The bike for the Lake-to-Lake tour, the Thorn Sherpa, near Lake Burley Griffin in central Canberra. The heavy duty tyres have been replaced with lighter tyres since this photo.
Weight Unladen is 15.5kg including accessories and various attachments e.g. racks, lights, GPS, bottles (empty) before the loaded panniers and bags are attached.
With full panniers attached, the total loaded bike weight is almost 40 kg.
Ting! Tap this frame and it resonates with a sweet note.
These XTR V brakes and the ceramic coated rims work well together. Not quite as good as disc brakes but still impressive and reassuringly effective with a full load in wet conditions. Blue Koolstop pads are very good. Worked a treat. Before the tour I replaced the nobbly, heavy 2.0" Schwalbe XR tyres with lighter, slicker 1.6" Schwalbe Marathon Supreme tyres. More detail is on the next page. This turned out to be a good move. The Supremes are much better suited to the Sherpa.
2" XR Schwalbe Marathon tyres on 26" wheels. Classic touring tyres and hard to find as they are no longer produced. I fitted a narrower, lighter tyre than the XRs for this tour. The XRs are tough but they are a very slow tyre on good surfaces. Schwalbe Marathon Supremes are a better choice.The light is a Knog flasher and is a supplementary light for the main Ay Up light which conveniently attaches to the lid of the handlebar bag with strong velcro dots.
Cateye rear light. Tubus rack. I'll be fitting a couple of additional lightweight flashers. Last tour I rode into some heavy fog and noticed just how important the rear lights were for visibility.
Mirrors save a lot of head turning, and the double-wrapped, wide drop bars provide several positions and room to move for hands and arms. The double-wrapping helps absorb shock to wrists, and is easier on the hands for grip.The larger mirror is a Blackburn Road Bike mirror. The smaller mirror is a Zefal 'Spy' mirror.
Thorn Sherpa: Fully loaded the day before departure. Bike (with accessories attached) 15.4 kg. Total load of all panniers/bags/water/ food 24.3 kg. Loaded bike 39.7 kg. Rider (with riding clothes, shoes, helmet) 85.4 kg. TOTAL WEIGHT (bike+rider+load) approx. 126 kg
Another view this time showing the newly acquired Click-Stand which is easy to use, convenient and light.It is used in conjunction with shock cord bands which hold on the brakes.This bike is heavy and the Click-Stand holds it easily.It is a clever gadget.
