Tires - we like the Pasela tourguards and I've become a fan of the Schwalbe Marathon Supremes (50c). I don't have an odometer on any of my bikes so I don't know about our mileage/flat ratio. I can tell you that, together, my wife Pamela and I have had few enough flats over our last three summer tours (four months of riding total) for me to remember where and when each one occurred and what caused them - that's four flats total. Pamela has always used 32c Paselas (one flat). I used 37c Paselas one summer (no flats), 40c Schwalbe Marathon XR's one summer (1 flat), and Schwalbe Marathon Supreme 50c another summer (2 flats). I did get more flats with the supremes, but I spent the summer actually trying to puncture them! I had a stupid grin every time I rode the bike because the Bombadil felt like a balloon tire bomber with the supremes. Also note that when I'm not actively trying to get flats, I'm never particularly careful about avoiding punctures.
Critters - Ortlieb panniers (back rollers) are pretty secure by themselves. I aromatic food items only go in one specific pannier or in a separate drybag I carry specifically for food. In places with serious critter problems - usually high use campgrounds - I hang our food, cosmetics and other attractive scented items, and trash in the food pannier and dry bag using nylon cord. In places with bad raccoon problems, we accept that the animals will open our packs and sometimes we leave the packs open to avoid damage. Without a reward, the animals always move on to easier marks. Protection - None. Nope. Nada. People are generally good and I go through life expecting that. One of the great realizations I had when I completed a solo bike tour across the US is how wonderful and generous the people I met were. I have had a few negative experiences, but none of these threatened my life or safety and are so overwhelmed by instances of random acts of kindness showed to me that I have trouble remembering them. Dave On Apr 6, 11:07 pm, happyriding <happyrid...@yahoo.com> wrote: > Awesome. > > 1) What tires do you like? How many flats per 1,000 miles do you get? > > 2) How do you keep critters out of your stuff at night? > > 3) Do you carry any protection to ward off human predators? -- 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-bu...@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.
