London to Sydney

LewMilfy

well actually with a view flights across some bits. Here's the basic plan London ride to Istanbul flight to Bangkok ride to Singapore flight to Perth ride to Sydney. I'm roughly giving 1 month for each section but i know the middle will be smaller and either side longer.

I ride quite a bit and have completed triathlons so I have now concerns about averaging 120KM per day and know my fitness is up to it.

I do have a couple of questions for people with more experience touring than me.

1) I am planning to leave in October and then head south to the med and across Italy towards Turkey. Do you think the weather will be a little bad in October and improve the more south i get? (that's the plan anyway)
2) I have a Giant Defy 3 with Sora gears. Do you think this bike will last the distance as I know it's not really a touring bike.
3) Normal tent or Topeak http://www.topeak.com/products/Bike-Tent/Bikamper
4) I can see it's hilly heading south through France and turning left at the Med but is it manageable?

Looking forward to hearing from you guys with your valuable advice ;-)

Cheers

Lewis

alfablue

I wonder if the Sora levers are a good idea, they may be more fragile than higher end stuff, but even then, the expedition tourer might prefer bar end shifters or a hub gear for reliability. How about taking a pair of bar end shifters and cables as insurance should you break a lever (possibly in a fall/dropping the bike) when you are in some remote place? They would be a tiny burden to carry.

For the tent I would be looking for stability, durability and waterproofness, ease of erection ( :shock: ) , compact pack size and light weight. You may encounter some strong winds and heavy rain.

I would expect the bike to last the distance (frame-wise) but will it handle well enough for loaded touring? Are the wheels up to it? Will it be comfy for prolonged rides? Does it have rack and guard mounts? (If not then use a Tubus rack and axle quick release mount and m-part seat clamp top mount - I wouldn't trust p-clips for this type of tour). Does it have clearance for fatter touring tyres? Has it got carbon forks? I would prefer steel for this sort of ride, carbon might get damaged in transit or on the road, then it's game over.

LewMilfy

just a cheeky bump to see if anyone else has any advice.

cheers

GyatsoLa

1) Not too sure, but I would guess that you could encounter some pretty bad weather on higher ground that time of year - depends on the route.

2) I think the bike could do it, but only if you stick to good roads and if you can keep your load light - seriously light. This guy is a bit of an expert on touring on light road bikes:

http://www2.arnes.si/~ikovse/

You would need to spread the load well if you are not to end up with a nightmare of pinking spokes and other wheel problems. I'd suggest using the Tubus alfa recommends or www.oldmanmountain.com racks to ensure the load goes on the spindle. Putting a front rack on a carbon fork is difficult (but not impossible). Tough tyres are a necessity.

3) I'd avoid the Bikekamper. Its a neat idea, but if you compare closely with 'regular' tents, you will see there are plenty on the market that have just as much space and are the same weight, or lighter. There are no 'structural' advantages to using the bike the way they suggest, and as far as security is concerned, you can always just run guy ropes through your bike as you set up a tent.

4) If you are fit, your gearing is right, and you are not overloaded, it'll be fine. Just bear in mind that descending can be a nightmare if you are on a poorly loaded bike.

Clum84

I toured last year on a Giant SCR3 (last years defy) with very heavy triple panniers on the back and the bike held up with no problems at all.

Also stayed in italy until march this year and the weather throught the med will still be very warm by british standards through october, not really getting cold until the end of november. The exception being over the alps where i found a decent amount of snow near the tops during september.

Sounds like a pretty awesome trip so good luck with it all!

HillClimber101

Hi

what an amazing plan,

but one word of warning. i also have a giant defy 3 and i haven't had a rack on it, and i'm not heavy, but i have had a loose spoke. when i took it back to the shop they couldn't fix it, so i needed new wheels (which i was given for free ) but in the wilds it may be a bit more of a problem.

andymiller

For information about climate try www.weatherbase.com. Britain is surprisingly warm and its lattitude and actually gets relatively little rain - so don't bank on things getting warmer and drier as you go further south.

Yes get some wheels built by a specialist wheelbuilder like Harry Rowland or Spa Cycles.

stevenmh

Sounds like an amazing trip. So you know the rainy season in Thailand is "supposed" to end around the beginning of November. Of course the weather forecast process is the same anywhere and is impossible to predict, but when it rains in the monsoon season it really buckets down with visibility dropping to only a hundred + metres at the worse of times.

Also remember to pack some diorreah pills. You will probably be eating food you might not be used to.

I would also monitor the situation in the very far South of Thailand close to the border with Malaysia where there is a spot of bother now and again.

amaferanga

If you're planned route is asphalt or at least good quality gravel and you don't plan to carry much then IMO the bike will be fine provided you get some good wheels. But you will have to be very disciplined with your packing (perhaps not quite as anal as the chap in GyatsoLa's link though - also bear in mind the his trips are much shorter than yours) and buy a minimalist tent and sleeping bag.

If you need two panniers plus a rack bag to carry all your stuff then I'd say you've got too much stuff for the bike you plan to use and you should think about something sturdier.

For wheels, something like a RIgida Sputnik or Chrina or a Mavic A719 or Open Pro on Shimano hubs wouldn't break the bank.

That Topeak tent is rubbish - a silly, silly gimmick. There are plenty of very light tents available - I have a Big Agnes SL2 that fits 2 people comfortably, but weighs only about 1.5kg.

nasz

My wife and I cycled from London to Sydney in 2005. Mind you we went for comfort and used recumbents.

www.nutsonbents.com

We did vast amounts of research of equipment and in the end chose a lightweight 2 man tent (which was very light - 3kg and very spacious) - Wechsel Zero-G Outpost

Bikewise - any bike will be up to the mark these days - just make sure you carry some spare parts.

If you want more info email me

jay_clock

First, have a look at Crazy Guy.... www.crazyguyonabike.com

Personally I think that bike is far too lightweight for that type of ride. Things like heel clearances on panniers might be a problem

As for replacing Sora with higher end stuff! Madness. Sora are solid and reliable, the higher you go the more they are light but built with the innards of a Swiss watch...