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Our Bikes
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Why? We chose these bikes because of strength to weight ratio and love them although they are no longer made. With Mavic rims and Marathon Supremes tyres fitted finally, SMP Selle saddles (different for men and women), old fashioned shifters for ease of maintenance and a 24 speed deraillier it should be even better than before. We average 15kph with a total weight of 60KG per bike. Tubus front and rear racks and front stand as well as a back stand for ultimate parking stability, Cateye HL530 LED lights for maximum brightness we have two per bike mounted on front forks with a ultra bright Smart light LED at rear. Blackburn mirrors now inserted to bar ends and last but not least a new mini floor pump to get to 90psi. Pretty much everything we started with has been changed now including Tubus Racks as per the photo because the Blackburn racks were pathetic plus we changed the wheels to Mavic and now the tyres to Shwalbe and to SML saddles. Now new V Brakes. Bike Problems to date: Just when you think you've bought the best, this is what can happen! August 2011: Tested the bikes for a trip from London to Wales and got as far as Oxford when Mary had a blow out which blew a hole in the side of the Conti Top Touring tyre we had on there for 15 years and they all had corroded sides so anyway we got out the tubes to replace that and found that they all had corroded and hence had rips in them because they too were 15 years old. This is all because in all those years we had only had about six punctures anso whilst we have been working for the past 4.5 years the bikes did not get much use. Anyway we got the Bikefixer.com to come in and do a complete tune up and this was after having to come back from Oxford but nevermind because the weather was rubbish and there was a head wind all the way. We now have pristine Schwalbe Supremes from Fawkes-cycles at about £33 each so all is well so far for our next serious trip starting India. 1997 on:Two Broken Coda bike stands, Stripped saddle stem binder (new lever type from Pony shop have solved the problem) and Oh' those useless mudguards (The new black semi metal ones from the Pony shop are great). Black burn front racks are held on by 5mm bolts to front forks of bike which break regularly(should be 8mm) Puncture prevention strips which fit between inside of tire and tube must be butted not overlapped as they will puncture the tire (which they have twice so far). Brake cables go slack so braking is less effective. Cannondale run the rear brake cable along the top of the top bar hence the clips break off due to the cyclist needing to put leg over the bar rather than throwing leg over which is impossible due to the weight one carries. Front pannier bags wear out on the rear side due to Blackburn front racks allowing the front wheel lever to protrude the alignment of the racks. One front wheel rim has bubbled causing braking to be impossible and one rear wheel rim has cracked vertically ripping apart the brake shoes. so after 2500miles (@20th March 98) two new rims are required but of course are unavailable in 700mm in most places. The roads in Portugal are hell! USA made bikes are not tried on these sort of roads hence probably why there have been so many problems to date. We think however that the old Communist block country roads will be as bad. See The Baltics May: The 5mm bolts holding on the front Lo Rider racks have snapped 8 times so far and yet the racks loading is 32pounds per side while Robs bike is only 16pounds per side and Marys is less. The pedal on Robs bike lost its adjusting screw then all the bits fell out, a hassle really. The Rhode Gear mirrors although great, have all broken stems as they are only plastic so are now held together with tape. August: Robs rear wheel couldn't take anymore, so the standard "Sun" variety were changed for Mavic 28 32 622 (28 inch 700c) and in August 2011 we changed from the crumbling Continental Top Touring tyres to Swalbe Marathone Supremes and use them at 85psi |
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Arriving back from India with the full rig
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Our Rig as cycled with, in Cuba 2001
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We are fans of Tubus Racks and stands so take a look at their catalogue here
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| All the new Gear - Click on them to go to the best buys in the UK | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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There are no better waterproof products in the world than Ortlieb,
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A great little tyre pressure gauge which we have used for 15 years.
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We have now tried out The Bike Fixer of East Molesey, Surrey UK and it was a great experience as David came to us on the farm and serviced our bikes on site.
Check him out here: http://www.thebikefixer.com/ |
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| No longer made but here's the Specs | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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