Update on Upgrades / New Things I'll be using / trying out

As promised, here's a report on my plans to change / upgrade and add new equipment for the 392 mile Leg 3A - Southeast Texas Loop and the 1168 miles of Leg 3: Santa Fe NM to Los Angeles CA:

• 2007 Trek 1500 Road Bike - I used to ride my road bike more when I was riding with my son and doing the Hotter than Hell 100 in Wichita Falls, Tx each year.... but over the last couple of years, it's just been sitting in the garage.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, I evaluated taking my Trek 3700 Mountain Bike and doing some modifications to it to make it more "road efficient".  This is the bike that I rode for 510 miles from Lake Jackson Tx through the Texas Hill Country to Fort Worth and then 750 miles from Fort Worth Tx to Santa Fe NM.  It would do the job and it's still an option but when I laid out the itinerary for the 1168 miles of Leg 3 I realized I was going to need to travel greater distances to get from town to town where lodging was available.... and I remembered those 20+ mph headwinds that alway seem to be coming out of the west.... so here I am.... taking my Trek 1500 Road bike and testing it for "touring".  The Pro's for using the Trek 1500 are that it's light and fast and has great components, more gears, more aerodynamic profile for the rider based on the geometry of the bike.... it's a road bike.... it's built to go fast on the road.  The Con's are that it doesn't enjoy the more beefed up frame construction of a Mountain Bike or a Touring Bike.... it has 700x25 series road tires... not the 26" fat tires of a Mountain Bike or the 700x32 tires of a touring bike.... the "skinny" road tires will have much less rolling resistance but they also provide less "cushion" and "support" for carrying heavy loads down the road.... but I've talked it over with several bicycle shops and they see no problem if I keep the total "extra load" to < 60 lbs.
• Tire Upgrade for the Trek 1500 - initially I was going to go with the Specialized Armadillo tires as mentioned in the "Data Dump" post.... but after doing more research, reading quite a few "comparison" reviews and talking to several cycle shops in Houston, I think I'm going to go with the Bontrageur Race X Lite Hardcase -  http://bontrager.com/model/06999 -  Here's a link to a forum discussion comparing the Specialized Armadillos and the Bontrageur Hardcase - http://www.bikeforums.net/archive/index.php/t-360522.html  - I've heard and read a consistent theme that the Bontrageur Hardcase has about the same level of "bulletproofness" as the Specialized Armadillo but rides, rolls, grips and performs a whole lot better.   I'm going to the Clear Lake Bike Barn - http://bikebarn.com/ - today to get 'em installed.... so we'll see.
• Pedal / Bike Shoe change for the Trek 1500 - I have 2-sided Shimano clipless pedals on there right now that I use with a Shimano "Road" shoe.... I'm planning on going to a Shimano PD-A530 clipless pedal - http://bike.shimano.com/publish/content/global_cycle/en/us/index/products/pedals/mountain/product.-code-PD-A530.-type-pd_mountain.html - that will allow me to ride with a "bicycle shoe" on one side of the pedal and a regular "street shoe" on the other side.  I will likely also go to an All-Weather Multi-purpose Bicycle shoe like the Shimano SH-MT60 http://bike.shimano.com/publish/content/global_cycle/en/us/index/products/shoes/mtb/product.-code-SH-MT60.-type-.html
• Add front and rear racks to the Trek 1500 - after spending quite a bit of time researching and talking to folks in the know about racks and panniers, I decided to INVEST and I say INVEST in CAPS because quality stuff isn't cheap in this category.... in some quality racks and panniers.  Because the Trek 1500 doesn't have factory attachment points for front and rear racks on the respective forks, I went with the Old Man Mountain Racks - Sherpa for the front - http://www.oldmanmountain.com/Pages/RackPages/FrontRacks.html - Red Rock for the back - http://www.oldmanmountain.com/Pages/RackPages/RearRacks.html - I talked with John at Old Man Mountain and these are about the beefiest racks in the business and they come with all  the hardware and on-line illustrated installation instructions and they'll fit my Trek 1500 Road Bike or my Trek 3700 Mountain Bike (even though it has a front suspension) so these will basically do everything.
• Add front and rear panniers, handlebar bag and rack bag to the Trek 1500 - Geez, panniers are just like everything else in the world nowadays... you got about umpteen choices ranging in price, size, quantity and quality from low to HIGH and everything in between.... I went round and round on all this stuff but finally defaulted to the....

William Miller "Rule of 3" decision making philosophy....

Oh I haven't told you about this....

You can take this one to the bank and collect interest on it.... it's nearly bulletproof.

Here it is -

When faced with a decision about anything of consequence, value or life altering influence....

and following countless hours of research on your own....

Do the following -

Pick 3 completely independent, unbiased, informed sources (people) and ask them what they would do...

IF YOU GET THE SAME ANSWER FROM THE 3 COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT, UNBIASED, INFORMED SOURCES (PEOPLE) .....

THAT'S THE ANSWER!

So when I applied that to the decision about panniers.... you know what the "Rule of 3" yielded....

ORTLIEB PANNIERS - http://www.ortlieb.com/index_white.php?lang=en&m1=0&m2=0&file=p-search.php

These things are completely waterproof, high capacity, versatile, secure and high quality.... these will last a lifetime.... so there you go.

I ended up buying them at theTouringStore - http://www.thetouringstore.com/

• Various other items for the Trek 1500 - I already have a Cateye Bike computer on my bike.... I just need a new battery for it... I may change out the seat to the one I have on my Trek 3700... it's a Bell Sports Mountain Bike Saddle - http://www.walmart.com/ip/Bell-Sports-Mountain-Bike-Saddle/10400616?sourceid=1500000000000003260420&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=10400616 
• High Definition Video cam - I've had Sony Videocams in the past and have been very happy with them, but I've also used Canon cameras my whole life.... I had a Canon A-1 35 mm and a Canon EOS Rebel and now I have a Powershot A720is.... so I started comparing the Sony HD video cams to the Canon HD video cams and what I found out is that the Canon HD video cams match or exceed the Sony HD video cams in nearly every category..... for about $300 - $400 less!  Right now I'm leaning toward a Canon Vixia HF-200 - http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ModelInfoAct&fcategoryid=177&modelid=17994 - it lists for $749 but they've got a $200 instant rebate on them right now.... so they're priced at nearly every store for $549.... and the reviews are really good on them - cnet.com really likes it - http://www.cnet.com/1770-5_1-0.html?query=canon+vixia+hf200&tag=srch%3Ba - and the features and price are right.  I see a lot of "con" review comments on the crappy Pixela software that comes with the camera for editing and manipulating the "m2ts" format AVCHD files (read more about AVCHD here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AVCHD) - but there's easy to use, inexpensive software out there to "convert" the m2ts files to mpeg-4 format that can be easily edited.  Wondershare makes one of the "conversion" software solutions - http://www.dvd-ripper-copy.com/video-converter-platinum.html - I've used their software for converting Powerpoint files to .wmv files and it's simple and easy and maintains most of the original resolution of the images.
• Finally.... check this out.... http://www.goprocamera.com/index.php?area=2&productid=29 - is that cool or what?  I don't know whether I'll get a Helmet Cam or not.... but if I do... it'll likely be this one.... it's amazing for $300, you can get a near "broadcast quality" videocam with all the attachments and accessories to go along with you.... wherever you go.... diving off down a mountain bike trail.... or jumping off a bridge or jumping a car over whatever.... I tell you.... only in America!

Ok - now finally - how am I gonna pay for all this? 

Well, I've got quite a bit of stuff I could part with....

I've hunted and fished a lot over the years and ended up with a lot of stuff I just don't use anymore....

Guns, Bows, Rod and Reels, Deer Feeders, Deer Stands, Decoys, Clothes, Storage Building for all the "stuff"....

I've sat down and made a list with some reasonable values for each one... and I think I can sell all this stuff over the next month or so through a combination of Garage Sale and cheap ads in the local bargain and come up with enough to pay for all the bike item purchases....

If you won't something bad enough, you'll do what it takes to get it....

Out with the Old and In with the New....

I guess that's part of .....

Discovering America on 2 Wheels