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Accessories
Helmet : I will stick to a head band
Rack and bags : 40 pounds max aluminium on the back wheel and seat bag for emergency tools
Fenders : 1/2 plastic fenders with stainless steel mounts
Lights : Cat Eye 5 Led front 3 led red blinks in the back
Water supply : 2 aluminium cages
So, how would you call 'her'?
<edit>Wrong cassette</edit>
[edited by: Macguru at 1:04 pm (utc) on July 21, 2004]
I made 72.37 Km/h one morning, and 55 the next with the same bike and you ask if the frame is too stiff?
stiffness is more about shock absorbtion, which on long tours becomes more important that a tiny amount of weight difference a non steel frame has, since once you've got the paniers on the bike is very heavy no matter what, unless you're doing hotel hopping, which I don't consider bike touring in the real sense.
sounds like a fun bike though, technically speaking, aluminum doesn't have the resiliency of steel, it loses it's tone so to speak, then becomes subject to cracking, not something I'd like to have happen on a long tour. I used to commute on a bridgestone mb1, amazing ride, hand brazed ultra thin steel frame, too thin for most riders, now I use an old nishiki, steel, great city bike, spray painted, chopped bars, pseudo time trial style, no worries when I leave it parked somewhere.
I agree they could technically be less reliable than a steel frame over the years, but I dont believe that steel frames offers a more comfortable ride. English is not my mother tongue, and metalurgy is not my profession, but I think 'stiffness' applies to some metal property to gain it's original shape after a temporarly bending. Different metals (or alloys) will flex different amounts for the same amount of force applied, and will (or not) gain their original shape. Etheir ways, these factors are quite neglectable in real life conditions.
This is stiffness, some kind of 'springnablity', dont we agree? If not, we will have to use engineer's buzzword for stiffness as a function of a material’s density is "specific modulus" Plus, we will have to study some aluminium alloys and heat treatment process to compare them to the same "specific modulus" of steel, aluminium, or titanium. Comparing those charts any will conlude that good frames can be made of any of these metals, and aluminium offers less weight for the buck.
Of course, if budget was not a factor, I would have picked a composite frame, since it's much lighter and absorbs much vibrations, but all I could afford was a fork. So far it feels good on my elbows.
>>unless you're doing hotel hopping, which I don't consider bike touring in the real sense.
I am no purist about what is cyclotouring more than what would be the metal used in building a part of my bike. If I go cyclotouring, I just enjoy touring with a bike. If some 'Auberge' is famous for it's 'Cailles à la Mouquin aux Champignons Sauvages', I see no reason to steer away from it. I also have fun in real wild camping, but not if weather is bad. I will gladly sleep in a dry bed after some bad weather.
When I selected parts of my camping gear, weight was an important factor. Most of the components where picked with the weight factor in mind. When I decided for an aluminium frame, it was just in the same logic.
Hope this 100 $ difference let me bring along, 1/2 pound of coffee, 100 ml olive oil, a shaver, one onion, salt and pepper and some fermented oyster sauce on vacations for the next 17 years...
I just visited some lavender field wersterday. I slept under the tent, looked at the real sky by the bivouac, all that by a stream. I enjoyed life without even thinking about the job, the family, the bank, WebmasterWorld or any of some of Rocinante's skeletton component. :)
I just visited some lavender field wersterday. I slept under the tent, looked at the real sky by the bivouac, all that by a stream. I enjoyed life without even thinking about the job
Beautiful. If your new bike took you there then it's a great bike, as would be all bikes that could do that for someone, makes me miss my touring bike...
Re weight issues, I found that because of the kinds of stuff one packs on a bike tour, the weight of the frame is one of the less important factors, much more important is how that frame handles with weight on it, something I came to appreciate somewhere in Norway I think it was while descending from Hardangervida.
By the 2nd or 3rd day your legs will have adjusted to whatever it is you're riding.
Re Metalurgy, I believe that the type of crystalization aluminum undergoes makes it much more likely to fail over time, that's because it's more brittle, and more stiff, than steel, which has that oddly unique ability to both absorb shock and offer amazing stiffness, I could ask a friend who is very up on this stuff, from a technical perspective, but the real point is that your bike got you to where you needed to go, which is what it's supposed to do. I'd count yourself lucky that you couldn't afford the carbon, that's much less reliable long term.
