After a recent post regarding wheels for bike touring and commuting I decided to get a set of Velocity Chukkers.  Just received these wheels today, several days earlier than expected and wow! I really like this new beefier rim and of course, yay now I have serviceable hubs. With a front and rear wheel combination built with thirty six spokes there is a noticeable feeling of confidence for loading the front rack.  Twenty five pounds? No problem, not that I load that much weight over the front wheel but when and if I want to it's not going to be an issue. 

Most noticeable difference between the Velocity Chukker Wheels and my older Velocity Dyad Wheels is the rim depth.  Not a huge difference just needed a slightly longer stem for the presta valve to comfortably clear the rim with easy access for a pump.  Fortunately I had a couple of 48 mm stem length tubes in the shop. So, if you're someone interested in the Chukker Wheels note that you need a presta valve stem of at least 41 to 55 mm however I would suggest getting a stem no shorter than 48 for ease of pump use. For added convenience this is a common stem length found on 700c Slime Tubes with presta valves and are available at many department stores if you find yourself in a bind needing a replacement tube while bike touring or commuting.  

It's not that I like the Chukker rim better than the Velocity Dyad but I like the hubs much better than the sealed cartridge hubs of my '07 Dyad Wheelset.  Also, it's worth noting that because of the 135mm hub width I was able to change out the rear axle spacer for a nice easy fit with 130mm drop outs.  I'm not particularly fond of black spokes and the color of the wheels had nothing to do with my purchasing decision but the machined side walls were a better price on sale.  Although the thirty two spoke front wheel of the Dyad set never posed an issue when loading the front rack it concerned me when I found some lateral play in the front hub and took it to a shop in Colorado to have them look at it.  The shop had pressed in some new cartridge bearings and a few weeks later there was some (though not as much) lateral play. So, I have decided since then that having hubs I can use cone wrenches on is better for maintenance reasons.  Speaking of which due to the beefier rim design of the Chukker I know these wheels require minimal truing as I rarely needed to adjust the slightly less rugged Dyad wheels.  When combined with the Vittoria Randonneur Trail II RFX in the 700c x 35mm sizing it provides substantial durability for getting off road for some trails or off road touring.  

My touring bike has been a joy to ride for the past seven years and am looking forward to many more years of riding on the hand built, Made in the U.S. Velocity Chukkers.

Also, really like the retro look with the Panaracer Paselas providing a classic touring bike style and casual vibe.  Now it's a bike ready to go on vacation or bike touring, it's all the same in my mind. 


Links related to this topic:
Wheels for Bike Touring and Commuting
Velocity Dyad Wheels for Bicycle Touring

My original Selle Anatomica Titanico Watershed saddle was in need of a new top from having stretched over the years and the threaded adjustment bolt was on its' last bit of threads.  Considering how much it would have cost to get a new cover and after reading several reviews of how those older original models had problems with the rails bending I decided to get a new saddle with chromoly rails instead. 

I don't mind investing in quality particularly when it's something that can be rebuilt or repaired over the next several years.  Given the information provided by Selle Anatomica's new design methods I feel very confident in their new line of products particularly after having purchased the NSX model for my off road touring bike.

First of all the newer model Selle Anatomica X Series Saddle has a much nicer shape from the original design. Dubbed as their "Flex Fly" design the patented slot creates two separate wings which move or "flex" independent of one another providing a comfortable leather saddle which requires no break in period.  

Secondly, the newer design also supplies a longer threaded adjustment bolt which allows the saddle to continue to be stretched further than the older models for longer life of the leather.  It may have been possible to simply replace my old saddle's 44mm bolt with the newer 55mm bolt available direct from Selle Anatomica but as I mentioned I preferred to invest in the 4130 chromoly rails, another factor contributing to the saddle's longevity.  
I began to notice that the old nose piece design on my '07 Titanico saddle wanted to sort of pop off the end of the frame after the shorter 44mm adjusting bolt had been pushed to its' maximum limit of adjusting the leather.  The following quote from the Selle Anatomica product site is another reason I chose to invest in their new frame and nose design.

"While the replacement tension bolt is compatible with older models, we recommend that you not tension the saddle past the point where the nose piece can rest fully and safely on the frame".

Yeah, I can concur that statement with the photo at left showing where the leather broke on my old saddle from having tension on the adjusting bolt at its' last threads for the past few years.  Photos below show the differences between the older adjusting bolt design on left and the newer, longer adjusting bolt of the X Series Saddle.

The X Series saddle is touted as Selle Anatomica's work horse saddle for both heavier riders of up to two hundred fifty pounds and for high mileage riders of a hundred miles per week.  You might assume then that this saddle would be stiffer and less comfortable with their product description of reinforced dual laminates and thicker leather, however like my other two Selle Anatomica saddles this X Series Saddle was also comfortable on its' first test ride. 

So far what I am really liking about the newer X Series model is the much more contoured shape.  My older Titanico shown at left needed to be sanded along either edge in order to prevent chafing on my inner thighs. During my last ride with this saddle I noticed it was beginning to rub again but only on my left side and was most likely due to the saddle needing to be adjusted again.  However, because it was so stretched over the years that's how I determined it was time for a new saddle. 

Fortunately for me I never had the problem of the rails bending on my older Titanico model but it always concerned me after hearing about it being an issue with several other owners of the same saddle model. 

Although the new X Series model is sixteen grams lighter for you weight weenies out there this saddle actually feels sturdier.  After changing the saddle frame materials to chromoly steel they also changed the geometry of the frame which is something that most likely lends itself to the new shape of the leather's top cover.

Upon receiving your saddle you are provided with where to find installation information regarding how to setup your saddle to achieve optimal comfort and performance from your saddle as well as where to register your saddle's warranty information.  Selle Anatomica Saddles are still made in the US and continue to offer innovative ideas and products to provide customer satisfaction.  Use any of the links provided or click on top image for information or to purchase your Selle Anatomica X Series Saddle. 

Links related to this topic:
Made in USA, Selle Anatomica Titanico
Selle Anatomica NSX Mountain Bike Saddle Review
Making the Hard Feel Easy, Having a Good Bike Saddle

I decided this year to replace my touring bike's wheelset for a couple of reasons.
1.  My experience with cartridge style bearings is that I don't like them.  I received a rather high quality wheelset from a company I won't say who and I was told that one to two millimeters of lateral play in the hub was normal.  Yeah, I disagree there shouldn't be any lateral play in the hub of a wheel and so I'm sticking with good old cup and cone hubs.
2.  Do I really need forty spoke wheels for my bike touring needs? No and this is mostly due to the fact that my experience with quality wheels is simply that a hand built wheel or "how" a wheel is built vs. machine built wheels provides a significant difference in wheel maintenance.  This translates as quality hand built wheels require less frequency of truing than a machine built wheel.   

A lot of information is available regarding this topic and I'm not going to venture into the philosophical kaleidoscope and never ending debate of wheel building, wheel engineering, or physics.  There's been plenty of banter about what is the minimum number of spokes for a solid bike touring wheel.  Forty on the front and forty eight on the rear has been a rule of thumb by a few wheel building experts.  I agree that if someone plans on hauling uh, how much weight are we talking about hauling on a bike with that stout of a wheelset?  That's how you find what wheelset is really necessary for your own bike touring and commuting needs.  Refer to previous post regarding Loaded Touring Bike Weight.

On the other end of the spectrum are road bike wheels with twenty spokes which have to be trued too often when used for bike commuting, let alone touring. I have heard folks complain about feeling scandalized by their local bike shop for selling them a bike for commuting that didn't have the wheels needed to meet the demands of pot holed roads and minimal load carrying.   These days the wheel size options for any bike that can be used for commuting in 650b, twenty niner, 700c and of course twenty six inch wheels provide varying strengths, weaknesses and efficiency differences.  For example a thirty spoke twenty six inch wheel is sturdier than a thirty two spoke 700c wheel but the 700c wheel provides better rolling efficiency.  Personally, for my commuting needs the efficiency variable between twenty six inch wheels versus 700c wheels has never been an issue.  For mixed terrain of dirt, gravel, pavement, potholes and load carrying capacity for commuting the twenty six inch wheel has always performed admirably with much less need of truing maintenance.  Tire selection of course also contributes to wheel maintenance as a larger touring style tire while providing load bearing qualities is also better at absorbing bumps and providing a type of suspension absorbing quality between the riding surface and the wheel.  Of course for longer miles of road touring the efficiency of a 700c wheel dominates.

My own experience with a thirty two spoke twenty six inch wheel has kept me from "upgrading" or changing to a 650b wheel.  While riding my '93 Bridgestone MB 1 to run some errands this past winter I heard a front spoke break so I immediately stopped, quickly removed the broken spoke with my Leatherman Tool, spun the wheel and was pleasantly surprised to find that the wheel was still holding true!  I was able to finish my ride of approximately seven or eight miles without issue so I could repair the wheel when I got home at my leisure.  A broken spoke on my road bike with twenty spokes on the front wheel wouldn't have been as uneventful.   So regardless of wheel size here are the basic characteristics that contribute to a quality wheelset for bike touring and commuting.   There essentially four basic categories of a complete wheel and consist of a rim, spokes, nipples and hub.  That's it, so it's actually very simple to determine what is a good quality wheel set for bike touring and commuting.  

1. Rim:  Double walled rim construction.  Absolutely, I have heard of folks being happily content with single walled wheels being used specifically for gravel road riding but for tried and true commuting and touring purposes a double walled rim is a must.  Velocity, Sun Ringle, Sun CR 18 and Mavic Open Sport are a few examples of quality rims with established reputations for bicycle touring and commuting.

2. Spokes:  At least thirty spokes.  A quality built wheel set like those provided with a Mavic Open Sport Rim and Tiagra hubs have an established reputation of durability.  Sheldon Brown praised the Shimano Tiagra hub as rivaling even more expensive top of the line hubs at a modest price, not to mention the ease of servicing the hubs. This is the type of wheel that can be used for demanding commutes or light weight bike touring and can easily handle weekend bike camping getaways.  Stainless Steel Spokes.  Yeah, ever worked on a bike with galvanized spokes, hahaha, quality wheel sets are going to be built with quality spokes, duh.  DT Swiss spokes are worth making mention as they are commonly used on some of the finest wheels available.  Good stuff.   

3.   Brass nipples are common and many new alloys are making better spoke nipples than those qualities offered by brass.  Weight and corrosion resistance are the two most touted qualities of alloy nipples.  However, regular lubrication of brass spoke nipples when a wheel needs to be trued for instance, is enough to keep the corrosion from setting in on the spoke nipple for it to be an issue. 
 
4.  Hubs: As I mentioned there are two basic types of hubs commonly available today. Sealed cartridge bearings and cup and cone bearings.  Don't be fooled by a sealed bearing to mean cartridge bearing.  Some of the descriptions of a sealed hub does in fact contain cup and cone bearings. If you find some good wheels at your local bike shop and they have the tools to service the cartridge bearings and you plan to ride mostly for commuting or local touring then the hub construction wouldn't be an issue.  However, if you plan on servicing your own bike or want to be able to have the wheels serviced wherever you might be in the world then get cup and cone bearings for their serviceability.

Determining your needs for a quality bike wheel set need not become rocket science.  Determine your own personal needs or what you intend to use your bike for.  Reference some of the leading touring bike manufacturers and see what is being installed on their rides.  Thirty six spoke front and rear touring wheels can last for many thousands of miles of loaded touring.  Many folks who know how to appropriately pack and load their rigs for bike touring or bike packing are sharing their information online.    As we were taught years ago in Oregon to load more weight on the front wheel than the rear was based on the idea that the front wheel is not bearing the load of your body weight like the rear wheel is.  For that reason having a thirty six spoke wheel in the front as well is a good idea. Some folks don't like how a bike feels or handles when packed that way but for all practical considerations of wheel maintenance it is the preferred method.  Some of our favorite wheels for bike touring and commuting are listed below for information or to purchase.  I have only listed four wheelsets, two for 700c touring wheel size and two twenty six inch mountain bike wheels for touring and commuting that can be used for disc or rim brakes.  My favorite rims are from Velocity and I have been enjoying a rather maintenance free set of touring and commuting wheels for several years. The Velocity Chukker Wheels consist of thirty six spokes front and rear and are available with machined or non machined side walls.   

26" Wheels for Bike Touring and Commuting:
Sun Rhyno Lite MTB Wheel Set 26" x 1.75, Deore 8/9-Speed QR, Black 32 spokes
Sun Rhyno Lite MTB Wheelset 26x1.5 Black Rim Brake 36-Hole Shimano M525A 8/9/10S

700c Wheels for Bike Touring and Commuting:Rims: 
Sun CR18 Rim, Hub: SHI M430 8/9sp BK 32H
Sun CR18, 36H, double walled, silverHubs: Shimano M430, 8/9-speed, quick release, silver


Links related to this topic:
Velocity Chukker Wheels for Touring and Commuting
Velocity Dyad Wheels for Bicycle Touring

Several years ago an old friend gave me some pretty solid advice (no, it wasn't my dog) to "follow your shadow".  There were some other rather esoteric connotations left for me to derive from that but for practical considerations of helping to stay cool if your ride gets too hot is to put the sun on your back and follow your shadow.  It's rare that I find myself in such a situation where I feel that I have needed to change course or direction to avoid being over heated but on a couple of rare occasions it has been good to know.  

For example while riding through a long stretch of hot, dry, barren portions of New Mexico I found myself riding into winds of over twenty miles per hour.  It wasn't too bad at first but after thirty minutes or so I realized the wind was drying my perspiration so that my body wasn't cooling properly.  It was an oddity and something which hasn't occurred since due to the rare combination of elements at the same time.  Riding directly into the sun and extreme wind in an extremely arid climate with no shade even though I was exercising it was like riding into a very hot blow dryer.  Because I was familiar enough with the area I knew I could make it to a shaded desolate truck stop before my skin was damaged from what felt like a cooking effect.  If I had thought of it I probably would have turned on to a side road for a bit and "followed my shadow" for a bit help my parched face and skin to cool off.  Fortunately it wasn't necessary and that experience, including a few similar ones have given me some solid preparation skills for riding in hot weather.  

I have been reading a bit about proper hydration methods for cyclists lately, if just to check in with what folks are fussing about these days.  Debunking myth of coconut water being better than regular water, whether or not you need an electrolyte drink, adding salt and or sugar to your water for better absorption. That's all fine and whatever that is but when I start reading about "how much water you should take on a fifty mile ride" I immediately holler out nonsense!  Oh sure, I will only consume twenty ounces of water on a fifty mile ride on a hot summer day under ideal circumstances.  Fine, but if I get a flat, or some other haphazard event such as the winds decide to kick up off the Gulf from a different direction that wasn't in the weather forecast  (which occurs quite often) then the amount of time to ride that same distance can double when riding into strong winds.  I am not a worry wart or an overly prepared "expect the worst, hope for the best" type of bike folk.  Rather, based on personal experience I take enough water for hydrating under ideal conditions as well as if my ride decides to last twice as long or longer than planned.  Another factor besides summer heat is humidity.  Humidity has been much less challenging than the blow dryer effect in New Mexico but is certainly another consideration as to how much water is needed to ride x number of miles.  

My favorite method of simple hot weather bike touring or commuting hydration has been the use of a small seventy ounce hydration pack for convenience.  Most folks ride the same bike to commute on and maybe have another bike for touring.  I have four or five bikes I like to use for bike commuting and a few I like to ride for bike touring and camping and depends mostly on the type of terrain I will be riding.  My point being that having a hydration pack makes it easy for me to pack my helmet light, a rear light clipped to the hydration pack, multi tool, tire levers, patch kit, a few snack bars and a couple of spare tubes in different sizes so that whatever bike I'm riding I'm prepared.  I like the smaller size particularly for summer as I hardly notice the weight and is very comfortable to wear in a cycling specific design. I also appreciate the blue color of the pack as it seems to be sort of cool and refreshing visually when I'm not wearing it.  High Sierra offers smaller hydration packs that are well made and very affordable.  I have been using mine for three years now and it still looks brand new.  After replacing the bladder reservoir this year I'm sure I can get a few more years of use from it. 

For longer full day bike touring during the summer months I don't have to carry as much gear, particularly warm clothing or cooking equipment. For a typical day of bike touring which consists of forty to sixty miles having at least one full insulated water bottle with my hydration pack works very nicely.  An excellent choice for this is the Swig Savvy Insulated Water Bottle that can be used with hot or cold liquids.  Very durable quality steel water bottle with three different bottle caps included.  

At the end of a long hot ride I don't like drinking hot water but this type of water bottle keeps it just cold enough when I add ice before my ride so that the water temperature is not an issue, even after a long day of hot weather bike touring.  During the winter it can be used as an excellent coffee or tea thermos for either bike commuting or touring. 

While preparing to finish up this post I asked the girls here what one item would they recommend for hot weather bike riding and they agreed on a shade hat.  Good idea as they asked questions about the hypothetical ride circumstances their top two suggestions were sunscreen and a sun hat.  Like a day at the beach, I got a good chuckle out of it and I like their attitude.  Sure, sun hats work well preferably off of the bike as I prefer to wear a helmet particularly over rough terrain trail rides.  

However, I used to wear my old Kavu Bucket Hat for all my summer rides as shown in photo of mountain biking in Sedona, Arizona.  Yep it was hot and I kept the sun on my back for most of the return ride home.  That old hat lasted several years until my puppy decided I needed a new one and chewed it to pieces while he was teething.  Since I still have my Kavu Visor which has lasted even longer than the Bucket Hat and Kavu Strap Cap.  Kavu products, at least the hats anyway are made in the USA based out of Seattle, Washington.  Excellent summer head wear on or off the bike.  

I wear a helmet when I ride and there are cooling benefits to be said for wearing a helmet.  Well ventilated, sun deflecting, built in visor and when combined with a Head Sweats Shorty Beanie and Helmet Liner it's an excellent combination for beating the heat.  This prevents sun burn or heat getting to your head through the helmets air vents as well as an excellent solution for keeping sweat out of your eyes.  The shorty model doesn't have long ties on the back that could blow around in the wind on to your face in an annoying manner.  

This is another on of those products that I have owned for several years and continues to work as designed.  

Links related to this topic:
Variation of Hydration, Got Water
Little Hydration Pack That Could, Can and Will

When you hear bike touring folks run down their list of must have qualities in a tire for touring most common is durability and flat protection.  Schwalbe and Vittoria are perhaps the two leading tire manufacturers meeting those demands in a touring tire.  

Selecting a tire width for touring is where folks differ and this is mostly due to what the rider feels comfortable with in terms of performance and handling over their most traveled surface.  Another consideration is how much stuff gets packed into panniers which is another consideration for wheel stress.  Some touring tires bear the weight of loaded racks and panniers better than others.  When I rode with Schwalbe Marathon tires in the 700 x 32 size it felt as though the tires provided suspension between the road surface and the wheel's rims.  However with the same tire in the 28mm width the ride was so harsh that I was regularly having to true the rear wheel.  As the tire's casing was so robust and solid though hardly wider than my Velocity Dyad touring rims the tires seemed to echo every rough surface reverberating to my hands.  Over rough asphalt it was tolerable but over gravel and dirt roads was when the wheels took most of the beating.  Sure I never ever got a flat with those tires even when I rolled over a patch of goat head thorns for a quarter mile or so that had accumulated on the tire to the point where they were scraping on my fenders.  I still didn't get a flat!

I currently own a pair of very robust Vittoria Randonneur Touring tires with their Ultra Shield flat protection. They are thick, heavy tires that require a bit of pushing on most rides.  Over gravel roads or trails they are exemplary with more tread depth than my Schwalbe Marathons and really seem to roll faster on or off road.  It is also the widest tire I have ever installed on my road touring bike at 35mm and they just barely clear the full fenders.  When I ride over very loose gravel or rocks I can often hear the tires throwing debris around under the fenders.  During fall wet weather riding some times wet or partially wet leaves would get stuck in the narrow clearance between the tire and fender.  

There is a brick and cobblestone pathway near our house that is perfect for testing how a tire feels over an irregular surface.  It's not so much that it's bumpy it's that some tires actually feel that they grab and drop into each perpendicular groove between the bricks and rocks along the path which can feel very disconcerting.  Even the robust size of the Vittoria's felt that way and I attribute it more to the tread design than anything else as it is designed to handle loose stuff with dirt and gravel. 

As I mentioned most bike folks want ultra durability and unlimited flat protection.  Usually the trade off is a heavier, slower rolling tire.  So, if the topic of touring tires is all about efficiency isn't anyone producing a lighter weight, faster rolling tire with quality flat protection and enough durability to justify having a faster rolling tire?  

While packing my panniers for a regional bike tour I mindlessly tossed a Panaracer Pasela Tour Guard folding bead 700 x 32 tire that I have kept either in a pannier as a spare for long tours or in a tool box when not needed.   I rode with these tires more than ten years ago on an old mountain bike I used for commuting.  I remembered how fast those tires rolled although other tires offered better flat protection.  I decided to order a second tire to match my old spare to see how I would like the ride.

First thing I did was "hit the bricks" with them as previously mentioned and the Paselas rolled over all those grooves like they weren't even there.  Not once did the tires grab or get hung up in the grooves along the surface, not even in the curve where tires that don't perform well or perform even reasonably well always seem to grab.   Next I took the tires for a fifteen mile jaunt as the wind was kicking up pretty good and set a course that would best challenge the rolling resistance, or lack of resistance of the tires.  As with any tire review I simply fill the tire to the manufacturer's recommended pressure.  For the Pasela TG's it's ninety five, same as my old Schwalbe Marathons and both tires are made of 66 tpi whereas the Vittoria's are 30 tpi and run at seventy psi. Weight differences are 640 grams for the Schwalbe Marathon 700 x 32 and 360 grams for the Pasela Tour Guard in the same size.  Schwalbe has added a disclaimer stating that their flat protection technology does not increase rolling resistance, I'm sure that's true but the weight difference of the tires is significant enough to be noticeable.  I say this after having swapped the Vittoria's which weigh in at 760 grams, which is twice the weight of of the Paselas.

This summer I am going to enjoy riding these tires for increased speed on hot days and high winds.  When I feel the need to pack a lot of stuff for full touring rides I will use the Vittoria's for extra girth and added flat protection.  For everyday commuting in areas of broken glass and regular road hazard debris the Paselas are an excellent choice. This is an excellent light weight fast rolling tire for bike commuting or touring .  



Links related to this topic:
Vittoria Touring Tire review
Best Budget Tires for Bike Commuting
Favorite Gravel Grinding Tires