4300 miles across North America on my S30

[tiltmaniac]

This past summer I was lucky enough ride across North America with my dad on the Cycle America Coast-to-Coast tour!
Though the tour was 4300 miles, I missed around a hundred near the beginning because of an uncooperative hamstring. I made some of it back up extending a number of days until I got to 100+ miles.

Equipment:
Mostly the same as build here with the variations listed below: https://forum.cruzbike.com/threads/tiltmaniacs-s30v2-build.12220/
I used the new Cruzbike carbon-fiber adjustable seat + headrest, changed out the lights, and used a self-designed 3d-printed GPS holder which allowed my GPS to snug the top of the curved part of the boom (https://forum.cruzbike.com/threads/gps-and-horn-mount-for-curved-slider.13084/).

Sadly, the horn died due to water intrusion about half-way through the trip. Happily, I didn't really need the horn anyway.

Even more sadly, my front wheel suffered a rim failure (cracking/delamination along the brake track) after some truly nasty expansion-joint roads in Minnesota between Montevideo and Hutchenson.

Comment: It is /difficult/ to find QR disc-brake wheels on tour these days. I think that if you're doing cross-country touring you're probably better off getting some thru-axle wheel and getting a thru-axle-QR converter (they're cheap).
I was able to find a used, heavy wheel around 50 miles away for $30. It lasted a day (it was pretty worn out and needed to be rebuilt to prevent the spokes/nipples from creeping), where a nice bike-shop loaned me a nice wheel that I used for the rest of the trip (a silver HED).

My front brake caliper also died (started leaking hydraulic fluid on the the pad, and each time you used it, you got less braking ability) during the trip at the top of Needles Highway. Thankfully, there was a bike that wasn't being used on the trip, and I was able to borrow a caliper from that bike until we could get a new one shipped to me.

Amusingly, the "no boomstrike/anti-flop" rubber band just keeps on ticking along. I don't know how many miles it has been since I installed it, but.. it has been wonderful to be able to just push and maneuver the bike around with one hand.

Temps as measured by my GPS reached 115F while riding in the middle of nowhere in farm country. This was ... hot. When it got this hot, I couldn't ride with a tailwind for very long, since the wind was necessary to prevent overheating.

Interesting stats:
- Tour ascent: 130k ft
- Tour mileage: 4300 mi
- Riding days: 54
- Average miles/day: 79
- Max temp: 115
- Min temp: high-30s.
- Rain-days: 3
- Beautiful sights: Too many to count!
- Duration: 9 weeks
- Riding days: 54
- Weight loss: 50 lbs
- Notable passes: Powder River: 9666, Togwote: 9658, Teton Pass: 8431
- Toughest "sustained" grade: ~13+%
- Toughest long grade: ~7%
- Steepest grade traversed: 23%
- Fastest descent 59.5 mph

 

[tiltmaniac]

A couple of selected videos:
Badlands National Park- https://photos.app.goo.gl/U8rQfyhJSjwNriLW8
Needles Highway- https://photos.app.goo.gl/JCjJhGMpM1akzP4j9
Relaxing lake- https://photos.app.goo.gl/bbw3QzQQiyuXWPbB7
Train Tunnel- https://photos.app.goo.gl/D2zk4QBMXok5GuLD6

 

[tiltmaniac]

Selected tour photos.

 

[tiltmaniac]

More photos (these aren't in any particular order)

 

[tiltmaniac]

My verdict: The S30 is still a great bike-- I still really love it!

Keep in mind that a tour like this is pretty brutal on a bike (not to mention the rider)!

The S30 was quite a bit faster than the other bikes (and there were some nice/fancy ones), though I made a poor showing on climbs at the start of the tour (that was 100% the engine's fault, since I was unable to train prior to the trip). By the end though, I was a much much better climber, and the bike could show what it could do on all terrain far better! There was one other 'bent on the trip, which was a LWB.

New equipment review (4000+ miles in):
- The new seat is wonderful. It fits better than the aftermarket CF seat did (since you sit lower in the "cockpit"). Highly recommended!
I had an issue with some of the bolts for the seat being too soft, and had to replace them, which I attribute to some of them being a bit short for mounting on the S30, and me taking them on/off a number of times while was getting the fit dialed in during the trip... you see, when you lose 50 lbs on-tour, the fit of the bike changes...

- The new headrest also works quite well, but watch out for oxidization on the piece that connects to the pad-holding-piece.
- Garmin 1030+.. it just worked. No issues.

People were looking at me and my bike in a very jealous fashion. I wouldn't be surprised if we get another person getting a CB because they saw how it performed.

There was never a question about who was fastest on the flats/downhills. The only way people could keep up with me was when they formed a paceline, and even then, not always. While this won't be impressive for many, I did manage to average almost 19 mph for ~100 miles on a particularly flat day. Not bad at all given my (lack of) physical conditioning.

 

[chicorider]

Truly inspiring, in so many ways! Thank you so much for sharing this. What does one do after a trip like this?

 

[tiltmaniac]

Truly inspiring, in so many ways! Thank you so much for sharing this. What does one do after a trip like this?

For many people who did this, they go do other tours. I just don't have that kind of time. Getting to do this was a once-in-5-years opportunity from the job perspective, and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity from a family's forbearance perspective!

So, the real answer is that.. I'm back to home and family and work!

I'm rebuilding the bike with a 1x12 drivetrain. The 2x10 worked, but, it was annoying to have to adjust the front derailleur.
Once that is done (hopefully this week once the correct endcaps come in for the new wheel), I'll be using the bike for commuting again, now that commuting to work is possible again! I hope to do more riding around where I live, and hopefully find some others to bike with who are OK with the way I ride-- slower up hills, faster everywhere else. I'll note that even when I am very low body fat, I'm still slower up hills than many. AFAICT, my low-body-fat weight is higher than most others.

One day I may get back to the balance-assist-tilting-trike attachment, when I find a fabricator near me in my new location/state.

 

[Lief]

Love the write-up and the pics. This is something I've considered (at various stages of seriousness) for several years and it is nice to see the vistas and all bringing me right back to the more serious end of consideration.
I especially love the foggy tunnel- shots (tho I've ridden in a long wet cold tunnel before and wouldn't put it on high on my list of desires - the visual you have here is astounding.
Fantastic.

 

[woodguy]

Brings back great memories of my Coast to Coast in 2019 on my Q45. We did the southern route and it was shorter by 1,000 miles. Thanks for the report, and I encourage anyone thinking about doing this to go for it!

 

[cpml123]

I'm rebuilding the bike with a 1x12 drivetrain. The 2x10 worked, but, it was annoying to have to adjust the front derailleur.

I currently have 2x10 as well. Will be interested in how you like the 1x12 setup. Yes I get annoyed as well by the FD adjustment and occasional chain drop or not shifting up. :-(

 

[bladderhead]

This whole story is doing my brain in. 4300 miles? That is bad enough on its own. A long journey for me is 43 miles. And you had to replace the wheel. And the caliper. Not the whole thing, just the caliper, which means you had to bleed it. I could write a book about my traumatic attempts at bleeding. No more bleeding for me. But none of that can stop @tiltmaniac. Objectively awesome.

I am not going to ask about the horn. Too much information.

 

[bladderhead]

After a lot of miles with 1x11 and 1x12 I realised that the only really annoying thing was the double chainwheels. XX1 was the best thing to happen to Disraeli gears in a century.

Make a bar-end friction-shifter.

 

[tiltmaniac]

This whole story is doing my brain in. 4300 miles? That is bad enough on its own. A long journey for me is 43 miles. And you had to replace the wheel. And the caliper. Not the whole thing, just the caliper, which means you had to bleed it. I could write a book about my traumatic attempts at bleeding. No more bleeding for me. But none of that can stop @tiltmaniac. Objectively awesome.

I am not going to ask about the horn. Too much information.

I use mechanical/hydraulic hybrids, so I don't have to bleed the whole system, thankfully!

There are cases where one might bleed the /caliper/, but that isn't as fraught with issues as bleeding the whole system.
I do pay for that in terms of brake responsiveness.. but honestly, I mostly do "brake is 100% on", "brake is off", since that tends to manage heat better on long descents, and the responsiveness is "OK" with the hybrid calipers and a good stiff compressionless cable housing.

 

[tiltmaniac]

I saw I put the wrong (well, not the most interesting) Needles Hwy video in there, so.. here is the "right" one!

New video by Roberto Peon

photos.app.goo.gl