As I write this I’m listening to David Byrne’s song Heaven as interpreted by Jimmy Scott. Jimmy Scott passed away Thursday, June 12, 2014. He was 88. This article at theguardian.com highlights five of his performances and gives a little bit of background about his life and career. I became a fan of his during his second career and so I guess I might be accused of being a Jimmy Scott hipster. I’m always mystified by his phrasing and by the way he can completely transform a song and make it his own. At first I thought the same pianist played on all his later recordings because the accompaniment is inspired, but when I researched it I discovered that he recorded with Michael Kanan, Junior Mance, Renee Rosnes and others- all great pianists, but it’s interesting that when playing with Jimmy Scott their playing is transcendent while still completely in service of the song and the singer. The only conclusion is that Mr. Scott himself was the inspiration for these players during the sessions. Rest In Peace, sir and thank you for the music.
Journalism is a tough business. Those not involved don’t understand the sacrifices reporters make in order to enlighten and entertain them. As an example, I could not get the wi-fi connection to work at the Woodland Empire brewery and I had to walk almost 200 feet to Pre-Funk tap room in order to find a decent connection. Somebody’s got to do it though.
It’s always encouraging to me when I talk to an entrepreneur who has been involved in the bike business for a long time and is still so excited about what they do that they will talk my ear off about their product or service. Channing at Old Man Mountain is one example, as is Chris Kostman at Rough Riders- Any Bike Anywhere (Chris, why are there no new blog posts?)
Jeff Jones has to be included in this company.
He is an iconoclast who developed his own line of bicycle frames and what may seem like a somewhat unconventional handlebar; The Jones Loop H-Bar®. Surly Bikes even commissioned an extra long version of the bars from Jones for their ECR, Troll and Ogre bikes. We have sold several sets of these bars and are currently experimenting with them- the Bike Hermit has them on the Big fat Dummy and Sky King has them on the ECR. L.to R. ECR, Big Dummy, Pugsley
We even installed them on a Surly Disc Trucker, an experiment which revealed that bar end shifters fit. Even good for touring!
The other interesting feature that has become apparent, thanks to friend Wendell, is the ability to annex bags ostensibly made for saddlebags, as seen in these photos: Jones Loop H-Bars and homemade bag Jones Loop Bars, Revelate Designs Harness and a Salsa Minimalist rack.
The astute reader will notice that in most of the photos the ends of the bars have a thick foam grip. These are ESI grips for the Jones bars and they come in two lengths; 6.25 and 8.25 and two thicknesses; Chunky and Extra Chunky. Surly chose to not use the matching grips on their bikes…an oversight I hope is remedied in the next production run.
Some of the pictures also show padded tape wrapped around the welded junction of the loop part of the bar. This turns out to be a fine alternative hand position with these.
Two widths; the original 660mm and the Surly inspired 710mm. Two colors; black and silver. Aluminum or titanium. One clamp size; 31.8. Mr. Jones doesn’t allow us to sell them online but if you are in Boise, we have them in stock. Otherwise, order from jonesbikes.com
Bike Touring News carries the full line of Revelate Designs products (when we can get them; these things are popular and, since they are all made in the US on a relatively small scale, sometimes they are out of stock). We are also one of four Authorized On-Line Dealers in the U.S.
Revelate Designs “are innovators and builders of the highest quality bikepacking and adventure cycling gear available anywhere. Alaska born and 100% Made in USA“. This is bike gear that is designed for rackless lightweight touring, bikepacking, bike camping and expedition touring. Many customers use individual bags, such as the Mountain Feedbag or the Gas Tank, to complement their traditional pannier setup for touring.
A couple of years ago I wrote this blog post featuring Eric Parson’s trip on the Lost Coast of Alaska in 2008. Eric is the founder of Revelate Designs (which was originally called Epic Designs).
Last year at Interbike in Las Vegas we spoke to Eric and recorded this interview:
In this video I describe some of the features of the bags and talk about how they are designed to fit on the bike. The benefits of the modular concept of this system become apparent when one starts combining bags to create a bikepacking setup; the various bags fit without interfering with one another, plus bags can be removed or added depending in the length and/or duration of the current trip under consideration. And- this is where Eric’s structural engineering background becomes evident- the incorporated stiffeners and straps create a very solid and sway free coupling to the bike.
For people with bikes which are not designed to be fitted with racks, Revelate Designs frame bags can be a good way to increase the bike’s usefulness. Even those with a traditional touring bike and pannier arrangement can always use another place to store food, electronics, jackets, sunglasses, etc.
Fear not, The Bike Hermit is doing an excellent job of upholding his title, but he does confess to enjoying several of our Wandering Wheels Adventures this past year.
Like kids in a candy store, exploring the Owyhee Desert (just out the back door) has given us a new appreciation for an area of Idaho we have virtually overlooked for 23 years. We’ve been experimenting with several different bikes on these adventures. Depending on where we ventured, we’ve ridden the Rivendells (Chief and Sky), the Surly LHT (Cruella de Ville), the Surly Disc Trucker (Jalapeno), the Surly Straggler (Meredith) and our newest additions to the stable – the Surly Big Fat Dummy (Etza’a) and the Surly ECR (Mustang Sally). After last weekend’s adventure we both agree that, for us, the best choice of Desert bikes are Etza’a and Mustang Sally. Sky King is still tweaking her load for the Surly ECR and will be posting more about racks, panniers and frame bags as she decides what works best for her. Suffice it to say, The Bike Hermit is really getting the Surly BFD dialed in, the back platform and panniers prove to serve not only as a carrying device but make a great table or bench and can do double duty as tent stakes. Surly Big Dummy and platform are excellent as shelter support
Okay, back on track to the title of this post. Everyday we continue to meet other bike wanderers and every trip seems to bring someone new into our lives. We are constantly awed by other riders ideas, bikes and gear. We’ve been humbled while observing the creative bike packing and gourmet meals produced by many.
We are beyond being impressed by the photography and video skills of our fellow bike adventurers. Perhaps, best of all, we’ve learned to eagerly anticipate the video productions of our trips produced by our friend, Aileen Frey. While we have shared many of them on our Facebook Page, we haven’t shared them here. SO…
We invite you to sit back, grab a beer and live vicariously through her lens
Recently we received the BikeCharge Power Pack by Tigra Sport and the BikeCharge Power Converter by Tigra Sport for review. The Power Pack is a storage battery with USB output for charging electronic devices, and a micro USB input. The Power Converter converts the A.C. power from a 6 volt dynamo hub to D.C. so that the hub can be used to charge electronic devices or the Power Pack.
UNBOXING
My first impression of the Power Pack is that it is a nice, compact size, relatively light, and appears to be robustly made. There is a rubber cap to seal the ports on the business end of the battery which is held on by means of o-rings. I like that…simple and durable. There are three other caps included in the package, each of which has a different configuration of openings providing access to the USB out or the micro USB in, or both. I can see the advantages of being able to keep dust and moisture out of the unused ports, I just wish there was a more elegant way to do it, especially since I will lose most of the caps the first day on tour.
The battery snaps into a hard plastic cradle which rotates an a base which in turn mounts to a tube on the bicycle (frame, handlebar or stem) and is held in place by a heavy, rubberized band. The attachment system is very solid and I can’t imagine that it will rattle or that there is any chance of it falling off. It might be nice if the part of the base which is held against the bike tube was padded rather than simply hard plastic.
There is a charge indicator light adjacent to the ports on the end of the battery. A short USB cable is included.
The battery has a capacity of 2600 mAh and will charge a device at 500 mAh at 5 volts. The battery is solid and compact. Shown with bracket for attachment to the bike.
Bracket, battery, cover caps and USB cable are included.
One end of the BikeCharge Power Converter sprouts a short cable which plugs into the dynamo hub, and the converter itself is attached to the bicycle fork with zip ties. Out of the other end of the converter a second cable emerges and is terminated with a USB port. The converter is light but it is large, much larger than the other converter I am using. The two bare wires at the end of the cable which attaches to the hub are meant to be inserted into the plastic plug on Shimano or Sanyo hubs but for my Schmidt hub it was necessary to crimp two piggyback fittings on the end. Over voltage protection is built into the unit for when the wheel is spinning fast.
The converter is on the fork leg and the power pack is on the head tube..Piggyback connectors on the Schmidt hub.
IN USE
I have only had the chance to use the Power Converter one time but it appears to work well. With any converter I think it is best to use them to charge a battery which can simultaneously be charging a different device or which can be used to charge the device later. This way, when the bike stops, the charge to the device won’t be interrupted. At USD $29.95 this converter is an inexpensive way to get into charging electronics with a dynamo hub. I wish the output cable with the USB port attached was shorter. At almost five feet, there is a lot of extra cable that needs to be tucked in or zip tied on.
I really like the BikeCharge Power Pack. Like I said, it is small and robust and it charges my Droid phone quickly. The rubber end caps are a little cumbersome and might be rethought in order to use just one cap with some sort of system to keep it tethered to the battery. I will probably eventually lose all the caps. I also like the little bracket to keep the battery attached to the bike so I don’t need to find a pocket on a bag to hold it while charging, and I won’t need to fish around looking for the battery when I need it. At USD $69.95 the price is competitive.
The distributor also has a product called LightCharge Hub which is intriguing to me. This is a smaller converter/charger which features dual modes; in addition to the USB port, a separate leg goes to the bike lights , so with the flip of a switch a person can power their lights or charge a device, eliminating the need for piggyback connectors on the hub and the resulting mess of wires. I may need to get one of those for my own use!
We will be listing these products in the Bike Touring News store even though we may not stock all of them. The distributor has a drop ship program which we will be taking advantage of. I can remember back to just a few years ago when the means for recharging electronics with a dynamo hub were limited, and the ones that were out there were complicated and expensive. The story of everything related to electronics, I suppose. Now, if you have a dynamo hub, there are a number of inexpensive ways to keep the phone and tablet charged even when in the middle of nowhere.
In the Northern Basin and Range ecoregion, the availability of water is one of the main challenges to traveling by bike, and while for our day trips we have been able to carry enough water, trips of more than one day require careful planning.
I put this Surly Big Dummy together to use as a mule or packhorse to be able to carry enough water, food and camping gear for some extended exploration of the desert. The Big Dummy got the call for reasons other than its ability to carry lots of supplies though:
The roads out here range from smooth, well graded gravel with washboard sections to loose gravel to double track trails. Sometimes we end up on cow trails and game trails and have been known to make the occasional cross-country jaunt. The extended frame of the Big Dummy just has to smooth out the boulder fields and washboard roads; and I could fit enormously fat tires on it for traction and cushion. Originally I wanted to use Surly’s new Dirt Wizard 26″ x 3″ tire but got tired of waiting for them and ordered two Maxxis Minion DH tires in 26″ x 2.7″. Maxxis actually make a front specific DH tire as well as rear specific, but the rear specific doesn’t come in a wide enough version for me, so I have front specific tires front and rear.
It’s actually a good thing I didn’t get the Dirt Wizard tires because I don’t think the chain would have cleared the rear tire when in the granny gear with the Surly Mr. Whirly Offset Double crankset. The Maxxis tires are brilliant though. They have large side shoulder knobs which give the tire an almost square profile and which cling to the edges of ruts and boulders for confidence inspiring handling. The rear (front specific) tire so far has given adequate traction on the loosest surfaces.
Surly’s Rabbit Hole rims are two inches wide so they flatten out the footprint of the tires even more. Surly Rabbit Hole rims with orange rim strip.(note also the 8″ front rotor and the bolt on Surly Ultra New front hub) Just a couple millimeters to spare between the tire and the chain in the lowest gear! There is a little extra room at the rear of the frame with 2.7″ tires. This is the front specific Maxxis Minion DH 2.7 tire on the rear. They cling to the most precarious terrain!
I am using Hayes El Camino hydraulic disc brakes to keep this animal reined in. Normally I wouldn’t want such a non user friendly setup on a back-country rig but I had them laying around and I do appreciate the stopping power. That reminds me; I need to bleed the front brake again.
The Jeff Jones H-Bar® Loop Bar seemed like an obvious choice for the cockpit. A nice, wide, ergonomically sweeping bar with lots of hand positions. For shifting I am using the IRD Power Ratchet thumb shifters. This version is friction only and I am still learning how to shift cleanly to not land in between gears. The levers have a hinged clamp and so I was able to mount them up on the loop part of the Jones bars in an attempt to create more useful space on the lower part of the handlebar. I may move them back down though because the spot where they are now actually is a comfortable hand position and they sort of interfere. Rather than the extra long ESI grips made for the Jones bars I chose to double wrap the grips and so far I like it that way.
The rear rack frame and bags are the newer Surly proprietary design. The bags appear to be well thought out and are compartmentalized for convenient packing. I have yet to load this up for any extended trips but before I do that I will be changing the 26 tooth inner ring on the Mr Whirly crank for a 24 tooth ring for a little extra oomph on the low end. I’m really looking forward to getting this thing out in the wilderness for some extended bikepacking and camping trips.
Here is one of my favorite Youtube videos. The pianist is good…he knows what not to play. Sometimes, the ear hears notes he doesn’t even hit. When he take a chorus, he starts to swing- almost tongue in cheek- before falling back into straight ballad time. A little pedal point, basic harmonies and just the right amount of dissonance. Trust me, this is not easy.
Every year Quality Bicycle Products, or QBP, produces a trade show for their dealers featuring vendors who sell their products through QBP. Your humble reporter was invited this year to the frozen wasteland that is Minneapolis. By the way, those who refer to Portland, OR as Minneapolis West are not even close to the mark. So, stop it. There is a relatively limited mass transit system here and, even though the local beers are quite good and a welcome relief from Northwest Hop Bombs, beer higher than 3.2 % alcohol is only sold at liquor stores or bars. And it is cold here. So cold it hurts. Cold enough to kill you in short time. Actually don’t even use Minneapolis and Portland in the same sentence anymore.
But, I digress- back to the trade show.
I have lusted in my heart for a Ritchey Road Logic bicycle for as long as I can remember. I’m not sure why. The only one I ever rode felt unforgiving and, while not really exactly twitchy, it was, shall we say, very responsive. In fairness, I was already spoiled at the time by the feel of a nice, relaxed touring bike geometry and bigger cushy tires.
I think maybe it’s the Tom Ritchey legacy and the fact that he made his own frames with proprietary Ritchey Logic tubing. So imagine my excitement when I came to the Ritchey booth and saw that, after a hiatus of several years in which he made only his Breakaway bikes, Ritchey is now having the Road Logic, P29r, a 650b bike (not 27.5, thank you very much) and the Swiss Cross made again. Not by Mr. Ritchey personally but by very experienced frame builders in Taiwan who have received training by Ritchey and use the same proprietary tubing.
Classic, understated, sturdy, simple tools.
Cogburn is a brand being distributed by QBP. They make a camo fat bike which attempts to attract a new customer to biking; the sportsman. The thing that has interested me is the rack they have for carrying weapons- bows and arrows, rifles and/or fishing poles. Could also work for skiis.
This thing appears to be adaptable to most racks and the carry brackets can be moved around to work with different cargo. Neato!
Another item I have been curious about is the rack and pannier system from Thule. Got to see the setup here and I have to say it looks pretty nice. Thule makes their own rack which mounts without eyelets so it will fit on about any bike. It’s sort of gnarly looking in my opinion but the
bag attachment will work on any rack with 10 mm rails so using the Thule rack is not mandatory. Whew. The bottom of the bags are held tight by a rare earth magnet built-in to the Thule rack and sold after market for other racks. The quality seems high and the details are well thought out. Available from Campmor
Old Man Mountain 26″ Sherpa Rear Rack on Surly ECRI was a stumped for a little while recently when a customer asked about a rear rack for her new Surly ECR. Most standard rear racks are either not tall enough or not wide enough to clear the massive 29×3 Knard tires. I figured Channing at Old Man Mountain would have some ideas- since he already makes racks to fit regular fat bikes- and I was right. He suggested mounting the Old Man Mountain Sherpa rack to the rack eyelets on the ECR rather than trying to use the typical, hub axle mount. It’s as if this rack was designed for this bike when attached this way! I used the 26″ Sherpa rack and ended up with a couple centimeters clearance between the bottom of the rack and the top of the tire. The stock extender bar made to go from the rack to the threaded holes in the seat stay needs to be replaced with the longer, 12″ extender bar. The fit kit brackets on the bottom of the rack legs are about 27mm thick so I found some M5x0.8 bolts in a 35mm length at the local hardware store and used those to attach the rack to the threaded holes on the dropout. With those two easy modifications the 26″ Sherpa rack is a good option for the ECR. For those who prefer a little bit larger, beefier rack with lower pannier rails, the Old Man Mountain 26″ Pioneer fits too as long as the longer bolts and extension bars are used. These fittings on the bottom of Old Man Mountain racks provide proper spacing and support for mounting the rack through the hub axle with the included, extra long quick release skewer.
M5x0.8x35mm bolts from the local Ace Hardware will replace the quick release skewer and bolt into the eyelets on the drop out or frame.Old Man Mountain sells longer extension bars for semi-custom applications such as this.Old Man Mountain Pioneer rear rack on the ECR. Fits Fine!O.M.M on the ECR. Plenty of room.
The Bike Touring News store now has Phil Wood bottom brackets for your Long Haul Trucker (or even brand x touring bikes!) builds. Phil Wood has gained a reputation over the last 40 years or so for being the standard in durable, strong and serviceable bottom brackets. Here’s a short pictorial guide: The Phil wood bottom bracket and retaining rings. The rings come with thread lock and they are required for installation.
On a new frame the bottom bracket shell threads should be chased before installing the bottom bracket. Phil Wood retaining rings have no outer flange to rest against the the outer surface of the shell, so the paint does not need to be cleaned off nor does the shell need to be faced.This is a thread chasing tool for bottom brackets. A person could probably get away without this step on a new frame.The drive side retaining ring threads in to the shell, just partway to start.The Phil Wood bottom bracket tool is specifically designed for the retaining rings and is required for installation.Two bottom bracket tools, one on each side makes the job much easier. The bottom bracket is slipped in from the non-drive side before the non-drive retaining cup is threaded in.Here is a pair of Phil bottom bracket tools. Using two makes final adjustment much, much easier.On of the unique and clever benefits of the Phil Wood bottom bracket design is the ability to move the cartridge left or right up to 5mm in order to get the chain line perfectly dialed. Here the bottom bracket is more or less centered since there is about the same amount of thread left exposed on the cups on both sides of the shell.The proper length of bottom bracket spindle will be a function of the shape of the crank, mostly. Too short a spindle and the chainrings can hit the frame, too long and the chainline could be awkward and the Q-factor will be increased. This is a 68×108 bottom bracket with a Sugino XD2-500T triple crank set.New (2013 or so) to the Phil Wood product lineup is the BB Cup Mudguards designed to friction fit into the retaining cups and to keep the splines free from muck buildup. On this 108mm bottom bracket the bottom of the spindle taper doesn’t clear the mud guard and when the crank is tightened onto the spindle it binds. Clearly this idea needs some work. Phil Wood & Co. has been selling bottom brackets without mudguards for 4 decades though so they are not a requirement.
