Equipment for riding Ireland to India
Bob Schulz
of her trip from Ireland to India on a bicycle. I won't do a review,
although I did enjoy it mightily, but it did spark a rhetorical
question.
Just what kind of bike would you choose for this trip if YOU went. The
route went over Afghanistan & Pakistan, over what could conservatively
be called the worst "roads" in the world. When she would come across a
poorly maintained "metaled" road (I had to look that one up to find out
it's what they call gravel in the UK) it was cause for major
celebration. Many roads were merely goat tracks, and some were simply
boulder fields. Throwing the bike over the shoulder and walking was
frequently the only way to proceed (kind of rules out a 'Bob' trailer I
guess)
So what would you take. Oh yes, ground rules, the bike you start with
has to be the one you finish with, you can't assume any parts will be
available, oh all right, tires and tubes can be assumed.
Oh, Dervla Murphy's bike was named 'Roz' It was a 1961 Armstrong Cadet
men's bicycle with it's 3 speed derailleur removed (she felt it could
not survive the abuse). Unloaded it weighed 37 pounds, she also carried
28 pounds of clothing & gear.
Let me know what you would propose for the ride.
Bob Schulz
Ken Kifer
> Just what kind of bike would you choose for this trip if YOU went. The
> route went over Afghanistan & Pakistan, over what could conservatively
> be called the worst "roads" in the world.
Ken Kifer replies:
Like you, I got a great deal of pleasure out of reading Dervla Murphy's
book, only I read it a long time ago.
I bought my current touring bike back in '86 for $400, and it has
carried me over 50,000 miles, half of that on tours. I did have to
replace a number of derailleurs until I bought my current one in 1990,
used. I also had to replace the orignal wheels back in '88. Since
1990, the only failures I've had were some broken rear axles. And of
course, I have worn out freewheels, chains, and tires, especially tires.
I think a stock bike of a good brand would make the trip just fine,
perhaps with hand-built wheels.
Dervla had the disadvantage of not knowing how to make repairs herself,
which is why she wanted everything as simple as possible.
--
Find out why tires lose pressure, how to camp anywhere, how to
cope with flat tires, and read an unusual movie review.
URL: http://www.kenkifer.com/bikepages/
Yesilitig8
a cromo hardtail mountain bike no light weight tubeset need apply
a coil spring shock that could be locked out if it fails
a high quality headset race face comes to mind CK too but a lil pricey
XT drivetrain and brakes
modifications : steel chainrings
sachs chain
8sp not 9!
be prepared to shorten chain and go single speed if needed
a cromo railed seat
solid stem, post and Handle bars
wheels xt hubs Sun Rhyno Lite rims 14 g spokes 4x maybe 36 rear but 32 front
brass nips
semi slick tires and heavy tubes
extras:
2 xtra tubes and 2 tires
patch kits
chain tool
chain
good bike tool kit
extra spokes Both lengths
lube
high quality spoke wrench
i think the bike would make it
but probably not me!
Vandy
Ride Hard...Fall Harder
FULMADURO
>route went over Afghanistan & Pakistan, over what could conservatively
>be called the worst "roads" in the world.
Haven't read the book, but will look for it. I, being a traditional rider
brought up when handlebar bags and panniers were the norm, and before MTB's,
would opt for:
-Reynolds 531 Mercian touring frame (for old times sake)
-Chris King headset
-front and rear heavy duty racks (prob cromoly tubing)
-Carradice front/rear panniers
-Suntour friction DT levers (or barcons)
-126mm rear end (can always get by with a 5spd freewheel if emergency calls for
one)
-Sachs Aris 7 spd freewheel
-Sachs chain
-half-step + granny gearing
-Phil Wood hubs, 36 hole
-Phil Wood BB, 36 hole
-DT DB spokes 4X
-Sun CR18 rims or equivalent
-700X35 tires
-triple cranks (prob Campy)
-long cage rear derailleur (old Cyclone) or modern Shimano or Campy
-modern triple front derailleur
-SR Laprade seatpost
-Brooks Professional saddle
-Campy Record non-Ergo aero levers
-Shimano or Dia Compe cantilevers
-Campy SL pedals, Christophe steel clips and good leather straps
-Cinelli 1A stem 26.4mm
-Cinelli Mod 66 26.4mm bars
-Blackburn bottle cages
Tony Zanussi of Kailua, Oahu
<FulM...@aol.com>
Vintage lightweight enthusiast, Campagnolo driven, w/ some MTB blood
(retro must see) www.cyclesdeoro.com/Classc_Home.htm
Tim Green
wrote:
>Dervla had the disadvantage of not knowing how to make repairs herself,
>which is why she wanted everything as simple as possible.
Haven't read the book, but this strikes me as a little odd.
If you have the choice, what's more difficult: Learning to repair your
bike or riding a single-speed bike from Ireland to India?
People (especially my Irish countrymen) are very strange sometimes.
Tim
Joshua_Putnam
>Just what kind of bike would you choose for this trip if YOU went. The
>route went over Afghanistan & Pakistan, over what could conservatively
>be called the worst "roads" in the world. When she would come across a
>poorly maintained "metaled" road (I had to look that one up to find out
>it's what they call gravel in the UK) it was cause for major
>celebration. Many roads were merely goat tracks, and some were simply
>boulder fields. Throwing the bike over the shoulder and walking was
>frequently the only way to proceed (kind of rules out a 'Bob' trailer I
>guess)
>So what would you take. Oh yes, ground rules, the bike you start with
>has to be the one you finish with, you can't assume any parts will be
>available, oh all right, tires and tubes can be assumed.
I'd use the bike I have now, basically a loaded touring bike
designed around 26" mountain bike wheels, which are the most
common size world-wide. I ride it on mountain biking trails as
well as roads -- no, it's not as fast as a real mountain bike,
but sometimes I just feel like throwing in some trail time in the
middle of a road ride.
As I ride it now it has a triple crank and 8-speed rear, but
with horizontal dropouts it can be set up as a single-speed if
any part of the shifting should give out.
It also has enough clearance that if it did suffer a complete
wheel failure in a place with no proper spares, I could run
wheels as large as the 28" ones used on old roadsters, though the
brakes wouldn't work.
--
Jo...@WolfeNet.com is Joshua Putnam / P.O. Box 13220 / Burton, WA 98013
http://www.wolfenet.com/~josh/
Doug Milliken
On Sun, 22 Aug 1999, Bob Schulz wrote:
> of her trip from Ireland to India on a bicycle. I won't do a review,
> Just what kind of bike would you choose for this trip if YOU went. The
> route went over Afghanistan & Pakistan, over what could conservatively
Colin Martin went from England to Australia (via India) in 1970, sounds
like basically the same route. The book by Colin Martin is called
"Half-way Round", co-written with Peter Knottley. He used a Moulton MkIII
"Marathon".
According to "The Moulton Bicycle" by Tony Hadland, the transmission was a
Fichtel & Sachs Torpedo-Duomatic 2-speed hub gear (backpedal shift) with
coaster brake. Top gear 68 inches. The original transmission made it all
the way to Australia, with weekly oiling. No serious mechanical problems
on the trip. Don't know about other components, probably standard MkIII
parts.
I have a similar bike. It weighs about 30 pounds without the racks and
rides very nicely (all Moultons/Alex_Moultons have suspension). I've had
it for about 20 years and it appears to be bulletproof for my sort of
riding around town. More on Moultons at:
<http://www.alexmoulton.co.uk/ambikes/>
<http://www.whooper.demon.co.uk/moulton/moulton.html>
DREW
>>I recently finished Dervla Murphy's book "Full Tilt" which is an account
>>of her trip from Ireland to India on a bicycle. I won't do a review,
>>although I did enjoy it mightily, but it did spark a rhetorical
>>question.
>>
>>Just what kind of bike would you choose for this trip if YOU went. The
>>route went over Afghanistan & Pakistan, over what could conservatively
>>be called the worst "roads" in the world.
Given the road conditions on probably two thirds of the journey, I would
say a mountain bike frame. A cro-moly frame (easy to weld if it got broken
en-route), hardtail.
I guess the speed and efficiency adcantages of multi-speed gearing would
be such that I'd happily carry an extra Shimano XT derailleur (plus chain)
in my panniers.
Wheels/Tires: This might be cheating, but I'd consider using road-type
wheels for the "western" part of the journey, and replace them with a
semi-slick mountain bike wheel and tire combo before the roads started
getting rough.
Joshua_Putnam
>Wheels/Tires: This might be cheating, but I'd consider using road-type
>wheels for the "western" part of the journey, and replace them with a
>semi-slick mountain bike wheel and tire combo before the roads started
>getting rough.
No need to change wheels, just tires and tubes. My 26"-wheel
commuting/touring bike currently has 26x1.25" road tires (559-32
ETRTO, for when you're in a country that doesn't call them 26"
tires) on a Sun Rhyno Lite in back and a CR-17A in the front.
IRC Metro in back, Panaracer Pasela in front. Both are
high-pressure road tires.
Either rim will also hold a 2" knobby just fine.