As with everything it's a question of weighing up risks and probabilities and pros and cons. If you are particularly paranoid/cautious you could carry a spare caliper (Avid BB7s use the same caliper front and back) and disc - which has its pros and its cons, but so do ceramic rims and/or speccing really heavy rims to counter rim wear. If I were speccing a frame for an expedition bike to go somewhere really remote, I'd probably go for v-brake bosses and lugs for disc brakes.
Which Bike!??! Help please!!
- Thread starter pkeenan
- Start date
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As with everything it's a question of weighing up risks and probabilities and pros and cons. If you are particularly paranoid/cautious you could carry a spare caliper (Avid BB7s use the same caliper front and back) and disc - which has its pros and its cons, but so do ceramic rims and/or speccing really heavy rims to counter rim wear. If I were speccing a frame for an expedition bike to go somewhere really remote, I'd probably go for v-brake bosses and lugs for disc brakes.
Some more interesting reading on Santos and plenty of pretty pictures;
http://whileoutriding.com/my-bike/
http://whileoutriding.com/my-bike/
hubbike
Senior Member
- Location
- Edinburgh, Scotland
key aspects of a expedition bike for me are reliability, low maintenance and strength...weight isn't SO important because you are going to load it with a bunch of camping gear anyway.
You forgot to add in a Roberts Roughstuff, which brand new will probably come out at 3000 ish too. but for my money it would be a good investment. all these bikes will last a lifetime but Chas Roberts will build you a bike to order to your measurements and with whatever features you want. plus they are handbuilt in uk which may said mattered to you and so it should. very few other manufacturers can claim that. If you spec it right (disc brakes, rohloff) you'll never need another bike.
28,000 miles... is it a RTW trip???
You forgot to add in a Roberts Roughstuff, which brand new will probably come out at 3000 ish too. but for my money it would be a good investment. all these bikes will last a lifetime but Chas Roberts will build you a bike to order to your measurements and with whatever features you want. plus they are handbuilt in uk which may said mattered to you and so it should. very few other manufacturers can claim that. If you spec it right (disc brakes, rohloff) you'll never need another bike.
28,000 miles... is it a RTW trip???
Will check out the Roberts Roughstuff, thanks!
It's a ride from Anchorage, Alaska to Ushuaia, Argentina (following the Andes and Rockies), then I'll fly to Cape Town, SA, from which I'll be heading to London through Africa, via Egypt, Turkey and mainland Europe.
I will be working on sponsorship, I'm doing this for 2 reasons:
1) To raise money for research into Multiple Myeloma - an uncurable cancer.
2) I really want to do it, and have been dreaming of an expedition like this for a while. I need to get away from the routines and comfortable lifestyle...
At the moment, none of the details are set (such as when, gear, how much I'll need, who's going to sponsor me, etc) - but that is because it is a recently formed plan, and needs to be approached very seriously and thoroughly.
Sponsorship is the maker or breaker. Will have to get cracking really!
It's a ride from Anchorage, Alaska to Ushuaia, Argentina (following the Andes and Rockies), then I'll fly to Cape Town, SA, from which I'll be heading to London through Africa, via Egypt, Turkey and mainland Europe.
I will be working on sponsorship, I'm doing this for 2 reasons:
1) To raise money for research into Multiple Myeloma - an uncurable cancer.
2) I really want to do it, and have been dreaming of an expedition like this for a while. I need to get away from the routines and comfortable lifestyle...
At the moment, none of the details are set (such as when, gear, how much I'll need, who's going to sponsor me, etc) - but that is because it is a recently formed plan, and needs to be approached very seriously and thoroughly.
Sponsorship is the maker or breaker. Will have to get cracking really!
Dave Davenport
Guru
- Location
- Hampshire
When you say sponsorship, do you mean to pay for the trip?
Yes, in part. I'll be putting all I can towards it too, for example - I'm buying the bike, rather than obtaining it through a sponsorship deal.
But I'm keen to get sponsorship because it raises the profile of the expedition, through the sponsors own advertising, as well as more vessels for 'word of mouth' to travel through. The aim is to raise at least £28000... so £1 per mile, so the more people/companies with an active interest, the more likely this is to achieve.
MacB
Lover of things that come in 3's
- Location
- Farnborough, Hampshire
You do need to think this part through carefully, as I think Dave was alluding to. You want to ride round the world on a bike, fine, you want others to pay all, or part, of the costs, then the questions will come. For starters it's easy to see what you will get out of it and it's easy to extrapolate out further benefits to you in the future, a book or video perhaps, even job opportunities. But it's also easy to say you could put the same time and energy into fund raising alone, why do you need to get a bike and holiday out of it? for example I wouldn't hesitate to sponsor someone if they were paying their costs themselves and all additional proceeds went to a charity that I didn't mind contributing to. As soon as the sponsorship becomes an enabling aspect then I'd be far more circumspect.
I'm not saying you're wrong or that it's a bad idea, just that it needs careful consideration. I note that we don't see people doing things like ' I've saved up £20k for a round the world bike trip but I'll give it all to charity instead if others will sponsor that act of giving to increase the charitable contribution'.
Dave Davenport
Guru
- Location
- Hampshire
Without wanting to sound too downbeat, I'd be really surprised if you got anymore funding sponsorship than a bit of kit, assuming you're not some sort of celebrity or already have a track record for this type of thing of course.
Of course you're right. Though I think that I'll try anyways.
Anyways - the aim is not to get the sponsorship. It is the trip itself and the raising awareness and money for the charity. So with sponsorship or without, it'll happen.
Dave Davenport
Guru
- Location
- Hampshire
Would you not be better cutting your bike budget by 50%, you'd still get something more than adequate and the money saved would fund a couple of months on the road.
This is quite true... yes. We'll see. I need a bike ready to do the Americas, as well as Africa. So it has to be tough and reliable. But yes - I'll give it a good (re)think.
JackE
Über Member
- Location
- Hertfordshire
How about one of these: http://www.fatbirds.co.uk/detail.asp/sku=vannic-pioneerrohloff/Van_Nicholas_Pioneer_Rohloff_Bike . It might be cheaper to order it direct from Van Nic as the Euro exchange rate seems to favour us at present.
Zoiders
New Member
- Location
- Ice Station Zebra
I wouldn't go down the custom build route, I would convert something else (of which there many options) and spend the saved money on other kit.
I think that's right. £3000 is all well and good if you've gotva big redundancy cheque in you hot and sweaties, but if you have raise money then there's a strong case for looking hard at costs - after all, every £100 you save is a £100 less to raise. One serious option for The frame would be an On-One 456 - a very tough frame with rack mounts for £170 - add £60 for forks. £250 should get you a very good-quality set of wheels and if you can live with ordinary gears rather than Rohloff, you should be able to get a goodquality drive train for £250.
http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/FROO456/on-one-456-frame
hubbike
Senior Member
- Location
- Edinburgh, Scotland
Exciting times amigo! You are going to have an amazing trip.
I'm just back from riding Ushuaia to Venezuela so any south america info you want, people to stay with, must see sights etc drop me a pm...My biggest advice is LEARN SPANISH!!!
I think point 2 is the is more important than point 1. do it because of the joy of it. because it will be fun and mind broadening. because you would do it even if no one else knew...you are going to find that in 2011 even a trip of this magnitude isn't all that uncommon. I reckon there are more than 250 round the world bikers each year. just peruse crazyguyonabike!
So what makes your trip news worthy enough to be worth sponsoring? because you are raising money for Multiple Myeloma? There are lots of charity riders already. Many of them are financing their own extended cycle trips. If so why shouldn't the company just donate the £10,000 or so you are going to spend on your trip (and even that is a fairly tight budget) straight to the charity? In short, a company considering giving you money to go on a cycle expedition is going to wonder why you don't just save up and pay for it yourself. (that's what I did hence the bitter tone!)
Cycling is a fun way to travel and even in extreme environments isn't crazyily dangerous or difficult. It isn't really an expedition either its just travelling on a bike.
Expedition grants are generally reserved for boundary-pushing climbing expeditions or people attempting to break polar exploration records, an even they struggle. The most epic expedition of recent times, Carl Bushby's continuous walk around the world, has difficulty raising money. Why should you fair better?
That said, I heard that Mark Beaumont got a whopping great 25,000 quid from RBS for his record breaking rtw ride which was 18,000miles. But I seriously doubt if any business at all would part with 10% of that kind of money post credit crunch...
Rather than ask for travel cash a good approach might be to ask for some bits of equipment. I got maps, panniers and some clothing discounts this way.
If press and publicity is your thing go for it. but be aware that it may require a story to tell (of some value) and you're not alone in wanting to go off cycling for a year or two.
I would now revise my bike suggestion. I bought my roughstuff for 1500 second hand, its been fantastic. If I had 3000 lying around I might be tempted to buy a new one. but that would pay for a 6 month trip!! but you could do that kind of trip on a converted steel mountain bike built for around 800 quid. people do. I built up a bike with this approach in mind but then sold it when I had to delay my trip and therefore had time to save more wonger and then the roughstuff came along (luckily). doing the conversion taught me a great deal that came in handy about how to fix bikes.
