Tag: Saddlebags

Bike Saddlebags are a perfect addition to both your commuting and touring bicycles.

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Rivendell Bicycles Touring Bicycles

A Bike For A Bike Overnight

The weather looks a little sketchy for our planned Memorial Day overnight bike trip so it may be postponed one week. Not that it’s going to be horrible weather, but it will be more fun when a little warmer. Maybe I should call this Fair Weather Bike Touring News?

Sky King’s bike is ready to go.

Wald Basket on a Nitto M-18 front rack
Wald Basket on a Nitto M-18 front rack

Grant Petersen at Rivendell pioneered the use of an inexpensive wire basket zip tied to a Nitto rack for overnight bike tripping. Sort of primitive but it looks like it should work. (Notice I’m letting Sky King do the experiment)

Zip tied Wald basket
Zip Ties are the preferred method for attaching the basket to the rack.
Nitto M18 rack fork brake bolt attachment
The Nitto M18 attaches with a metal tang which shares the front brake bolt.
Nitto M18 stays mounted to metal clamps on the fork
For a bike without mid-fork eyelets Nitto provides these stainless steel clamps.
Nitto R10 Bag Supporter mounted to seatpost and seat stays
The Nitto R10 Bag Supporter

The Nitto R10 Bag Supporter is a real minimalist rack but she is just going to use it to support a large rear saddlebag and a sleeping bag.

Photo of Rivendell Bleriot ready for overnight bike trip
Sky

While almost any bike can be used for an overnight trip,Sky King’s bike, Sky, sports road style drop handlebars, bar end shifters, a triple crankset with an 8 speed cassette and relatively voluminous tires about 34 to 35 millimeters wide. The wider tires will offer some cushion on the gravel roads we will be traversing. The small front chainring with 26 teeth combined with a large rear cog of 32 teeth provides a low gear of 21 which should get her up any of the hills we will encounter. (see my post about gear inches to see what that means)

More about the actual packing, the Bike Hermits setup and the route will be the subject of future posts.

Categories
Planning Resources

Bike Touring, Keeping It Simple

Carry what you need and no more.

Like any good hermit, the Bike Hermit is constantly attempting to simplify.  And why go on a bike tour if not, at least in part, to enjoy being unencumbered by unnecessary external superficialities, and by too much gear?
The Italian impressionist Carlotti said“Beauty is a summation of the parts working together in such a way that nothing is needed to be added, taken away or altered”.
Architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe adopted the motto “Less is more” to describe his aesthetic tactic of arranging the numerous necessary components of a building to create an impression of extreme simplicity.

When traveling on the bike the kit can be pared down to the basics required for survival and comfort. And if it is possible to travel for two weeks with a certain amount of bike touring gear then, unless traveling in a more remote region, the cyclo tourist should be able to exist in relative comfort for longer periods carrying the same provisions.

The bike hermit offers this outline of what can be taken on a two week or longer self-supported bike tour. While not an exhaustive, or even a very detailed list, it includes the core considerations for the bicycle traveler and can be modified by the individual according to their desire. Overall weight should not be a driving force behind the decision making process in what to take, but at the same time carrying more than is needed is senseless. The given weights include the weight of the luggage/bags/panniers if indicated.

Hennessy Hammock Super Shelter and rain pants in dry-bag                                  1lb   10.4 oz

Hennessy Hammock Ultralight Backpacker                                                                    2lb     6.8 oz

Front left pannier: Stove/ cook kit                                                                                      3lb       .8 oz

Front right pannier: toiletries, camp towels, sun screen, etc.                                    3 lb       .4 oz

Front handlebar bag: food, fuel canister, spare tube, patch kit, cell phone            7lb  11.8  oz

Spare tire                                                                                                                            12.4 oz

Small leather handlebar bag: pepper spray, knife, multi-tool, headlamp               1lb    5.6 oz

18 Liter Saddlebag: Clothes, chain lube, spare parts.                                                     9lb    5.8 oz

Sleeping bag                                                                                                                            3lb    2.8 oz

3, 24 oz water bottles- full                                                                                                      4lb     12 oz

Total weight comes to a little over 37 pounds. No need to go crazy about this stuff. Relax, be happy.

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Event Coverage

North American Handmade Bicycle Show 2011

As the Bike Hermit I give myself permission to indulge my reclusive nature. As the North American distributor for Zimbale, a line of traditional style saddlebags crafted in Korea, I sometimes need to bear the discomfort of being in large groups of people. Such as the circus that is Interbike. This year I am looking forward to exhibiting at the 2011 North American Handmade Bicycle Show in Austin, TX. The show takes place February 25-27, 2011

For it’s seventh edition, the NAHBS is in Austin, TX . The first show in 2005 in Houston featured 23 exhibitors and 700 people attended. Last year in Richmond, VA there were 126 exhibitors and 6000 attendees.

Zimbale 11 liter saddlebag

Zimbale bags have been featured in posts on EcoVelo, Lovely Bicycle and others. Great products for commuting, touring, randonneuring and everything in between.

We will be posting updates and photos from the show here.