Author: Bike Hermit®

Categories
Surly Bikes Touring Bicycles

Surly Long Haul Trucker Demo Bikes

6 Surly Long Haul Truckers
Surly Long Haul Trucker, the best touring bike for the money.

 

They are here and ready to ride! As of January 2, 2012 we have in stock six complete Surly Long Haul Trucker touring bikes. 50, 54 and 56 centimeter bikes with 26″ wheels. 56, 58 and 60 centimeter bikes with 700c wheels. We are providing these as bikes for prospective Long Haul Trucker owners to test ride. It’s sort of a leap of faith to plunk down almost $1300 sight unseen for a touring bike and there are very few places (are there any others?) that have such a large selection of sizes. Bike Touring News is listed on the Surly Bikes site as a dealer, a “shop filled with folks who know our products at an ‘above average’ level“. We have years of experience selling these bikes and suggesting the proper sizes for people, but this should eliminate any guesswork.

Surly Bikes does not allow new complete bikes to be shipped because: “We think a bicycle in its built form should come from a bike shop that knows how to assemble and adjust everything so that your ride is ready to go. It only takes a couple of frantic e-mails from customers wondering why their steer tube is so long or in which order the headset parts should go on to cause concern in our hearts. Buying a bike locally gives you a place to go for adjustments, for warranty concerns should they ever arise, and for sizing assistance. Buying locally also helps your neighborhood economy grow, it can help you find a network of riding friends, and sometimes even provide a clubhouse. From our perspective buying bikes through a shop keeps the liability concerns to a minimum and helps keep our products from being simple commodities. We like to think they have a little life in them.” We think that is a good policy and we abide by it.

So, here’s the deal. If you are in the area come in (you might want to call ahead) and we will determine the best size for you based on some observations and measurements we will make. Then you can ride a bike and see how it feels. If you are between sizes you can ride one size bigger or one size smaller. After we have determined your size and know the options you prefer, and after you slap leather for a 50% down payment, we will order your bike. If the supplier is out of stock, or if you need the bike right away we will sell you the demo.

We can still sell all Surly frame sets and components online, so if you know what you need in those departments, give us a shout. If you don’t know what you need, then definitely give us a shout and we will help you sort it out.

Categories
Living Vicariously Tours and Rides

Bringing a Knife to a New Years Day Gunfight.

“That fool brought a knife to this gunfight, whereas I brought a gun. To this battle between guns primarily. If I were to rephrase this using the present participle, I would say “He is bringing a knife to a gunfight. What a dumbass.””

One could still call us a group, albeit a loosely organized and somewhat scattered one, far less coordinated than the flocks of geese overhead. Unsure of where we are going or who we are following, we present as an unpredictable flock to the motorists in the adjacent four lanes of one-way traffic. One 4 x 4 driver lays on the horn as he passes….can’t say that I blame him. Some riders skirt the left side of the traffic island with what appears to be mere inches between them and the box vans and pickup trucks, while some of us take the right side and rejoin them after crossing Broadway. Somewhere ahead of us (maybe? we don’t really know) is the main group which left about five minutes earlier and we form a paceline in order to concentrate and mitigate our individual efforts to catch them. In a few miles, with the group still not in sight, I sit up and am immediately left on my own.

I had been considering taking part in the annual New Years Day ride for the past few days and the weather was almost perfect so I decided I would have a go. In other years the ride has been very civilized with an easy to follow tempo and a reasonable 20 mile or so route. I reckoned there would be some people I haven’t seen in years and that it might be good for me to emerge from the hermit’s cave. But I was not at all prepared for or interested in a hammer fest.

Before the reader might think I’m whining, let me say that it’s my own damn fault. First of all, I should have been on time, and even though I have a good amount of miles in my legs this year, few of them have been ridden at any intensity. And I will turn 58 this year, too old to have anything to prove, and too weak if I wanted to. Let me say too, that Mike Cooley and Tom Platt, the owners of George’s Cycles and Fitness in Boise deserve most of the credit for the vibrant cycling community in Boise, not to mention building a successful business.

I normally avoid group rides in Boise because they often turn into competitions. Even the so called “no drop” rides will stop after a few miles and riders will be asked to seed themselves based on how far and fast they want to go. Then riders show the other members of the subsequently formed groups what bad-asses they are (or think they are). Not that there is anything wrong with that, in fact I used to be that guy. Every ride was a training ride. Sometimes I was the dropper but most of the time I was the dropee. Being able to ride with a fast group and stay with them on a ride or in a race was a rush and, to me, the point of riding and training. Now, not so much. I would still like to ride with a group at a lively, workmanlike pace, but suffering no longer has any appeal to me.

So, how was my ride? you ask. Very nice. Thanks for asking. I stopped here and ate my sandwich.
New Years Day ride rest stop
Then I stopped at this little pocket park somebody built in the industrial wasteland off Gowen Road. There is a mini storage and a construction office adjacent but no signage of any kind, and no apparent public access to the park. Somebody made this just to try to improve the built environment and I think that’s pretty awesome. I’m relatively certain the riders in the grupettos were too busy watching the wheel in front to see this.

small park with old farm implements
I stopped at this park, which appears to be private property. An old hay stacking crane and old farm implements.

I rode about 28 miles in just under two hours. I was tired enough when I got home. I guess that is the point for me these days.

Categories
Hermit's Workshop

Rust Prevention For The Steel Bicycle Frame

can of frame saver

bottle of Boeshield lube
Get the aerosal can instead if you want to spray it in the frame. Makes a good chain lube too!

Steel can rust. More in some climates than in others. And rust will form when water, or water vapor, and air are both present and available. What does that mean for a steel bicycle frame? I have two steel frames, one is 40 years old and the other is 18 years old. Both have been ridden hard and put away wet, although for the last several years neither one has been assembled with parts and so there is no chance for moisture to mix with air and rust them out. (Not here in the high desert of Idaho anyway) Neither frame shows signs of rust on the inside of the tubes. Well, maybe a little bit on the older frame, but nothing worrisome.

There are a couple of precautions that can be taken to protect a steel bicycle from rust:
TAKE THE BIKE APART ONCE IN A WHILE! At least take the seatpost out and preferably the bottom bracket too. Let the bike sit inside long enough for any residual moisture to evaporate. Lube everything and put it back together. This is especially important for aluminum seatposts since the aluminum in contact with the steel WILL corrode, potentially requiring that the post be cut out of the frame seat tube. Don’t ask how I know this.

Use JP Weigle Frame Saver or Boeshield T-9 inside the tubes. Both products are delivered via solvents which evaporate and leave a sticky, protective film on exposed steel. Best to apply either one to a completely bare disassembled frame, since they are messy and you want the coating to be thorough, which means it will be dripping out of every orifice. Follow the instructions and precautions and make sure to use enough to completely coat the inner surfaces, but not too much. Be sure to allow enough time for the drying/evaporating process. The Boeshield T-9 makes a good chain lubricant as well.

Don’t let the fear of rust scare you away from a steel frame. In most cases, and with a little care, it will not be an issue.

Categories
Surly Bikes Touring Bicycles

Surly Long Haul Trucker, Etc.

Surly? I know you are, but what am I?

The Surly Bikes website has a dealer locator which is updated regularly and lists  “shops we know have ordered a lot of Surly stuff or who we know to be knowledgeable in all things Surly”. Bike Touring News is the only shop listed within a 50 mile radius of zip code 83703.  Yes, we like Surly stuff  –  and I am even  surly. surly,surly,surly

surly frame decals

We currently have these customers Surly bikes/frames in the shop:

I talked about the Deluxe Trucker frame in this post. We consulted with the owner and came up with a build kit for this frame. Now I’m going to have some fun putting it together. The deluxe version (with SandS couplers) only is available as a frameset, which means the buyer gets to spec the parts the way he/she wants it. This always ends up costing a little more than buying a complete bike, but allows the opportunity for customization.

picture of frame
The Trucker Deluxe from Surly has two stainless steel couplers which make it possible to take the bike apart for travel.

3 surly bikes
The Trucker Deluxe with build kit is on the counter.

This customer bought the Long Haul Trucker complete version. This bike comes with the parts that Surly specs, and those parts are good. This machine is meant to be taken out of the box, put together and ridden across the country, and many, many people do that.

complete long haul trucker packaging
Surly Long Haul trucker, complete

This customer needs a solid, predictable and reliable commuter bike. He needed to look no further than the Surly Cross Check. We helped him determine the correct size which hopefully avoided some wailing and gnashing of teeth. These bikes too are available as complete kits, but the design features of the frames makes them especially suited for custom builds. The main feature I’m thinking of is the semi-horizontal rear dropouts, which make a single speed setup a no brainer. Although I think he will be building this with parts he already has and with a single chainring and 8 rear cogs. Very sensible! And, as with all Surlys the frame clearances allow for big tires and fenders. “Fatties Fit Fine”!

Surly Cross Check frame
Surly Cross Check frame

Categories
Advocacy/Awareness

Sheldon Brown, Everything You Could Possibly Want to Know About Bicycles

“Everyone I know in bicycling is at least a little bit crazy, present company included.” – Sheldon Brown

Photo of Sheldon Brown
Sheldon "ShelBroCo" Brown. Photo from George Brown

Sheldon Brown (1944-2008) was the webmaster and general tech guru at Harris Cyclery in West Newton, MA. He was a contributing writer for Bike World, Bicycling, American Bicyclist, and Adventure Cycling magazines. He built the Harris Cyclery website in 1995, not too many years after the advent of the world wide web. Still the go to site for hard to find information about bicycle maintenance, obscure bike parts and articles on subjects ranging from bike fit to how to use brakes. The site is still being updated and maintained and improved. What’s New at sheldonbrown.com lists new contributions and is a good index.

Some gems I discovered doing this blog post:

“Knee Over Pedal Spindle” or K.O.P.S. has been a rule of thumb when determining saddle position as part of bike fitting for as long as I can remember. Pshaw, say Sheldon and Keith Bontrager in this article.

A Rivendell downhill bike with NanoDrive? I also like the Bianchi with a Monospoke wheelset!

This article about braking. In one interview he described it as the most important article he ever wrote. I still need to work on this, since after 40 plus years of bike riding, in most panic stop situations I always skid my back tire and take a longer time to come to a stop than if I had used more front brake.

Categories
Drivetrain Touring Bike Components

The Bicycle Wheel

What makes a good wheelset for loaded bicycle touring? Durability will probably rate high in any list of desirable attributes. So, what makes a bicycle wheel durable?
Rims:
An extruded aluminum double wall rim with a box section for strength. Drilled for 32 or 36 spokes with eyelets in the spoke holes. Eyelets can help distribute stresses and prevent galling of the metal where the spoke nipples rest. My personal favorite rims are Mavic CXP33 because they have a socket attached to the eyelet which distributes load to both walls of the rim. Another consideration when choosing a rim should be the width of the tire to be used. Schwalbe, the tire manufacturer addresses that on their website.

cross section of aluminum rim
A double wall, box section rim. Photo from Wikipedia

Spokes:
Spokes are normally made of stainless steel and are of uniform thickness the entire length (straight gauge) or are swaged to be skinnier in the middle (double or triple butted). Counterintuitively, double butted spokes are a better choice for durable wheels for a number of reasons. The skinny part is made skinny by drawing that section of the spoke through a reducing die which increases it’s strength by work hardening. The swaged spoke is more elastic and absorbs the stresses in the mid section rather than concentrating it in the elbows and threads. The third advantage requires a discussion of lacing patterns.

A “3-cross” lacing pattern means that any one spoke will cross over three other spokes on it’s way from the rim to the hub. Actually it will cross over two and under one. Without going into a lot of detail (mostly because I would probably get it wrong) the stresses induced in a spoke when the wheel goes around under the rider and load are in that way shared by more spokes. Swaged or double butted spokes do a better job of sharing this stress than straight gauge spokes by their virtue of being more resilient – they flex more.

a front bicycle wheel
A 3-cross spoke pattern. Photo from Wikipedia

Hubs:
Hubs must carry the individual spokes and be strong enough for the combined force of all the spokes in a finished wheel, a force that can equal a half ton in a 36 spoke wheel. Hubs can use loose bearings or cartridge bearings with benefits and drawbacks to both. An oversize and/or steel axle can be stronger for load carrying than a smaller alloy axle. As a generalization, most manufacturers will turn to aluminum or other exotic materials in their quest for lightweight in the upper end range, so it might be better for the touring cyclist to actually buy the less expensive models if they use more robust and durable materials.

Wheels can fail from sudden loads, such as in a crash, or running into an immovable object, or from fatigue. Rims can be abraded by sand and road grit imbedded in the brake pads, and can eventually fail when the force of the inflated tire breaks the wall of the rim. Rear wheels carry more weight and receive more stress because of the rigidity of the rear triangle.

Most spokes will fail at the elbow where they enter the hub due to fatigue. A properly built and tensioned wheel laced in a three cross pattern can reduce the risk of fatigue failure.

Many new bikes come with original equipment wheels that look light and fast because they only have a few spokes and aerodynamic rims. However, semi-aerodynamic and aerodynamic wheelsets tend to be heavier than more traditional spoked wheelsets due to the extra shapings of the rims and spokes. More important, the rims must be heavier when there are fewer spokes, as the unsupported span between spokes is greater.

I borrowed heavily for this post from the book The Bicycle Wheel by Jobst Brandt. If you want more about the theory behind the spoked bicycle wheel and want to have a go at building your own wheels, this book is a must.

The late, great Sheldon Brown’s site is an encyclopedia of all thing bikey, and this page tells how to lace a wheel.

 

 

Categories
Living Vicariously

“Into The Remote Places”, Ian Hibell and Bicycle Touring

Ian Hibell in the desertIan Hibell was a British bicycle tourist who spent the better part of 40 years traveling by bike. At an average 6000 miles per year, that is ten time around the equator. He wrote a book called “Into The Remote Places” published in 1984. Hibell was killed by a hit and run driver in Greece in 2008.

http://youtu.be/tsQxt9-vK-k

Categories
Surly Bikes Touring Bicycles

Surly Long Haul Trucker Deluxe

To Boise from Taiwan via Minneapolis.

The Bike Touring News store stocks all sizes of the Surly Long Haul Trucker in Boise, ID so stop by and test ride one, or more. Surly makes strong, serviceable and sensible bicycle frames from 4130 Chrome Molybdenum steel. We are huge fans. The Long Haul Trucker is designed for long distance, loaded travel in relative comfort. The LHT Deluxe comes with S & S Couplers, machined, stainless steel torque fittings which are brazed into the top tube and down tube. When disconnected the frame comes apart in two pieces, making it possible to pack a complete bicycle into a case that is within airline regulation sizes, without too much disassembly. If you have some time to kill, the company that makes the couplers, S&S Machine has an informative and interesting site.

picture of frame
The Trucker Deluxe from Surly has two stainless steel couplers which make it possible to take the bike apart for travel.

 

picture of closed coupler
One coupler on the down tube and one on the top tube.

 

S&S Coupler
The stainless steel sleeve is tightened with a special wrench, compressing the teeth ot the Hirth joint to connect the tubes.

 

Frame apart
Dismembered Surly Trucker Deluxe

Anyhoo, if you will be doing a lot of traveling and would rather have your own bike than a rental, then a bike with S&S Couplers might be an option. There is a special wrench made for tightening and loosening the couplers and it is important to use the recommended grease on the mating surfaces. You’ll need cable coupler disconnect fittings for your shift cables and rear brake cable too.

Categories
Lights and Electronics

Tail Lights

Not all jurisdictions will require tail lights on a bicycle after dark but a desire for self preservation should overrule and dictate that the bicycle traveler have decent lights on the bike to make them visible to motorists approaching from the rear.

We like the Spanninga fender mounted lights and the XLR Road Handlebar Plug Lights. For those who don’t have fenders (hard to imagine) or who don’t want to mount lights there, here’s a link to some proven tail lights.

side view, mounted
This Spanninga light attaches directly to the rear fender.
reflector on Spanninga taillight
The Spanninga light has a large reflector surface and….
is visible over 180 degrees horizontal, and is very bright directly on axis, due to focusing prisms in front of the super bright LED

The bar end plug light is a pretty clever idea that seems to work well.
I first saw these on a bike we were following on a rainy night in a suburb of Seattle and I was impressed with the extra visibilty they provided. They are friction fit inside the handlebar and run on two camera type batteries, which are included.

Categories
Tours and Rides

Another Bike Overnight

Tamarack Larch

I can’t shake the impression that these mountains know what’s coming and that they are preparing for it. The water in the Payette River between upper and lower Payette Lake is far below the high water marks, and the surface is smooth and unhurried. Waiting. The leaves on the trees and the “needles” on the Tamaracks are turning, preparing to drop. It rains off and on throughout the day, heavier towards evening, soaking the ground so that when the temperature drops, the first snows will stick.
Every piece works towards the same goal, the same vital task: Storing water for the long hot dry summer in the high desert cities 100 miles downstream. The rain will turn to snow within the next few weeks, uncountable individual flakes of snow filling in every crack, crevice, nook and cranny accumulating until there is an unbroken floor several feet above the ground, but with a cosmology only generally resembling the underlying surface. The streams and rivers and lakes will freeze solid. Waiting.
When the earth tilts back into a more sun-favorable position in six months or so, the snow and rivers and streams and lakes will begin to melt, delivering their collection to the reservoirs, slowly at first and then in a crazy, violent torrent, until it’s all gone and the country begins it’s preparations all over again.
These are the thoughts that go through my mind as we work our way from McCall, up to Burgdorf, Idaho, 30 miles away.
Burgdorf, ID
Chris and Christine have invited us to ride from their home in McCall up to the resort at Burgdorf, which consists of a natural hot springs pool and some “scrappy” cabins, one of which we have reserved for the night. We are only carrying extra riding clothes and a little bit of food since Stacy (who has a broken foot and is unable to ride) is driving the sag wagon. It’s a gradual uphill grade to Upper Payette Lake which is also the half way point. We stop to commune with nature and eat and I comment on the fact that we have covered fifteen miles already in a little over one hour. Chris points out that the climbing to Secesh Summit really starts now.

As we start out again the clouds which have been building all afternoon begin to spit rain on us. At the summit we regroup and begin the descent. We turn off Warren Wagon road onto the gravel road leading to Burgdorf as Warren Wagon Road continues on to Warren, before tying into a spiderweb network of forest service roads, some of which peter out in the wilderness near the Montana border. There is a way to loop back to McCall past Warm Lake on forest service roads. Years worth of adventure touring out here!
There are no showers at Burgdorf and we soak in the hot springs pool, which is replenished at 150 or so gallons per minute by the natural springs. The pool itself is lined with logs and has a decomposed granite bottom, which is not unpleasant on the feet, and has a uniform depth of about five feet.

The pool at Burgdorf

The cabins are primitive; only a wood stove, a couple of tables and beds, but with all our supplies carried up in the sag wagon, ours feels luxurious. The rain comes down heavily throughout the late afternoon and into the evening and we feel cozy and smug in our hideaway.
Chris and Christine

Ho-hum scenery

Getting out of town to make this trip was easy and relaxing and just as memorable as the longer tours we have done, and it all fit inside a weekend- we left home Friday afternoon and returned Sunday. Short trips like this can be fantastic stress reducers, especially for someone who might be intimidated by the planning and logistics involved in taking longer tours, or who may simply not have the time. Being easy to plan and execute, with no need to take time off from work, a bike overnight can be a good introduction to touring or just another excuse to get out on the bike.