Any pics of mid to early 70's touring rigs?
#26
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https://www.bikeforums.net/19957770-post32.html
#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 ...
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
#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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By the way, it would have been insane to drill a Pletscher rack, as done here, due to the possibility of severely weakening it.
#31
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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.
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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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.
#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.
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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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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#38
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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.
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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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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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
Here is a link to his Flickr album
76 Bikecentennial
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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
Here is a link to his Flickr album
76 Bikecentennial
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#43
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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!
#44
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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!
#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.
#46
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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!
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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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
Here is a link to his Flickr album
76 Bikecentennial
#48
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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
Here is a link to his Flickr album
76 Bikecentennial
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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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