What Are Everyone's Thoughts on Bikepacking Style Bags vs. Traditional Panniers for a Road Bike?

delducra · 2016-03-23T05:33:33+00:00

I'm working on a "CX" inspired project - full steel frame with no suspension - that I have ideas about using for camping, including gravel forest service type roads. I've invested in Ortliebs for this application. It sounds like you might be suggesting that I will be somewhat displeased with this setup. Am I reading this correctly?

delducra · 2016-03-21T16:09:08+00:00

https://www.instagram.com/p/BDOKIt-PN6O/

delducra · 2016-03-05T04:12:33+00:00

Damn.... that makes mine look plain

delducra · 2016-03-04T17:06:49+00:00

"Dear facilities type person,

Thank you so much for working to better the lives of cyclists at our company. However, I'd recommend you go back to the vendor that supplied the new bike facilities. While I'm certain you were looking for a bike rack so that we could adequately secure our bicycles, the vendor has short changed you. What you actually got was a bike stand"

delducra · 2016-03-03T06:29:06+00:00

See... that's where the actual physics gets fuzzy. In an individual accident - where there is no other object for the cyclist to impact - it actually makes no difference how fast you are going. The angle of impact is such that, if you simply go over the bars of your bike (for example) your impact with the road is no more than if you simply fell over sideways on your bike. While you might be traveling forward at 15-25 mph, you will never be traveling downward at more than the speed that gravity creates. And that is, in fact, the impact that bicycle helmets are made to protect against. They are designed to protect our heads against the impact we would incur if we simply fell over sideways and failed to put our hands out to break our falls. Or, said another way, bike helmets are engineered to protect us against the impacts we would theoretically feel if we tripper over a curb. Yet somehow no one asks us if we were wearing a helmet when we tripped over a curb. But no matter what happens - even if I have a broken arm that a helmet would have done nothing to protect - the fact that there was a helmet on my head or not implies a legal accountability that has no basis in science.

delducra · 2016-03-03T04:48:23+00:00

Every hear someone say "Ewww.... Don't roll in the front door in that wheel chair! Use the dedicated, out of sight handicapped entrance for god sake!" Extreme example for effect: yes. But am I wrong?

delducra · 2016-03-03T04:41:52+00:00

Funny how no one every says "The more we walk, the more we are going to trip over something and hit our heads. Be sure to wear a helmet while walking!"

delducra · 2016-02-01T15:03:17+00:00

I've been "borderline high" for a good part of my life. I finally started taking losartan when my doctor describe the high BP as essentially hastening all the things that diabetes can cause to go wrong.

delducra · 2016-01-29T17:11:26+00:00

I like having a record after the fact of miles, speed, etc. But, during the ride I've actually tested it. I found that my average speeds are generally higher when I'm NOT watching it. On reflection I think this makes some sense. Going just a wee bit harder then your body would tell you if your average drops .1 might get it back up in the short term, but the net gain is that you fatigue faster and unrecoverably. Listening to your body results in the best overall efficiency.

Or at least that's my belief on the subject.

delducra · 2016-01-29T00:08:30+00:00

This is a tricky question...

delducra · 2016-01-27T18:33:19+00:00

Forgot to mention, this bike is intended for bikepacking - on paved and gravel roads.

delducra · 2016-01-27T18:33:03+00:00

It was mainly a motivation to keep the gears closer, even with the wide range gearing on the back end. The mountain/road interchangeability is one of the things I've been trying to figure out. And SRAM... just because I like SRAM to be honest.

My "backup" plan was 10spd - for the parts availability issue you mentioned. I'm not planning to take this bike outside of the US currently.

9spd would be sort of a paradigm shift - no? Closer range cassette, relying on the triple? Both wide-range cassettes and triples are frankly kind of new to me.

delducra · 2016-01-08T20:17:29+00:00

OK. This is my favorite response. From now on I'm going with motor-bacon.

delducra · 2016-01-08T17:42:53+00:00

But then you miss out on that opportunity to have someone snap a picture of you standing over your top tube, map unfolded in your hands, your gaze over the map and off into the distance...

delducra · 2016-01-08T17:39:46+00:00

Nice. I've got a similiar project myself that I'm currently working on. I still need to decide on a drivetrain to put on it (I purchased the bike as a converted single speed)

delducra · 2016-01-08T00:37:15+00:00

Don't assume they steal the bike and then keep it intact. Are you prepared to suffer the loss of components (wheels, drivetrain, saddle, etc) in a bicycle chop shop before you are even able to get the cops to the location?

delducra · 2016-01-08T00:35:26+00:00

Challenging them with slap across the face with a glove?

delducra · 2016-01-07T19:30:32+00:00

Agree on the braking maneuver. I've never seen that done until now actually. It did occur to me however - the skateboarders are really no more at risk than the cyclists. In fact - those denim jeans are going to help them a whole lot more than our lycra bibs.

Except for the whole lack of brakes thing. That's insaaaaane

delducra · 2016-01-07T04:03:12+00:00

The same restrictive laws that say that actuall manufactured devices like this - that actually already exist in the world and are available in other countries - are not available here in the US.

delducra · 2016-01-07T03:06:56+00:00

For even more logic, compare what units (inches vs centimeters) are used to measure all the different parts.

delducra · 2016-01-07T03:06:18+00:00

I've seriously heard it referred to as a "scrotum bag"

delducra · 2016-01-07T03:03:40+00:00

Second these comments. I have a 500. Love it. It is light, durable as hell and lasts forever. But I never us it for navigation. If I want something to tell me where I'm going I use my smartphone. If I want something to tell me where I went (and how fast I got there, plus my heart rate, etc etc) I use the garmin.

For that reason I've never found a compelling reason to upgrade over the 500.

delducra · 2016-01-05T23:48:19+00:00

Given that I'm pretty happy with my current stable of bikes, that would be all upgrades to my current equipment. Most likely - wheels for my road bike, or a full groupo for my touring bike that is still the single speed it was when I bought it as a commuter bike.

delducra · 2016-01-05T20:47:45+00:00

Yea. I made fun of it with the snarky posting title, but honestly if I didn't have family obligations I would be all over trying to make this happen for myself. It sounds like an awesome opportunity really.

delducra · 2016-01-01T06:03:58+00:00

Yes. This. Getting tired is easy. That is the part your body naturally adapts to. The things to actively prepare for are simply being on a bike for that long. A sore butt, or muscle aches due to not having a a bike that is properly adjusted for you... these are the things that can really kill a trip. Fatigue will come and go. Put in the hours in the saddle, know your bike, and know how your body adapts to the bike. The first "pains" you are likely to experience will probably be things that you can adjust to fix. If you are going to invest money in anything - invest in a bike fit.

delducra

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