A bit more eqiup advice

2wheelwill said:

Lastly, I'm looking at Jandd Expedition racks because they seem to be a good value for a heavy duty rack.

Awesome rack. A bit on the heavy side, but completely bomb proof - plus they are about 2 inches longer then the standard rack, so you don't have to worry about room.

I've owned my J.E. for five years, and other than a coat of flat black X-O Rust to cover the dings, it is as good as the first day I mounted it.

2wheelwill said:

Hi,

I posted a question here a few weeks back on the best wheels for a year long bike trip I'm planning and got an amazing amount of great info -- thanks to all who replied.

The last bits of bike equipment I need to purchase include headset, tires, and bike racks. It seems like everyone raves about Chris King headsets but I can't imagine they are worth the $100+. Any better values out there for a super durable headset?

As for tires, I've been considering Continental Top Touring or Schwalbe Marathon. We're traveling fully loaded and will be traveling mostly on good roads, but will likely hit some nasty stuff on occasion in S. America. Any thoughts?

Lastly, I'm looking at Jandd Expedition racks because they seem to be a good value for a heavy duty rack. I've also looked at Surly (all steel) and Old Man Mountain (expensive). Would regular old Blackburn racks be sturdy enough?

Thanks for reading and any advice you might have.

Will & Sarah.........'round the world in '06.

Chris King headsets. They aren't cheap but you get what you pay for and if you are doing long distances in south America?............
I haven't used Schwalbe myself but they seem to be very popular for heavily laden bikes and amongst the Triplet crowd. I've not been overly impressed with Top Touring having had poor wear and sidewall failures.
I don't know what bikes you are using but we have just cime back from a 2200km trip in France and Austria on our new 26" wheel Co-motion tandem.
Our other tandem uses 700C wheels and we have really apreciated the extra "give" that the larger tires have with bumps.
The wheels are Velocity DeepV with Hugi hubs and Panaracer Hi-road tires which have hardly any wear for the distance. We have Tubus pannier racks and ortlieb bags which were brilliant. It's nice to know that no matter how bad the weather is or even crossing a flooded causeway unexpectedly (so thats what the warning sign in German was saying!) nothing in the panniers will get wet. The Tubus rear rack was great though I'm not convinced about the design of the front rack.
Dont even contemplate a blackburn rack if you are going for an extended trip.
I've seen them break after 200kms of dirt track. Go for a steel rack.

Happy travels

Geoff