When we went to Russia in 1997, we took six Trek 950 mountain bikes with us. The bike had 26-inch wheels, knobby tires, flat handlebars and a very upright seating position. We were not the fastest cyclists in the world to start with, and the choice of bikes made us even slower. Our guides from the Petrozavodsk Bicycle Travel Club were all on "touring" bikes, with thinner (but not too thin) tires, dropped (road-style) handlebars and 700mm (about 29 inches) wheels, which made for much more efficient travel, particularly on paved roads.
Last year, after 12 years and four mountain bikes, I invested in my first "road" bike, a Marin Venezia. It was a great bike for hopping on and running for coffee or to the store, and for exercise. But it's 25mm tires and short, racing wheelbase prevented it from being a good touring bike, even though I had a rack put on it. Last month I traded it in on a Bianchi Volpe, a bike specifically designed for loaded touring. The Bianchi has tires about half the width of a mountain bike, but substantially wider than a "racing" type bike. In Mark Jenkins' book, "Off the Map: Bicycling across Siberia" Jenkins describes the modifications they made to the Trek 970s they rode across Russia in 1990, including narrower tires, replacing the flat handlebars with more aerodynamic, road-style drop bars and adding heavy duty racks to the front and rear. Basically, the Volpe fits that bill. It has a chromoly steel (a strong, lightweight steel alloy) frame that can be repaired by anyone with a regular welder. (Aluminum requires heliarc welding) It may be the perfect bike for Russia.
Unfortunately, since I picked it up, I have only been able to ride it about twelve miles, do to the extremely hot weather we have had for the past three weeks. I am praying for a break in that trend...and soon.
We proceeded on...
Trailpatrol
0 comments:
Post a Comment