Tour d'Afrique

[logo273]

Hi people,

I am a complete newbie when it comes to cycling but, for some reason, i have got my mind set on doing the tour d'afrique - a 11,000 km bicycle race/tour from Cairo to Cape Town. I have to get a bike and i have no idea what to get. I really cant afford to spend over 1500 as the tour costs so much. They said you can do it on a hybrid but they recommend a mountain bike. Should be about 40% off paved roads. Also it is truck supported so no need for racks or anything as they carry my gear.

I was looking at the giant talon, XTC 2, Avanti Barracuda or the Norco Fluid 4. What do you guys recommend? Would they be able to cope? What is needed in a mountain bike for long distances?

I need all the help i can get - thanks

[dain2772]

11000km! that is a mega ride.

while having no experience with a ride that long, I will still put in my 2c.

hardtail is the obvious option, quite simply because there is less to break/maintain, and I would seriously think about a steel frame, because you can find people in strange places who can repair steel, but it is much harder to find an aluminium welder.

when looking at costs etc, make sure you look at all the bits and pieces that would wear - you would need about 5-10 chains for normal wear, depending on muddiness, a couple of cassettes, chainrings, brake pads even things like derailleurs and brakes themselves, plenty of spare cables, pedals and a fair few tyres. If you are looking at $1500 for the bike, you could need to budget 2-3 times as much in spares.

Maybe some people on here who do significant distances over say a year might be able to tell you what they go through. Otherwise, search for some big distance touring type people, often their blogs/reports will have that kind of info thrown in.

[trailburner]

get cable disk brakes. they have good stopping power and no fuss when you need to repair or replace them.

and for your ass' sake get the best saddle you can find and sit on it for long periods of time in the lead up as well as good, padded cycle shorts.

[John U]

Good luck, it sounds like an excellent trip.

In my experience I have found better quality parts tend to last longer. If you buy a $1500 bike the parts will probably wear out quicker than if you spent a bit more. This is something you might want to take into account. The flipside is the more exclusive the parts the harder they would be to find in the middle of nowhere.

What a lot of people use for long distance unsupported riding is gear that is low maintenance. Things like a rohloff internally geared hub. This sort of stuff is very expensive though.

Someone hear might be able to supply a link to a site or something like it dedicated to mega-epic rides of which something like this would belong.

[KH1]

11000Km! Holy Sheet! And I thought the ATB was a big ride.......
Good luck with that. Less complexity means less chance of failure so Hard Tail, Mech brakes, Single speed..... Just kidding.
Out of interest how much does it cost for the entry?

[logo273]

costs 7,900 euros. About 13,000 dollar - which is an insane amout i know but i guess money is meant to be enjoyed. Includes all food and accom (tent) for about 3.5 months. Im really paying for the safety. I was thinking doing it by myself but i chickened out cos its too friggin dangerous (going through sudan and stuff). If your interested i could always use an another aussie along the way .... if you google it you can check out the details. I would post the link but apparently i cant cos im a new member

Thanks for all the advice - im starting to get a picture of what i need - keep it coming!

[Sethius]

costs 7,900 euros. About 13,000 dollar - which is an insane amout i know but i guess money is meant to be enjoyed. Includes all food and accom (tent) for about 3.5 months. Im really paying for the safety. I was thinking doing it by myself but i chickened out cos its too friggin dangerous (going through sudan and stuff). If your interested i could always use an another aussie along the way .... if you google it you can check out the details. I would post the link but apparently i cant cos im a new member

Thanks for all the advice - im starting to get a picture of what i need - keep it coming!

touch up on basic mechanics is a Must. Try and bike on run out and get the LBS to get a package proposal together, most shops will do significantly cheaper combos rather than bit by bit. Dont forget things like chain lube/grease and what not.the better you keep the bike running the less likely something is to go wrong.

basic wheel truing and gears would my main concern.

Get a shop to set you up properly- 11000kms is going to kill your back etc if its not correctly setup- stem length- bar width- do you want bar ends?

also consider what type of tubes your running? if you run out of spares and must purchase presta will be harder to get. Patch kits although a pain the ars can be good when you do run out. Good quality rim tape should be factored in also.

Dont let a basic bike ruin your experience-gearing/cranks/wheelset the parts doing alot of work you want to be good quality- having crap gearing over 50km is bad enough leavalone 11k kms.

best make a HUGE checklist of possible and maybes and MUST's and work out what your willing to sacrifice.

[nelo784]

I lived in Africa for three years and knocked up around 25,000 kms in various trips. You will have a great time and it is a wise decision to go with the group if you are just getting into it. I have heard things are well organised and you will be joined by some of the team from Lonely Planet guide books next year. They are doing different parts of the trip!

As for the bike, go and have a chat to some of the better touring stores wherever you are. I know that St Kilda Cycles in Melbourne, or Cheeky Transport (Newtown) in Sydney are fantastic for this kind of thing. They should be able to point you in the right direction on a rig, and they are honest, straight forward and up-front.

I second the steel bike choice, both for comfort and ease of maintenance. You really don't need disc brakes in Africa, so keep things simple. Fitting is the key (very important you get it right), saddle should be well worn in, and choose some bars with lots of different handholds. You may want to look at the bike section on the Cheeky Transport site as they have a good range of touring packages to look at. Believe me, spend an extra $1000 if you can, and it will make the trip so much easier, enjoyable and hassle free.

One final point, I don't think you need to go as high up as a rohloff. I got 7500 kms on one trip with nothing more than 2 tyre changes and a new chain. Take the time to check things over as you go and be careful to clean things carefully and regularly.

Good luck, I would love to be travelling with you. Worth every cent!! I think it is actually very cheap for the time you are travelling.

[bdstorer]

My 2c worth:

Steel frame: If it breaks, any welder can fix it.

Singlespeed: Low maintanance and less parts to break.

V-brakes: Easy to maintain.

I would think about a 29er mountain bike. Maybe a Redline Monocog or KHS Solo-one and upgrade the wheelset to a hardcore touring set?

Mate awesome plan. Do it!!

(if you NEED gears, maybe consider a Surly Long Haul Trucker?)

[dain2772]

My 2c worth:

Steel frame: If it breaks, any welder can fix it.

Singlespeed: Low maintanance and less parts to break.

V-brakes: Easy to maintain.

I would think about a 29er mountain bike. Maybe a Redline Monocog or KHS Solo-one and upgrade the wheelset to a hardcore touring set?

Mate awesome plan. Do it!!

(if you NEED gears, maybe consider a Surly Long Haul Trucker?)

29er would probably be a good idea given the number of road miles. Even dirt miles are likely to be on dirt roads, which wouldn't require the agility of 26 inch wheels, although spares might be easier to come across for more 'standard' sizing.

singlespeed could make the whole thing harder, but would certainly be less stuff to break.

[swanny81]

Yeah Id disagree with going 29er.

While the actual setup might have advantages, I think purely based on the ease of obtaining 26' tubes/tyres/rims if needed would make it worth going 26.


Sounds like a brilliant trip though mate, I wish you all the best for it :)


I think probably the single best thing to invest some money on, is a decent cleaning kit. You wont need to spend the earth to get some lubes, cleaners, brushes etc, and you will find that you save hugely on parts and having things break if you look after everything meticulously.

[KH1]

If your interested i could always use an another aussie along the way ....

Thanks for all the advice - im starting to get a picture of what i need - keep it coming!

Thanks for the offer....... The whole thing looks awesome but I'm sure my wife would change the locks whilst I was away :o Also a 7 year old and a new baby on the way doesn't give me too much freedom - I would need to rack up some serious brownie points to even get a hearing let alone the leave app approval :eek:

Ask me again in 2015 when the new one starts school. I'll be 50 and my base fitness should be just about right for a trip like that...... :p

[dain2772]

Yeah Id disagree with going 29er.

While the actual setup might have advantages, I think purely based on the ease of obtaining 26' tubes/tyres/rims if needed would make it worth going 26.


Sounds like a brilliant trip though mate, I wish you all the best for it :)


I think probably the single best thing to invest some money on, is a decent cleaning kit. You wont need to spend the earth to get some lubes, cleaners, brushes etc, and you will find that you save hugely on parts and having things break if you look after everything meticulously.

and with all the cleaning stuff, you should have a cleaning/maintenance schedule. ie, stuff that you do at the end of each day, stuff to do weekly etc, rather than waiting for things to break.

[craw]

I've been reading about the Tour D'Afrique for ages. I change my mind about wanting to do it almost daily. On one hand I figure that's a huge commitment and maybe I should just do a portion of it; but then I figure why bother flying all the way there and not do the whole thing? It's almost as much work to take a month off work as three (as far as taking time off, etc).

I've thought long and hard about what bike would be best for ages. I figure steel rigid hardtail 29er with cable disc brakes and a multi-position handlebar (the cheapest being the Titec version (http://g-tedproductions.blogspot.com/2007/02/more-on-titec-h-bar.html), or Ergon grips w/ bar ends (http://www.ergon-bike.com/us/grips/index.html?WYSESSID=741t0g5iiphmtfcn31ad51nb74), or a good ol' drop bar). I think a titanium bike would be more comfortable but it's way more expensive and could be problematic if something goes wrong and you need to repair it. Steel frames and forks can be fixed by anyone with a MIG/TIG welder. A frame that incorporates an eccentric BB or slotted dropouts might be useful if you trash your derailleur and need to run singlespeed for a while. Not sure how many spares of stuff you will have room for. Needless to say you need to know how to do basic maintenance (which includes changing tires, replacing broken spokes, diagnosing/fixing drivetrain issues, etc. - you need to be reasonably self-sufficient).

You should have multiple sets of tires (i.e. for rocks, for sand, for roads, etc. Tires dry/wear out quickly), shoes, shorts, gloves, etc. Having spares means that if a piece of gear starts to hurt/chafe, or you encounter unexpected conditions then you can change into something else that will work better.

The average day on the Tour is 100km so make sure you start working your way up to 100km days as soon as you get your bike. This will give you a chance to suffer a bit and see what issues come up. Imagine the types of blisters or soreness you could get in your feet/back/hands/etc over that sort of distance. May as well do your training on the bike you intend to use for the tour (especially if you're on a budget!). This will also get your maintenance skills up to par in a hurry. If you live in Aus you're lucky to have hot dry flattish terrain you can train on.

There's a great book written by a participant of the race (http://www.theeficlub.com/test/EFI_about_the_book.html). It's highly recommended. It's a beautiful book and it's very well written. Gives a great account of the experience.

Neil Peart, the drummer from Rush, is an avid cyclist. He did a tour of Cameroon and wrote an awesome book about it (http://www.amazon.com/Masked-Rider-Cycling-West-Africa/dp/1550226657/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1222385874&sr=1-3). Talks about being a first-worlder in Africa, interacting with awesome local people, coping with local authority, etc. Not a race book per se, but informative about the trials and tribulations of seeing Africa at ground level.

You should do it!!

[logo273]

Thanks for the great advice everyone. I am thinking of getting a giant talon 09. I know it is a cheap bike but with all the spares i will need to get and bike clothing its gonna get dam expensive. Most people i have talked to believe that the giant talon is equal to the trek 6500 and some dude did it on the trek and he said it was ok. Anyone got an opinion on using the talon?

Craw do it in 2010 and i will see you there!