PROBLEMS

BIKES

After two virtually trouble free 8 month trips we thought our bikes were invincible. We were pretty stunned to find a major split in Hugh’s rear rim (Mavic EX721) on our 3rd day in Georgia. Never mind we thought – not far to Tbilisi and surely there is a good bike shop there which can help. It turned out to be more difficult than we expected (story elsewhere on the journal). Rims shouldn’t crack up with disc brakes!

We left Tbilisi with a second-hand rim fitted (transferred to my bike) using the existing spokes by the guru of bike maintenance in Tbilisi and ordered a new rim and spokes to be sent to Baku. The rim was mistakenly sent via Moscow (using Parcelfarce) where it got stuck in customs. By the time it arrived in Baku we were across the Caspian so our contact refused to accept the parcel which was then returned and we were refunded the entire cost. The rim lasted trouble free to Almaty!

Whilst cleaning the bikes in Baku Hugh discovered another problem – a lug to which the base of the front pannier rack is attached had broken off the forks. This one was easy though – good welders are not hard to find in Baku where many a car gets fixed. Later on the other lug went the same way – this he tied up with cable ties and tape as we were in The Pamirs and nowhere near a welder. However, this put strain on the top lug and after another thousand kms a fine crack developed in the fork where the lug was welded on. The bolt also sheared twice on the original repair – but the welded lug held. Hugh put in other bolts two times (over a thousand kms apart) which were a bit short so there was no room for a nut on the end but it held with the thread in the lug.



PANNIERS and BAGS

We opted to use Vaude panniers on this trip rather than the Ortlieb ones which we had always used before. They get around some of the disadvantages of Ortlieb in that the top strap clips in on the outside which means you don’t have to struggle to find the connection on the rear panniers underneath a bag sitting on the top of the rack. However, we found out that for the front panniers this is a disadvantage. When I forget to do up the strap, the buckle got caught up in the front wheel. Luckily I managed to untangle it from the rotor with no damage to anything but the strap which I had to cut off. The bag works fine without it.

On one of Hugh’s rear panniers the back panel split around where a clip is attached. We strapped it up with a zip tie and had a new one sent to Baku from Ubergear (free of charge) – this parcel arrived safely. Later on the same thing happened to his other rear pannier – this was fixed with the old faithful of cable ties and tape pending a replacement when we get home.

The clips which attach the panniers to the rack don’t give us confidence. Several of mine are splitting into two parts and are held together with cable ties. We do like the way they strap down at the side and the fact that there are no annoying bulky bolts interfering with the inside pockets but In future we will probably revert to Ortlieb for strength and reliability.

The zip has given up (over-use probably as I keep my camera in it) on my Topeak Fuel Tank bag

TYRES

The Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres have truly stunned us with their resistance to punctures. We put them on at our pit stop in Lagnes, in the south of France and we got to Almaty, over 12,000 km without a puncture. This is despite riding over unbelievable quantities of broken vodka bottles in Central Asia. Prior to that we had Schwalbe Marathons and I got one puncture in France. There is a theory that the hardness of the tyre could have contributed to Hugh’s rim split but we are sceptical.

OTHER STUFF

We both got small holes in our Thermarest mats which we repaired, but despite searching in a big bath of water we still couldn’t find the miniscule leaks which let them down ever so slightly during the night. No problem but not perfect!

Tilly replaced my first couple of pairs of knickers which gave way at the seams after a few days’ wear. However, there is little point in getting ‘technical’ knickers – the normal sort are light, comfortable and quick drying enough.

THINGS WE DIDN’T NEED

The over-the-head midge nets have only been used for filtering gritty water from a French etang!

The jury is still out on the Steripen – we have needed it so little that we haven’t used it enough to test it. We could easily have got by on boiling some water and using a kind of purifying tablet when necessary.

THINGS THAT ARE REALLY GREAT

The Orikaso origami style bowls are brilliant and they last forever – they get my vote for the best kit ever.

Despite some problems we still think the bikes are really brilliant and we also love our Hilleberg Staika tent - we camped in some extreme weather conditions in including very strong winds and the tent is as good as new.

We will be talking to Roberts Cycles in Croydon shortly about whether a new pair of forks are needed or simply some careful welding and reinforcement. The bikes have now done 40,000 km many of which have been on very rough unmade roads. The bikes are called “Roughstuffs”.

The big pot from the Optimus Terra cookware which has a heat exchanger is brilliant – it has a good hard interior coating and the heat exchanger reduces the time taken to boil water considerably – our test gave a better result than the quoted 20% reduction in time. It is a pity that the smaller pan doesn’t have the same interior coating – we found black bits coming off the inside into our food!

The Primus Omnifuel stove has been a big improvement on the MSR stove we used previously. The jet is so much easier to extract and clean after the use of dodgy fuel. The control valve is also simple to remove and clean. The pump failed once but worked again after the application of pump grease, a one minute job.

The Smart mugs are great for filter coffee – one developed a leak and started taking in water between the layers.

The Rab Microlight Alpine down Jacket gives great warmth for weight.

THINGS WHICH ARE HARD TO GET EN-ROUTE

Good chain lube – WD40 – is hard to find in some countries.

Maps – particularly east of Greece.

Bike spares in general – east of Greece

Good food outside cities once east of The Caspian

Relation | Bookmark | Edit | | Report | Link Rating: (0) Dodgy rack boss on the front fork - seems like it is cracking - braced with jubilee clips