The Bike
The bike is a Bacchetta Giro 20 short wheelbase recumbent. I replaced the stock wide seat with a narrow Euro Mesh seat that is lighter and more aerodynamic. I replaced the stock foam seat cushion with a longer lasting Ventisit seat cushion.
I swapped the chainrings to get the lowest possible gears. The chainrings are 24-39-48T. The cassette is 11-34T 9-speed. The lowest gear allows me to spin comfortably at 3.5 mph.
I replaced the stock lightweight wheels with sturdier home-built wheels made with Shimano SLX hubs, swaged spokes, and Velocity Aeroheat rims. The tires are 40 mm wide Schwalbe Marathons. 40-406 front and 40-559 rear.
My cyclocomputer is a VDO MC-1.0 with a rare tandem-length wired mount. It measures altitude, percent grade, and cumulative ascent in addition to the usual bike functions.
Without camping equipment I only need two panniers on the bike. I eliminated the rear panniers because they degrade the bike's handling and aren't accessible while seated on the bike. I kept the underseat panniers which improve the bike handling and are accessible while on the bike.
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Things I carried in 2013 but didn't carry in 2014:
Rear rack+elastic mesh
Rear panniers
Tool pouch that hung behind seat
Tent
Sleeping bag
Mattress pad
Inflatable pillow
Stove windscreen
Suction stopper (for washing clothes in sink w/o stopper)
Pocket shower
Rope (for clothesline and hanging food)
Insulated mug w/ lid
Small water bottle
2 Platypus 1-liter water bladders
Water filter
Nomad7 7-watt solar panel
Big soap container + bar of soap
Towel
Thermal underwear top and bottom
Thick wool socks
Balaclava
Hat
Mosquito headnet
In addition I carried a smaller, lighter fanny pack and much less food. I still carried my stove and cookset, mainly to make tea.
I added 3 new items that weigh a total of 1 pound:
Folding Bluetooth keyboard
16 oz. Insulated Kleen Kanteen bottle (replaces the small water bottle and insulated mug w/ lid)
Reading glasses
The weight reduction is 19 pounds plus whatever amount less food I carry. So the loaded 2014 bike should weigh 75-80 pounds with all 4 water bottles full.
The bike handles like a dream when all the cargo is very low and between the axles. With no rear rack to get in the way I can recline the seat to a more comfortable and aerodynamic position. With less weight on the hard-working gluteus muscles I can ride longer before they get sore.
The new bike setup gives me new opportunities to enhance the rear visibility of the bike. I added orange mesh to the back of the seat now that there are no rear panniers to obstruct the view. The orange mesh is made from a wide load flag found on the roadside near the end of a tour in 2012. It's attached to the seat cushion with 6 zip ties.
I also glued a 8x1.5 inch strip of fluorescent yellow reflective material to each underseat pannier. It's only 1/4 as much reflective material as I had on the rear panniers, but it shows up well. I'm pleased how it gives me a perception of width from a distance.
Previously my LED flasher was mounted to the rear rack. Now it's attached to a horizontal strut on the back of the seat using a custom assembly. The stock mechanism is designed to clamp to a vertical tube. The flasher (PDW Radbot 1000) also has a red reflector. The rear view photo shows that the bike is highly visible in deep shade with a bright background.
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