Saturday, April 19, 2014

Getting ready for a bike ride...

I have been challenged with the logistics, planning and preparation for the just under 900-mile bike ride from Denver to Minneapolis my son and I have planned on May 17.  This is also my son's mothers and his girlfriend’s birthday.  That was not planned; it just turned out that way. Originally, we were going to start on May 10, but a variety of issues supported a week delay.

Their analysis and planning for all possible issues are much more complicated than I thought.   At first we started by purchasing my son a bike.  While he has my old Cannondale SR400 and a Cannondale Quick 5, these are not bikes I would consider for touring.  So we purchased a Jamis Quest Comp.  An all steal bike with a solid Shimano Sora derailleur, SRAM 9 speed 11-28 rears and FSA Vero triple (50/39/30) front. 

Jamis Quest Comp


I have a Fuji Roubaix 2.0 that is not ideal for touring stock, although I have beefed up custom front and rear wheels.   I maintain it myself for basic maintenance so it is in good shape.  I did take it in for a full overhaul and they informed me I had a cracked frame.  The crack was small at the crank.  Fortunate, Fuji has a lifetime frame warranty for original owners.  So they upgraded my to a 2013 Roubaix 1.5, although I had to pay $250 for moving all the parts onto the new bike. 

Fuji Roubaix 1.5 with the original wheel set


So with the bikes operational, I had to think about gear.  Basically there are two options: panniers or trailer.  This took minimal thought, as you can’t even mount panniers on my bike.  So I researched trailers and ended up with a Bob Ibex for the trip as opposed to panniers

Bob IBEX trailer


Now time to focus on food and water, parts, tools, route and camping equipment.


1 comment:

wildknits said...

This sounds like it will be quite the trip.

I will be interested in hearing how you like the Bob trailer. We picked one up via a garage sale. It needs a little TLC and I am still trying to sort out if it will work on my new bike or not (700cc vs 26" wheels).