Braking Boundaries

My Solio Classic with adapters

Cycling doesn’t necessarily mean giving up all the comforts of home, especially when it comes to tech. However using certain, lets call them toys, means having a power/charging source. So Tom and I decided to buy a solar chargers.

After a bit of research it came down to a foldable power charger called the PowerFilm F15-300 and the Solio Classic Charger. The main interest behind the foldable panels was the theory they could be easily laid out on the back panniers, however a battery pack would be needed to store the charge. This is where The Solio Classic has as advantage. It has an inbuilt rechargeable Lithium Ion 3.7V 1.65A cell that can power an Ipod for around 20 hours, with the added bonus that the integrated battery can be charged from any USB port or power socket for those cloudy days.

When comparing the weights the Solio Classic came in at a total of 156 grams. The PowerFilm F15-300 came in at 170 grams - but that did not include a battery to store the charge. The Solio Classic also came with just about all the adapters needed for our equipment.

The final decision came down to price. The Solio Classic cost just under $100 USD with the PowerFilm F15-300PowerFilm F15-300 coming in at around about $150 USD.

Decision made. We bought two Solio Classic Chargers.

My initial thoughts when it arrived was that it felt a little flimsy, but it is definitely light-weight. Using the Solio Classic is pretty much self explanatory and it only took about 40% of its charge to recharge my Ipod Nano.
The adapters that came with it will power my GPS unit, Samsung cellphone, Ipod Nano (as long as I have the Apple USB charging cord) and anything that can be charged by USB. I did have to buy a USB battery charger in order to charge AA and AAA batteries, but they only cost around $3 USD here in South Korea and are extremely light-weight.

Currently I’m missing a way to charge my Canon IXY 900IS - (working on it)

As for testing, I have yet to take mine out on the road and do have some reservations regarding the shape of the charger and how I might attach it to my bike or backpack to get optimal sunlight.

Currently I plan to use it to power the following:

Garmin eTrex Legend® Cx (2 x AA - need charged every 2 days if on all the time)
Headlamp (3x AAA)
Canon IXY 900IS (custom battery)
Ipod Nano
Front & Rear Bike Lights

Stay tuned…..

Dave is fortunate enough to have pretty much everything he will need from his previous cycle adventure across Canada. This has however meant that Tom, Katie and I have been able to go on a bit of a shopping spree and get a bunch of new gear which has finally started arriving.

Katie just bought back a bunch of supplies from her brief trip to the states.

We all bought REI Quarter Dome T2 Tents with Footprints. Dave will be using his Big Agnes Seedhouse. All our tents are two man, which would beg the question “there are four of you, why not just carry 2 tents?” Believe me we have given this a lot of thought as that would mean about 3.6kg less in gear weight across the team, and any weight savings are of course welcome. However with the potential length of this trip as well as the ability to store all our gear in our own tents at night, not to mention our sanity levels having our own personal space has been marked as a high priority. If you have ever watched the series “Long Way Round” with Ewan McGregor & Charley Boorman you might remember a scene where they went from one tent for the two of them to having their own. I’m digressing, back to the new gear.

Tom and I bought Solio Classic Solar Chargers. Will post more about these in a future post. Therm-a-Rest Compressible Pillows as for me a good nights sleep no matter where I am is of the utmost importance.

I also bought Petzl Tikka Plus LED Headlamp and a CamelBak M.U.L.E. Hydration Pack

Katie needed a new light-weight sleeping bag and a thermarest

All the above gear and equipment was bought taking weight, but also price into account to figure out what would be the best value for money.

Now we’re just waiting for our bike bags to arrive from New Zealand, MSR cookware that will be brought back from Canada by Dave who is currently there for a wedding and also to sort out his new recumbent and touring gear.

Oh yeah, our bikes still have to come as well. Might need them.

Dave left for Canada this week and will return with the recumbent he plans to take on the trip. In the meantime Tom, Katie and myslef have made our final decicions on our initial bike setups.

We have been working closely with Jakub Postrzygacz whom Katie and I met on our last trip back to NZ in Jan 2008. He has been integral in helping us by explaining the different options and will also be building and shipping the bikes to us here in South Korea.

The two most notable differences are of course the frame Surly Long Haul Trucker

and Magura HS33 Full hydraulic rim brake system.

While cost is a big factor in our choices we felt that going with the Magura system would be less maintentce intensive when compared to standard V-brake systems. Of course there is the issue that they are hydraulic, but I have been assured that short of cutting the cabling with a machete they are virtually indestructible.

Here is a complete list of parts for our bike setups

Frame: Surly Long Haul Trucker
Rim front: Salsa Gordo
Rim back: Salsa Gordo
Hub front: Deore Deore XT
Hub back: Deore LX Deore XT
Spokes: DT Champion
Crankset: Deore XT Octa
Front: Derailleur Deore XT
Rear Derailleur: Deore XT
Shifters: Deore LX
Chain: XTR
Cassete: Deore LX
Brakes: Magura HS33
Brake: Levers Magura HS33
Headset: FSA Orbit X
Seatpost: Outland
Stem: Adjustable
Handlebars: Riser bar
Bar ends: BBB
Saddle: Brooks B17 (already own these)
Handlebar grips: Specialized Ergo
Tubes: Kenda
Tyres: Schwalbe Marathon XR
Cables & Misc

Just got back from a weekend cycling with Tom and Cave over the mountains of Saraksan. Definitely a fun ride despite the rain in the afternoon. More about this trip later but for now I have just added information on how to create cycle routes using google earth to be used with hand-held GPS devices.

You can read more on how to do this by checking out the Building GPS Routes page

It’s an exciting night. I am in the process of order two sets of rear panniers for myself and Katie.

They come personally recommended by Jakub Postrzygacz, granted it’s his company, but hey he’s swears by them and has done more riding than I could imagine myself doing in a life time.

Check them out at : http://crosso.pl/pages/produkty/sakwy-rowerowe/expert/sakwy-tylne.php

As for my rear ones. Still going to go with my current set, the Arkel XM-28 series.

They aren’t waterproof, which I think will be a disadvantage, but will hedge my bets by having the rear ones waterproof.

Can’t wait until they get here.