how do you carry your gear on a bike? (1 Viewer)

Karl J · Mar 26, 2008

Good ole boy, seggs. Yes i've no doubt it'll get better (and warmer

).

been digging throughsome old pictures and came across a couple relevant to various threads. First is one of my bikes loaded up - its not the greatest pic ever but i think it shows what it needs to. And all the luggage can be re-arranged / bought specially for any type of bike. Handlebar bag for small stuff and bin's etc, scope in saddlebag, tripod bungeed across the back

The second one is a timely reminder (with all the winter gunge on the road) that a spot of chain maintenance will help things last a good deal longer and help put off expensive repairs / replacements. It is a chain-bath, costs about a tenner and is dead-easy to use.

Bit OT maybe, but anyone interested in this (Dunwich Dynamo) - 200km through-night bike ride from east London to Dunwich (next door to Minsmere)

Sancho · Mar 26, 2008

Cool chain-bath, Karl J!!! I've gotta get me one of those, it'll save a hell of a lot of messy hassle!

Karl J · Mar 26, 2008

Sancho said:
Cool chain-bath, Karl J!!! .... it'll save a hell of a lot of messy hassle!

...and not forgetting the helluva lot of money saved in not replacing chainrings & cassettes etc prematurely.

Heaven only knows how much that'd cost for your Sanchomobile :eek!:

will@bill · Mar 28, 2008

get a lock seggs

get yourself a easy lock to put on in a hurry been out today and forgot my lock. not good leaving your bike behind while following a bird

will@bill · Mar 28, 2008

going spare

could only carry my camera today around my neck but inside my jacket nowhere to put my bins going to look for something to go on my handle bars just big enough for my bins so i can draw them like john wayne:t: may use a spare pair with no strap as it will get in the way

going to start using my bike more:t:

Sancho · Mar 28, 2008

Karl J said:
...and not forgetting the helluva lot of money saved in not replacing chainrings & cassettes etc prematurely.

Heaven only knows how much that'd cost for your Sanchomobile :eek!:

I ordered a chainbath today! Thanks for the tip, KarlJ! It's primarily for my road bike, which I have to keep squeaky clean. The Sanchomobile doesn't go very far (only to kids' school, my work and back each day, about 8km round-trip), so it doesn't require too much maintenance. The road bike gets the distance, though, and I'm very lazy about keeping chain and cassettes clean...

Meanwhile, Will@Bill, I find that the best way to carry compacts on a bike is simply to wear a cycling shirt, the lycra racing ones with three pockets low on the back. I dedicate one pocket to my bins, without the case, and put nothing else in there so they won't get scratched. I can get them out reasonably quickly. You need small compacts for this, though, and they must be waterproof if you're going to dispense with the case. (Keeping them in the case makes it too fiddly to get them out).

seggs · Mar 29, 2008

found this item on the net ...http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....m=200195290122&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=010

Karl J · Mar 29, 2008

Sancho said:
I ordered a chainbath today...

good lad. Don't forget, if its the type where you turn the crank backwards to run the chain through the machine, put an old margarine tub under the chainring to catch the drip-off. Then you can use that to clean between the cassette rings with an old toothbrush.

That looks ok seggs, have you ordered one ?

will@bill · Mar 30, 2008

i`ll get you my pretty!

A bit out topic but I too needed to carry an extra item last year on a bike ride so drilled a few holes in this container .some foam in the bottom .. cable tied it on and hey presto one wizard of oz bike:t:

seggs · Mar 30, 2008

Karl J said:
good lad. Don't forget, if its the type where you turn the crank backwards to run the chain through the machine, put an old margarine tub under the chainring to catch the drip-off. Then you can use that to clean between the cassette rings with an old toothbrush.

That looks ok seggs, have you ordered one ?

just got the dimenstions from the supplier the other day and by the sound of it, my camera with the lens attached will fit inside with foam padding so think i will go for it..
dimentions..
432mm lengh
288 height
262 width..i take these as over all sizes.

seggs · Mar 30, 2008

will@bill said:
A bit out topic but I too needed to carry an extra item last year on a bike ride so drilled a few holes in this container .some foam in the bottom .. cable tied it on and hey presto one wizard of oz bike:t:

nice one lads!! just shows how you can adapt a bike to your needs..
is the dog called toto by any chance?:-O

PWG · Jan 13, 2009

Come late to this thread, how is it going with the bike?

seggs · Jan 15, 2009

Sorry to say i had to give the biking up after a short time Paul, work has taken its toll on my knees:C, thought i would be able to manage short journeys at first, but even these left me in too much discomfort afterwards.
Hope everyone still enjoys the birding/biking:t:

PWG · Jan 15, 2009

Sorry to hear that, hope it doesn't slow the rest of the birding down.

John P · Jan 15, 2009

seggs said:
Sorry to say i had to give the biking up after a short time Paul, work has taken its toll on my knees:C, thought i would be able to manage short journeys at first, but even these left me in too much discomfort afterwards.
Hope everyone still enjoys the birding/biking:t:

I spend a lot of my working life on my knees, they had started to creak something awful, I now take one Cod liver oil capsule when I go to bed (any other time of day and you will have to live with the taste for a while) and they are much improved.

It may not do you any good at all but it certainly won't do any harm, if you give it a go don't expect instant results but you should see any improvement within three months.

It's also very important to have the bike adjusted correctly for your leg length etc, I do see many people cycling with a badly adjusted bike and I just know their legs are going to hurt at the end of a ride.

Peewee · Feb 15, 2009

I am as much a biker as a birder and I must admit that I have more bikes then I need. My girlfriend thinks that I have too many but as you know you can’t have too many bins so you can’t have too many bikes either. I do most of my birding on/in a bike. The question is how do you carry the gear while biking. The way I do it is like this and it depends on the bike I have with me.

Most of the times I go out with just a bin around my neck. If I want to take more I also have a bin around the neck and additionally use these methods for transportation of the rest of the gear.

Trekking bike
This is the bike I use most of the time . If I take my fieldscope with me I put this in a rucksack . I have recently got some Ortieb panniers that attach firmly to the bike. Yesterday I put the scope in the pannier and that worked OK as well. The tripod is a clumsy piece of gear. So I decided to make a Tripod-container that attaches to the pannier-rack of the bike. It is a PVC pipe to which I glued a bottom. I also put a piece of rubber mat on the bottom (shock absorber) . See picture.

Recumbent
If I want to take a fieldscope/tripod with me I attach a Bob yak trailer. I put the fieldscope (with SOC) in a sweater so this absorbs the shocks (I hope) and then put it in the bag of the trailer. I use this combination more for long distance biking since the recumbent is very suitable for that. Taking out the Tripod/scope is a bit more of a hassle though. Bob yaks usually fit to other type of bikes too. See link if you’re interested in a bob yak. http://www.bobgear.com/trailers

Velomobile (fully faired trike)
Since about 1 month I have a velomobile. It is a three wheel bike with full fairing. See picture. I have not yet taken a fieldscope/tripod with me. I don’t think there is room for that but I will try later on. I can however take more than one bin with me and there is enough room to take a camera and monopod. I have not tried this yet but it should not be a problem. It is great fun riding (or driving?) a bike like this. I notice birds are not used to this though. They tend to fly away a lot quicker then when I ride my ordinary bike. Apart from being sheltered from the elements there is also a birding advantage. If I rest my elbows on the sides and use my binoculars there is hardly any shake noticeable. This makes any bin an IS bin.

Cheers Peter

Brian Bullough · Feb 15, 2009

John P said:
I spend a lot of my working life on my knees, they had started to creak something awful, I now take one Cod liver oil capsule when I go to bed (any other time of day and you will have to live with the taste for a while) and they are much improved.

It may not do you any good at all but it certainly won't do any harm, if you give it a go don't expect instant results but you should see any improvement within three months.

It's also very important to have the bike adjusted correctly for your leg length etc, I do see many people cycling with a badly adjusted bike and I just know their legs are going to hurt at the end of a ride.

Totally agree with all this, when I started going out on the bike my knees used to ache, but a new bike adjusted properly for me its no problem , anything that is not used will seize up, perhaps a little and often would be OK or another option is take a bike on the back of a car, park and cycle, THORNLEY WOODS is ideal for this , a nice flat track with some good birding etc:
Brian

Peewee · Feb 15, 2009

For those who have had physical problems with a bike (or want to stay away from that) I have been recommended a site that explains how a bike should be adjusted.

http://www.peterwhitecycles.com/fitting.htm

If this is to technical don't worry. Any local bike shop should be able to tell you what size frame is best and how the bike should be adjusted. After that you can make some minor changes that may be improvements. Not everybody is equal (physically at least).

Cheers Peter

albatross02 · Mar 31, 2009

Peewee said:
I am as much a biker as a birder and I must admit that I have more bikes then I need. My girlfriend thinks that I have too many but as you know you can’t have too many bins so you can’t have too many bikes either. I do most of my birding on/in a bike. The question is how do you carry the gear while biking. The way I do it is like this and it depends on the bike I have with me.

Most of the times I go out with just a bin around my neck. If I want to take more I also have a bin around the neck and additionally use these methods for transportation of the rest of the gear.

Trekking bike
This is the bike I use most of the time . If I take my fieldscope with me I put this in a rucksack . I have recently got some Ortieb panniers that attach firmly to the bike. Yesterday I put the scope in the pannier and that worked OK as well. The tripod is a clumsy piece of gear. So I decided to make a Tripod-container that attaches to the pannier-rack of the bike. It is a PVC pipe to which I glued a bottom. I also put a piece of rubber mat on the bottom (shock absorber) . See picture.

Recumbent
If I want to take a fieldscope/tripod with me I attach a Bob yak trailer. I put the fieldscope (with SOC) in a sweater so this absorbs the shocks (I hope) and then put it in the bag of the trailer. I use this combination more for long distance biking since the recumbent is very suitable for that. Taking out the Tripod/scope is a bit more of a hassle though. Bob yaks usually fit to other type of bikes too. See link if you’re interested in a bob yak. http://www.bobgear.com/trailers

Velomobile (fully faired trike)
Since about 1 month I have a velomobile. It is a three wheel bike with full fairing. See picture. I have not yet taken a fieldscope/tripod with me. I don’t think there is room for that but I will try later on. I can however take more than one bin with me and there is enough room to take a camera and monopod. I have not tried this yet but it should not be a problem. It is great fun riding (or driving?) a bike like this. I notice birds are not used to this though. They tend to fly away a lot quicker then when I ride my ordinary bike. Apart from being sheltered from the elements there is also a birding advantage. If I rest my elbows on the sides and use my binoculars there is hardly any shake noticeable. This makes any bin an IS bin.

Cheers Peter

Your bike should win the innovaton price !

Peewee · May 18, 2009

albatross02 said:
Your bike should win the innovaton price !

I am a bit late with a response but in fact this velomobile , called Alleweder, (old Dutch for "All Wheather" ) did win the " 365-day bike" prize back in 1993. I've done about 1300KM with it and it still is great fun. This model is not made anymore. Its succesor is the "Quest" for which there is a waitinglist of 2,5 years. See http://en.velomobiel.nl/quest/

Cheers Peter

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