What’s your "can’t live without" gear?
#76
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#77
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#78
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If you have a Kindle, or really any e-reader, but especially if you have a Kindle, you need a software package called Calibre. Not only does it "jailbreak" your Kindle, allowing you to load e-books into it other than by buying them from Amazon, but it allows you to convert e-books into and out of Amazon's AZW3 format, which nothing else uses, and which your Kindle uses exclusively. You can also get your books off of your Kindle, which Amazon won't let you do. Basically, it turns your Kindle and your library into things that you actually own.
--Shannon
--Shannon
#79
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Looking around, I did find formula containing whole milk in both Target and Whole Food Markets. I've yet to try either so I can't vouch for the quality but here you go:
https://www.target.com/p/kendamil-or...z/-/A-86918586
https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/pro...ula-b099b2m7rp
#80
ret'd msgr
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Here is an extremely obscure and little known source that has it in stock: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=nido+whole+milk+powder
I actually prefer the Hoosier Hill and/or Red Cow powdered whole milk, which both also come up on this search page.
I actually prefer the Hoosier Hill and/or Red Cow powdered whole milk, which both also come up on this search page.
#81
Full Member
Must have:
. spare tube.
.. tire levers.
... air pump.
Good to have:
.... multitool.
..... adjustable wrench.
...... front light.
....... rear light.
........ patch kit.
......... spare chain
. spare tube.
.. tire levers.
... air pump.
Good to have:
.... multitool.
..... adjustable wrench.
...... front light.
....... rear light.
........ patch kit.
......... spare chain
#82
bicycle tourist
Not often but I've had days with more than one flat. My maximum was six on the San Diego Christmas ride and three in self-supported touring. So a single tube gets me perhaps into a mode of looking for a replacement right away.
When a tour is long enough I've stretched/replaced a chain or two. However enough warning and something I can do pre-emptively.
#83
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Here is an extremely obscure and little known source that has it in stock: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=nido+whole+milkchainrings+powder
I actually prefer the Hoosier Hill and/or Red Cow powdered whole milk, which both also come up on this search page.
I actually prefer the Hoosier Hill and/or Red Cow powdered whole milk, which both also come up on this search page.
Choice #2 actually helps to argue my case. Somewhat slightly anyway. Nestle Nido Kinder 1+, which is what I found in my local supermarket, has nonfat milk.
The results I got from my Amazon search was polluted with so many garbage results.
I guess i should consider myself lucky. Had I completely bollixed up my incantation I might have unleashed the evil dead.
On a more serious note, I'll have to check out the Hoosier Hill or the Red Cow.
What is the shelf life of these powder formulas after you break the seal and open the container?
Last edited by estasnyc; 10-15-23 at 02:44 PM.
#84
Full Member
I put a patch kit higher on this list and a spare chain lower...
Not often but I've had days with more than one flat. My maximum was six on the San Diego Christmas ride and three in self-supported touring. So a single tube gets me perhaps into a mode of looking for a replacement right away.
When a tour is long enough I've stretched/replaced a chain or two. However enough warning and something I can do pre-emptively.
Not often but I've had days with more than one flat. My maximum was six on the San Diego Christmas ride and three in self-supported touring. So a single tube gets me perhaps into a mode of looking for a replacement right away.
When a tour is long enough I've stretched/replaced a chain or two. However enough warning and something I can do pre-emptively.
In my early days of bike-riding, I did patch on the side of the road, maybe, a couple of times. I do not patch tubes on the side of the road any more, but only patch them after I get home. If I have a flat, I quickly remove the wheel, replace the flattened tube with a good tube, and am quickly back on the road.
#85
bicycle tourist
In my early days of bike-riding, I did patch on the side of the road, maybe, a couple of times. I do not patch tubes on the side of the road any more, but only patch them after I get home. If I have a flat, I quickly remove the wheel, replace the flattened tube with a good tube, and am quickly back on the road.
Once I've done that, it is little additional work to put a patch on the tube as well. Sometimes I'll put the patched tube back in, sometimes I swap in a new tube. However unless something damaged the tube itself (e.g. sidewall rip in the tire, valve stem breaks on tube), I've got the tube ready to go even if it isn't in the tire. There isn't as much of a notion of "after I get home" since I can be on the road for weeks and sometimes months.
Likes For mev:
#86
ret'd msgr
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My recommendation is: buy the Red Cow first for the cool-looking metal can, and then re-fill the can with the (somewhat cheaper) Hoosier Hill. I have not noticed any very great difference among them.
Glad to help with the necessary incantations.
#87
Old age cyclist
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Bikes: Motobecane Grand Record, Motobecane Super Mirage (3x5 speeds), Motobecane Mirage, Atala (unknown model), Peugeot mixte frame Tourist and Schwinn Sport. A bunch more kids bikes. Most recently a Trek Verve One, tricked up for serious touring.
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I've found that I'm very unsuccessful at touring without music or other audio pretty much through the entire day - just curious if other people have that experience as well. Without constant audio I'll ride for 30-40 minutes before deciding to break, eat, mill around or whatever and pretty much fail to make any progress towards getting anywhere.
Then again, you might like to listen to nature...
#88
I like cats.
#89
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It is important for me to figure out what caused the flat, e.g. if there is a little wire in the tube I want to find it rather than put in a new tube and have it find the wire again. If there is a goat head thorn, I want to know that too. I don't find 100% of the causes but I can get pretty close. I learned this in my early haste to be quickly back on the road only to learn that I hadn't really gotten the root cause of the flat.
Found the tiniest of holes. It was so small, an air bubble would only appear every two seconds or so. Locating the hole helped me finally locate the tiny piece of wire in the tire. I had probably picked it up on a busy, wet road after grocery shopping just before camp. Had I simply put in a fresh tube without doing an extensive search for the cause of the flat, I almost certainly would have flatted again once I got back on the road, this time with the bike fully loaded.
#90
Old age cyclist
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Posts: 127
Bikes: Motobecane Grand Record, Motobecane Super Mirage (3x5 speeds), Motobecane Mirage, Atala (unknown model), Peugeot mixte frame Tourist and Schwinn Sport. A bunch more kids bikes. Most recently a Trek Verve One, tricked up for serious touring.
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+1. I woke up to a flat rear tire after the first day of my 2014 cross-PA tour. Spent a good amount of time trying to find the cause. Couldn’t find anything in the tire. Nor could I find the hole in the tube. Finally pumped the tube with a lot of air and ran it through a puddle left over from the heavy rain the day before.
Found the tiniest of holes. It was so small, an air bubble would only appear every two seconds or so. Locating the hole helped me finally locate the tiny piece of wire in the tire. I had probably picked it up on a busy, wet road after grocery shopping just before camp. Had I simply put in a fresh tube without doing an extensive search for the cause of the flat, I almost certainly would have flatted again once I got back on the road, this time with the bike fully loaded.
Found the tiniest of holes. It was so small, an air bubble would only appear every two seconds or so. Locating the hole helped me finally locate the tiny piece of wire in the tire. I had probably picked it up on a busy, wet road after grocery shopping just before camp. Had I simply put in a fresh tube without doing an extensive search for the cause of the flat, I almost certainly would have flatted again once I got back on the road, this time with the bike fully loaded.
#91
bicycle tourist
- Made sense on quiet country roads without much traffic and where I had good sight lines in my mirror
- Didn't make sense in heavier traffic, riding with others or in urban areas with cross streets.
I wasn't listening to music but instead would load a set of podcasts on my phone in the morning. I would then play them from a podcast app via bluetooth to a speaker on my handle bars. I didn't use it every day but I had enough quiet days e.g. on the great plains, where it was useful.
#92
I like cats.
Some people say that forums like this aren't really that useful and that people just like to hear themselves talk out loud on the internet. But those people are so wrong.
#93
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In any event...I don't tour with GPS or the like, so I write down my mileage at the end of each day. I also do crossword puzzles if I can find the NYT. As such, I always have a pen with me.
I also rarely flat on tour. I can only think of maybe 5 flats I have gotten since 2008. When I rode from Seattle to Bar Harbor, ME to Philadelphia to Ocean City, NJ in the summer of '99 I got a grand total of 3 flats. One was caused by a large screw I ran over in MN. One flat in 7 weeks of touring Spain and no flats during 7 weeks from Seattle to Cortez, CO. (Both in 2000.)
#94
Banned
Top of my list is safety glasses that block the air and dust and insects from coming up from below or from the sides. When something gets into one of my eyes I find it difficult to keep the other eye open. I was glad when these first became available as regular sunglasses were nearly worthless at providing protection for my eyes when riding.
#95
Junior Member
Definitely my Infinity seat. What a game changer. No need to wear padded shorts, actually not recommended with this seat. I did a 10,520 mile perimeter tour of the US last year and this made it so easy. If you have ever had to deal with saddle sores and just being in pain, you owe yourself to look into this seat. pricey but I would never ride without now. Just throw on a pair of shorts and go.
www.infinitybikeseat.com
www.infinitybikeseat.com
#96
Old age cyclist
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Bikes: Motobecane Grand Record, Motobecane Super Mirage (3x5 speeds), Motobecane Mirage, Atala (unknown model), Peugeot mixte frame Tourist and Schwinn Sport. A bunch more kids bikes. Most recently a Trek Verve One, tricked up for serious touring.
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I would have a hard time spending $327+ for a saddle but I see your point...