New to the idea of exped biking

[paddling0gravity]

Hi There, Really like the idea of long distance cycling. As I work alot around europe as a Pro Kayak I see and meet alot of long distance cyclists. I was super inspired by a client of mine who left Plymouth and cycled to Solvinia in 15 days. It took me two to drive.

One big question. When on the road for a long length of time how do you charge your electrical gear like GPS or Ipod?

I have also placed an other post which some of you might be interested in.

http://www.cyclechat.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=26118

Many Thanks Will

 

[vernon]

Hi There, Really like the idea of long distance cycling. As I work alot around europe as a Pro Kayak I see and meet alot of long distance cyclists. I was super inspired by a client of mine who left Plymouth and cycled to Solvinia in 15 days. It took me two to drive.

One big question. When on the road for a long length of time how do you charge your electrical gear like GPS or Ipod?

I have also placed an other post which some of you might be interested in.

http://www.cyclechat.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=26118

Many Thanks Will

Keeping them charged has never been a concern of mine since I do not own either of the devices however I do have a mobile phone that I kept charged by leaving it switched off for most of the time and on the occasions that I needed to charge it up on a two week tour I asked caravanners with hook ups to charge it up or asked while in a pub or cafe if the owner would charge the phone for me. I was never refused. Some camp site owners charge a fee for charging rechargeable devices.

 

[ufkacbln]

I use an item called a "Power Monkey",

It is a small battery that will charge any GPS that can be charged from a USB socket or any phone / Ipod.

It can be recharged by Solar power (unreliable unless you can guarantee good weather) or by main. It will charge a phone three times so in my case i can live for a week or more with no other source.

The other option is to buy a battery based charger such as the Power Chimp - the concept is to use a USB port to charge the internal bateries, but if this fails than which allows you to use commercially available AA batteries, more expensive, but they will always be available.


Have a look at

I must stress that these are my own preference, there are other options...

 

[vernon]

I must stress that these are my own preference, there are other options...

Like leave all the electrical gear at home?

 

[snorri]

Like leave all the electrical gear at home?

That's my option

 

[samid]

Some GPS units (e.g. Garmin etrex) use AA batteries which you can buy most anywhere. Ditto for cameras. Phones - as Vernon said - can be used sparingly and last for a while without recharge.

 

[andym]

Like leave all the electrical gear at home?

Vernon, with respect (because you usually have a lot of useful things to say) as my mum used to say: 'If you haven't got anything helpful to say then don't say anything'.

paddling0gravy

The simplest answer is that most campsites have shaver sockets you can use (not advisable if you are paranoid about getting your iPod nicked). Hostels and hotels of course present no problems at all. Devices like a PowerMonkey can extend the time between charging stops.

Beyond that there are solar chargers - though you need to get one with reasonable power output. There's also the Hymini charger that uses a wind turbine.

 

[paddling0gravity]

Cool many thanks all!

 

[Cathryn]

Vernon, with respect (because you usually have a lot of useful things to say) as my mum used to say: 'If you haven't got anything helpful to say then don't say anything'.

/QUOTE]

OOOOOH! You can't diss Vern....he's the touring dude!

 

[chris667]

The other way is a hub dynamo. Busch & Muller do a dynamo lamp with a fitting that charges 4AA batteries when it isn't being a headlight. Expensive, but genius.

 

[another_dave_b]

The Pedal Power Plus looks pretty cool - charger that runs off a dynamo/solar.