Internal gear Hubs and Belt Drives for Commuting and Touring

Since I just finished my Pan-American bike tour (http://www.panamericantour.net) I won't be doing any big tours for a while, but I plan to commute to my new job by bike and I've been thinking about the perfect bike for the job. As always, I had a few things at the top of my priority list: steel frame, internal gear hub, belt drive and disc brakes - a list similar to that of my dream off-road touring bike.

I've always thought that internal gear hubs are a great idea, and they seem like the logical evolution of bicycle transmissions. The most highly regarded internal gear hub is the Rohloff Speedhub, and Shimano recently released the Alfine 11, so those are the two that I looked at and will be writing about. Internal gear hubs are protected from the elements, requiring less maintenance, and have other benefits including the ability to shift without pedaling.

One of the greatest parts of an internal gear hub is that it allows you to use a belt instead of a chain. Gates' Carbon Drive system is the big player in that market. A belt lets you avoid the rust, black calves, and maintenance that plague the riders of chain-driven bicycles, and can also give you some weight savings to boot. The tricky thing about using a belt instead of a chain is that belts are continuous loops, so while you have to open a chain to get it around your frame, you need a special frame that opens to accommodate the belt. At this time there aren't many framesets designed for internal gear hubs and belts.

Unfortunately, I did my research out of order - spending time searching for off-the-shelf belt driven bikes (see Gates' Contact page, and the Belt Bikes website), as well as framesets, before crunching the numbers to see what gear ratios a belt bike could give me. Lets start with what Gates gives us to work with. Their CDC and CDX lines only allow you to use a 24 tooth sprocket on back with an Alfine hub, and following Shimano's recommendation of using a gear ratio of no less than 1.9, that leaves you with a minimum front sprocket size of 46 teeth. If your comfortable cadence is 90 RPM and you have 700c wheels, you get the following speeds (in MPH ) from this combination:

7.43
9.60
10.85
12.37
14.02
15.98
18.21
20.61
23.49
26.61
30.34

Seven and a half to thirty miles per hour?!?! This is totally ridiculous for a touring bike, and almost as impractical for a commuter. Incidentally, the Alfine 8 has very similar gear ratios for speeds one to eight as the Alfine 11, so if you don't plan on riding between 20 and 30 miles per hour, you can save yourself about $300 USD by purchasing that hub instead.

Now lets look at the Rohloff Speedhub. Rolhoff requires a ratio of right around 2.4, which you can get pretty close to with a 38/16 sprocket combo - at a ratio of 2.38 it is the lowest they permit. Again, at 90RPM with 700c wheels, you get the following speeds in MPH:

4.87
5.52
6.29
7.14
8.10
9.22
10.48
11.91
13.52
15.39
17.46
19.82
22.56
25.62

So right away we see a much saner low-end speed, which is good if you plan to spend any time in the hills carrying gear. Also, the high-end speed is more reasonable for a touring/commuting bike.

With a standard 10 speed cassette Shimano groupo, you can get a low-end speed of 4.63mph with 24/36, so the Rohloff is more in line with this.

After seeing those numbers, I decided that if I were to build a bike strictly for commuting, I would go with the Alfine 8, but it's hard to justify the price for a single-purpose bike. For touring I would need a Rohloff, but using a Rohloff equipped bike for commuting and around town just seems a little crazy.

In the end, I decided that neither combination suits me well at this time, and I'll have to continue to make due with one of those old-fashioned, chain driven bikes. Wish me luck!

On tour...

I'm on tour for a while. Please see my other site: http://www.panamericantour.net/

In Search of the Perfect Tent

I'm pretty picky when it comes to choosing new touring gear. This is especially true when it comes to tents. There are many different styles, colors and intended uses. The following list includes the most important features that I look for when choosing a new tent:

• Must be tall enough to sit in
• Fly-first pitch, or single wall
• At least one large vestibule
• Equal length poles
• Free standing
• Pole sleeves - not clips
• No bright colors
• Relatively light
• 3/4 season
• Stability

I'll expand on a few of these points. 

A big one for me is the fly-first pitch, or single wall design. The majority of tents have an inner mesh component that either clips to the poles, or has sleeves that the poles can be inserted into. The rain fly then goes over this and attaches at the corners and sometimes to the poles or mesh interior with velcro. This is all fine if it is not raining out. If it is raining, your inner tent is exposed to the rain from the time you start getting the mesh part set up to the time you cover it with the rain fly - the opposite is true when taking the tent down. Tents with sleeves can sometimes be covered with the rain fly first to keep the inner tent dry. This is more difficult on a tent that uses pole clips. On extended tours, setting up and tearing down your tent in the rain is a fact of life, why not make it as easy and dry as possible?

I never saw the appeal of a tent that uses pole clips instead of sleeves. There are may people out there who prefer clips, so like anything else, this is a matter of preference. For me, tents with sleeves are just easier to set up, especially for tents with a two-pole design. Why bother with multiple clips when you can just push a pole into a sleeve? This is also made easier when both poles are the same length - another one of my criteria listed above. The safest way to remove poles from their sleeves is to hold the closed end of the sleeve, and pull the rest of the sleeve toward it, exposing the pole. Pulling the pole out from the exposed end of the sleeve can separate the pole sections and stretch out the elastic inside the pole.

I also prefer free-standing tents. These tents do not have to be pegged down in order to stay upright, which is great when camping on hard, compact soil or rock. Most free-standing tents with vestibules do require the vestibules to be staked out, but in some cases, these can be tied out to a large rock or rocks if hammering stakes into the ground is too difficult. Free-standing tents without vestibules do not require any stakes at all in most conditions.

Lastly - no bright colors. Unfortunately, most quality tents are made for mountaineering, where visibility is very important. These tents are usually bright yellow or orange and can attract attention when you are not staying in campgrounds, either because they are not around, or you prefer to avoid them. In either case, a darker colored tent will blend into the surrounding landscape better and are more likely to go unnoticed by local law enforcement or potentially troublesome locals.

The Exped Auriga Mesh is a great example of a tent that meets all these criteria. Unfortunately it's a little on the heavy side, compared to newer ultralight tents, but it is roomy, durable and available in dark green.

Utah - Photo Report

A 300 mile tour in Southwest Utah, following Adventure Cycling's Utah Cliffs Loop for three of the days.

Alaska - Photo Report

A two week tour from Anchorage to Denali NP via Glennallen and Paxon, on Adventure Cycling's Denali Adventure.

Canol Road, Yukon Info

After Riding the Great Divide in 2005, I had to find another long, remote stretch of dirt road to ride the following summer. After some digging around on the internet, I came across the Canol Road in Yukon Territory Canada. This road was originally built at the end of World War II for an oil pipeline that would run from Norman Wells in Northwest Territory to Whitehorse, Yukon. Not long after it was constructed, the war ended and the pipeline was pulled up. Now all that remains is a dirt road that passes through the untouched wilderness of NWT and Yukon Territory. The road is divided into two sections, with the town of Faro between the two, a perfect place for a resupply. The North Canol Road runs from Norman Wells to Faro, but it is only considered rideable for 60 miles North of the Macmillan Pass. Beyond that the road deteriorates and there are several large rivers to ford - some requqiring rafts. The South Canol Road runs between Faro and Johnsons Crossing. The total ridable section of Canol Road is approximately 350 miles.

One potential route would be to start in Whitehorse, ride to Carmaks, then to Faro, and fly in to an airstrip at the Godlin Lakes, North of Mac Pass. Another would be to fly into Norman Wells, then fly south to the airstrip. When I was researching the trip, Stan Simpson of Ramhead Outfitters was charging $1400 to take two passengers and bikes from Faro to the lakes. He was charging $1000 for a flight from Norman Wells. Ursus Aviation or NWT had similar pricing.

Links coming soon!

Great Divide Mountain Bike Route Links

Here are a few Divide links. I'll update this list periodically.


Paula and Scott's 2004 ride along the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route

THE GREAT DIVIDE MOUNTAIN BIKE RIDE: A JOURNAL

GDMBR 2002

Great Divide Mountain Bike Route - Yahoo! Group

boundaryzerochris - Great Divide Mountain Bike Route Tour 2007

Checkpoint Tango - GDMBR

cziclix GDMBR Photos

Trek4fun Mountain Bike Trips

Dave and Angela GDMBR

Outside Forever - Great Divide Mountain Bike Route

Adventure Cycling's Great Divide Route Page

Great Divide Bicycle Route Summer 2000

Links to other information about the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (POPUP ALERT!!!)

Wikipedia's Great Divide Mountain Bike Route Page

Iceland - Photo Report

A two and a half week tour through the interior of Iceland and the Snaefellsnes Peninsula with Simon and Chris. Summer 2007.

Yukon - Photo Report

I rode for one week from Whitehorse to Faro with Matjaz before knee problems forced me to quit. For the second week I rented a car and drove to Skagway (Alaska), Kluane National Park (Yukon), and Atlin (British Columbia). Summer 2006

Great Divide - Photo Report

Two and a half months on the GDMBR with Adventure Cycling. Summer 2005.