two hundred sixty three

 THE WEAK LINK 

WHEELS

A bicycle is designed to carry one human unless it is designed to carry one human and his stuff. The majority of bicycles on the market in 2002 were the one human type. 

There were very few companies building bicycles for loaded touring. The Bob Trailer was the hottest new idea but bicycles in general were not designed to carry heavy loads. 

I had a Surly Cross-Check designed for cycle cross. It was a beefed up no nonsense road bike capable of going off road. It fit my commuting style. I jump curbs and race down wash board gravel roads and trails with little concern for breaking the bike. 

Surly had not yet produced the Long Haul Trucker. It was a reasonably priced touring specific design. Touring bikes have a longer wheel base that makes them a little boring but that isn't a bad idea with a load. 

I had a Surly Cross-Check with a much shorter wheel base and only a double ring crank set. The frame is steel, it has bar end shifters, fatter tires will fit and I could add a granny ring to the crank set. I owned it so I decided to make it work.

This was only the beginning. At that time it was hard to find racks for panniers if you could find panniers. It was trial and error but piece by piece the bike came together. One nagging question I had was how much weight will the stock wheels handle?

A bicycle shop I found was newly purchased by a young guy named Mike. I discovered he was a wheel builder. He explained the benefits of hand built vs machine built wheels. I explained what I needed then I  gave him free reign to build whatever he thought I would need. He took the challenge and built the wheels.

It took a couple weeks for the parts to arrive and a few more to build the wheels but the end product was perfect. Mavic welded 36 spoke rims and Shimano Deore XT hubs, he said the hubs can be serviced and the rims will handle 100psi. He chose extra thick spokes and gave me extras to zip tie to the frame if I ever lost one.

He also added a Shimano stack with lower gears to handle loads. Mike was into the challenge of building these wheels because he had never known anyone who wanted to strap a bunch of camping gear to a bicycle and ride it from coast to coast. I think he thought I was a bit of a nut because I was obsessed with long distance touring. 

I would stop by his shop when I was on a long training ride on a 110 degree Arizona day. I really knew nothing about bicycles but he smiled when I said something stupid or talked about what I was planning to do.

I talked a great deal of trash which was part of my plan. This helped motivate me anytime I was thinking of quitting. Instead of renting a car and going home, I would remember how much crow I would have to eat. I hate eating crow!!!!

One thing about bike shops not every owner or employee is excited about the bicycle culture. A lot of them are burned out and only get excited when they are selling something. Mike's Bike Chalet was really a bike culture bike shop.

 

That is Mike with the grin. I returned after the first couple of trips and I knew he was impressed that I had actually done what I had said. Mike's Bike Chalet is open today it is located in Mesa Arizona. I have not seen him in years but he is no doubt telling stories as he works and eating yellow curry chicken from the Thai restaurant next door. I knew Mike since he was in high school. I am sure his crew loves working for him, they work hard and play hard. The wheels have never needed a single adjustment they are as true as the day they were made. I have been as gentle as I can but 14,000 miles on every surface imaginable I'm shocked they have endured the heavy loads, there is now no weak link.