The weather looks a little sketchy for our planned Memorial Day overnight bike trip so it may be postponed one week. Not that it’s going to be horrible weather, but it will be more fun when a little warmer. Maybe I should call this Fair Weather Bike Touring News?
Sky King’s bike is ready to go.
Wald Basket on a Nitto M-18 front rack
Grant Petersen at Rivendell pioneered the use of an inexpensive wire basket zip tied to a Nitto rack for overnight bike tripping. Sort of primitive but it looks like it should work. (Notice I’m letting Sky King do the experiment)
Zip Ties are the preferred method for attaching the basket to the rack.
The Nitto M18 attaches with a metal tang which shares the front brake bolt.
For a bike without mid-fork eyelets Nitto provides these stainless steel clamps.
The Nitto R10 Bag Supporter
The Nitto R10 Bag Supporter is a real minimalist rack but she is just going to use it to support a large rear saddlebag and a sleeping bag.
Sky
While almost any bike can be used for an overnight trip,Sky King’s bike, Sky, sports road style drop handlebars, bar end shifters, a triple crankset with an 8 speed cassette and relatively voluminous tires about 34 to 35 millimeters wide. The wider tires will offer some cushion on the gravel roads we will be traversing. The small front chainring with 26 teeth combined with a large rear cog of 32 teeth provides a low gear of 21 which should get her up any of the hills we will encounter. (see my post about gear inches to see what that means)
More about the actual packing, the Bike Hermits setup and the route will be the subject of future posts.
