Thinking outside the heavy touring box.

[Andre Jute]

Eliminating "special clothes" has been my latest project, and what a revelation it has been. I can just go out now without changing so I go out more.

The shoes/pedal thing was the hardest nut to crack but well worth the effort.

I don't go much slower but I do smile more 

Ian

Never having been a roadie, I didn't know any better, so when I took up cycling, I bought the clothes. Most I wore once. All that plastic was just too stupid and hot and sweaty and smelly for words; not me at all. I returned to what I normally wear (khakis, cords, track suits, all of it in cotton so that I can put on and take off layers) and acquired, first, some VP-191 platform pedals (superb!) and then vintage Phillips rubber block pedals off the net to have the bigger surface. I just climb on my bike when I want to go, whatever I'm wearing on the day. My bike, it must be said, is pretty clean though, courtesy of a Hebie Chainglider and P65 mudguards with mud flaps.

Andre Jute

[JWestland]

Please, Ian, can you tell us more about your methods?YEAH! Andy, I *knew* this would be fashionable someday.'Kindya get, Andy? if  go that route, I want some with the same high quality sealed needle and deep-groove Conrad bearing combo I have on my SunTour Superbe Pro road quills.

Best,

Dan.

Hi Dan Shimano has pedals that are serviceable and with titanium spindles, I've a pair of XTRs (used) and they're great.
There's other brands too, but Shimano is generally very economical and bombproof.

I wear my cycling shorts not on the Thorn but on the Ciocc...the Regal saddle is still a tad firm...though getting there. But really anything bar long skirts (or ones to short so you can't lift your leg over the bar) can be worn on any bike.

Strange enough cotton doesn't work for me, too sticky/sweaty and plastic it is. All different

[NZPeterG]

I think of Nick Sanders' The Great Bike Ride: Around the World in 80 Days on the bookshelf here by my desk. His lightweight Spar looks much like a Thorn Audax, and was minimally equipped with two small panniers on a front lowrider, a small underseat tool bag, a Silca pump, a single .75l water bottle, a taillight, straight block and what appears to be half-step racing gearing. On this, he regularly made distances of 150-185 miles.

Best,
Dan.

Hi Dan,
Thanks for the heads up on Nick Sanders   I have two of his Cycling Books still!   He was one of the rider's/writers that got me start with Lightweight cycle touring I have a photo of my bike with just two front panniers (on lowriders). My bike was a top end road racing bike with full top end Campagnolo cycle group. just had a few lower gears and 28mm tyres on it. I ride about the UK on a lot of offroad cycle tracks too.

I got asked (all the time) if I was just away for a weekends cycle ride? and got looked at sideways when I said I was away for 3 to 4 weeks   (I did 3 cycle tours a year when I was in the UK 1987/89)

I read all of Nick Sanders Books, and Nicholas Crane, Richard Crane Books (still got the books and not the bike)

This was my start of Cycle Adventures!


Pete

PS SPD's on all my Two Wheeled Bicycles and NO SPD's on any of my old Unicycles   (too hard to dismount!)

[triaesthete]

Dan said "can you tell us more about your methods?"  Well Dan I think you are partly to blame for this particular epiphany, exposing me to the likes of Grant Petersen and Jan Heine.

Grant sums up the shoe thing nicely here in "the shoes ruse",    http://www.rivbike.com/Articles.asp?ID=255

Oddly shoes I thought wouldn't work, like my old Salomon sandals, actually go really well even off road and up big hills.

As for shorts, I only needed them when I had the wrong saddle. Got a Brooks not got a problem. Done rides up to 12 hours in civvie skivvies. No worries about indecency or absurdity  when popping into the shops, and some pockets for hands free practicality to boot.

Up top? Get some Merino on your back. Astonishingly un pongy and super comfy in hot and cold weather. Available super good and super priced from here  http://on-one.co.uk/c/q/clothing/merino_2013

Very happy days
Ian

[Danneaux]

Well Dan I think you are partly to blame for this particular epiphany...

Oh, what have I done?  Corrupted another impressionable youth by feeding them the Petersen-Heine brand of Kool-Aid. Sigh. I will pay for this.  Just think, Ian...you could have looked like just another replica-racer if not for this. 

All kidding aside, it really can be nice to just hoppondebikeandgo. A person is much more apt to ride than not. In fact, I've found even little impediments can be enough to derail a casual ride. For many years, I swapped my seat-bag tool kits, computers, and pumps between bikes, but eventually equipped each bike with its own so I could just hopponandgo (which isn't but should be a Petersenism, right there with embiggen and such).

I'm most intrigued by your footwear choice, as this has been the most problematic for me. I have skinny, narrow feet ("Why yes, I ski" has been my usual response to shoe-store clerks) and that's one reason why I ended up with my narrow Detto Pietros. They also offered terrific protection from the pedal cages; I had partially burst the fat sacs in my feet from riding extensively in trainers in my earlier years. Salomon sandals, eh? Hmm. I must keep this in mind and cast my net of "possible" footwear a bit wider. Thanks, Ian; very helpful information!

Thanks for the heads up on Nick Sanders...

Ah, Pete, Nick and the Crane Brothers are remarkable, aren't they? Until I bought Sherpa and then got the Nomad, *all* my touring bikes were much as you describe yours -- on skinny-tired 700C road bikes with minimal gear, light and fast even when well off-road (which these bikes handled amazingly well!).

Jawine, thanks for the SPD pedal-bearing information. That's just what I'm looking for as a future first-time buyer. We're of the same philosophy wrt cotton, but it will make everyone happy to know I still have all my merino wool jerseys and wear them occasionally. Still among the very best for touring tops while sleeping in the tent after a long day's ride. Cool when hot, warm when cool, I am always astonished at just how "smart" wool can be!

All the best,

Dan.

[JWestland]

I heard good stories about Merino should give it a try. More difficult to get women's stuff in my size in sale I vaguely recall that was my excuse last time

It gets worse when there's people behind you in your Lycra shorts and you wonder why they don't overtake...

It's interesting to note how drivers react, male drivers in Lycra can get an aggro reaction from male drivers, female drivers in Lycra can get checked out by male drivers and female drivers...I haven't noticed anything. Are they watching the road, perchance?

###warning small sample size and bias ^