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So one thing and another I've been sort of thinking* about what to do with a bike to, best possible without regretting it proof it for several weeks away from the (Western) world.
So the basic premise is I already have a perfectly adequate slidey dropout 29er HT frame, it happens to have a salsa firestarter fork on it so that bit is covered.
Then I start to disappear down rabbit holes.
I'm thinking that SS makes much more sense than gears just because there's less to go wrong. But should I go with a freehub or is a freewheel a better bet?
In my head a freewheel is sensible as its small enough to carry a spare or two, the tool is easy enough to carry and there's no little bits. It seems a 28 or 32h, 135mm freewheel disc hub is rather niche though, who knew?
On the basis I imagine there are less LBS than mirrors on the serengeti, whilst I've got (a wide selection of) hydro discs, would cables be a more sensible bet, are there any decent cable discs and levers to be had these days?
Then god forbid, tyres - what tyres for several weeks without sight of a flushing toilet? Are there any decent off road very puncture resistant (even non pneumatic?) tyres?
*because I'm only really capable of sort of thinking.
**it's not entirely idle thinking.
My only bike would cover that. It is a brakeless fixed gear with marathon plus tyres. It never goes wrong, never punctures and anything that is wearing out is easy to spot and can be ready for replacement months in advance.
It is a brakeless fixed gear with marathon plus tyres. It never goes wrong,
We've never met, but I assure you, I would go very wrong with a brakeless bike in fairly short order. They're "difficult" enough on a track, using one properly off road is more likely to see my demise than wildlife! I can just see my feet waggling about out of the rear end of a hippo now 😆
Marathon plus might be a good call though, I wonder if they do anything with a bit more bite in a similar casing. Hmmmm.
A flip-flop hub might be a winner, in that if your freewheel did die, you have a fallback
are there any decent cable discs and levers to be had these days?
Avid BB7s are more than decent
A flip-flop hub might be a winner, in that if your freewheel did die, you have a fallback
Down side there is no discs and the frame and fork make that a non starter. No idea how freewheels die though, do they lock up or cease to pickup? In honesty anything like that though isn't world ending, it'll only be for a few weeks and blowing multiple free wheels in that would require more than bad luck, my only real concern with a freehub is if I do get unlucky fixing pawls and the like by the "road" side isn't fun because they're bloody fiddly, whereas a freewheel is just a case of replacing it (with a tool and a bloody big bar.)
Avid BB7s are more than decent
Any suggestions on levers?
A flip-flop hub might be a winner, in that if your freewheel did die, you have a fallback
Rules out the use of disks though.
It seems a 28 or 32h, 135mm freewheel disc hub is rather niche though, who knew?
Surley make such a thing and I've got a DMR one on my SS. Admittedly I've not tried to purchase one for a good few years.
Any suggestions on levers?
Assuming flat bars, any v-brake lever will do, and once you're past the plastic crap on really cheap bikes they're all pretty much the same.
or, even
https://www.wiggle.co.uk/clarks-brake-levers
Can you get a flip flop hud (not fixed on either side) with 2 different sized gears for hilly terrain and flat terrain? I know that’s what people used to do way back in the day before freewheels and gears.
Probably also worth getting decent panniers/frame bags.
Puncture resistant tyres and Slime tubes (other brands are available)
tthew
Rules out the use of disks though.
I thought we were going brakeless 🙂
XT cup and cone regular shimano disc hub (6 bolt). Well sealed. Easily serviced anywhere. Usually a bomb proof freehub.
Spacers with a selection of 3 ss sprockets ready mounted for ratio change if needed.
Bolt a velo solo fixed sprocket alongside the disc - if freehub totally borks then removed disc and flip wheel to ride fixed.
I thought we were going brakeless 🙂
You just want a ride report that ends mid way through with "unfortunately at this point I ran into a baboon and was eaten to death" don't you?
If you are already riding SS then fixed and then brakeless fixed is not really much of a leap - especially if you want a bike where very little can go wrong.
In terms of the bike I agree, little can go wrong, but fixed for me is a no.
Didn't some of the early adventure fat bikes use the same hub spacing for the front wheel as on the back - so your front wheel could have a singlespeed/freewheel hub to switch in if terminal problems occured?
Doesnt help if you already have frame and forks mind
3 weeks away you say?
Just how frequently do the disasters you are trying to prempt normally happen?
Go 1x with a gear dangler, you're going to want some gears eventually, just take a chain tool and if the worst actually happens you can just revert to SS relatively easily.
As for mechanical discs... IMO they're bobbins compared to hydraulic brakes (there I've said it). Yes they work, you'll need good compressionless outers and decent inner cables and to get the pads nicely aligned and spaced off of the rotor, but you're still going to have to fiddle with them at least a couple of times during that 3 weeks I reckon (queue various people questioning my mechanical ability)...
But seriously just how often do hydraulic discs really fail you during normal use? Give them a good bleed a few days before you leave and some test rides to be sure, take some spare pads. But honestly I would expect a bog standard hydraulic disc to put up with 3 weeks of general duty use no problems.
In terms of the bike I agree, little can go wrong, but fixed for me is a no.
Fair enough, don't come crying to me when your bike falls apart 🙂
Yep, my last thought will be "if only I'd gone fixed my bike would be working and I could outrun this bloody crocodile" (though that's a whole other problem, going fixed would mean cleats even more than SS does which means no running at all...)
<secretly wants the answer to be spd sandals >
Go 1x with a gear dangler, you’re going to want some gears eventually, just take a chain tool and if the worst actually happens you can just revert to SS relatively easily.
That was my reaction too! But 1x and cable discs should do nicely.
3 weeks. That's GDMTBR at a good pace in terms of drivetrain wear. Or are you somewhere carrying limited food and water where a wheel/drive failure and walk-out time is dangerous?
Tyres - Marathon Mondial, 47 or 50mm.
Brakes - TRP Spyre/Spyke or rim brakes if reliability is vital.
Gears/drive - SS touring isn't easy. Freewheels are ok but try getting one off without the right tools. I used a stack of 4 SS sprockets and 2 normal cassette sprockets with a friction shifter to race the TDR as it's reliable with loads of tolerance to wear, no replacements needed in 2800 miles. Steel chainring.
The other option is a tensioner and a few sprockets and a manual shift. Like a variable option SS. A front mech and 2 chainrings can give some good ratio options from a SS rear if you use a tensioner. By that point you may as well have standard gears.. but the SS-able parts are more bodgeable and fixable.
Hubs - I'd trust a DT240/350 (32 or 36H - not 28H) or an old XT and pack cone spanners if really going far - no sealed bearings for me on a proper tourer.
Didn’t some of the early adventure fat bikes use the same hub spacing for the front wheel as on the back – so your front wheel could have a singlespeed/freewheel hub to switch in if terminal problems occured?
Yes, it's a good idea. I have a pair of hubs stashed for a bike like that but doubt I'll ever need it. You can also carry a spare 6-bolt sprocket to to fit the rear disc mount in case of freewheel/freehub failure, flip the wheel and ride fixed (edit, Mick beat me to it) ..but who'd want to ride fixed unless it was an emergency.. 🙂
But seriously just how often do hydraulic discs really fail you during normal use?
Depends if you ride shimano doesn't it?
In honesty though, fail, rarely indeed. Get knackered in transit, hose pulled out etc, also rarely but not as rarely as I'd like. Same with mechs to be honest, in use failure rate is low (though much tall grass and the like might put paid to that quicker than usual).
It's more the idea of getting off the plane in a tiny town in central Africa and finding they're borked that worries me. Cable discs etc I can carry enough with me to fix on arrival if necessary, a bent mech or smashed lever less so.
The rest of the world has bikes too, and the more out of the way you are, the better people are at keeping them going, especially if it’s their only mechanical mode of transport <span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">- I’d pick up a bike from wherever you’re going to, that way you’re more likely to find something suitable for that environment, and spares. Also you can bodge most things on a basic bso.</span>
Rim brakes for me, with the above in mind. Easy to fix, easy to find spare wheels that work with them.
Sorry, probably not the most exciting alligator strewn trail weapon.
The rest of the world has bikes too, and the more out of the way you are, the better people are at keeping them going, especially if it’s their only mechanical mode of transport
Absolutely, but for exactly the same reason they tend to have "basic" kit that you can keep running on baling twine (blue stuff if it's really knackered) rather than stuff which needs bespoke parts.
With the concession of discs because I can't mount rim brakes that's really more the thrust of it, that there's very little that should be impossible to fix/bodge locally.
3 weeks. That’s GDMTBR at a good pace in terms of drivetrain wear. Or are you somewhere carrying limited food and water where a wheel/drive failure and walk-out time is dangerous?
Not really, anything not repairable on site though is likely to see the whole thing be a right off and assuming it happens once it's not something I'm ever likely to get the chance to repeat either.
As ever of course there's risks with the whole lot but I don't want to be sat in a hotel room for three weeks because I forgot my ASX battery or lose a week because I knocked the mech on a rock etc. when some of those risks could easily have been removed or minimised by better gear choice.
Friction shifter and an older mech isn't a bad idea at all though.
Rohloff.
Someone has already thought this for you. Just find a local dealer when you get there. No need to fly a bike in either so problem sorted (sort of)
http://www.buffalobicycle.org/
I'd consider discs as a must, especially as rims can be knocked out of true and disc mean you retain the braking performance.
And I guess we've all ridden for years and not had mechs fall to bits on us, depending though on what you intend to ride, though if youre considering a flip flop as an option, cant be that gnarly.
Just opt for something lower down on the groupset scale and not uber lightweight and flimsy.
Bin your fork. Get a 135mm spaced fat bike fork and use a second rear wheel in it. If your rear freehub fails then use the other wheel.
I'm not sure I'd want to slog my way up some huge Alpine/Carpathian/Ural/Caucasian pass in one gear whilst loaded up with 3 weeks' worth of kit, tbh. I'd rather take a spare mech. You can always SS it afterwards if you get into trouble, if it's a hardtail.
If you're away from civilization for several weeks you will be carrying supply.
If you are carrying supplies you don't need aggressive off road tyre as you will not be pushing the corners, nor should you even if you went for a day ride as they distance to medical facilities.
You're carrying gear so really want gears. Just ride a half decent rigid bike. It's unlikely to go wrong. Learn how to fix things will be more useful. You can single speed a geared bike easily so why not start off with gears? You can get by with one brake so if you start with two you always have a spare.
Good tough tyres but learn how to repair punctures and learn how to repair tyre. Take a few spoke, a few chain links. If you are really paranoid take some jubilee hose clips and a bean can.
Where are you actually going? Knowing that might help. The Antarctic is very different than Uganda and would probably require completely different needs.
Didn’t Mark Beaumont (not the racer) ride around the world on a very old and basic steel StumpJumper that had lived in his mum’s shed for years?
3 weeks is not that long.
Markus Stitz went round the world single speed so I guess it works for some. I'd be walking every incline but then I'm unlikely to get right round the world on my bike either.
http://markusstitz.com/round-the-world-singlespeed/
I can sympathise with the hydraulic disc brake concern. Admittedly they very rarely go wrong but it’ll always been when you least need them to that something goes wrong and a cable disc is relatively easy to tinker with. Rim brakes a PITA if you are heavily loaded as buckled wheels a higher risk.
Def go geared though. As others have said you can always SS it. Or take a spare rest mech?!
Learn how to fix things will be more useful.
This is good advice.
Hydro disks are extremely reliable. If you've had problems with them getting damaged in transit, then they haven't been packed properly. Remove the levers from the bars and tape them to the frame, and put some plastic shims between the pads. If you have models that use DOT fluid, you can use fresh water as brake fluid in an emergency. DOT fluid is so universal that you should be able to get it anywhere there are cars or motorbikes. If you have mineral oil brakes, something like power steering or auto transmission fluid should work. Bent rotors can be straightened with an adjustable spanner. Spare brake pads are an obvious thing to take, regardless of whether you have rim brakes or disk brakes. A spare rear hose will fit both front and rear brakes and doesn't weigh a lot if you are planning on taking a lot of gear. You can bleed brakes with a squeeze bottle and bit of rubber hose.
A bent derailleur hanger or derailleur is the most likely problem. In a lot of cases these can be straightened well enough to work, or at least single speed it home. A spare derailleur hanger, a couple of quick links, and a short length of spare chain should let you get a mangled chain working well enough to ride. If there are bike shops around, they will probably have low-end derailleurs, even if they aren't in the XTR end of the market. Even an old Shimano Tourney derailleur or similar should fit the standard derailleur mount and work well enough to shift gears in an emergency. Shimano 7, 8, and 9 speed derailleurs use the same pull ratio so a 3x9 system should be easy enough to get running with low-end replacement parts. Even if the indexing is off, you should be able to get enough gears to function.
This isn’t a performance thing, it’s an ease of maintenance/bodgeability if there’s a problem.
I’d go with xt hubs.
Service them before you go, do a couple of hundred miles to make certain they’re spot on, they’ll be fine.
Hydro discs are great, but in (for example) Uganda cables are easily bodged.
Gears, go single speed but with a freehub, you could run Dinglespeed, this gives you a change of ratio if it’s hilly, and the ability to run the wrong gear for a couple of days if something gets knackered.
Anywhere in the world you’ll find a mechanic who has experience with cup and cone bearings, cable operated brakes and singlespeed.
Make sure everything is serviced before you go, and not the day before, give it a couple of weeks running to be sure it’s right.
If you’re worried about transit damage, wrap vulnerable parts in thick bubble wrap.
K.I.S.S
Keep It Simple Stupid.
‘Old fashioned’ tech is what you want here.
Edited: “Dinglespeed” is not a spelling mistake!!
So in terms of where, the plan is Uganda/Rawanda/Tanzania.
Route etc still very much to be decided, it may end up being a fully guided supported ride, but for the moment I've enough time and contacts to sketch out something which isn't.
Anything self supported will depend on where I can find a bed, it'll will not be dragging three weeks of life around with me. Daily ranges off road will be walkable with the bike (it'll be on tracks and paths in daily use though ideally I'd be looking to do farm to farm not stopping at the few houses in between) at a push but that's not ideal obviously, damn site more ideal than being woken by a hyena though. The bigger issue is anything which means walking for more than the day.
Whilst I wouldn't be likely to have trouble sourcing some parts in Kigali or mbarara, it'll be coffee and tea farms between the two, not towns or cities. Some of the bigger ones might have a workshop for keeping to their truck going, the smaller ones don't have a truck to keep going.
A big part of figuring out how viable it is to do something self supported will come down to how reliable my kit is and how easy it is to repair/carry spares given that aborting part way isn't going to be an easy task either.
For the moment it's mainly thinking "could I do this/put it together" and if I can't come up with a bike I'd be happy to use to do it the answer is just as resounding a no as if i can't stitch together a sensible route (a very likely issue). In which case I'll likely end up on a guided/supported ride.
Markus Stitz went round the world single speed so I guess it works for some.
I can see the appeal as well as the frustrations... At one time it was the only option, this was 1963 and RTW wasn't a new thing then.
Not really, anything not repairable on site though is likely to see the whole thing be a right off and assuming it happens once it’s not something I’m ever likely to get the chance to repeat either.
Add a square taper BB to the things I listed. HT2 style BBs are a liability if it's wet. A new one might see you through 3 weeks but I can't think of a good reason to use that format over a square taper if you're eliminating risk.
Ton's more right overall though when it comes to drivetrains - use a well run-in Rohloff. Not invincible but closer than the other gearing options.
I wouldn't go with rim brakes, personally. I once had a disc brake failure when I squeezed the lever super hard, in the garage whilst testing my connections, and the hose popped - but they were Hayes and rubbish. I have never had a failure in normal use. Rim brakes on the other hand - it is quite easy to slightly buckle or ding a rim and have the brake pad rub a hole in the tyre - or even just rub and then demand truing. Then there's wet days where you can chew brake pads in hours.. so I wouldn't go down that route myself.
3 weeks round African terrain with touring weight baggage on a singlespeed? That’d make a great trip into a misery.
26” 36 hole wheels, v brakes or cable discs with some spare pads and a 3x8 or 3x9 drivetrain, preferably Shimano Deore or XT. That sort of setup has taken people round the world many many times, it would eat 3 weeks in Africa for breakfast.
https://tomsbiketrip.com/how-to-build-the-ultimate-round-the-world-expedition-touring-bike/
TLDR? Basically the result is a 90s rigid MTB
The OP
proof it for several weeks away from the (Western) world.
From the link above:
Now, if anyone asks me what bike I’d recommend for a multi-year cycling journey, I can say: “Here’s one I made earlier!”
Pretty much any halfway decent bike that has been maintained and checked beforehand will last several weeks unless you crash. If you do crash hard enough to seriously damage the bike, medical attention is probably going to be your priority, not a bent derailleur hanger.
You don't need a bike built to withstand several years of no maintenance for a three week holiday.
I would put 2x on it. Maybe not worth downgrading to 3x9, I mean you can't count on every eventuality and I think the difference between availability or reliability is going to be negligible, personally. You'll want spares with you either way.
Top priority is planning how to get out or get spares for any kind of problem as IMO there's just as likely to be something you can't hope to fix as there is something you can bring spares for. For example if I were trekking across say the wilds of Canada I'd figure out places with a store or some place I could get things sent to and prepare a LBS with their details and information. Then if something happened I'd have to contact a local for a lift.
Maybe less likely to be that kind of postal service in the places the OP was talking about, however much more likely to find a friendly local with a truck one would assume. Maybe just accept that there's a 1:10000 chance of breaking something irreplacable and go with it. E.g if it's going to be hot and dry with a chance of heavy storms, plan to sit out a storm until the roads dry up, since riding in enough mud could get you chainsuck and could destroy a mech etc.
Maybe less likely to be that kind of postal service in the places the OP was talking about,
The OP is planning a holiday for a couple of weeks. The holiday will be over before any mail-order parts arrive.
If you're just going on a three week holiday than most well maintained bikes with hydro brakes and gears will be fine. Take a view on what's currently at the end of it's useful life, (if anything is at all) and replace well before you leave to give it time to bed in. All this talk of front and back same spaced hubs and single speed is completely OTT. just take sensible spares, couple of spokes, couple of cables couple of tubes and repair kit and go.
What Ton said or one of these
https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Shimano-Nexus-SG-C6001-8D-8-Speed-Internal-Hub-Disc-Brake_237336.htm?sku=790286&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=google_shopping&gclid=CjwKCAjw95yJBhAgEiwAmRrutJHSrRxj94z-aQkhzFukrvtO_Klmuj8kOMEhA-itNHCnKo2qFDVTKhoCM2oQAvD_BwE