Spare tyres/ sprocket/ chain for extended touring

[cycling4chapatis]

Hi Thorns!

As per other threads, we're about to embark on 1 year through South America and I'm chewing through a long list of details...

Here's one:

We're getting two Nomads with 40/19t gearing, KMC X1 chains and Schwalbe Marathon Mondials 26x2.15" tyres.

Now the question is whether to take spare rear sprocket, chain and tyres?

I know the use depends on a few things. Apart from general care (assume generally obsessively caring in my case), road conditions and rider/ luggage weight will make a lot of difference. Chain and cogs obviously suffer more if you have to log 30kg more around (me vs. my dear lady partner), as do tyres for that matter. On our last trip our admittedly cheaper (Shimano alivio) gearing was getting a bit sore after 6000km and probably needed replacement somewhere above 10000km. While my partner's 700Cx42mm Mondials held up pretty well, my rear one was definitely getting worn down and I swapped back and front. But I'd say with the back to front swap and the option of swapping tyres between our bikes, >15000 should be doable on Mondials. That said, last trip was mostly tarmac.

I've had a single-speed road bike and one cog doing all the work definitely starts to wear, especially with a lot of hills. I know you can flip the rear Rohloff cog to get 'double' the mileage, but then the usual recommendation is to swap chain and sprocket at the same time to avoid the new part quickly getting worn to the wear level of the older one.


So to get to the point:

- what mileage do expect out of touring on a 40/19t cog set/ KMC X1 chain before having to consider replacement?

- mileage out of said Mondials when more off-tarmac comes into play?

- 0,1 or 2 spare sprockets for our trip (1year, hills, 15000k-ish)?

- 0, 1 or 2 spare chains? I know standard 1/2x3/32 chains are available everywhere (African villages in particular!), admittedly often with questionable quality. Obviously taking a few sections of chain to replace individual links.

- spare tyre strategy: definitely taking 120mm sections of old road bike tyres sections to deal with split tyres, but then: taking 0,1,2,3 or even 4 spare Mondials? Just taking 2 lighter, more emergency-minded tyres and hoping the Mondials make the distance (especially with swapping front&back and between heavier& lighter riders)?

Your thoughts on spares strategy would be greatly appreciated. I know shipping is possible, but ideally an avoided pain.

[NZPeterG]

Hi
No need to take spare parts with you as they have mail and you can just order on line when you need a new Chainring, Chain, Sprocket, etc.

Just go and have fun Cycle Touring  

Pete  

[Matt2matt2002]

Hi
No need to take spare parts with you as they have mail and you can just order on line when you need a new Chainring, Chain, Sprocket, etc.

Just go and have fun Cycle Touring  

Pete  

Do they deliver to  the the third palm tree on the left behind the large sand dune?

I like the idea of a few spares to let me carry on rather than wait for Postman Pat!

Matt

[NZPeterG]

Do they deliver to  the the third palm tree on the left behind the large sand dune?

I like the idea of a few spares to let me carry on rather than wait for Postman Pat!

Matt

Ha Ha Matt,
It's all part of the fun of cycle touring! if you have a break down you have to stop, find a place to stay a few days too a few weeks, at this time you meet people, see places, that you would have missed and on getting home this times of long stop over are a few of the best times.

I do know that at the time it's a big pain but like when I had a Tour Bus motor go Ban! up in Lapland   that week waiting for a new Tour Bus to be driving up for the UK   turned out to be the most fun I had that year Driving to Nord Cape, around Europe! and I meet a lot of nice people  

You just have to go with the Flow, I had all the spare parts I needed to ride to Cape Town (12000 km's) last year (there was a big truck to put my spare parts on) But it was of no help to me after Dying in Sudan, and recovering in Kenya! this is where I meet Tom! the Tom I named my Nomad after, He died late last year  .

If you take 1000 spare parts you will find you needed that 1 part that you left at home! so why take all the spare parts?

Just go cycling and have Fun, in the end it will work out....

Pete  

[Andre Jute]

If you take 1000 spare parts you will find you needed that 1 part that you left at home! so why take all the spare parts?

I know Andrew McCoy, the soldier of fortune and game keeper, (I was at college with him, and on a couple of expeditions, and later his editor -- http://www.amazon.co.uk/AFRICAN-REVENGE-HARD-MAN-AFRICA-ebook/dp/B00GYA5DNE ), and he used to insert one truck loaded only with consumptibles into the convoy. It was the spare parts truck, to be cannibalized along the way if another truck broke or got shot up by hostiles along the way. He did that rather than carry "hard" spare parts (as distinct from "soft" routine maintenance parts) because that way the parts were proven to work when they were needed in the bush with no other replacements available.

I can just see a cyclist agreeing to continue on foot because the others in the group want to cannibalize his bike for spare parts!

[triaesthete]

Hey Pete

Like you say, you never have just the right part or tool to hand.

Also, the weight of the parts you do have will cause your bike and luggage  to wear out faster AND reduce the pleasure of the ride every single day.

I see this all the time with the motorcycle overlanders I deal with at work.  Favourite motoryclist quote: "you will NEVER wish for a heavier bike".

To me holidays are planned, travel isn't. The joy is letting go and losing control so the magic can happen..... it's a Zen thing. I would recommend Jupiters travels by Ted Simon as insight to this sort of thinking.

Chapati I would have both bikes equipped identically with everything consumable installed new at  point of departure. I'd take 1 proper tyre and rotate all 5, maybe 1 brake and 1 pair shifter cable, a tiny bit of chain and some split links between you. Also fit carbide rims and carry 1 set of spare pads.  Then forget it and ride it into the ground  As you possess the golden quality of being careful that will take a while 

A bicycle is already superbly rugged and simple (no engine for a start, and even very few motorcycle trips end because of cycle part failures despite greater weight and faster crashes) and  you have the best bicycle there is.

Happy days
Ian

[il padrone]

To me holidays are planned, travel isn't. The joy is letting go and losing control so the magic can happen..... it's a Zen thing.

We did this touring Italy this year. Three months and the only things we booked ahead were our return airfares and the first three nights accommodation in Rome. After that we had a plan, but booked in as we went and chose the final route from map scrutiny along the way.

Chapati I would have both bikes equipped identically with everything consumable installed new at  point of departure. I'd take 1 proper tyre and rotate all 5, maybe 1 brake and 1 pair shifter cable, a tiny bit of chain and some split links between you. Also fit carbide rims and carry 1 set of spare pads.  Then forget it and ride it into the ground  

This parts list was almost exactly what we carried to Europe

Along with this I had the ever-valuable baling wire, cable-ties and gaffer tape in my tool kit. The Rohloffs were serviced just before we left and chains were both in good nick. I did not even take spare spokes as the Rohloff and SON28 being symetrical there is so much less likelihood of spoke breakage, and if one does break, I'll ride to the next town and find a bike shop.

We had no mechanical problems beyond routine adjustments, and the bikes jsut ran and ran.

[Matt2matt2002]

Ha Ha Matt,
It's all part of the fun of cycle touring! if you have a break down you have to stop, find a place to stay a few days too a few weeks, at this time you meet people, see places, that you would have missed and on getting home this times of long stop over are a few of the best times.

I do know that at the time it's a big pain but like when I had a Tour Bus motor go Ban! up in Lapland   that week waiting for a new Tour Bus to be driving up for the UK   turned out to be the most fun I had that year Driving to Nord Cape, around Europe! and I meet a lot of nice people  

You just have to go with the Flow, I had all the spare parts I needed to ride to Cape Town (12000 km's) last year (there was a big truck to put my spare parts on) But it was of no help to me after Dying in Sudan, and recovering in Kenya! this is where I meet Tom! the Tom I named my Nomad after, He died late last year  .

If you take 1000 spare parts you will find you needed that 1 part that you left at home! so why take all the spare parts?

Just go cycling and have Fun, in the end it will work out....

Pete  

Yes Pete. Quite right. On a much smaller scale, on my local runs, when I get lost, part of the fun is asking the locals which way to go, and then choosing the most likely one!!

Go with the flow indeed. But I must admit to feeling a little chuffed when I find that small bolt in the bottom of my bar bag that just happens to fit the bit that has just broken off.
Matt

[StuntPilot]

I am finding this topic (and all of cycling4chapatis flurry of posts) very interesting. In a way it is all things I would be thinking if I was to undertake the same trip. Having enjoyed a recent three month tour, I am much more relaxed because I have a Thorn. No need to get too hung up on too many spares in my humble experience.

The question is ...

What would prevent you getting to the next town?
What would put a final end to the trip due to equipment failure?

Bearing in mind that coupled with the usually excellent postal and courier services now available world-wide today, and SJS Cycles excellent service, there are few places today where you can't get out of a pickle. If a problem occurs then that is part of the adventure and you will find a solution at the time. Agreed you might have to wait a while but so what! More time to immerse yourselves in the local culture!

Having spent three months backpacking in South America (Brasil, Argentina, Uruguay and Chile), I would not worry. Nowhere is without the reach of the postal/bus service. As had been said, just go and enjoy!

That said, I would probably carry a Rohloff cog and a spare chain and tyre.   No sign of any wear with my Thorn chain ring as yet!

[mickeg]

So far all of my touring has been in rural USA.  Thus, I was never far from help.  Yet I always carried a spare tire.  Usually it was not a high quality touring one, instead it was a light weight one designed to get me out of a jam if I was in one.

My philosophy was that I just did not want to be sidelined by some expendable item that had a premature catastrophic failure.  A tire was such an item that could have a premature sudden failure.

Considering that chains and cogs are unlikely to have a sudden catastrophic failure, I probably would not bring spare chain or spare cog along because I would expect that sometime within a month I would be in a major community where it is possible to receive an air transport shipment.  If I was going to carry one of these, it would be the cog as that is light weight and unlikely to be in a store anywhere on your travels.  The chain does not meet that criteria.

But I would bring some chain links and the chain tool in case a link snapped.  I bought KMC chains, they make a quick connecting link, which I would bring a couple of if I was going where you are.  (I think they call it a missing link, there are different ones for different width chains.)  I even carry one of those quick connect links when biking near my home because I always carry a small amount of spares and tools.

Assuming that you are going to be covered under the Thorn bike warranty, if I recall they had a list of stuff that they tell people to bring if they are traveling to difficult to reach places.  Have you asked SJS for a suggested list?

[Danneaux]

Assuming that you are going to be covered under the Thorn bike warranty, if I recall they had a list of stuff that they tell people to bring if they are traveling to difficult to reach places.  Have you asked SJS for a suggested list?

Hi mickeg!

<nods> Yep; page 20, right here: http://www.sjscycles.com/thornpdf/ThornLivingWithARohloff.pdf

Best,

Dan.

[NZPeterG]

In 1993 I was one of three Drivers (For a Cowboy) Overland Tour, we where driving two Big Bedford 4X4 Trucks and had a load of spare parts to repair the Trucks.
To save weight the spare wheels were left in the UK   we had four or five spare tyres, about four spare tube's, and loads of motor and drive parts loaded across the two trucks!

BUT

We left one thing in the UK that was needed over four times on the UK to North Africa, Across North Africa, and Back to the UK  

I had to take one of the two Mountain Bikes we had on the trucks to find one the 1st two time's cycled km's all over the place to find one to pay! No luck, But I find a nice man in the South of Spain who let me use his one, and afterwards I had to cycle about three km's back with it! He was Happy to have it back  

In Tunisia we needed it again (we had been looking to pay one across Africa) I was off cycling again But with no luck  

Truck suck on side of the road and we needed this one thing  
Well one of the Passengers can up with an Idea of How to Make ONE   She (an OZ Girl) said why NOT a Split Pin cut down the long side and you had the Part we needed all along.................................




A Valve Tool so we where able to remove the tyre/tube valve and use it in one of the new tube's  

So Why did all the new spare tubes not have tyre valve's in them   Why did we Not have a Valve tool   No idea But It was Fun (how  ) Cycling about and trying to find one......

This is Why I said to just go with the Flow... I would take a Rohloff Tool (to remove the Sprocket) a brake cable, a Rohloff gear cable, a Few Good Tubes, and a Smile  

Loving Thinking about that Cycling around back streets of North Africa  

Pete  

[cycling4chapatis]

Hi all!

Well, I thank ye all for the zen/ relax / go with the flow life advice

While I'm sure 12months of cycling around is going to work a treat for an even more relaxed outlook on life (come on, with such plans I can't be too OCD!) - nothing relaxes the mind like it feeling free in the safe knowledge that anything can be dealt with.

We've done touring in Italy and in eastern Africa. In Italy my rear spokes starting popping, 3 days of trying to find a bike shop. First one butchered the wheel with the wrong lacing and the wrong spoke. Day and a half later fixed properly (I didn't know how to repair spokes at the time, built my own wheels since). Before heading to Africa I got a pair of hand-built 36 thick-spoked wheels, no troubles at all all the way down to South Africa. But, then, on a half-complete road being built by the Chinese in Tanzania back country, my front pannier decided to kark it. Zip-ties  and duct tape ahoi, held on till the end.
So what I'm trying to get across: I'm not going to have a hissy fit if I'm not fully decked out with a full bike worth of spares. I can operate zip ties. I can operate the internet and sit around drinking mojitos waiting for stuff.

But then, has anyone here ever had experience sending stuff or even getting Thorn warranty to a more woop woop place? non-1st world, non metropolitan?

And back to my original questions:
- how many k's have you gotten out of your mondials?
- how many k's have you gotten out of your Rohloff sprockets?

Reading all the thread I'm coming to the conclusion of taking one spare Mondial and rotating it to my partners front wheel, that one to her back one, that one to my front one and that one to my back wheel and rotating the latter out, etc. AND taking one spare sprocket between two of us.

I think the balance is between how heavy the item is and how much of a pain its failure would be. Yes, sitting in Europe, US or AUS/NZ wiggle etc. is obviously trivial, especially with lots of time. Thinking back of sitting somewhere in a Mozambique or Indonesian backwaters and imagining a torn tyre with no means of getting bike mobile again and having to vehicle transport to the next internet cafe and then communicating a reliable address to Fedex...I'd feel like a bit silly for skimping on 300g, don't you think?

How long does the Thorn warranty last (I've read the pdf)? 

[il padrone]

And back to my original questions:
- how many k's have you gotten out of your mondials?

Only used the Mondials for about 2,000kms on one trip. But I have routinely had 14,000kms from my Vittoria Randonneur Cross. These tyres kick ass*, and I'd guess the Mondials are as good.


* my son used a pair for a paper delivery round - six days per week riding about 5-8kms per day, carrying 30-40kgs of The Age and Herald-Sun newspapers. After 5 years the original Vittoria tyres were still very serviceable on his bike.

- how many k's have you gotten out of your Rohloff sprockets?

Still on the first after nearly 19,000kms. It has been rotated once and will probably do at least another 4-5,000kms.

Thinking back of sitting somewhere in a Mozambique or Indonesian backwaters and imagining a torn tyre with no means of getting bike mobile again and having to vehicle transport to the next internet cafe and then communicating a reliable address to Fedex...I'd feel like a bit silly for skimping on 300g, don't you think?

Read a few cycling travelogues - crazyguyonabike is good for this. Pete Gostelow had a front pannier dropped into a river and lost in Uzbekistan. He was able to get a replacement sent out from his brother in the UK and had to wait about a week for the delivery, riding on for a side trip in the meantime.

A torn tyre should never ground you. It is quite possible to stitch up a tyre with some heavy duty thread, but most bad cuts or blown sidewalls can be fixed (effective for a surprisingly long distance) with a $5 note used as a tyre boot (in Australia we have plastic notes that are very tough). You can spend some money and buy some Park TB-2 boots, or carry a short section of old tyre minus the beads.


I reckon the only things that may be unrepairable without major tools could be a broken handlebar, broken head stem, failed rim, or broken crank. Most other failures you can repair in some way, or just roll on - scooter fashion if required.

GJ Coop has some insightful repair jobs on his journal

[mickeg]

I know you are not counting grams, but SJS has some folding Marathon Extremes left in 2.25 width.  Lighter weight than the Mondial, but I can't say which would last longer.  If I was carrying a spare, I could consider the Extreme since it is a robust tire and also is lighter.