HobbesOnTour

I think this may have been the issue. There was conflict between Frame maker & Rohloff over responsibility.

These are the kinds of things that can influence success or otherwise of a tour. A little bit of research and practice can repay itself in spades.

surlylhtfan

Thanks, I appreciate you moving the conversation forward.

I'm not feeling defensive but I did want to mention I've purchased ACA maps (years ago) and am comfortable with wilderness navigation using a handheld GPS. I was a mountain biker back in my 20s. I spent a month moving around China plus about a year collectively in non-US western countries.

I didnt mean to be snooty, "world tours or nothing!". I'm going to try and get more time in on my bike locally. It's ridiculous for me to think I can skip that step, or can't find enjoyment in it.

Tourist in MSN

I can see where there would be an argument. If the frame was made to old specifications and then Rohloff started shipping the new version, it would be easy to imagine a mixup.

For touring I always use square taper cranksets, the cartridge bearing bottom brackets like the UN-55 just keep going forever where external bottom brackets do not last as long. When I built up my Rohloff bike, I wanted the Q factor (width between pedals) to be about the same on my Rohloff bike and my derailleur bikes. For that, I needed a bottom bracket spindle about 10mm shorter than would have been ideal for chainline, thus my chainline is off by about 5mm. I have a double crank, if my chainring was in the outer position, chainline would be perfect, but I wanted a bashguard in that postion, use the chainring on the inside.

But with a belt, you need to get your bottom bracket and crankset lined up just right.

For chain drive, the thread on sprockets had a known chainline value. Then the new sprocket carrier had a different chainline. And there were enough complaints that Rohoff made a second "slim" version sprocket carrier that was close to the original thread on sprocket chainline. I have one more thread on sprocket on the shelf, after that gets worn out I will have to use the splined version.

But I have no clue how that worked for belt drive components, I do not even know who makes the belt sprockets and crankset rings.

In USA Rohloffs are extremely rare. But when I toured in Iceland, I saw quite a few Rohloffs and about half were chain, half belt.

HobbesOnTour

You're giving yourself good advice!

For me, a day's touring is made up of lots of little decisions; What time will I start? What road to take? Breakfast now or on the road? Is that a big rain cloud coming towards me? Etc.
A week's touring involves bigger questions; Will I make it to my destination? What does that distance/climb/weather feel like? Etc.
A month's touring involves bigger questions again.
And so on.

One significant difference between a "long" tour and a shorter one is that a "long" tour may not have an end date or at least one so far in the distance that it's as good as incomprehensible. Psychologically, that can be challenging.

Every day on the bike is a learning day and helps me make better decisions in the future.
It's not ridicilous to skip that step (lots do), but it's a very useful step to have in your armoury. Sometimes a poor decision can lead to discomfort, sometimes worse.
Also, from reading many blogs and online posts over several years, many people who have "just jumped on a bike and headed off" are guilty of underplaying their preparation.
One thing that stands out to me from reading a lot over the years is that attitude is probably the most important component. Not just for success, but for enjoyment.
Someone like Dervla Murphy had tremendous attitude.

Personally, I think there's a balance to be struck between having a dream of the World Tour and preparing for it.
There's no shortage of people who prepare in micro detail, acquire all the gear but never head off. Some, also, prepare in huge detail in some areas and are completely ignorant in other areas.
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A balanced approach, to me, is to plan for the "big one" but do as much locally (or a bit further afield) that allows me to know if what I'm planning is possible or enjoyable. A local, weekend tour may seem uninteresting, but if you're thinking about riding the Silk Road, or the Trampoline of Death it can be a bit more interesting! And there's so much to learn!

Good luck!

indyfabz

Definitely not. The back story is that I knew for a long time (Well more than a year. Possibly even more than two years.) that I was eventually going to be downsized as a result of a corporate acquisition. I had done one cross-state, supported tour and a 10-day, "luxury" trip in Italy. For a long time I thought it would be neat to ride across the U.S. and first started looking at supported trips for my post-employment time. Both the cost and the long mileage days mad them unappealing, so I started looking at unsupported options. Due to my complete lack of both unsupported touring and the related camping aspect, I thought a small group trip would be best for me. To be honest, I cannot remember how I learned about ACA, but their trips turned out to be just what I was looking for. Going unsupported was a big change for me. I will admit that I was somewhat of a roadie snob. The two or three people I knew who toured self contained wore things like tube socks and old helmets, and I looked at loaded touring as an excuse to ride slowly. Because of where I lived and finishing up projects so I could get laid off in time for the start of the trip in late May, I didn't get a chance to take a shakedown tour. Because of my riding experience, I wasn't too worried about being able to handle a loaded bike. My one fully loaded practice ride, which included a lot of ups and downs, confirmed that. But I did pick up camping tips/skills from experienced members of the group. For example, I remember picking a spot for my tent one day when rain at night was possible. One group member warned me that I was about to pitch my tent at a low spot and pointed out the ground water runoff channels leading to that spot. I never would have thought of that.

OK. Enough rambling.

djb

you gotta realize that one big advantage of doing short tours first is that as someone who hasn't toured before, and maybe havent biked in 5, 10, 20 years? it will give you ample opportunity to sort out your bike fit, make changes to handlebar height, seat position, what you wear riding (specifically ass comfort) all kinds of stuff that make a big difference to overall comfort and efficiency. Misfit this or misfit that will show itself up only by riding day after day on a heavy ass bike, so sorting stuff out with short trips just makes sense.
Same with figuring out what crap to bring.

will you really get into touring and start buying stuff (can you find a bike and stuff to buy right now?) or is this just a dreaming thing?
Only you know that, but trying out some short trips certainly is the smarter way to avoid some basic mistakes, or at least some basic stuff that will mean less discomfort and dramas--but again, all this is up to you.

good luck with your decisions.

HobbesOnTour

Not rambling at all. Useful info in there