Refurbish Worn Out $10 Gary Fisher Advance 1990 Mountain Bike for Cyclocamping touring racks $80.

Practical Cyclocamping. I bought this bike from a fella who posted it on facebook marketplace for $10. I drove down to Blossom Hill and picked it up, where he had other crummy bikes he was trying to sell. This was the only bike worth my time.

In most cases, this bike would have been given away for free, it’s that bad. This ‘90 Advance has some better wheels with 36 spokes front and rear. Larger diameter frame tubing is not really a good thing. It makes the bike more rigid and less flexible, meaning the ride is harsher. For touring, you want strong, and comfortable. The less tapered front fork is a clue this bike is a rough rider.

Where did I get my parts and how much did I spend to do this? The tires and suspension seat post were given to me from a cycling friend the 27.2 alloy seatpost from a race team mate. One used tube I pulled from my Fix Your Bike Day stock, along with two brake cables, two shifter cables, matching housing, crimps, ferrules, and tubing ( $1 each cable, about $2 in housing, less than 20 cents for the bits and pieces, let’s say $7.)

From Aliexpress.com ergo grips $5.25, Shimano R55C4 brake pads x2 $23, 73mm x 126mm square tape bottom bracket $12.15. That’s about $41.

From Temu.com, the 21-speed Chinese no-name twist shifter $9, the seatpost shim 28.6/27.2 $4. Figure $13.

All of the ferrules, cable crimps I purchase in 10 packs or 100 packs from the same sources.

There are local sources I can buy from also such as bikesx.org (Silicon Valley Bike Exchange), Good Karma Bikes (goodkarmabikes.org), and a number of local rebuilders that have excess parts that I have relationships with.

Let’s say I spent $80 total on this project. The result is a handy more than mid range touring bike that is highly reliable. BTW, racks can be purchased on craigslist for about $10 each for a three spar unit. Panniers routinely are available for about $20 each too.

Modifying pannier hooks to adjustable clamps cost about $11 each and well worth it. Here are some key words for aliexpress you can search for: bicycle side bag buckle. If you must have the best clamps, use Arkel, https://arkel.ca/collections/accessories and https://arkel.ca/collections/accessor... and https://arkel.ca/collections/accessor.... I use Arkel cam-lok on my other set of JandD large panniers for strenuous cross country cyclocamping rides. Expensive but I am confident they will not break or cause problems along the way. I’ve had my fair share of repeat problems in the out back to deal with.

Did you find this information useful? Most of the technique is engineering and production technique not gleamed from other sources. The reason I do this is so that I can direct my potential volunteers for Fix Your Bike Day or cycling instructor colleagues to watch this and to come up to speed, and to get an idea of what methods are available to them to solve various bike problems.

I am expecting to start producing useful videos on actually cyclocamping and touring. You want that don’t you? Let me know. Cheers and regards, Wynn

MyUltralightStove Practical Cyclocamping Cyclecamping