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Any pics of mid to early 70's touring rigs?

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Any pics of mid to early 70's touring rigs?

Old 11-07-20, 10:43 PM
  #26  
BobG
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Originally Posted by obrentharris
Please post a few photos of your Hurlow over in the Classics and Vintage forum.
Brent, Here are some photos I posted a few years ago. It's an older BF photo format where you need to log in before they will appear. Originally it was blue with red pin striping and lettering ...

https://www.bikeforums.net/19957770-post32.html
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Old 11-08-20, 05:46 AM
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The Hurlow is well embellished with scroll work. Nicely done, too.
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Old 11-08-20, 07:09 AM
  #28  
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This was my first bike intended for loaded touring. The frame was born in 1982 but it was assembled with 70s parts from organ donors. It featured a TA Cyclotouriste crankset with half step + grampy triple chainrings, Suntour derailleurs, Campagnolo hubs and headset, 120mm 5 speed dropout spacing and Mafac cantilever brakes. The frame was built for 27" wheels before 700c became the standard. That's a Blackburn high front rack, the low rider style was just becoming available. The rear rack hidden under all that stuff was custom built with the frame in Vermont. Clipless pedals were new on the scene but I was still using toe clips and straps.

Those are Hartley Alley's Touring Cyclist brand panniers, a small 70s specialty shop in Boulder CO. His bags were the prototype for Kirtlands. I believe he sold his patent to them.

@tcs your photo "Courtesy of Mel Pinto" brings back memories. I worked for Mel at his import shop in Arlington VA when I was a teenager in the 60s. I met Fred DeLong at a touring rally in PA. He toured a lot with Bill Vetter who built my frame pictured below ...



Last edited by BobG; 11-08-20 at 10:20 AM. Reason: add more components
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Old 11-08-20, 04:54 PM
  #29  
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I must ask what is in the front panniers? My touring experience is from the late 70's and only 10 days at the most. Never had enough stuff with me to need front panniers. On longer trips what is needed beyond a 10 day trip?
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Old 11-08-20, 06:37 PM
  #30  
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Originally Posted by TiHabanero
Thumpism, the bike on the right looks to have panniers similar to the Cannondale panniers I used back then. The ones I had were blue. Worked quite well.
Yep, blue early Cannondale bags bought from a local shop before the trip. My buddy had REI gear on his bike, mail ordered while he was stationed overseas. That photo is actually taken at the U.S. Air Force base in Zweibrucken. Sherman was still in the service after I got out and I looked him up when I went over there to tour. We did a month together and got back to base in time for his discharge and he took a "European out," as they called it, and we did a couple more months before returning to the States.

By the way, it would have been insane to drill a Pletscher rack, as done here, due to the possibility of severely weakening it.
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Old 11-08-20, 07:29 PM
  #31  
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Originally Posted by TiHabanero
On longer trips what is needed beyond a 10 day trip?
Ti, for me I would say the room to carry extra food when needed and extra clothing for foul weather. The pictured trip was 37 years ago, an ACA group trip from Durango CO to Jasper AB. I was carrying my own cook kit independent of the group gear in the event that I went off on my own which I did. I left the group at Yellowstone. The big pot in the WY photo above was ACA group gear.

I must ask what is in the front panniers?

I'm guessing the front left bag had foul weather gear including rain/wind gear, hat, gloves, leg coverings and maybe tools. On top of that it probably contained my camera. In 1983 that would have been a clunky SLR with a bag of extra Kodachrome. I don't like the weight of a handlebar bag up high.

The front right bag is my kitchen. The pictured trip I was carrying a Svea stove, a pint of fuel and a cook kit. On top of that I would carry extra food as needed considering the services expected to be provided up the road ahead. I made lots of gravel road side trips on my own thus I often had to carry a couple days of provisions. How the modern bikepacker does that with just a few frame bags is beyond me. The stuff sack tied on to the rear at photo 2 above was likely extra food to get me from Lake Louise to Jasper on the Icefields Parkway.

I also had a fairly bulky sleeping bag and tent. I carried the tent on top of the front rack ...



On more recent trips with a more compact tent I've just stuffed the tent into a front bag without its stuff sack with foul weather gear on top. A compact down sleeping bag now goes inside a rear pannier. There is left over room in three of four bags for provisions when needed.

Last edited by BobG; 11-09-20 at 06:14 AM.
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Old 11-09-20, 10:03 AM
  #32  
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Originally Posted by TiHabanero
I must ask what is in the front panniers? My touring experience is from the late 70's and only 10 days at the most. Never had enough stuff with me to need front panniers. On longer trips what is needed beyond a 10 day trip?
I used front panniers in the 80s. I carried more stuff then than I do now. One front pannier was the huge three-person dome tent and the other was the kitchen. Since then I switched to a Tarptent (see ongoing thread) and have gone stoveless, so no more front rack. I'm also using a less-bulkier down quilt, which frees up space in the rear packs. And I've gotten smarter about carrying less clothing and how to keep it clean and dry.

I actually tend to carry less on longer trips. I will ship ahead seasonal or regional clothing or sleeping insulation if it makes sense.

I had a set of those blue Cannondale packs too. They were okay, but since then I've stayed away from packs with zippers. My new set is some Arkel Drylites. I appreciate minimalism now.
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Old 11-09-20, 12:27 PM
  #33  
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Man , you dudes must be old (I would hope you know I'm just kidding)

Interesting as you guys are about 15 years before my first bike trip. By then there certainly were more panniers around and front blackburn racks were the standard and still the best then.

this topic makes me recall a cool teacher at my high school in 77 ish who did bike trips, had his bike in his class, and certainly also planted the seed of the idea of bike touring for me.
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Old 11-09-20, 05:47 PM
  #34  
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Andrewclaus, what down quilt do you use? I am very interested in ditching the sleeping bag for one.
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Old 11-09-20, 06:12 PM
  #35  
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Originally Posted by obrentharris
Please post a few photos of your Hurlow over in the Classics and Vintage forum. Hurlow built fabulous bikes: Many of us over there would love to see your bike.
Brent
BobG was one of the leaders of my first ever unsupported tour—ACA’s Northern Tier. He knows bikes.
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Old 11-09-20, 10:45 PM
  #36  
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Originally Posted by TiHabanero
Andrewclaus, what down quilt do you use? I am very interested in ditching the sleeping bag for one.
I have an enLightened Equipment Rev 30, possibly the best outdoor gear purchase I've ever made. I bought it for my trip across the US on the Northern Tier route. It worked well in 30F temps and blowing snow in the Cascades, and equally well on hot nights in the Midwest when it cooled down to 75F by morning. An unexpected bonus is that I've never had to launder it. Since I never sleep on it, it stays clean, and a few minutes in sunlight once in a while keeps it fresh.
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Old 11-10-20, 05:54 PM
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Originally Posted by djb
Man, you dudes must be old
I was the guy at the party that sent Greg LeMond for tacos.
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Old 11-10-20, 09:16 PM
  #38  
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Originally Posted by tcs
I was the guy at the party that sent Greg LeMond for tacos.
if there's a story in there I don't know it, but that's a good response, i like it.

Funnily enough, at tonight's supper I told my old folks about Lemond and the whole brother in law shooting story, and how he cane back to win the tdf again after.
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Old 11-11-20, 09:46 AM
  #39  
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Originally Posted by TiHabanero
I must ask what is in the front panniers? My touring experience is from the late 70's and only 10 days at the most. Never had enough stuff with me to need front panniers. On longer trips what is needed beyond a 10 day trip?
If I am doing a five to seven day trip, I have looked at the forecast and adjusted my clothing to be adequate to the most recent forecast before I leave.

Beyond a week, I do not trust forecasts much, am likely to take some wider temperature range clothing for a two week trip.

My month long trips, am more likely to carry a spare tire. Expendables like soap or toothpaste, I try to bring enough for the trip, thus a bigger bar of soap and a toothpaste tube that is less empty at the start. Otherwise, a trip that lasts a month is not much different than a trip that lasts two weeks.

I used to use a one person tent on shorter trips, but longer trips I wanted to spread out more and brought a heavier two person tent. But a few years ago I bought a very lightweight two person tent that weighs about the same as my older one person tents, so now use a two person tent for all trips.

But some of my trips involve carrying a couple weeks of food, that means a bag on top of the rear rack that packs well when it is full and also rides on the bike well when nearly empty.

Maybe I bring more cooking gear than most, but my front left pannier is usually my cooking gear plus a small amount of the food. Front right pannier for tent, sleeping pad, maybe a few more things that can be packed damp assuming that my tent is damp when I pack it.

Some people use one pair of shoes, I wear SPD bike shoes on the bike, hiking shoes in the campsite, hiking shoes can consume a lot of space because they do not collapse for packing very well.

I use the same tool kit for a five day tour as I use for a thirty five day tour. Which is good because the only time that I have had to use a cassette lock ring tool on a tour was on a five day tour.

In the photo, five day trip, the only thing on top of the rear rack was a tent pole bag. That was before I cut tent poles that are short enough to pack in a pannier. But that also means that I could have left the front panniers (25 liter for the pair) off the bike and put a bag on top of the rear rack with that stuff. So, the front panniers were not really necessary, but the bike handles better with the weight distributed front and rear.



But the bike in the photo below had about two and a half weeks of food on it. The bag on top of the rear rack and the blue dry bag next to it were food and a pair of hiking shoes, nothing else.



So, for me, there is not much difference between a short trip and a long trip, except amount of food on the bike. And if I was on a trip where you can stop at a grocery store every other day, the food bag can be a lot smaller, I used a Carradice saddle bag for food on the Pacific Coast where groceries stores are plentiful.

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Old 11-11-20, 11:40 AM
  #40  
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Bob Freeman has a nice collection of pictures from the '76 Bikecentennial group he led.
Here is a link to his Flickr album

76 Bikecentennial
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Old 11-11-20, 03:01 PM
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Originally Posted by northbend
Bob Freeman has a nice collection of pictures from the '76 Bikecentennial group he led.
Here is a link to his Flickr album

76 Bikecentennial
Again, I love looking at the stuff people wore when riding. A friend of mine was part of one Bikecentennial group. He gave a slide show presentation at a LBS back in the early 2000s. Fun to see.
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Old 11-11-20, 09:29 PM
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Originally Posted by djb
if there's a story in there I don't know it, but that's a good response, i like it.
https://youtu.be/oon45kkLzsQ
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Old 11-11-20, 09:58 PM
  #43  
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Originally Posted by tcs
that's funny. I would have been watching tv back then but have no recollection of that ad, maybe it didn't air up here in the great white North. Also depending on the year, I was neck deep in uni and all that entailed, plus up until not that many years ago, bike racing was certainly not on my radar, and certainly not back then.

but thanks though. It's hilarious how we can find stuff we haven't seen in eons on the internet.

and boy, he had a nice flat back that taco getter, he must have been fast!
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Old 11-12-20, 07:36 AM
  #44  
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Originally Posted by djb
Man , you dudes must be old
Originally Posted by tcs
I was the guy at the party that sent Greg LeMond for tacos.
Greg LeMond? He's a young pup! I'm so old I can remember one of Jacques Anquetil's Gitanes on display in the window at my teen age LBS. His TDF number was still hanging from the top tube!
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Old 11-12-20, 08:22 AM
  #45  
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Here's a pic from 1976. Not from a BikeCentennial tour -- just a tour in Vermont that a buddy and I did.

Last edited by GeorgeBaby; 11-12-20 at 08:32 AM.
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Old 11-12-20, 08:39 AM
  #46  
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Originally Posted by BobG
Greg LeMond? He's a young pup! I'm so old I can remember one of Jacques Anquetil's Gitanes on display in the window at my teen age LBS. His TDF number was still hanging from the top tube!
howdy old feller ;-) Pretty neat about Anquetil's bike, that must have been a special promo tour thing the company arranged for the bike to come over to the States, which at that time would have had extremely limited interest and knowledge of the TDF.

on a side note, I quickly looked at some the the 76 across America photos yesterday, and was surprised to see sometimes 2 or even 3 Bell helmets in a few of the group photos. Up here even in the mid late 80s it was rare to see helmeted riders, I know I didnt have one when I started touring in 89. Didnt even consider it until at least 2 years later.
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Old 11-12-20, 08:43 AM
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Originally Posted by northbend
Bob Freeman has a nice collection of pictures from the '76 Bikecentennial group he led.
Here is a link to his Flickr album

76 Bikecentennial
Some nice pictures. Shows how much touring has and hasn't changed. Not many helmets and no lycra.
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Old 11-12-20, 09:03 AM
  #48  
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Originally Posted by northbend
Bob Freeman has a nice collection of pictures from the '76 Bikecentennial group he led.
Here is a link to his Flickr album

76 Bikecentennial
some really good camera work there, and a lot of fun to look at.
I loved the follow up shots and the blue/orange jersey still fitting!
I also loved the older lady in 76 in her matching jumpsuit and helmet, pretty cool gal. Around here especially with our strong bike culture, its completely normal for "older" people to bike, but boy, that very neat lady in her 60s in 76 must have been extreeeeeeeeeemely rare at the time. Good on her. Very cool.

thanks for sharing the photo link, I really enjoyed that.
Oh, is Bob the blue/orange jersey / white helmet / glasses guy?
Looks just like my memories of that cool teacher I would have met in 77 when starting highschool and who helped plant the seed of doing bike touring.
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Old 11-12-20, 09:15 AM
  #49  
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Originally Posted by BobG
I'm so old I can remember one of Jacques Anquetil...
So, did you send Anquetil for tacos?
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Old 11-12-20, 11:15 AM
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Originally Posted by djb
Oh, is Bob the blue/orange jersey / white helmet / glasses guy?
Looks just like my memories of that cool teacher I would have met in 77 when starting highschool and who helped plant the seed of doing bike touring.
Yup, that's Bob.
Welcome to Jellystone by bobbiker, on Flickr

He's doing great, still riding alot. I ride with him a fair amount. Here's a recent picture of him.
Bob by Matthew Pendergast, on Flickr
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