Shiiiiiiit. How am I not gonna take a radio?
I have an iPod but I never use it. Why? I don’t have one of those add-on speaker things and I can’t ride with headphones. There is no NPR on my iPod. iPods have to charge on a wall somewhere. This has a speaker, tunes NPR and runs on double A’s.
Bought at B&H in Manhattan
Cost:$14
Made in Indonesia
This is the what I bought when I did my first tour. As of right now I still have it but I’ve lost half the mounting hardware. I was wanting something with a top shelf for extra carrying capability, this is just enough for low mounted front panniers only.
I may try to get the required bolts and stuff to put this back on. The thing that bugs me is my fork has the braze-ons half way up the fork blades but they don’t quite line up with this rack, they miss each other by about ¾ of an inch. I’ll have to use the “U” clamps like seen in this image. The U clamps I’ve lost.
I bought this from a local bike shop and forget what I paid.
I do not know where this was made.
Well this was a waste of money. Not spatially compatible with my canti brakes.
Meaning that I can install the rack but I can not mount my panniers to it because the bar my bags hook to is above the brake. It should be lower.
I ordered this online. I should have set my eyes on one before making the purchase. To make some use of it I just put in on my other bike that has road brakes. It installed fine, but it has a second problem that will be a worry no matter what bike anyone puts this on.
The two corner bends of this rack that are closest to the head tube (the upper left corner of this image) will contact the down tube part of the bicycle frame if the wheel is turned too far in either direction.
That bend should should be more toward the front of the rack. This is a bad design. My guess is that Jandd made this with little testing and made so many, to keep costs low, that they are still selling them with fingers crossed that people buy out the last of the stock. At least I’d hope. If they still produce these currently without incorporating a re-design that would be a big mistake. Bigger than the mistake I made in buying one.
If this was made of steel I could maybe have a friend do some welding modifications. But no, it’s aluminum.
“Assembled in Mexico, USA components”
If you read anything about touring you’ll read about someone praising Brooks for making saddles that work very well with riding long miles and long hours. If you read a lot about touring you’ll get bored with all the praises Brooks gets.
I just rebuild my old touring bike with a nearly new everything. On the list was the saddle. I chose this saddle because my friend Johnny, who is one of the the most knowledgeable bike people I know, rides one. We had stopped on the street to say hi and I seen he had one on his bike. I had considered maybe getting a Brooks before but hearing him say a few good things and seeing how perfect his looked I figured it wouldn’t be that big of a mistake to buy one. Luckily I bought this for less than full retail. Otherwise I might have bought the standard B-17 to save money but after putting the Flyer Special on my newly rebuilt bike I was surprised to win a standard B-17 in a raffle. I see a big difference seeing them side by side. I don’t think I’d like touring on anything Brooks makes that doesn’t have springs.
Now I say all this having never done any touring on any Brooks saddle. But I have been having a good time riding around on my days off and feeling the difference 700×32 tires and a springer saddle makes. I don’t think I made a mistake and it looks good.
Ordered from QBP
Made in England
Outlier may not still call this the “Empire” T. Either way, this the first article of merino I ever owned. That was early 2009 right before I went on my NY to LA 4000+ mile supported tour. I’ve worn this beyond countless times since then and have washed it enough to lose count of how many times. But I put it on the other day and was really surprised to assess it’s condition and I would describe it “black as black” and looking new. Everything Outlier makes gets a good review from me. Merino is the shit.
By that I mean Merino is excellent at regulating body temperature, especially when worn against the skin. Also it contains lanolin with antibacterial properties.
I feel like anybody who rides a bike across the country or from some sea to another just automatically brings a black T. Bring a good one.
Made in NYC with fabric from New Zealand
For real who doesn’t want to look good? They don’t make this color anymore but I got one.
Pretty much all the clothes I’d take on tour are merino and/or made in USA, this is both.
So this shirt is perfect for those long weekends where I have this on during the flight going to some 3 or 4 day event somewhere. I wear it out one or two of those nights, stuff it in my messenger bag the rest of the time, and I can still wear it on the flight home because it’s still don’t look bad or smell bad. Merino is the shit.
After all this shirt has been through there’s no way it’s staying in home when I travel.
Made in New York City
Shimano SL-BS79 Dura-Ace 10 Speed Bar-End Shifters.
The rebuild of my touring bike started in Summer 2009 and was not finished until late Spring 2011. I spent more time debating shifters, and delaying that purchase than any other part. I was a little resistant to using bar ends, I had become spoiled having done my last three tours with STI. This came down to money, STI is expensive compared to the other options. So, wanting to use my BL-7402 levers, my options were bar end shifters, down tube shifters, or thumbies. I was not going thumbies because I don’t want more extras in the tops, not with a handlebar bag, bell and computer already needing space. I didn’t want down tube shifters only because the only advantage I could see was they weigh a little less. So using this standard-for-touring-bikes is what I decided to use on mine. And there are not a lot of options I know of when looking for 10 speed bar ends so now I’m asking myself why am I even doing a review on theses?
Oh yeah, I like them.
Made in Japan
I could not find a stock photo of the rear hub I’m running so I took a photo of my own.
This is a Phil Wood rear hub. Shimano 10 speed compatible, spaced to 130mm, and drilled for a 48 hole rim.
Phil Wood is about as good as it gets.
My first set of wheels on my touring bike were 36 spoke. I got about 700 miles and my rear wheel basically feel apart. Money and time fixed it and it was not the worst thing that could have happened, but still. I finished that tour on the rebuilt wheel with no more problems. And even did another, shorter tour without error.
Later, when I was shedding rusty parts and doing a rebuild of the whole bike I decided to ditch the old 7 speed rear hub for 10 speed. I did not want to tour on 36 spoke wheels again. I could have up it to a 40 spoke but what’s that?
I think some people have thought, Why would you want so many spokes? I equate 48 spoke wheels with two things, tandem bikes and pol0 bikes. On tandem bikes they make sense because the bike weighs twice what a normal bike weighs and has the weight of two riders on just 2 wheels. With bike pol0 there are times when the ball, the mallets or other bikes get all smashed up in wheels and those wheels take serious damage but must keep working to finish the game. You could rip 3 or 4 spokes out of a 48 spoke wheel and the chances are you could still ride it.
So with one and a half times the spoke count per/wheel as compared to a normal 32 spoke wheel means I can double the weight carried and take damage but not be stopped on the side of the road looking at a useless wheel.
Is it heavier? Just the weight of 12 extra spokes per wheel, not much.
Ordered from Phil Wood in 2009. And in that same year, on a supported group tour, I put over 4000 miles on it without fault.
Made in USA
I bought this same tent twice. I used it so much on my first two tours that when I was gearing up for my third and could not find it I just bought another. Sort of wasteful to not keep track of my gear, but between tour 2 and 3 I’d lived in a few different states and lived a few years of life. I was on a schedule and needed a tent. I was surprised to see that after a handful of years that design was still basically the same. The same as I remembered it.
Years ago when searching for the right tent, I had not yet grown to believe so strongly in buying US made. Although it is not east to know where this is made if looking for that info online, I can say the the label inside the tent reads “Made in Korea finished in China”.
What I wanted then was just three things. Free-standing, green, and not too big or heavy. By big I mean the pack size. Some tents are over 20″ wide packed, that would limit the carrying positions available on a bike. This one is just 15″ wide by 6″ round so carrying it sideways on the rear rack is no problem. And it’s weight is fair, about 5 lbs.
I was on the fence about 1 person or 2 person. I’m glad I went with the 2 person. Many reasons why but the best are I’m tall and like the space, my panniers fit inside, and I won’t obviously be a solo camper. I guess that last one is defeated by having just one bike.
Free-standing, so I can set it up anywhere, quickly. Green, so I feel less obvious than I would in a bright yellow tent. It’s seen it’s share of rain storms and I don’t remember getting mad at my tent during which. I also remember one night in KS as I was sleeping I was woken up by the wind violently shaking my tent to shit, a lot like that scene in Blair Witch Project. In the morning I checked it out and there was no damage.
Ordered from Campmor
Cost: $160
“Made in Korea finished in China”
After using stock camera straps for a few years I, for some reason, decided to look for something more comfortable. Hmm. Maybe because the factory strap most cameras come with are really just logo holders. It’s not important to me that my camera strap is an advertisement, the opposite really. Give me simple black. But that’s not the main reason for this purchase. Comfort is. I might have my camera hanging from my neck all day. After getting this I’ve told some other new photographers about it. But it’s one of those things you gotta just try for yourself.
Tailored 2.0″ wide neoprene strap that uses a “Comfort-Stretch” binding with an internal “Control-Stretch” system for added support. There is a non-skid surface that won’t slip on shoulder.
Most new camera straps have quick-release clips on them, this is the Bino version and it’s the one w/o little plastic clips that hold the whole thing together. Makes no sense to me why anyone would want that. It only take about 10 seconds to remove the strap if I want it off the camera.
Bought from B&H store in Manhattan.
Cost: $20
Made in USA
Well, not all batteries are the same, some are made in USA and some are not. Buy two, the last thing I need is to miss a shot because I didn’t have a spare. An extra is small and light and I could be miles from the next camera shop when I need it most.
Bought at local camera shop.
Cost: $7
Made in USA
This is not an expensive lens. It’s been in production for over 20 years. You can still buy one new but I’m sure they are all just old stock by now. It was introduced in 1990. It’s AF is noisy because of non-USM auto-focus drive motor but that don’t mean it can’t take a pretty picture.
7 oz. and smaller than 2″x3″
I bought this from the B&H store in Manhattan in 2007
Made in Japan
An old film camera from 1998 I found on Craigslist. It works and was cheap.
Film is nice and this camera might be a little big and a little heavy but for me it fits in my hand nicely and it feels tough enough to go on a long tour. Also, it runs on batteries so it’s one less thing that needs plugged in.
Made in Japan
On my first and second solo tours I did have a computer on my bike. Later I did a supported group tour on a bike sent out by a sponsor and I didn’t add a computer to it until more than half the trip was ridden. I bought a cheap one on sale just to read the cue sheets better with some on-the-ground distance info from the cycle computer. It helped a little. But it had a wire and a big dumb button on the side that would get held down if I was not careful how I leaned the bike. Holding that button would clear all the info.
I remember a few people in the group had this model and spoke good of it. So wanting something better I ordered one from QBP for a little more that that dumb one I had cost.
Simple. One button. Wireless.
I did notice one thing about the wireless feature. Sometimes while riding, I might walk. I might walk a few blocks or a mile or more. If I have a computer I got into the habit of pushing the computer up from the stem mount. Just enough to break the sensor connection but not too much that it falls off. I guess my logic is that I only want to tabulate the distance ridden, keep my average speed up, and have an accurate ride time. Well with this one I can push the sensor halfway off the mount but that wont break the sensor. I have to put it in my back pocket if I don’t want to know that I walk 3 MPH.
Made in Japan
