Just wrote up my notes, awesome trip! http://clevercycles.com/blog/2017/04...ins-in-spring/
Just wrote up my notes, awesome trip! http://clevercycles.com/blog/2017/04...ins-in-spring/
Nice trip!! Nice rig too!! Always cool to see fellow bikepackers, their bikes and their gear. Even cooler when they're using hammocks!Originally Posted by Latherdome
Looking forward to your next post on gear and camping strategies! I'm especially curious about your kettle.
i was geting tired just reading that
looked like a super cool trip
Loved your story and then videos. The bike is great I always wanted to get one of the brompton's bikes road one in Europe and always thought they a great piece of gear.
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Great trip report. Interesting bike you have chosen. Could you share the advantages / disadvantages?
What is the bikes weigh unloaded (sans camping gear)?
Spent the last 3.75 years of my career on the Malheur (rec program manager). Interesting country. Very mountainous country with winding two lane roads that are great for biking. I use to make the round trip from John Day to Bend at least twice a month over the roads you traveled.
I biked from Florence, OR to Bozeman, MT after I retired through much of the country you biked. Extraordinary rich aboriginal cultural areas. The good part is there is a very active biking community in OR. The sad part is the folks around the part of OR you biked through simply don't value their outdoor opportunities. Perhaps because of alternate nearby areas such as the Cascades or central ID wildernesses, and also partly because when logging was shut down in the western part of OR (remember the spotted owl and old growth?) they turned to central OR where there was less controversy to hinder logging.
Vastly different from folks in MT or WY who love and protect our recreation opportunities. I went from WY's Bridger-Teton where recreation was paramount to OR's Malheur where recreation was seldom mentioned. I could hardly wait to get back home, yay!
I'm sorry I never replied. Pardon my bump. Advantages are:
* Ease of transport: overhead bin on aircraft. Easy to portage, easy to bring inside places that would frown on regular bikes.
* Ease of packing: everything in 2 large midline bags instead of 4 or more.
* Great loaded handling, low COG. Nobody believes this until trial.
* Little wheels are strong and light, especially nippy off the line and in climbing, offsetting the pack weight
* Comfort: the tall flexy seatpost and rear suspension means ample vertical compliance
* Adequate gear range (almost 400% as modified) with bombproof 3-speed IGH at core, can shift at stops.
* Like traveling with a puppy: icebreaker: everybody wants to talk about it
* Doesn't provoke competitive response from other bikers.
Disadvantages:
* You have to get off and push or carry sooner on poor surfaces. In general, the worse the surface, the slower you go relative to larger-wheeled bikes. Loose gravel is kryptonite: they just dig in. On reasonable pavement the difference is negligible.
* Like traveling with a puppy: icebreaker: everybody wants to talk about it
* Provokes condescending response from some, until you beat them over the pass.
I think the unloaded bike is around 23lbs. I threw a lot into titanium upgrades, but also a lot of functionality that adds weight (I own a bike shop and this is my car). If you can deal with a few more pounds (you can) the same bike is ~$2K less.
Great trip report. Looks like a very nice run
" The mind creates the abyss, the heart crosses it."
“The measure of your life will not be in what you accumulate, but in what you give away.” ~Wayne Dyer
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Cool report, looked like a lot of fun. Thanks for sharing
Fantastic report. I like the writing style and the unique approach. Very interesting bike setup. Looks like some beautiful country up there.
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