Hi Bob — Here are my two shillings. I think your bike is set up very nicely with some carefully selected parts from heritage manufacturers. Everything's practical. With fenders, racks and dynamo your bike is quite versatile and has a timeless appeal. Capable bikes are often, by their nature, on the heavier side.
Rather than making any changes, swaps or other modifications I'd suggest simply this: go on more overnight trips. Get your system dialed in as far as packing and what you absolutely need to bring. Weigh every item and get a tally of how much you're actually hauling and refine from there. The weight data will be helpful. The more you go, the more accustomed and conditioned you will become to carrying all your stuff. If you have time for another overnighter or two before your pending 5-day tour it would be a good opportunity to further refine your rig. The only change I would encourage, as Bernard suggests above, is to consider lower gearing. I could have missed it but what size are the rings you have on your double? It kind of looks like you have an outer ring in the high 40s and a middle ring in the low 30s. You might do better with low 40s / high 20s combo. I personally do not care for triples or one-by systems. Sub compact doubles all the way! Just my personal preference. The double combinations that Riv offers are some good jumping off points for possible combinations (I'm not suggesting you need to buy a new crankset): 38x24, 42x28. With the XD2 cranks you should have no trouble finding substitute chainrings at very nice prices. I run a 42x26 on my Hillborne and a 38x24 on my Appaloosa. I also don't see any specifications on your cassette, what's the range there? You might consider a cassette with a larger max cog like a 34t or 36t. Let us know how things shake out, enjoy your pending tour and cheers to you on a nice looking Hillborne. Eric On Thursday, July 25, 2024 at 6:44:27 PM UTC-4 ber...@bernardduhon.com wrote: > I agree this summer I ran a low-low compact double 42-26 > > & 11-34 cassette 650b wheels 165 crankarm that’s 19 gear inches. > > Even overloaded I walked no hills . > > > > *From:* 'aeroperf' via RBW Owners Bunch <rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com> > *Sent:* Thursday, July 25, 2024 4:31 PM > *To:* RBW Owners Bunch <rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com> > *Subject:* [RBW] Re: Help me lighten up Sam > > > > Having toured extensively both with expedition loads and credit-card tour > loads, I’ll add one thing that Steve touched on up above. > > > > It may add weight, but go for a touring gear set up. 3x9. > Something like a 46-36-26 for credit card tours and 44-32-22 for > expedition tours, with an 11-34 cassette. > You want a low-low gear of about 20 gear inches. > I used to blame the weight, or my legs, but correct gearing made a big > difference. > > The Erie Canal Bike Trail is a nice ride. Enjoy! > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com. > > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/dce6a966-f2cb-46aa-bbb5-58dbc242a43cn%40googlegroups.com > > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/dce6a966-f2cb-46aa-bbb5-58dbc242a43cn%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/0a63a70c-2ec0-4b65-af55-db6185c83b1an%40googlegroups.com.
