Ole
New Member
- Location
- Copenhagen, Denmark
Hello everybody!
I've been lurking around this forum for almost a year now. Reading almost every post I'd like to thank you all for your invaluable experience and good advice about technical issues, route planning, and tips about countries and places to visit.
Normally I exercise on road race bikes and enjoy my vacations trekking and backpacking by foot, but last autumn I decided to take up bike touring again, which I haven't done since I was young.
I build the bikes myself and thanks to your tips I've ended up with this bike I tested for the first time today: Surly LHT frame with Mavic 700C rims, Shimano XT hubs and wiiide Schwalbe Marathon tires. Drive train is Shimano XT and very low geared. The rest of the parts are primarily Shimano race-parts with gear levers on the front tube like in the good ol' days - I dare not trust STI-levers a long way from home.
As I don't want to carry too many kind of shoes I dropped the idea of normal bike shoes with cleats. Instead I found nice platform pedals from MKS with toeclips and straps which work fine with touring shoes with stiff soles from North Wave. They are rather robust and also suitable for a long walk. Nevertheless I will supply with a pair of sandals for comfort and fresh air for my warm and tired feet
I've never tried to mount or adjust cantilever brakes before, so it was a positive experience to find out that it all went smooth and easy. The brakes are Tektro CR 720 with Kool Pads and they are effective in an almost scary way. I was a little worried if my 10.5 shoe size would make my heels hit the rear brakes but I tested it before ordering by simply mounting clothes pins on the seat stays on my road bike as a mock up and crossing my fingers. Well, heels and pins/brakes stayed clear of each other.
For +30 years I have been riding with drop bars so no reason to change that habit. But for this bike I bought oldfashioned drop bars with a "soft" bend/curve in stead of the new "sharp-curved" race bars which does not leave that much room for the hands when you are down in the drops. Anyway the bar is sitting much higher than I'm used to but it is okay as I like to see more landscapes and views on my trip than just watching the tarmac pass by beneath me
Do you say seat or saddle in English? Anyway, it's a Brooks B17 which hopefully will support and comfort my sore behind this summer and early autumn. A bit wider that I'm used to but as I'm sitting more upright I think it will outbalance the higher weight on back and behind and lower weight on my hands.
Bits and pieces: Fenders, a standard bike computer, Tubus racks front and rear, Ortlieb panniers, plus mirror and bell for safety.
Navigation: Laminated map-pages for overview, common sense, and a Garmin 60 CSx if I get lost.
This trip will, hopefully, lead me from Denmark through Lower Saxony in Northern Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium and France where I will spend some time in Normandy and Brittany. By ferry from the continent to Plymouth and through Wales where I haven't been since I was four years old. From Holyhead to Eire and Northern Ireland and another ferry to Southwest Scotland.
I want to see The Highlands. I don't want to see any midges. Maybe I will reach John O' Groats and the Orkneys but only time can tell. So far the plan is to return through Yorkshire and Norfolk and leave England from Harwich bound for Esbjerg, Denmark. I like stealth camping a lot but I will also use official campsites for comfort and showers.
I leave in two or three weeks time. If anybody should be interested in how things develop, you can follow me on twitter.com/cykelbreve
If so, please let me know and I will write in English. BTW the Danish word "cykelbreve" means bicycle letters.
Cheers
Ole
I've been lurking around this forum for almost a year now. Reading almost every post I'd like to thank you all for your invaluable experience and good advice about technical issues, route planning, and tips about countries and places to visit.
Normally I exercise on road race bikes and enjoy my vacations trekking and backpacking by foot, but last autumn I decided to take up bike touring again, which I haven't done since I was young.
I build the bikes myself and thanks to your tips I've ended up with this bike I tested for the first time today: Surly LHT frame with Mavic 700C rims, Shimano XT hubs and wiiide Schwalbe Marathon tires. Drive train is Shimano XT and very low geared. The rest of the parts are primarily Shimano race-parts with gear levers on the front tube like in the good ol' days - I dare not trust STI-levers a long way from home.
As I don't want to carry too many kind of shoes I dropped the idea of normal bike shoes with cleats. Instead I found nice platform pedals from MKS with toeclips and straps which work fine with touring shoes with stiff soles from North Wave. They are rather robust and also suitable for a long walk. Nevertheless I will supply with a pair of sandals for comfort and fresh air for my warm and tired feet
I've never tried to mount or adjust cantilever brakes before, so it was a positive experience to find out that it all went smooth and easy. The brakes are Tektro CR 720 with Kool Pads and they are effective in an almost scary way. I was a little worried if my 10.5 shoe size would make my heels hit the rear brakes but I tested it before ordering by simply mounting clothes pins on the seat stays on my road bike as a mock up and crossing my fingers. Well, heels and pins/brakes stayed clear of each other.
For +30 years I have been riding with drop bars so no reason to change that habit. But for this bike I bought oldfashioned drop bars with a "soft" bend/curve in stead of the new "sharp-curved" race bars which does not leave that much room for the hands when you are down in the drops. Anyway the bar is sitting much higher than I'm used to but it is okay as I like to see more landscapes and views on my trip than just watching the tarmac pass by beneath me
Do you say seat or saddle in English? Anyway, it's a Brooks B17 which hopefully will support and comfort my sore behind this summer and early autumn. A bit wider that I'm used to but as I'm sitting more upright I think it will outbalance the higher weight on back and behind and lower weight on my hands.
Bits and pieces: Fenders, a standard bike computer, Tubus racks front and rear, Ortlieb panniers, plus mirror and bell for safety.
Navigation: Laminated map-pages for overview, common sense, and a Garmin 60 CSx if I get lost.
This trip will, hopefully, lead me from Denmark through Lower Saxony in Northern Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium and France where I will spend some time in Normandy and Brittany. By ferry from the continent to Plymouth and through Wales where I haven't been since I was four years old. From Holyhead to Eire and Northern Ireland and another ferry to Southwest Scotland.
I want to see The Highlands. I don't want to see any midges. Maybe I will reach John O' Groats and the Orkneys but only time can tell. So far the plan is to return through Yorkshire and Norfolk and leave England from Harwich bound for Esbjerg, Denmark. I like stealth camping a lot but I will also use official campsites for comfort and showers.
I leave in two or three weeks time. If anybody should be interested in how things develop, you can follow me on twitter.com/cykelbreve
If so, please let me know and I will write in English. BTW the Danish word "cykelbreve" means bicycle letters.
Cheers
Ole
