Hey Brian, I'm not really sure how much weight the bike was carrying. I used small Ortlieb panniers that contained, a lightweight sleeping bag and pad, some lightweight clothes, food, and some odds and ends. On the rear rack platform I had my tent and poles in a stuff sack. The complete tent is sub 3lbs I think. The rear rack, a Surly, was/is excessive. A Tubus Cargo rack is a better choice due to being just as strong and lighter. I used a Berthoud HB bag with food and a rain jacket in it. The pockets had tools and some odds and ends.
There were times when I hit speeds of 40mph and felt totally solid and fine on the bike but there were a few instances when it was windy when the bike had a slight shimmy in it. When this happened I'd just put my knee on the TT and that seemed to take care of things. Also, when riding at slower speeds no hands or with both hands on the bars close to the stem the bike would shimmy. It seemed that the more I had in the HB bag the less shimmy was a factor. The bike also just felt a little noodly riding it loaded. I'll continue to use it on overnight bike camping trips but before touring like this again I'd either get a touring frame or maybe just deal with putting gears and all that junk back on my Surly Crosscheck. I'd also look at riding with front panniers and some miscellaneous items in a stuff sack on a rear rack. Besides the tires the other piece of equipment I was surprised by was the Silver brakes which were excellent. Hope that helps. --mike On Aug 17, 1:10 pm, Brian Hanson <stone...@gmail.com> wrote: > Mike - how much weight on the Hilsen? Was it wobbly in specific > situations? Interested in more detail as I'll be doing this sort of thing > with a Hilsen. BTW - great trip photos. Looks like it was a great time! > > Brian > > On Mon, Aug 17, 2009 at 10:55 AM, Mike <mjawn...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > Yesterday my friend Dylan and I finished up 8 days of cyclotouring > > through WA and OR. We managed to roll through portions of Gifford > > Pinchot NF, Mt Hood NF, Deschutes NF and the Willamette NF. We totally > > veered from our planned route which would have kept us in and around > > the GPNF but due to poor weather we changed plans and headed south. > > The hight point of the trip was day 6 when we took back roads from > > Madras to just below the summit of McKenzie Pass. I had been wanting > > to climb the pass ever since moving to OR and was not disappointed. We > > stayed at a beautiful and serene campground--Lava Lake. The next day > > we got on the road at 7am and summited McKenzie Pass where we had epic > > vies of the surround mountains and lava fields from the Dee Wright > > Observatory. > > > My Hilsen handled well although next time I tour like this I'll be on > > a dedicated touring bike. At times the Hilsen felt a little too > > noodly. I was absolutely floored by the performance of my Schwalbe > > Marathons (700x41)--they were great. I expected them to feel dead but > > they were fine. > > > We averaged like 82 miles a day. Our shortest day was like 65 miles > > and the longest 107. I can't wait until the next tour. Although we had > > poor weather which was a bummer the GPNF seems to offer endless > > cyclotouring opportunities for people living in Seattle or Portland > > and everywhere in-between. > > > My camera crapped out for part of the trip so I don't have photos from > > day 5 and only a few from day 4 and 6. > > >http://www.flickr.com/photos/41335...@n00/sets/72157622065862878/ > > > --mike --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
