Happy birthday. How do my teeth look?

[Matt2matt2002]

Soon to celebrate 10 years with my Raven.
Collected on 17 Feb 2013…
Second ( maybe third ) hand from Andy in Bulgaria.

Never misses a beat and taken me far and wide on some great overseas tours.
We're still going strong.
At 69 and three quarters, I think it will see me out.
We've done 33,000+ miles together.

Lots of stats to look back on.

Pictures show Raven teeth.
Both ring and sprocket are 101 months old and covered 21,000 miles
I think they look good.
Opinions welcome.

Cheers from a very wet and windy Aberdeen.

[PH]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RAVEN!

Teeth look fine to me, is that 21,000 on the same chain?  I tend to flip or replace both sprocket and ring at the same time as the chain, but don't do that till it's playing up, or I loose my nerve, whichever comes sooner.  That's usually around the 15,000 mile mark.
There's reams of conflicting information about the best approach, for me on a single or IGH chainline, there's no advantage to swapping chains to prolong other components, but it's all way better than with a derailleur and the cost per 1,000 miles peanuts, so whatever makes you happy.
Of course if you want to buy your Raven a Birthday present...

[Matt2matt2002]

Thanks PH.
No, not on one chain. Probably 3.

Birthday present for the Raven?

Don't tell anyone but I've booked a suprise trip to Thailand as a 10 anniversary present.

[JohnR]

I'm currently using the KMC Z1 Narrow chains which are remarkably inexpensive (currently £4.99 @ Wiggle in the brown colour) so I've got several in stock and change the chain at least once per year without trying to maximise the life.

[Andre Jute]

Happy Birthday to Raven and in advance to you too, Matt.

Your adventures in strange parts seems to have inverted your bike so that the gears and chain are on the wrong, normally non-drive side of the bike. I'm sure there's a normal-sounding explanation...

About the teeth, I do espy a slight rounding on one side of the sprocket teeth, not enough that I would myself attempt to remove the sprocket, but perhaps for someone who intends touring Thailand it might be worth considering. If you do, and the chainring is also reversible, it seems like an obvious precautionary move to reverse that as well at the same time.

[in4]

Is that the same bike Dan borrowed for his Euro-ride a few years back?
If those teeth could only talk. 

[PH]

Your adventures in strange parts seems to have inverted your bike so that the gears and chain are on the wrong, normally non-drive side of the bike. I'm sure there's a normal-sounding explanation...

Such as the bike being upside down?

[Andre Jute]

Not quite that normal, Paul. More like, "The leprechauns musta done it."

[Matt2matt2002]

Is that the same bike Dan borrowed for his Euro-ride a few years back?
If those teeth could only talk.

Interesting point. I guess it could be but Dan is the man to answer that.

I had only had it a year or less and suddenly the front ring refused to grip the chain. I just kept spinning. No grip
Big problem since I was on my first loaded tour and in Shetland. Lovely islands but only one bike shop. And that was a charity place that usually fixed up second or third hand bikes. The owner shorted through an old tatty cardboard box and came up with a ring that fitted. Amazing luck. So I was able to continue with my Scottish end to end trip

So perhaps that ring and bike had been with Dan?

Best

Matt

[Matt2matt2002]

Your adventures in strange parts seems to have inverted your bike so that the gears and chain are on the wrong, normally non-drive side of the bike. I'm sure there's a normal-sounding explanation...

Such as the bike being upside down?

Upside down indeed. No wee green fellas involved.

[Matt2matt2002]

About the teeth, I do espy a slight rounding on one side of the sprocket teeth, not enough that I would myself attempt to remove the sprocket, but perhaps for someone who intends touring Thailand it might be worth considering. If you do, and the chainring is also reversible, it seems like an obvious precautionary move to reverse that as well at the same time.
Thanks Andre.
Yes, I'll pop a new chain on after flipping sprocket and cog front n rear.
.
I do have fresh new replacements but will flip n save.

Not doubt I'll be back for advice and progress report on these changes before I catch the 'plane.

I'm in the process of trying to get KLM to refund a second duplicate ticket I managed to book in error.
They sent me two emails confirming the flights and I thought one was for the flight out and one for the return . It turns out I had booked exactly the same flight twice due to the first credit card I used ' failing' to work. And due to not spotting the error within 24 hours, when I cancelled one flight, I only received a small part of the full ticket price.
My refund request it presently being considered.

Fingers crossed this is my last error on this tour.

[Danneaux]

Quote from: in4 on February 25, 2023, 12:17:47 pm
Is that the same bike Dan borrowed for his Euro-ride a few years back?
If those teeth could only talk.
Interesting point. I guess it could be but Dan is the man to answer that.

Ian, Matt,

Nooo...that was a red drop-'bar 587S RavenTour and I did my ride over four months (May-Sept) 2014, thanks to the kindness of AndyBG, same owner as your black one, Matt. The archives show you made contact with him to initiate negotiations for purchase 15 December 2012...
http://thorncyclesforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=5419.msg28885#msg28885

For that ride (approx. 9,000kms) I brought along a Surly stainless 36t chainring and rode with it. The idea was twofold, to minimize wear on Andy's drivetrain and to dial-in the gearing to my preference for a hummingbird "spinning" cadence with the 17t sprocket. The combo was perfect for my needs and was much appreciated on really steep hills. I rode the chain till slack, then removed a link-pair and retensioned once. I had the Rohloff oil changed in Germany on the return leg and replaced brake pads near the end in Bulgaria. Otherwise, no maintenance was needed beyond regular chain cleanings and oilings.

It was a lovely bike, ideally suited especially for the "roads" of Bulgaria and Eastern Europe in general. It handled nicely with the loads I carried and the 2in wide Marathon Deluxe tires did well, succumbing to only a single puncture caused by a 50mm roofing staple in Giurgiu, Romania. Even that was a bit of good luck. As I was repairing the flat in the shade of a pear tree in someone's side yard, a gentleman came out of the gated villa and invited me in to join his wife, daughter, and in-laws for a delightful lunch in the cool shade of their verandah and we chatted for several hours. I'm still Facebook friends with his daughter to this day. The father (pic below) was director of wildland services and gave me some good tips on where best to wild-camp.

I have nothing but praise for the bike, and only found it less well-suited for the really heavy, expedition-class loads I have to carry for my sustained, midsummer desert tours, mostly due to the amount of food and water I must bring with me. The RavenTour trundled along nicely with a maximum of about 25kg including the 8.5l of water I needed daily in Romania and Serbia to cope with the record heat waves I encountered going both ways. With more carried weight than that, I would have preferred my Nomad Mk2. I really think the RavenTour was a wonderful all-'round rugged tourer that would be very difficult to equal for most usage on most tours. Yours has certainly done yeoman service in a wide variety of places, Matt, and has proven to be a terrific bike when it counts most - in demanding use. Best of luck on your next tour of Thailand -- and for getting refunded on the spare ticket!

Best,

Dan.

[John Saxby]

Lotsa pointed observations, fings you can get yer teeth into...

(Ed. note: Sorry, folks, I've talked with him about This Sort Of Thing so many times, and all he can say is, " 'Tis a sickness, 'tis.")