mmeiser
Less Stuff. More Freedom!
Location: SE Micigan
Posts: 207
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« Reply #82 on: February 17, 2013, 12:20:18 AM » |
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Great thread,
glad to see **Time Atac pedals** on here. Only pedal platform I haven't broken (yet). I have worn the aluminum platform off, have rebuilt, but not yet broken. Love their simplicity of design and durability. BTW, I'm not going to berate crank brothers as some have, I loved them, but before I stopped using them I had broken pretty much every model they ever made. Egg beater, Mallet, Quattro, Acid. They always warrantied them, and mostly they were blade brakes or spring brakes, always right side, so I figured it was my bad ankle (twists and rolls with every stroke due old injury) and my weight (6'5"/250+lbs). But when I snapped an Acid axel and then a Mallet axel (both right side) I decided regardless to relent and tried the Atac. So far about 3-4 years without a failure. Did wear down the platform on my first set of Alium so bad I do need to lay down some tig/mig beads to build back up the surface and had to rebuild them, but I consider that amazing.
Steel is real. Glad to see a **surly bikes** mention or two. I think "equipment that works" is a surly trademark. I have a Cross Check with 30k+ miles on it, don't use it quite as much know that I have newer/lighter smancy bikes, but I will always love to ride my cross check. I see that same really well spec'd and thought out design going on in in the LHT, pugsley / moonlander, KM, Ogre and pretty much every product in their line. Steel is real, and Surly bikes are goto value.
more products I like
XT long arm derailleurs... I checked one day, I have these on a 8 out of 10 of my bikes wether they be mountain, touring, cyclocross or road. I don't know when my obsesion started but I love them.
Revelate designs super twinkies (also main triangle bags, gas tanks and more)... the super twinkie is worth its weight in gold, works on pretty much any bike, easy to put on and use, holds a lot. I have two and lend one out to friends I ride with. Also now have two mainframe bags, a Tangle top tube bag and two gas tanks. I got the first one as swag at Trans Iowa years ago and it's been love ever since.
z-folding Autoshade window shades... always cary one in the winter touring / bikepacking... useful for so many things first thing out when I stop to take a break and sit in the snow, or on something wet... instant dry warm spot... easy to clean... durable... suplements and protects inflateable insulated sleeping pad from ground, great for sitting aorund campfire, cheap and expendable, have created pot cozy's out of, have created instant in-soles for Lake winter boots out of. What can't you do with these things?
$20 swiss army knife or mini micra letherman... it's like an extension of my arm for touring and life... when doesn't it come in handy
bb7 avid disc... I have used bb7 mountain and bb7 road... maybe someday someone will make something better, hard to imagine, but I'm always game
9-speed stuff.... also shimano bar end shifters... heh, who needs more then 9-speeds, cheap replacement chains, cassettes, 90% of the gear options as 10-speed but a fraction of the price... $100 MSRP is it? When do you need better shifting? That said, I also love my STI... particularly on singletrack and performance road bikes, but man they are a son-of-a-gun to keep clean and working well when your bike and you live in the rain, dirt roads and trails for weeks on end. Expensive to replace too.
Mavic Open Pro rims... for road / backroad touring, for non-traditional bikepacking on the road I should say. My goto road rim. I have broken 2 now, in... 5-6... years and 20-30, maybe 40k miles. Well... the one I got hit by a car (left hook) so I can't hold that against them. I have NOT found that goto rim for off road bikepacking yet. Though I do love my new DT 540's and their construction is very similar to that of the open pro cup and eyelet system.
hollow axle 2-piece cranks... XT appear to be my goto model... I've ridden em all, splined, outset, and I'm trying the new bb90 on my newest bikepacking paved road / dirt road setup. I have worn out pretty much everything at one point, I don't think I'll ever go back to square taper, but let's just say I'm hoping to beat my 18 month record between bottom bracket replacements. The outset bottom bracket's are suseptable to rain/water damage and the amount of strain on the threads for outset cups can cause creaking that comes back even despit locktite, pipe tape and other tricks. Eventually you notice the threads in the bb shell starting to progressively wear the futher they are to the outside. I don't mind replacing bearings in the outset, they're inexpensive an light if I decide to carry them, but I am still looking forward to this new BB90/pressfit thing.
WTB Nanoraptor tires.... fast and versatile on pavement or dirt, well priced, long lasting. I do like my WTB Vulpine, but they wear a little too fast. Am currently obsessed with running things tubeless. Oh man I love the responsiveness/quickness when I hammer up hills.
Continental Gatorskin tires... for UL road touring bikepack style. What more need be said. I enjoy wearing the crap out of a couple sets of these every summer. Performance and longevity. I have started to mix a-symetrical tires on the road... i.e. 25mm gatorskin in the back with an extremely lighter / cheaper 21/23mm upfront. Fronts wear soooo much slower. Will probably try this with off road in the future as well.
2oz titanium sheeting "hobo stove"... 700ml Evernew pot, titanium light-my-fire spork and a bit of aluminum foil... simple, stupid, awesome, effective. I don't even bother carrying an alcohol stove anymore, but I can improvise a great one if I need to and pick up some HEET gas line anti-freeze, bacardi 151 or denatured alcohol just about anywhere. Can't remember the last time I needed anything more then a few sticks though.
Fleece/micro-fleece... goto for winter touring mid/outwear... cheap enough to be sacrificial / get dirty / wear the crap out of, retain great r-value when damp. Buy it to wear it though, if it's not going to be on your person when riding don't take it because they're to bulky to pack.
Merino wool baselayers... for winter tourings... merino wool socks are an absolute must you can pick up good quality ones for as little as $13 a pair these days, but long sleeve pants and shirts are luxurious.
Brooks saddles... B-17 specifically... Istill haven't found anything more durable and comfortable... a little expensive, but grudgingly worth it.
Jandd top tube bag... the triangle one... it's the gateway drug of frame bags. Easy to put on/ take off. Great for just about anything and everything. Pisses roadies off to have "pockets" on my road bike, lol. looks right at home on my cross check and fargo though.
Topeak morph pumps... own three... two road, one mountain. Have rebuilt the crap out of the two road. Easy to take apart, easy to fix, lube... and for the most part they still work after I sinfully abuse them by forgetting to cover their heads with plastic bags and let them fill up with dirt, water, then freeze/unfreeze. Still haven't found anything better, though I've been lustfully eyeing some smaller Lezyme ones.
Specialized rib-cages... i freaking love these things. Have been using them for three generations already, haven't tried the newest (fourth generation for me). They have it all longevity, durability, lightweight. I discovered them many many years ago when looking for something that wouldn't eject bottles on rough terrain. The first ones I used finally cracked after eight or so years. But the second gen are more flexible and I'm still using them after six years. The third gention i've used they ditched the rubber band thingy, they are my favorite yet. I use them on the front fork of my Fargo and abuse the crap out of them. Absolutely flawless. Never drop a bottle and despite taking tremendous hits, snags, being constantly crushed when layng / leaning the bike and all the torsional force on them due the fork mounting... absolutely flaweless.
Two Fish water bottle cages and velcro mounts. LOVE. I keep one velcro two-fish wb cage in my truck at all times. Instant water bottle cage anywhere anytime. I use their velcro block mounts for my headlamps and handlebar mounts. Flawlessly simple and brilliant.
Cree LED lights... doesn't matter if you use the Fennix LD20, I personally love my new $65 Fennix HP11 and my $40 "cheapo" Nebo Redline.. what they all have in common is the Cree LED bulbs. My first 80lumen LED headlamp years ago rocked my world. Instead of only 10 hours in the day in the winter there are now 24 hours in a day for me and boy do I use them!! My night rides have often been the things when look back that I most dream of. Three or four nights in a row of big full moons, cloudless skies and a world of covered in fresh white turn nights into days for me riding rail trails like the Ghost Town Trail in Pensylvania on a recent tour of PA's Allegheny National forest, rail trails and a PA divide route someone posted on this forum. Ironic that it was so bright that I was often able to turn off my lights and ride purely by the moonlight on that trip. I would have never gotten there without LED bulbs that could burn four eight and ten hours at 220 - 300 or more lumens on 3 AAA or 4 AA's. I used to think it was the novelty of riding at night or in the snow and incliment weather, but as the years go by I've had to come to come to the terms with the fact that I have a most unnatural love and perhaps even an addiction to the challenge and beauty of these things. It is inexplicable.
Frogg Toggs DriDucks and O2 Rainwear.... Perhaps it is the fact that I can't find anything else that fits me (6'5" with ape arms), but I do think that these truely are the best, lightest, most high breathing rain jackets money can by. Just because they happen to only run $15-35 doesn't mean they don't rock. One or the other of these is in my frame bag pretty much every multi-day ride year round if it's going to be less then 60 degrees. They are my goto emergency windbreaker / rain gear. I prefer the hoodless O2 Rainware because its' lighter and more durable. However the Frog Togg Driducks is baggier and I can even put it on over my down jacket if need be so it tends to be my winter emergency jacket.
Outdoor Research Aurora bivy... their are lighter... but my first bivy is so durable, perfect, waterproof light, I've never felt compelled to explore the lighter options to save an ounce or two. I love it. I love bivying. I love "sleeping in the ditch" on a whim. The freedom is intoxicating. Ride and sleep and sleep and ride like dirtbag whore. Five minutes after you decide to stop riding you're asleep. Five minutes after rising you're back on the bike. So much fun shouldn't even be legal. Bivying is a spring and fall thing for me. I tarp in the summer when it's to hot to bivy and I tent in the extreme winter when I need more downy layers then can fit in my bivy. Honorable mention to my 6oz golite poncho tarp and stripped down 1lb 5oz Golite Shangrila 3.
Lake Winter Boots... for years there wasn't anything better, and I do love them, but they're getting threadbare. I've started lusting for another younger lady. Her name is Wolvhammer.
== products I'm still looking for ==
More durable drivetriains. I wear the piss out of chains, cassettes and chainrings. Chains (up to nine a year), Cassettes (can get up to 2-years use out of them), Chainrings (up to two or three years out of the grany). I'm crazy meticulous about checking, oiling cleaning these things. I refuse to try ten-speed. I've even gone back to 8-speed. The sheer volume of miles and number of bikes with multiple wheelset combinations means that there's always something in a state of wear that requires me to baby it. It may be a bit of chain suck in the grannny when I put a new chain on, or a cog or two in the cassette (1,2 or 3) that skips when I torque. There's always something. And most of the time it's a minor annoyance when I'm out gravel grinding, but occasionally when I'm hauling *ss on a club ride and someone jumps or I'm running at 110% of capacity, or trying to climb up some monsterously long and technical hill on my mountain bike... or spinning in the snow. Well... then these annoyances kick me in the balls when I need my granny or the perfect cadence of that 3nd cog most. I'm a cheapo... in as much as can be one who replaces as many as nine chains a year. So I've actually put 8-speed back on one of my steeds for fun, and I have refused to pay shimano for 10-speed junk... I mean really expensive "great stuff" that won't last for sh*t... which... well to me makes it "expensive junk".
always better tires... I'm like the Imelda Marcos of tires. But all my pretties are hanging on the wall thread bare, because that's the way I like my trophies. I have no end of tires I love, and I am satisfied with their longevity, but I'll always be looking for more performance, more longevity and better MSRP:performance/longevity mix.
Better winter sleeping pads... I love my Exped Airmat... rarely use it. Prefer to sleep on a well picked and well prepared ground with maybe a acordian folding autoshade as my only matt. In winter though I MUST have insulation. I find the Big Agness Aircore bretty briliant in every way except the nozzle which is a colossal fail. Where my Exped gulps air the Big Agnes requires annoying effort to get air through it's tiny nozzle. Worse still the way the nozzle attaches it has failed many times where it binds into the fabric. After many techniques I think I've finally got it maybe permanently sealed with gobs of ShoeGoo but I've lost a lot of confidence in it. Ideally I want one of those new Thermarest Thermal NeoAir's for winter use but I want my Exped in flow and out flow valves. We shall see.
The perfect GPS. If only my Droid Razr Maxx was water proof and ran on two AA's for 20 horus I'd be in love. Google maps integration. Wonderful caching, google "my maps" integration for online route sharing, editing and ability to google stuff when on network... However it won't ever be durable enough, waterproof enough, nor be simple enough to charge when on the road. So.. it's got to be a garmin, but then garmin doesn't have half the stuff it does, so it has to be both. Buck up me.
Well... I think that's it.
I didn't spend to much time in the land of tangentia, but I've buried the town of verbosity with a foot of fresh word-fall. If you've read this far, what the h*ll is wrong with you!
I appologize for any grammeritis / spellingitis. I will try to proof read better in the morrow. Night.
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