst morels of my life. Motel 6 off IS 80 and 35. Stank of cigs, pee and such. My plan was to attend your town's Ride of Silence (I organized Rochester's for 8 years) but was so turned off I didn't want to stay another day. I did ride around and visited Beaverdale Bikes. Cool shop, much like what I wanted my long ago shop to become. But that wasn't enough to overcome the bad motel, I drove onto Denver and their RoS. The bike tour I was driving to is also on the Flicker site album page. Andy

coffinjewel

1 week more camping than touring, first time ever and plenty more to come!

R.Armishaw

My Surly Disk Trucker loaded for Iceland.

str

RidingMatthew

what is the hard plastic tube on the top of the rear rack? if i may ask

capper66

tent poles. The tent, pegs and ground sheet are in the rear left pannier, but the poles are too long. Over the winter I'm planning to work with a sail maker to make a waterproof zippered bag that will accomplish the same purpose.

RidingMatthew

thanks @capper66 i think that the tube looks very professional. Did you make it or purchase it? Is it pipe?

capper66

Andrew R Stewart 

Why incapsulate/hard shell tent poles when packed on a bike? It's pretty simple to sew up a sleeve/bag that weighs less and takes up less space. Not to mention has no chance to rattle. Andy

mattbur

Except for the drop bars it looks just like my Surly. Very nice set up for sure.