Richie's World Tour or Go Mad on a Nomad

[richie thornger]

Hello Thornies, I'm writing this on my laptop plugged into my Android phone to get the internet. Luckily the Iranian Regime does not consider this forum worthy of filtering so I can chat away to my hearts content
I have finally made it back to Iran and am now reunited with my Nomad...Yay! After a brief catch up with friends in Tehran I jumped on a coach to the Azerbijan border on the Caspian Sea. Since then I've been riding again for the past 4 days. The first time on my Nomad in about 6 months!!
I deliberately chose this route as it meant flat cycling for 600km to get me back into shape. There are some gorgeous mountains behind me but Ive just not got the legs yet. At the moment its my backside that is suffering most as I've still not worn in my new Brooks saddle from when I started my trip.
I'm currently sat in my tent on a private bit of beach owned by a tractor repair man that I found by accident.
My first night camping on the beach got me a visit from the army and the police.....just to say hello
If any one is planning on coming to Iran please dont use a visa agent called i r a n i a n visa.com they are crooks and cost me £50. There is a massive thread on Lonely Planet if you want to know more.
Also a quick note on the kindle 3g keyboard. Everything works in Iran!!! Facebook, BBC, Guardian etc and all for free. Its such a shame its such a clunky interface to use. Still to date the only country the kindle has not worked in (internet wise) is Iraq.
I had a couple of weeks on a Royal Enfield 350cc Bullet in India but I'm looking forward to doing India properly on the Nomad. My 'plan' at the moment is to stay in Iran as long as I can extend visas then fly to Dubai, fly to Sri Lanka, ride around Sri Lanka for a month and then Fly to Southern India and cycle up the West Coast. Every flight is one more than I had planned but plans change for many reasons and I have to accept that.
It might rain tonight so Im treating myself to a film on my laptop. Something I haven't been able to do in 4 months because I decided to leave it in Tehran.
Keep pushing those pedals

[Matt2matt2002]

Great to hear you are well and continuing your trip.
Good tip about who not to use for the I r a n v I s a but who would you recommend?
Thanks
Matt

[jags]

sounds like you having a blast,Richie how is all your gear working out bike included, is there stuff you wished you brough and stuff you could do without. did you loose your camera btw the ould photos are very slow coming.

[richie thornger]

Well I thought I had missed the rain last night. I managed to pack up this morning with a big wind blowing in from the sea. Hilarious to watch me trying to fold up my ground sheet! I pootled off up the hard shoulder on the wrong side of the carriageway. Then the heavens opened for the first time this trip. I've been in a chai khane ever since.
writing on this and any other forum on my smartphone is a painful experience because you can't see all the screen. if any one has any tips let me know.
Bags. I have been putting photos up on my blog WWW.batmantorobben.com My lumix camera did get a few scratches and a lots of the snaps have a little blur on I will have to get a new s/h one as it's same price as a repair. £60 for a TZ7.
I probably won't have any new photos up because of filtering by the regime and also the awfully slow speeds.
Matt. I have a love / hate relationship with Facebook and keep closing my account. So now I only use it for people I meet travelling. That's why you can't find me. Nothing personal
Looks like I'll be in this cafe for a while

 so I'll have to try out a new dish. I try to eat or drink something new every day:)
More food updates as they happen!

[Matt2matt2002]

Thanks Richie. Quite OK about Facebook.
And the visa? Who would you recommend?
Matt

[richie thornger]

I used Persian Voyages. persianvoyages@btinternet.com. .
It cost me £50. They quoted 10 days for standard service but mine was ready in a week.
This is just for the application. not for the visa itself.that is another £150ish. You will pay this at your chosen consulate. Dublin Paris and Neyherlands are the closest.
If you want you can just go to one of the Iran consulates in turkey and get one same day/2 days for the same total cost.
Best do a google onthat because I'm not sure of which place is best
 

[richie thornger]

IRAN:
Hello All, I'm asking for some help if possible?
I'll always try to give back advice or help when I can. If you ask me a question and don't get a reply, please ask again, I'm not ignoring you. It's just sometimes things get lost or forgotten about whilst on the road And it's also best to ask me on this thread as messages are a pain to access and reply to. Cheers
So I've made it to Gorgan on the East coast of the Caspian Sea, 800k from where I started in Astara. I've pretty much been riding flat roads all the way here and most of it UNDER sea level . I have felt no ill effects from this so far
I'm in a "mosser far khane" (my pronounciation) this is Farsi for guest house. Cheap room usually with shared bathroom, sometimes with a sink, always with a TV! This is costing me 250,000 Rials a night (£5) . I found it through the Lonely Planet. It's the perfect place , near the visa office and the Laundrette (but check the price first, I was asked to pay $10 for 1 plastic bag of washing!! I paid $6 in the end. The rooms are in a courtyard around some Orange trees. I had to convince the owner to let me  have the bike in the room. I problem i seem to run into a lot and never has anything to do with the class of the place either.
I've been refused in the lowest cheapy hotels, and also the 5 star hotel (name forgotten) I tried to blag my way into in Paris when I was following the Thomas Stevens book. Nearly every cycle tourer I meet or read about who has had a bicycle stolen on tour seems to have it done from outside the hotel room. So for me I just don't give them my custom if no bike in the room. I think they usually think the bike is dirty, but I'm normally more filthy than the bike

BIKE REPAIRS:
I've just changed my Rohloff oil.
Now I need to swap over my bottom bracket. (This has now done 15,000km so fits the service life)
And take a link out of my chain. (first I have to work out how to remove the KMC missing link!!!)This was a new chain I fitted when I bought the Nomad. It was just a bit too tight with an extra link removed so I knew I would have to remove a link in a thousand miles or so when I fitted it.
If anybody knows where I can DOWNLOAD a video walkthrough of swapping bottom bracket or removing KMC missing link of I would be most grateful.
Would it be an idea to host videos like the Oil change one that forum members can download..pre or mid tour???
I did both of these jobs before I left when I bought my SH Nomad but a lot has happened since then and I'm a bit rusty.
I can watch youtube at the internet cafe (very slowly) but i cant access it on my phone or my laptop at the hotel.
I'm sure this is a situation other non-mechanically experienced tourers will come up in other countries/situations as well as Iran.

Also does anybody know the size of the socket/spanner needed for the Shimano bb removal tool as I will need to source/borrow one. I decided this was an extra to heavy to carry.

I'm not being lazy in case you are wondering it's just every click of a new page on the web can take 5 minutes:(

Thanks in advance...Richie

Jags: I still think it's a bit early for me to give any comments on items I should have bought/left behind/bike issues etc as I've only done about 2000km cycling on the trip so far. Hilarious as I left home 10 months ago. I will of course give an update when I've finished in Iran.
The one thing I can say at this point is if you are coming to Iran bring the heaviest duty, off road tyres you can get.  My Duremes have had a puncture on average every 2 days. There is just so much nasty stuff in the road and going off road to camp you also encounter the building rubble everywhere. Its the ceramic off cuts and those nasty building blocks that do it I think.

[Danneaux]

Hi Richie!

I think I can get you sorted soon enough on most counts.

First, the KMC Missing Link. Be aware there likely won't be sufficient slack in a well-adjusted chain to remove the link on a Rohloff drivetrain. To remove the connector, I just drop the rear wheel until it just clears the dropout and that frees up enough slack to disconnect the link. Exactly one year ago, I made a picture-tutorial showing how these connectors work; you can see it here: http://www.thorncycles.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=4461.msg23025#msg23025 In case you can't get there from here on your phone, I'll repost the photo-tutorial below.

Second, my Shimano sealed BB tool has 32mm wrench flats. I usually use a 32mm socket, but a 32mm open-end or adjustable wrench will do as well.

Third, a photo-tutorial on how to remove and reinstall a cartridge-type square-taper internal bottom bracket is available here:
http://www.parktool.com/blog/repair-help/cartridge-bearing-type-bottom-bracket-service-bbt

Here's a video you can watch...if you can watch it, which is unlikely given your connection speed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBnYoYVTnlo

I'm looking for videos you can download directly and will report back soonest if I find one. I usually download and archive videos for my own use in Forefox using the Video Download Helper Add-On, available here: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/video-downloadhelper/ I realize this won't help you in an Internet cafe or on your phone, but it might help if you can get to a residential computer and 'Net connection.

[EDIT: Richie! Here's a download link to a Flash video on changing a bottom bracket. Not great, but it is a video, and downloadable (Source: Vimeo): http://vimeo.com/2782840/download?t=1379915027&v=9328472&s=8166d0a7a3c4c4a217987451677c933d ]

Terrific idea to archive videos for travelers to download here on the Forum, but I can't think of a way to do it without running afoul of copyright restrictions.

Best,

Dan.

[richie thornger]

Thank you so much Dan, as ever
I have my laptop with me, so I will try that firefox add on you mention for downloading youtube videos.
I have all this sort of stuff on my pc at home but I installed a new ssd hybrid drive in my laptop and just didnt think of everything to put back on it before I went
OK I have found a BB picture tutorial from bike radar and I will try your one. It's the little things that i will forget so i just wanted to make sure.
And I've downloaded your missing link picture tutorial. After swearing at the screen for a bit,  i realised i wasnt logged in and could not see photos

[Danneaux]

Hope it is enough to help, Richie; you're surely welcome.

I've pretty much been riding flat roads all the way here and most of it UNDER sea level Smiley . I have felt no ill effects from this so far Wink

...Except for lungs of steel from holding your breath so long! 

Please do take care, and know good thoughts are with you.

All the best,

Dan.

[Danneaux]

Richie...

If your chain is all gunked up with grease and dirt, the KMC Missing Link may be hard to remove by hand. If so, try some needlenose pliers or even some tweezers in a pinch and squeeze-together the rollers/bushings on each side of the link. That should result in enough movement to pop the side plates. Several companies make pliers-like removal tools for such occasions, but the needlenose pliers or tweezers will work as stand-ins. Those aren't available? A length of copper electrical wire drawn together, or dental floss, or even a zip-type cable tie (cut it off later) will do the job as well.

Best,

Dan.

[richie thornger]

Thanks for the help Dan.
Your Missing link Pic tutorial was exactly what I needed. I pinched , I squeezed, I slid and nothing was happening. I tried doing it from the less accesible side of the chain and it came off so easily it's a joke.
Likewise for the parktools BB tutorial. My BB is the external bearings Hollowtech type. Thers not much too it but I just wanted to be prepared. As for loosening the cups. You can use an allen key in the centre of the BB removal tool but I haven't got one big enough so I ended up borrowing a pair of mole grips. They didn't open wide enough to then “snap” tight so I tightened the screw on the grips with a pair of pliers and this did the job.Although I don't know how tight the new cups are using this method?

Add to that my oil change and a bit of a tighten on the brooks saddle and I'm good to go.
Hopefully visa extension tomorrow and then some hills I'm not ready for it and my knee is still dodgy but I have no worries about hitching a lift if all else fails

[richie thornger]

Presta to Schrader conversion?
I've only used Presta valves since I've had my Thorns and to be honest I find them a pain. I've had three different pumps. None of them stay attached properly for a complete flat to full pumping session. The pins bend and just taking the dust cap off can empty the tyre of air in the blink of an eye. I really don't want to have to think when I'm mending a puncture on the side of a busy road in the middle of a storm so I'm going to drill out my rims and use schraders instead. I can also use the never ending supply of air hoses to save me the trouble of pumping
If I do drill out the rims can I go back to using prestas at a later date?
Is there anything else I should bear in mind before I drill?
As always your help is much appreciated.

[JimK]

I'm pretty sure you can get little washer type things to narrow the valve hole again so you can use Presta tubes when you want. From what I have read, drilling out the rims to handle Schraeder tubes is pretty much fool proof.

Best of luck on your adventures!

[mickeg]

I normally use Presta, but I drilled out two sets of rims to fit Shrader, only because I wanted to be able to use Shrader if I was somewhere that Presta was unavailable.  I do not recall drill bit diameter.

I put these inserts in the rims to allow me to use Presta in the holes drilled for Shrader.
http://wheelsmfg.com/presta-stem-savers.html

I believe that other companies also make adapters like these in plastic.

The Lezyne Micro Floor Drive pump threads on Presta or Shrader valves instead of clamping on.  In the photo, the brass fitting is the chuck, it is threaded onto the pump base for storage when not in use which also keeps dust out of the chuck.  Two models, high pressure or low pressure, each with or without gauge.  The brass fitting is reversible, one end works with Shrader, the other with Presta. 
http://www.lezyne.com/en/products/hand-pumps/high-pressure#!micro-floor-drive-hp-hpg
http://www.lezyne.com/en/products/hand-pumps/high-volume#!micro-floor-drive-hv-hvg

If you use Presta tubes with replaceable valve cores with this pump, you need to wrench the cores tight into the valve stems, otherwise the core will stay in the chuck when you unthread the chuck from the wheel.  I did not know some of my valve cores were removable until I used this pump on them.

I like this pump very much, I have the high pressure variety with gauge.  These in line gauges however are not known for high accuracy or precision.  I have an earlier version of this pump, the chuck on mine is Aluminum instead of brass.

I also have had good luck with the Topeak Road Morph, but the chuck on that one clamps onto the valve.  Perhaps you would find that problematic?  There is a knurled fitting on the chuck that if it comes loose, bits fall out of the chuck and get lost.  Thus, take care that the knurled fitting does not get lost if you try this pump.  The Topeak also has more plastic parts than the Lezyne, that would concern me if I was far from help.