A Barrows Abroad: The Bike

Bike and buddy on Pistol Creek. Gray Wolf in the background.

Several people have asked about the bike I rode. The truth is it's really nothing special, but then again, it is in some ways. For one thing, I've done a ton of work on it to make it into the quintessential 'Rando Bike'. So I'm pretty proud of that. On PBP I saw all kinds of bikes ridden well and successfully. I came away with a much broader view of what could work for this kind of riding. But I still like my bike best. Here's why.

When I got back into cycling as an adult, I had two criteria in mind when choosing a bike. One, I wanted to be able to go fast. Fast is fun, and I also wanted to see if cycling in my rural area could be a viable way to get around. Two, I knew the roads available to me would be predominately gravel. So with that in mind I took to the internet to research.

I read Sheldon Brown pretty much in it's entirety. I read some forums. I found Grant Peterson and Rivendell. I read a lot on Jan Heine's blog and subscribed to the magazine. (Just FYI the proceeding persons are famous bike nerds) A lot of love here for old French bikes with room for big tires. This is also how I was introduced to the legend of Paris-Brest-Paris.

Time to go shopping. A very short search turned up a basket case of an old Peugeot on Craigslist that seemed to fit the bill. I offered $50, $25 over asking price to secure the bike sight-unseen, as I was not the first bidder. I started collecting parts and when spring came I built a set of wheels and bolted it all together. It went through several modifications, little refinements as I became more confident in what I liked and wanted. It went from 700c to 650b wheel size, and a few gearing changes. It is about as fast as it gets for gravel. I use it all the time to get around the Jocko Valley, and beyond.

WARNING: BIKE NERD CONTENT AHEAD!

Near Chevreuse I think. Randonneurs also refers to hikers in French.

Feel free to skip all this.

Wheels are 650b Velocity A23, Offset rear. Spoke lengths all within 2mm so I can carry spares to fit anywhere. Miche rear hub comes apart with allen wrench to allow spokes on drive side to be replaced easily.

A generator in the front hub makes power for lights, and soon I will have it wired to charge phones, gps, etc. I made what's known as a slip ring in the head tube to conduct power to the tail light., eliminating wires on the outside of the frame.

Tires are Compass 650b x 42mm. I have drunk the kool-aid on these. They are great tires. Most important part of this bike, or any bike, IMHO, are good tires.

Gearing is 44/26 front, 13-26 8-speed rear. I will probably gear up slightly for next year to 46/28. I am using 180mm TA cranks. I have very long legs for my height. Downtube friction shifters. Suntour Cyclone rear derailleur. Suntour ? top-normal front deraileur. I really enjoy the simplicity of this setup. But I'm weird. I really love mechanical things and I think a bicycle is one of the most elegant and beautiful machines mankind has produced so I am a bit biased. I have an intense dislike for cluttered bikes with 50 things zip-tied all over the place.

Saddle is a Gilles Berthoud Aspin. The most expensive part on the bike. Very high quality leather saddle. The selling point for leather is that it conforms to you over time and becomes very comfortable. This has been true for me. I had no saddle problems on PBP. I use a boot dressing called Sno-Proof on it about once a year. Sno-Proof smells great, like pine pitch and is not greasy so it doesn't make the saddle tacky like oilier dressings. I like to be able to move around a bit on the saddle and don't like textured seats.

Pedals are Time ATAC. These are mountain bike pedals. They suggest for randonneuring that you wear a shoe that you can walk in, and that means mountain bike shoes. I only switched from flat pedals to clipless this year. I like the ATAC system and clipless in general, but I am having problems with toe numbness that I never had before on flats. So this might change.

I carry a tool kit under the saddle and a couple spare tubes. The handlebar bag I made, as well as the front rack. The bag has a MOLLE-like system on the outside so I can have bear spray and a water filter handy when I'm riding around the mountains of home, then change to side pouches for more civilized riding. The lid has a sleeve for keeping a cue sheet (list of turns) visible. The sling in front holds your (possibly wet) rain gear, dries it on the go. It is a prototype, two years of riding has exposed some flaws which will be adressed in the next version.

Handlebars are Nitto/Grand Bois Randonneurs. Got a good deal on them, they are OK I guess. I haven't really experimented much in this area. They seem to work, my hands are OK after PBP, so I'm happy with them. I have the so-called Italian Road Bike Mirror, which I like OK, wish it was a little bigger, but not dorky big. I use it a lot here, in France I was ensconced in bikes and the drivers there are so awesome in regard to bikes I didn't really need it. Levers are Dia-Compe. They are the old style that are not ramp extensions.

As it was for PBP.

OK enough already. Way more than you wanted to know I'm sure. Oh, one more thing. To pack it down small for transport I made some modifications that allow me to rinko the bike. Now it's possible to disassemble it relatively quickly and make it into pretty much the smallest package possible. It's all the rage with bike nerds. Just say the magic word and...