Like a wing-nut or wing-bolt?

It's not using the allen key that's slow. It's partly all the screwing (ie, no difference with a wingnut) and partly the difficulty of trying to balance the rack in place while doing up screws. Particularly the fourth screw seems to be the hardest - the rack is under a lot of tension by then.

I was thinking about this thread recently. I'd really like a mechanism for adding and removing equipment faster than allen screws. I find it takes ages to add or remove a rack. So some kind of clip that screws into the allen screw holes would be great.

What about the high-end Specialized XC bikes with "automatic lock-out"? Does it work?

You've not come across remote lock-out suspension? Pretty common for high-end forks, not so common for rear.

I recently received a saddle pack from Jeff, and I can definitely second the comment about beautiful workmanship. It's really amazing. To be honest, I think both Jeff and Eric spend a lot of time away from email and the sweatshop, and we're all just jealous... Having to plan your purchase 3 months ahead of when you need it is all just part of the charm...or something.

Lol that -6C wasn't cold enough to justify a good sleeping mat...

Hey sorry for being out of the loop etc. I had a couple of major gear failures (tent and sleeping mat) towards the end of jan, but all is fixed now. Just as well, as I'm off hiking next week.

Lankymanx, I'd definitely like your gpx traces if you're happy for me to incorporate them into OpenStreetMap? It would be really cool to place the GDT on there. Obviously this means permanently licensing the trace data as creative commons...

Still up for a 2-3 day ride with whoever, whenever, drop me a line on stevage@gmail.com a week or so in advance so we can organise.

Steve

>why limit it to braking?

So it doesn't waste effort. Was thinking you might only need a small amount of power over a whole day, and you could get that "for free" if it came from braking.

>from what i know a regenerative braking system for a bike would be too heavy to be useful...

Ah.

Just so you know, yes it *will* wear a hole in the drybag - that happened to me doing something similar, but over the rear tyre. And a drybag with a hole in it isn't worth all that much. I usually end up with a bunch of bungee cords trying to lift the bag away from the wheel, but I think some of the other solutions posted sound better.

Agreed, a rack, particularly with rack bag with expandable panniers, is a very convenient thing. But I'm still happier without

Incidentally, the last time "something happened", it was my girlfriend refusing to take the scenic, hilly route home from a bike trip. To convince her, I took her rack, basket, and all her gear (in addition to mine!), and we set off. Definitely more convenient that I *didn't* have a rack on that (rather unusual) occasion...

Wow, so far every single person except two have mentioned ways to generate electricity. Mmmm...how about a regenerative (ie, brake-powered) battery charger....

Tracks that allow horses but not bikes? That's crazy. It's pretty hard to compete with a horse in terms of environmental and trail destruction.

Great photos, nice write-up, really enjoyed. Excuse my ignorance, but is that actually Area 52, or is that a nickname for it?

Looks like Eric has taken down the blog post, so presumably he worked something out with Spesh. Curious to know whether the name change is still going ahead though.

>I think the handlebar harnesses are a great idea also. I could see that what you're talking about (panniers and bags) could be a good option. Making the bags for oneself would also be fun and rewarding. Have fun!

My thoughts:
- you can't jury rig a frame bag. you have to do it right, or pay someone else to do it.
- you probably can jury rig a saddle pack, but it's a bit fiddly to stop it rubbing on your legs. I didn't quite get there, so I got one from Jeff.
- it's really easy to jury rig a handlebar harness. maybe I got lucky, but I found a sleeping bag cover ("Roman" brand, has various compression straps and stuff attached to it) slipped over a Topeak handlebar bag mount worked perfectly, with no effort. There are probably lots of ways you can do something similar, like getting a canvas bag and sewing some compression straps onto it.

But if the OP needs a rack and panniers, he needs a rack and panniers...

>Tarptents are good for hiking, but they rely on trekking poles, which I'm certainly not carrying on a bike.

Naw, you're mistaken. They have optional, cheap, and very lightweight conventional poles. 530g for the sublite tent plus 140g for the poles. Totally the solution for you. Cheap too - about $185 USD with poles iirc.

Now, other problems I've encountered needing a solution:
- a rack that goes on and off really quickly, without wearing out my brazeons.
- magic tyres that behave well on and off road. (maybe something that behaves like a road tyre under high pressure, and a mtb tyre under low)
- second the comments about dynohubs. I want a cheap dynohub+light+charger setup. Current cost of a schmidt dynohub plus wheel build plus light is ridiculous.
- failing that, a lightweight emergency AA charger, whether wind, solar, rim dyno...
- some sort of lightweight protection for arms/legs against scrub rashes, and grazes could work
- for that matter, lightweight face protection for when stuff gets unexpectedly gnarly
- (dreaming) changing tyre pressure without stopping...
- some sort of lightweight theft deterrent. enough to be able to leave a bike outside a supermarket for 30 minutes.

Can't say these are major frustrations for me though. Biggest frustration is lack of free time/leave...

Well, down the very bottom, between the down tube and seat tube.

Fwiw, back from a 4 day ride, experimented a bit and found that right down the very bottom of the frame bag is best for the bladder. Even on sealed roads, lowering the centre of gravity is noticeable. I wound up with the bladder at the bottom, a normal drink bottle inside the frame bag against the seat tube, and one more drink bottle under the BB. The main problem with the bladder being so low is that the tube might not be long enough to drink from while sitting upright. It takes a bit more suction to get the water up from there, but it's not terrible.

>Also separate tools meaybe a bit smaller to pack than a bulky multitool.

Also, separate allen keys are much easier to use than keys attached to a multitool. Come to think of it, does a multitool even make sense - it's heavier and clumsier than individual tools. The only benefit is the convenience of having everything together in one place and not forgetting the one tool you need.

dave54: wonder if it's a hardware/software bug of some kind?

My oregon 550 has been extremely accurate so far, although once it was off by maybe 100m for maybe 20 minutes before suddenly snapping out of it. (Only noticed afterwards, when comparing a trace).