Mid-ride technical report
There are some amongst you who would like to know how well our equipment is performing.
Thus far, we have completed 255.4 km on our Bromptons. We are carrying our worldly possessions in four bags. Two Brompton S bags and two Ortlieb panniers. Just enough room!
The Bromptons have proven themselves to be competent touring bikes. There is no doubt in their stability especially going downhill at speed loaded with luggage. They have only been minor maintenance issues fixed by the application of lubricant and occasional tightening of a screw. Although, I suspect my right pedal will need replacing soon. Not bad given the torture we’ve put them through including riding 8 kilometres on sand.
Fortunately, unlike our last trip we’ve had no punctures. Our new Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres are going well.
For route guidance, we are using a combination of Strava and Beeline. We use Strava to map the routes (they are all available if you’d like to ride the Noto Peninsula too). We also used the Beeline in Europe – back then it was terrible. But this new Beta software that we are using makes something that was a useless pain into the perfect tool for route guidance. The battery would last three days – but it does need your phone to be on. No complaints here. But note, the purpose of the Beeline is not to give turn by turn navigation, but rather waypoint to waypoint “beeline” directions. It does record your ride and connects with Strava.
