Thorn Sherpa with Rohloff

[lewis noble]

Superb photos, Rual, and a wonderful trip.  I have done some of that route, but not (yet) any of the Outer Hebrides.

Lewis

[bikerta]

Amazing photos. I now don't want to head South on my JOGLE trip, I think I will just stay in Scotland. Everything will be so bland after travelling through countryside like that. How easy is it to find wild camping spots? Did you usually have to travel a fair bit off the roads to get to them? Something I would like to do, but I guess it's easier on the Western Isles than on the mainland.

Also is that the Honey Stove you are using. Have seen these before and they really appeal. Looks like the larger version though. They just seem so versatile to me as long as you can find dry wood.

[in4]

How fabulous is that!!!!!...and I do like that little frame you have for containing a proper fire. No camp is complete without one. I'm just back from my evening ride and looking at your photos have just put a few extra miles back in my legs! Brilliant

[rualexander]

Thanks folks.

Bikerta,
Wild camping spots are pretty easy to find north and south of the central belt and especially so on the islands. You are allowed to camp pretty much anywhere in Scotland as long as its not someone's garden or on crops, just use common sense and camp responsibly. You can camp near the road if necessary but its nicer to get at least a couple of hundred metres or so away if its a busier road. Fields are fine but check there's no big hairy animals around to cause trouble, sheep are ok.
Honey Stove is a great piece of kit, I got the Hive extension kit to make it bigger mainly for use as a campfire (I never liked having an open campfire because of the ground scarring they cause, but the Honey stove has a small footprint and causes minimal scarring and can be set up on a flat rock or on a beach easily enough), its pretty effective for keeping the midgies away too. I have cooked on it as well though and it works well as long as you have sufficient wood for it. This trip I also burned peat on it and even some coal!

[John Saxby]

Brilliant photos as always, Rual, and what a trip you guys had!  Not overcrowded, is it?  Some of those scenes beside the water were as empty of people as a back-country lake in Canada.  Especially liked the photos of the crofter's cottage, reminder of a society past.  Jackie, see if you can borrow Rual's camera when you go to Scotland--it generates remarkably sunny skies! (Liked the mists, too, Rual -- fitted my stereotypes of brooding mysterious landscapes.)

[rualexander]

With a view to a forthcoming three week holiday touring in the south of France, I gave the Sherpa a check over this morning and discovered that the rear Andra rim has worn through to the safety groove on one side!
This surprised me as the rim can't have any more than 6000 miles on it in the three and a half years I've had it, compared to the front Sputnik rim which is seven years old and has about 15,000 miles on it and looks like still has a fair few miles yet in it..

I guess the rear rim gets more gunk and grit on it to wear it away.

As can be seen from the photos, the drive side of the rim has much more wear than the non drive side.

So, I have three weeks to get a new rim built onto the Rohloff and have to decide what to go for.
The simple option is another Andra and do a straight rim swap, hoping that the spokes and nipples will all be ok for that.
But then I have to decide between regular surface and CSS surface, I suppose CSS will be best given how quickly the regular one wore down.

Opinions?

[Danneaux]

Rual,

If you have the time and inclination, I'd love to see a photo of a straightedge perpendicular to the rim sidewall, both in the area of the hole and on either side.

It's neither here nor there -- the rim needs to be replaced now -- but I wonder if the primary cause might have been an internal void in the extrusion. It can happen sometimes and has to me once. It only really became evident when I later sectioned the rim with a chop saw.

If it were due entirely to wear alone, then the braking surface should appear concave against a straightedge.

All the best,

Dan.

[rualexander]

Hi Dan,

Yes both sides are concave but the drive side is noticeably more so.

[geocycle]

I'd recommend the CSS rims. Mine have done 15,000 so far and are just starting to look worn. The Swiss stop blue blocks  did 12000 miles!  Some folk have experienced reduced braking in heavy rain but I've never had a problem.

[Danneaux]

Ah! Very helpful Rual, and answers all questions. That rim is just worn out!

Many thanks; curiosity salved. 

All the best,

Dan.

[triaesthete]

 CSS no question. Simplest, lowest maintenance/cleanest/least adjustment fuss braking system I've had. Probably cost effective too given the extraordinarily low wear rate of rim and pads even when regularly bathed in wet grinding paste off road.

They stop as well.

[rualexander]

Brake blocks for CSS rim, Swisstop Blue or Kool Stop?

[JimK]

I'm using the Swisstop blue. Not that I ever check my rims for wear!

[JimK]

One of my brake-and-rim saving techniques is that I wear a loose-fitting shirt. On big descents I just sit up a bit and between shirt and posture I make a pretty good wind brake.

Today I rode down Yerry Hill Road in Woodstock for the first time. I have ridden up it a few times but today I decided to go the other way. Looks like about a 19% grade at the steepest. My wind brake wasn't enough and up around 40 mph I resorted to those Swisstop pads!

[triaesthete]

Swiss tops work well.The one thing they sometimes do is lag in the wet because the leading edge profile doesn't scrape water of the rim. I've happily adapted to this even though I live up in the pennines and ride in a lot of wet weather.  Julk of this parish recommended koolstop as better in this respect  IIRC and I bought some for stock, but because the blues work so well I haven't felt the urge to swap them before the others wear out.