Taken that jump we all wish we could but few can/dare...

[Crankarm]

Far out! How long do you plan to be away 2 - 3 years? You might find somewhere really nice and park up for good .

If you plan to go to South America, which you must on a world tour, do learn Spanish in the short time you have left before you depart.

I would take a small supply of spares so you don't get stranded. Back in the UK I would leave major items such as a set of rims, hubs or indeed wheels, rack and panniers, specialist clothing that can be sent out if you are really stuck.

Of the techincal debates to be had I would try to have disc brakes rather than rim brakes. Replacing disc pads and rotors is a lot easier then replacing a rim that has become so worn it has split due to excessive wear caused by mud, sand or grit or just lots of miles up and down mountains as can happen with traditional rim brakes. The wheel has to be rebuilt and of course it all depends how good the local wheel builder is. By the nature of your tour you will likely be unable to go back and insert it in his $^%&! if it fails. So go with bikes with disc brakes if you can. Plus they will perform a lot better with a loaded bike as much more powerful than rim V brakes. Take a few spare sets of disc pads and rotors which aren't too heavy. Maybe a couple of chains and chain rings as well. If you plan to go off the beaten track where there is a lot of mud, grit or sand disc brakes are the sensible option.

All the best in your preparations and travels.

 

[HelenD123]

Of the techincal debates to be had I would try to have disc brakes rather than rim brakes. Replacing disc pads and rotors is a lot easier then replacing a rim that has become so worn it has split due to excessive wear caused by mud, sand or grit or just lots of miles up and down mountains as can happen with traditional rim brakes. The wheel has to be rebuilt and of course it all depends how good the local wheel builder is. By the nature of your tour you will likely be unable to go back and insert it in his $^%&! if it fails. So go with bikes with disc brakes if you can. Plus they will perform a lot better with a loaded bike as much more powerful than rim V brakes. Take a few spare sets of disc pads and rotors which aren't too heavy. Maybe a couple of chains and chain rings as well. If you plan to go off the beaten track where there is a lot of mud, grit or sand disc brakes are the sensible option.

Are you speaking from my experience?

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Fantastic opportunity!

With regards kit you will get plenty of "advice" here. Take some of it with a pinch of salt, and select the bits you want.

My advice (feel free to ignore!)

1 CrazyGuy..... YES - great place to look
2 I have a Koga Miyata World Traveller. MTB based, so rugged an easy to find spares to fit in Lithuanian supermarket (well inner tubes, brakeblocks etc are easier than 700c wheels). I also think the British fetish for drop handlebars is over-rated. My straight bars wih ergo bar ends works well
3 test camping kit and make sure you are comfy. I had a Thermarest and HATED it. Now I have an Exped Downmat and love it. But others have no problem whatsoever with the Thermarest - personal preference
4 PHD sleeping bags are pricey but very nice quality.
5 Weigh everything and be really really picky. The hiking boots may be a good idea but will weigh a ton. For you to judge the benefit. At the other extreme I got slated by a former CC member for listing dental floss on my kit list. Going light does not mean abandoning any vestige of personal hygiene. Just remembered he also advised biting nails instead of cutting!
6 My kit musings are here http://www.crazyguyo..._id=104184&v=4B and the next couple of pages once you open it

Bon Voyage!

thank you
1 - will have a look later - I think I have been there (mornings are spent on research, the afternoon's on sorting out our home and clearing rubbish out to ID everything that can be sold).
2 - I was intending to get butterfly bars for myself - I have heard very good reports about them and having seen them when we did a 14 day tour in denmark in the summer, I think they will be best with my left arm - I injuryed it 17 years ago and have had to have 10/11 operations on it. I commute to work by bike as it is and cycle 6 days a week, so know that it will hold provided i look after it. But I am curious about they Koga Selego bars as well. They seem to offer lots of possible combinations.
3 - camping we luckily know inside out. We camp a lot - I still have one of the original Vango Force Ten Mark IV's from 38 years ago! - it is used as a base camp tent when we are out in Scotland in the winter. We have the Exped Downmat 9's but they are from when they first came out, have they changed the valve system yet? They used to stick out if the mat at the end and twist open and closed and you attached the bag to it to inflate - we also have the Exped Synmat 7 with the integrated pump, which works much better (we needed synthetic for a survival course we did 2 years ago, so had to duplicate our kit including sleeping bags!)
4 - We currently have RAB sleeping bags - a mixture (and to anyone not seriously into camping/outdoor and I mean seriously this will seem over kill). I have 3 down sleeping bags, and 2 synthetic, my husband 2 & 2. Like most men he does not need to be as warm at night as I do, but I'm the opposite during the day. I don't really know what we are going to do wrt the sleeping bag situation. We prefer down - I sleep much better in it, so I suspect that they synthetic bags will go and I will get us each something inbetween what we currently have (downweights of 1,100, 400 & 250) I think the 800 weight bags would probably be better during winter and the existing 400 (me) and 250 (husband) be fine for summer in Europe (Its what we used in Scandinavia this summer) after that I really have no idea. I have never been further that Czechoslovakia when it was that and Ålesund in Norway and Western Ireland - rather sheltered in that sense.
5 - travelling light is luckily something we are both very good at - dental floss though is out, but then so is cutting the handle off your toothbrush to save weigth! I actually cycle in 3 season hiking boots as it is - they are surprisingly light and totally waterproof - it also saves taking work shoes to work on my commute (I only have 4 pairs of boots, 1 set of wellies and a set of sandals bought solely for our summer cycle tour last year.
6 - looks great got lost reading it a few mins ago...

many thanks

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Far out! How long do you plan to be away 2 - 3 years? You might find somewhere really nice and park up for good .

If you plan to go to South America, which you must on a world tour, do learn Spanish in the short time you have left before you depart.

Well if everthing goes to plan - 4 -5 years or so - it is almost entirely health dependant - I'm asthmatic and b****** minded. my asthma does not usually stop me doing what I want.

the current aim is to get out to NZ eventually - no time fram - and then cycle back via the americas - I have German, French & a touch of Russian and have holiday'ed throughout Scandinavia as a child, so have basics and can follow more languages than is sometimes useful - got my step father arrested in Czechoslovakia (when visas were needed) after he drove up a street he was not allowed to simply becuase I understood what the solider was saying! I will work on Spanish on the road - thanks for that useful tip.
My mother wants me to get a TEFL certificate before I go out - she says it will be very useful.

I would take a small supply of spares so you don't get stranded. Back in the UK I would leave major items such as a set of rims, hubs or indeed wheels, rack and panniers, specialist clothing that can be sent out if you are really stuck.

My mother has litterally learnt about her part in all of this this morning! She countered by insisting we make wills out before we go (she and her husband are both retired solicitors).

Of the techincal debates to be had I would try to have disc brakes rather than rim brakes. Replacing disc pads and rotors is a lot easier then replacing a rim that has become so worn it has split due to excessive wear caused by mud, sand or grit or just lots of miles up and down mountains as can happen with traditional rim brakes. The wheel has to be rebuilt and of course it all depends how good the local wheel builder is. By the nature of your tour you will likely be unable to go back and insert it in his $^%&! if it fails. So go with bikes with disc brakes if you can. Plus they will perform a lot better with a loaded bike as much more powerful than rim V brakes. Take a few spare sets of disc pads and rotors which aren't too heavy. Maybe a couple of chains and chain rings as well. If you plan to go off the beaten track where there is a lot of mud, grit or sand disc brakes are the sensible option.

All the best in your preparations and travels.

Interesting reading that one, my disk brakes have been fantastic in one sense, but given me nothing but hard work in another - I guess the issues I have had are all down to learning though. I do prefer them, but on the summer tour actually got to the point where my front wheel would not rotate of its own accord (weak left hand so brake mostly with my right hand). Luckily it coincided with my husband splitting his rear tyre (cause unknown 3 parrallel slashes all 5cm apart but not puncturing inner tube) and that there was a bike shop within walking distance - someone was smiling on us that day. We had taken the decision that we would risk not having a spare tyre for a 13 day tour of Denmark on the grounds that we should be able to deal with the issue easily - the Danish went out of their way to help us out including 2 cyclists changing their daily road/training route to escort us to the bike shop (5km away) so that we found it before it closed for the day.
But my problem was simply down to the fact there had been a massive build up of brake dust and I didn't know how to clean it - still don't but my maintenance skills are getting better - I can now reset/adjust both front and rear derailers & brakes, change & repair/replace chains & tyres as well as adjusting/knowing best seat position, stem and bars so there is time to get to spokes and cleaning disc brakes - luckliy my other half used to be a mechanic in a cotton mill so is much better at it all than me.

thanks for all the useful advice.
Emma

 

[rualexander]

Don't discard the dental floss! It is great stuff to have in your repair kit, along with a suitable sewing needle you can repair everything from clothes to shoes to tents and even tyres. It's also handy for flossing your teeth of course. You have to get the stuff that is like a thread rather than a tape though.

 

[slowmotion]

The Cycletourer website has some interesting advice.

http://www.cycletourer.co.uk/


I'm madly envious and hope you have a lot of fun.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

That's fantastic Aramok! I certainly haven't regretted quitting my job yet and taking off on the bike. I suspect the hard part is when we have to get back to a 'normal' life after the trip though. Have fun!

Hi Helen
I hope that you are enjoying Canada and that it has stopped raining for you. I liked the bike about the late gap year - early mid life crisis - I think it may be something similar for us.
We sort of have plans for coming back, but nothing like anything solid etc there will be no jobs or home, just where we want to be - luckily we are not city people so with any luck it might make it a touch easier, but I have yet to plan us out of Europe, so not really dealing with it - latest issue is that we either abandon most of what we wanted to do in Europe and get through Turkey in October 2011 (we will be in Northern Norway for July 2011), or given that we don't want to do Turkey in early Spring and summer in central asis, we stay in europe until autumn 2012 pottering around - not sure exactly how that is going to work out yet.

anyhow - enjoy your ride.
Emma

 

[007fair]

Cool ! You are only just a bit younger than me ..so the fact that I can not even consider this sort of thing (3 kids) does make me envious!
Maybe 1 day ...

You write pretty well if you don't mind me saying Are you going to blog the trip?
I can offer no advice except take care!

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Cool ! You are only just a bit younger than me ..so the fact that I can not even consider this sort of thing (3 kids) does make me envious!
Maybe 1 day ...

You write pretty well if you don't mind me saying Are you going to blog the trip?
I can offer no advice except take care!

Families are insisting on it - so the diary is likely to be typed - an ultralight weigth (but 3 year old) laptop 12inch screen & solid state disk is going with us (it won't likely last the entire trip, but it will never store any persoanl data on it at all, so does not matter too much) - It will allow me to process my photos, burn them to DVD to post to my mother's home. Now all I have to do is to 1 - limit the volume of photos I take, 2 - decide on the camera equipment & 3 decide where to post the blog entries to.

 

[jay clock]

decide where to post the blog entries to.

CGOAB! The best..... you can email the updates direct including photos, and then tidy up later. This means you can do a daily update, put it in your email account (using Outlook Express or Thunderbird etc) the when you next connect they whizz off to Neil's very clever site and all appear in order.

It has the major benefit of creating one page per day, whereas blog sites always seem to have me whizzing up and down the page. A real bug bear is that if there are 5 date entries on the page, I want to read them in date order, not most recent first. So I have to cursor to the earliest date, then read down the page, then cursor back up, read down, etc....

Jay

 

[HelenD123]

CGOAB! The best..... you can email the updates direct including photos, and then tidy up later. This means you can do a daily update, put it in your email account (using Outlook Express or Thunderbird etc) the when you next connect they whizz off to Neil's very clever site and all appear in order.

And I've had some great advice and offers of a bed for the night from people reading my Crazyguy journal. I don't think I'd have got that elsewhere.

 

[PpPete]

As this is your planned departure day.....Just wanted to wish you a great tour !

 

[Norm]

+1 from Normski too.