Hi Keith,

I'm a little surprised I missed your first page because I'm usually pretty tuned-in to anything that says "MINNESOTA"--especially when it's in the title. It's not an official designation, but I like to think of myself as the Cycleblaze Embassador to Upper Midwest bike touring. (That includes the entire Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Upper Michigan region. Maybe even North Dakota.)

I think your route looks great, but it looks like your group didn't include at least a little bit of Lake Superior's North Shore in its northeast Minnesota tour. It's extraordinarily beautiful. And I'll add my praise for the Boundary Waters too. I've canoed, backpacked, and mountain biked there.

The good news is that you can get a good taste of Lake Superior and its surrounding forests when you get to the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness. I've backpacked there too, and I've ridden my bike up to the Cloud Lake overlook, which might be the best inland lake viewpoint in THE ENTIRE WORLD!

Big thumbs-up to paddling the lakes and rivers of northern Wisconsin too. I'm sure you'll have a blast in MY part of the country.

I hope my comments help get the derailleur issue sorted out.

As for tires... I was also using Schwalbe Marathons (may or may not have been the "Plus" variant, I can't recall now) but had a ridiculous number of punctures as well as two full-out structural failures (one bead broke, and a pothole impact did in the internal structure of another).

Even before those events I've had mixed results at best: glass, stray wires along the roadside, and other "natural" hazards produced numerous punctures both during my tour and in the months of training rides before it. Of course those same hazards might just as easily have affected any other brand and model and size of tire; I don't hold Schwalbe responsible for all the roadside junk I encounter. But given how hard it is to source and obtain 406x1.5" (or wider) tires I've had enough.

Some day I may even be able to re-grow all the knuckle skin I've lost while unmounting and remounting those dang things a couple dozen times.

The derailleur hanger doesn't look bent to me or to the service people I took it to. They went over the whole thing and since it had been years of no service whatsoever I had them replace a lot of things. But the derailleur is still too close to the tire for comfort. I'll look at those other possibly causes you mentioned. Thank you.

I have had virtually nothing go wrong with my Bike Friday until now. It's been an absolutely great bike so I would be sad to ditch it now. As for tires, there also, I have had no problems. I only use Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires (really hard to get on) and have never once had a flat! And we have been on some really rough roads in SE Asia. Four long trips through Asia and not one flat!! I am not a mechanic nor do I want to deal with fixing flats so I've maybe been lucky.

Thank you for your advice.

Wisconsin bills itself as "America's Dairyland" but to a denizen of the Chicago suburbs as I was when growing up, it was also "Illinois' Playland".

I'm really looking forward to returning to the woods and lakes of that area, after way too many decades away.

Doh! I just realized Bruce was responding to Bill, not to me... which makes his comment a lot easier to understand, given the context.

Sorry, Bruce! (Reading for detail isn't always one of my strongest suits, apparently.)

A rear derailleur hitting the tire sidewall sounds like either a bent derailleur hanger, bent derailleur cage, and/or or out-of-adjustment travel limiter screw, or some combination of all three.

I would inspect the derailleur first to be sure that it didn't get bent during some previous pack-and travel (or transport) event. Then I'd check whether the derailleur hanger (where the derailleur screws into the frame) is properly aligned. Since it's a steel piece of a steel frame, there should be *some* degree to which it could be pulled outward without cracking anything.

Mostly mine has served well enough but there have been a few issues.
One of those has to do with tire availability (as in, none to be had "in the wild") and general performance. After trashing three tires in a month last summer, and being unable to find retail replacements (I could have ordered some online but that's not what I want to do in the middle of a tour in sparsely-populated Wyoming and Nebraska), I elected to cut the tour short rather than risk yet another failure that could have left me stranded miles from anywhere.

Also, I felt as if I was working harder to get the same performance as I could have gotten from a diamond frame. I don't know if it's wheel size (the wheels have to spin faster at any given speed than larger ones, increasing the effect of friction in the bearings) or overall frame rigidity / compliance, or what, but it's definitely a slower bike than Serenity.

Finally, although Bike Friday very commendably sent me (under warranty, on a 15-year old bike!) a replacement rear triangle after one of the dropouts at the junction between the top of the rear triangle and the tube that secures the seat mast broke off, I've lost confidence in that aspect of the design. I know of at least one other BF owner who had an identical failure.

I'm glad you have the opportunity to return to that unique and beautiful part of the world. Yes, mid-Sept. can be iffy weather but it can also be absolutely amazingly beautiful which is why it's worth the gamble. I think you will have a great trip.

Northern Wisconsin lakes are wonderful as well. In fact, paddling on any lake in that region is really fun and beautiful.

My first canoe trip in the BWCAW was with a church group in 1967. After that I made numerous trips in the Boundary Waters area including what is now Voyageurs National Park. Quetico is slightly less visited and is vast which is why it's my favorite place to canoe. I need to return before I get too old.

Have fun!

I love my Bike Friday. It has served me well but the bloom is starting to go off that rose for me as well. On our last trip in Thailand I noticed that the derailleur was awfully close to the tire. And, it turns out it actually did touch the sidewall of my tire wearing into the rubber considerably! That has never happened before. But now I don't see why it won't happen again. I have had bike mechanics look at it and they just shrug their shoulders. It's a sad situation because now I don't trust the bike anymore.

Starting in 1989, I have gone there about 15 times, I think, with various groups of guys from churches I have attended. About 7 or 8 years back, I told the guys it was my last because my knees were about gone. However, this time it is with a guy who was a kid on one of those trips and he is going with his fiance and with another old guy friend of his who lives up there and has the equipment, looking for an excuse to go. I have been assured there are no long portages, so we will see how it goes. Mid Sep can be "iffy" weatherwise up there too.

To be clear, I won't be in the Boundary Waters area on this trip. I did have that privilege a few lifetimes ago when as an early teenager I joined my father, an uncle, and several cousins close to my age for a week of paddling in the pristine Canadian wilderness.

I was fortunate to have that opportunity, and even more to be able to repeat it a few years later on when my church youth group made a trip up there as well.

This time, I'll be paddling on lakes closer to the Twin Cities, and in northern Wisconsin. That'll be a great experience too and I'm looking forward to it.

The bloom is off the rose for me in my regard for that one. I'll put it up for sale one of these days.

My favorite place on earth is Quetico Provincial Park which adjoins the BWCAW in Canada. The BWCAW is a close second favorite place for me. Having moved from Minnesota to Portland, OR 40 years ago it is harder now to just take off and go on a canoe trip up there. I'm envious of you doing it. Have fun.

Hey, that's a great bike!

Some type of corrugated plastic. It's naturally buoyant, but I also have a pair of inflatable air bladders that go in the bow and stern just to be sure.

One of the attractive features is that it's only 40 pounds or so- pretty good for a two-seat plastic boat. I've seen molded boats that weigh in at twice that weight.