Bike Touring

>>602424
>>>/n/

>>602439
what the fuck this place exists? SHIT

>>602424
Sounds good to me. 500km is not that much, you won't need to take spare tires. Be sure to get flat-proof tires like schwalbe marathon, though. Always carry enough water and always have bananas with you. Get a micro-fibre towel if you can, they're lightweight and dry super fast.

Also you don't neccessarily need expensive stuff to tour. I toured the netherlands on a supermarket bike with cheapo-panniers. Had no major problems. The one thing you need to put money in is a good an sturdy rack, everything else is luxury.

>>602424
Whoa, eventually Bret get his way to /out/.

>>602424
I never bother with rain pants when I'm riding, I just wear synthetics that are warm when wet and dry fast, if it's too cool for shorts. Your legs get damp from sweat anyway and it's a PITA to keep changing in and out of rain pants in intermittent fall showers. This requires a good back fender on the bike so your ass doesn't get sprayed.

Make sure you have a decent pump that can get your tires up to full pressure.

I strap my hydration pack to my rack/panniers instead of on my back and use it to refill my water bottles.

I like the map on my handlebars, or at least a cue sheet. I use GPS now but before that I used the map holder on my handlebar bag. There are also map cases that attach to your bars. A bike computer is good if you don't have GPS, the odometer lets you know when to look for your turn-off.

>>602439
Bike touring is /out/

>>602475
Be sure to get flat-proof tires like schwalbe marathon, though.
Flat proof tires slow you down and sap energy, some are faster than others but the fast ones tend to have less protection. Personally I don't mind fixing a few flats a year to get faster tires. For city riding on broken glass, or goathead thorn country, they make more sense.

Nothing is going to stop a roofing nail anyway, so you still need spare tubes, pump and patch kit.

>The one thing you need to put money in is a good an sturdy rack, everything else is luxury.
This. Cheap panniers should still last 500km.

I did something similar a while ago.

I recommend buying a cheap sport watch from China on eBay and using that for time, alarm clock, and preventing you from losing/damaging your nice watch.

Don't bring a lot of books. I wouldn't recommend any.

Don't bring your normal cellphone. Buy a cheap one to use so that you don't damage your normal one, and load it up with the bare essentials. Carry extra batteries for it as well.

Have 2 maps. You'll probably lose one. Load it into your cellphone as well.

On top of a map, have a simple set of turn by turn directions written out to refer to.

Remember to actually enjoy your experience.

>>602424
Speaking of bike touring, I wonder what Tourfat is up to.

>>602424
if you plan on riding on roads all the time, you should look at getting some slick tires of you dont have some already, also your points of contact with the bike are very important, you will want a decent, narrow saddle, some cycling shorts, decent gloves and some cycling socks would be much better than wool hiking socks (unless your going somewhere cold of course). if you are comfortable you will enjoy it more

>>604588
>, you will want a decent, narrow saddle
You want a comfortable saddle. Saddles are personal, and telling someone what width to get is like telling them what size shoes to wear.

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>>602424
I can give you advice based on my personal tastes (25,000+ km of touring) but I've met quite a few people who successfully tour while doing things differently from me.

-Rain pants are useful if it's cold and wet. If it's only wet or only cold, they're not worthwhile. If they aren't designed for cycling, make sure you can keep the right ankle from getting caught in your chain.

-Deciding between the hammock and the tent depends on where you're going. I tour with a tent because I've found myself camping in places without trees on a number of occasions (pic related).

-I find a bear bag pointless. Keep all your foodstuffs in one pannier and hang that pannier in a tree. A bear bag is designed such that you can keep your food in it without making your backpack smell appealing.

-Unlike >>603669 I have no problem keeping track of my stuff while touring. A place for everything and everything in it's place. Bringing stuff you don't mind losing can't hurt of course.

-I do food differently than you plan to. Buying just-add-water dinners, peanut butter + tortillas for lunch and just-add-water cereal for breakfast is cheap, light and low-volume. I'm type 1 diabetic, so being able to eat anywhere and any time probably much more important for me than you, but I appreciate not needing to worry about when and where I want to eat.

-Keeping stuff in your pockets, wearing a watch or a pack is obnoxious while cycling. Put it in your panniers.

-You can get a pair of cycling shorts pretty cheap and they make a big difference. If you're worried about looking too FABULOUS with skin-tight clothing, you can find semi-baggy shorts with chamois inside. It makes a big difference over hours/days/weeks/months.

As far as distance goes, 500km shouldn't be too hard to start off with, even without much training. I'd expect to clear it in 4 full cycling days. Most other tourers I've talked to would do it in 5.

Oh, and two important things you may have forgotten.

Bring a trowel and toilet paper.

>>604852
not at all, narrow saddles free up leg movement and avoids your thighs rubbing on the sides of the saddle, also a thinner saddle ( i dont mean wafer thin) are far better than thick cushion style saddles for long distance, the thinner saddles have flex in the rails and base which provides the comfort unlike a thick piece of soft foam which promotes a poor seating position and puts alot of stress onto your back. i know what im talking about as i regularly do rides in excess of 100 miles on either a racing bike or a steel frame and i have tried many different saddle types over the years

>>606953
Where have you toured?

>>607097
At least a dozen shorter trips, but the big ones were from Bellingham, WA to Tecate, CA; Corvallis, OR to Virginia Beach, VA and Ancorage, AK to Chihuahua, MX.

>>606986
>not at all, narrow saddles free up leg movement and avoids your thighs rubbing on the sides of the saddle,
Saddle width is determined by the distance between your ischial tuberosities (sit bones) and also how upright your riding position is - higher bars put more weight on your ass. The right one is the one that's comfortable and that varies by person. Since touring bikes are usually a bit more upright than racing bikes, people usually prefer something wider than a racing saddle.

I love Brooks saddles for example (Professional or B-17) and barely have to break them in but a friend of mine can't stand them no matter how broken in they get.

I'm not talking about those super wide super padded comfort bike tractor saddles here, those things are abominations.

>also a thinner saddle ( i dont mean wafer thin) are far better than thick cushion style saddles for long distance
This I agree with. Too much padding just pushes back in the wrong places on long rides.

>i know what im talking about as i regularly do rides in excess of 100 miles on either a racing bike or a steel frame and i have tried many different saddle types over the years
I know what I'm talking about too, because I've been riding seriously on and off road for 25 years or so on all kinds of different bikes and saddles.

>>602475
Why the bananas?

>>607374

I too endorse Brooks. I have two b17 and a sprung flyer, all have done me well. For noobs, be careful of picking the slimline Brooks saddles, as the paradigm of leather saddles requires a wider area for the same sort of fit due to the deformation when sitting. Brooks does sell slimline racing saddles but the slim b17 and such are to get a sale from people who don't understand the paradigm and would walk away.

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OP if you're a total scrub I recommend this website and book. I am not affiliated with it but even me as an experienced tourer found some good info here. Our good /out/ buddy tourbro aka tourfat benefitted from this advice too.

http://travellingtwo.com/shop/ebooks/biketouringguide

Anyway bike touring is the greatest thing a person can do.

>>602424

Good call on the Topeak rack, I have never had a problem with any of them. Best to dummy it up in the store before you buy though, those 29er racks are pretty tall and it's worth checking if it mounts OK or if you need the disc mount version. Take a look at the super tourist racks too.

You're better off with a Sawyer mini filter, also recommend a bladder like the MSR dromedary which is easy to mount on the bike. For a sleeping mat I recommend the plain old HD foam cheapo mat.

Carry a few pairs of socks, a spare brake cable, if you have disc brakes a spare set of pads. Good luck OP don't forget to post!

>>602439

Literally the biggest pack of faggots in the world. /n/ever go to /n/.

>>608197
OP is only going to ride 500 km. Unless he plans on riding quite a bit afterwards, a Brooks isn't a terribly practical investment.

>>608181
15 seconds on google gives me this:
>The sporting fad for bananas was started by sports nutritionists such as myself. The banana is rich in carbohydrate - an important source of energy for athletes and has significantly higher levels than any other fruit. Also, unlike most other forms of high-carbohydrate foods, it contains very little fat but is also high in fibre. The combination of fibre with the banana's three natural sugars - fructose, sucrose and glucose - means it provides a sustained boost to flagging energy levels, thus so many players at Wimbledon were seen eating bananas.

>Bananas are also an excellent recovery food for replacing potassium lost in sweating, something most players must have been suffering from at this year's tournament. - Jane Griffin, Consultant Nutritionist to the British Olympic Association, London SW17

With that said, while I've enjoyed bananas while touring, I've found they bruise very easily while carrying enough to last between resupply points. I've also spent months without eating any without any noticeable negative effects.

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>>608214
I use a Sawyer Mini + MSR Dromedary too. Not my pic, but a similar system.

Gravity does the work when I'm not in a hurry and I sit on the bladder when I am.

>>608216

A Brooks is a lifetime investment.

>>602424
>Kona Mahuna

Looks like a good bike, always good to be able to get off the tarmac and into the scrub.

Are there any good bike pannier bags that easily convert to backpacks and are lockable?

>>608754

I've seen a few, don't know about lockable though. I know that Ortlieb used to make a backpack attachment for their panniers, but really if you want a backpack just get one, they go OK in a basket with a bungee strap.