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Building an Agilo for travel and bike packing holidays.
This is more for builders past and future, little things to make your life on the road more comfortable.
1. The seat
You are going to be spending some time here so get it right for your particular body shape. I need vertebrae relief, I talked to Ventisit and asked Bodo what I can do to make mine better.
Get a Ventisit mat with the light fabric cover, you will be more comfortable. I asked if I could remove material from the double layer mat I have to make a groove for vertebrae relief. The answer was a prudent "yes" or more a "yes, but". you will have to do some stitching to keep the mat in the correct shape. On the road I had to remove a cable tie which had created a huge bruise in the middle of my back. Replace the cable ties with nylon fishing line is my best suggestion. That helped me but was not enough, a slot will have to be sawed out from the middle of the seat, I will illustrate that with photos when I do the job.
2. Luggage compartments
My front luggage compartments are OK. Sort of, because they are not French speed bump proof. They work fine for speed bumps that are built to the norm set by the transport authority but as you can guess they are not the majority.
So you need a luggage compartment which is high enough and which is not too high to get to things in the bottom. I use bags so that small objects like inner tubes cannot fall to the bottom to never be seen again. There needs to be a hole at the front so that you can click out. See pedals and cranks below.
I have a custom large hole in the top of the seat and the top luggage compartment can only be accessed from inside*. I only put lighter things like jackets, cover etc up there but, once again the speed bumps, they have a tendency to want to join me in the cabin. I will add a net to stop that happening in the future.
The bottom luggage compartments also have a larger non standard opening (kind of like the one on the new ventec plan
. I used the covers on this trip so that people could not see what was inside. While driving I designed a new cover which also acts as an elbow rest. With the arms back that far one could even install tank steering... I bought a couple of 15 litre bags from Decathlon (in the fitness section). They are water resistant and just the right size for my luggage compartments, I will get 2 more before the next trip. I also got a 30 litre model but it is a little too big to be useful, a bit of a pain stuffing it in there even though it was mostly clothes for the washing machine.
3. GPS and other instruments
My clever idea of putting the Bafang LCD out of the way on the floor worked quite well. Until one day, tired, I stood on it when getting out. Drill 22 mm holes in M1 and epoxy glue 2 lengths of 22 mm CF tube there. The top one for the Sigma or other. I have my high beam switch there as well - it is in direct vision so you know if the light is on high or not. The lower one can hold the Bafang LCD.
I love my indicator switches (too heavy) with flashing LED but now I would put them in a 3D printed holder on the bar ends. One could hold the brake light switch too.
GPS - needs to be on a holder fixed to the right hand wheel well and under the hood so the sun does not affect reading the screen. Long distance travel requires a GPS. Switzerland is a nice country but the route to Spezi is not the best on that side of the Rhine... Turn on the annoying voice so that you don't go too far off track!
4. Brakes
Look further up in this thread, you will need real brake levers when you are driving fully loaded with camping gear. There are some TT brake levers which seem to be short enough to be installed in the end of the tiller arms without affecting the Rohloff shifter. The other solution is to add one of those accessory bars to the tiller and mount the Rohloff shifter there.
Or use a pair of bar ends as I have done. I find the driving position very comfortable too. Get the lightest bar ends you can find but they do need to be long enough. As a handbrake I use a velcro band. The latest one has survived since Alsace, I lost 2 before that...
5. Gearing
Sorry, you need a Rohloff. Your bank account may suffer a little but you will never regret it. I drove the whole way on the 42T chainring except for a couple of experiments on the 56T (of course 56T empty at the Spezi). 16T Rohloff sprocket, 50-406 rear tyre, go plat in the gear calculator. Lots of times I was at 35-37 km/h in 14th gear but that is fine. And when the battery died early in the day I used 1st gear and crawled up some steeper parts at 5-6 km/h. As long as you are moving forwards you are getting closer to the campground.If you are rolling backwards then you must have a problem.
I did regret a little to not have installed the chainring guards I promised myself before leaving. You need those when hand shifting at the front - you are tired, you have a huge truck bearing down on you from the rear, that is when the chain will fall off when shifting. Or install a front derailleur, click, click, you have shifted.
I was very pleased with my Mango style tensioner. I played a little with alignement on the way and got to a perfectly silent drive train (OK you hear the chain on the chainring, you know what I mean...)
If you only have one chain tube your Ginkgo idler pulley cage only needs one chain tube holder. Please don't ask how I know...
6. Tyres and tubes
Front CCU in 50-406, not much to say, they look like new, the track must be set correctly. One puncture on the left, the right which drove through all the holes and broken glass didn't.
Rear Gocycle 50-406, I put it on the day before leaving in place of the 56-406 Maxxis DTH. Puctured through the rolling band by a "sharp object" in Belfort. Another slow puncture in Germany but could not find the hole.
AV7 tubes, they don't hold air when they are new. I had noticed this on the trike and the CCU which didn't puncture held air much longer than the 2 new ones I put in. After a while they seem to be more airtight, the trike front tyres still have the same pressure as when I left 4 weeks ago. OK it has been inside and not driven but still.
7. Battery and BBS01
Arriving within 26 km of the Spezi the BBS01 started making noises, I though white nylon gear but then it stopped so I think more like controller FETs.
My battery was too small for the conditions I encountered. Last year 3.4 Wh/km and here 5.6 Wh/km. A > 800 Wh battery would have been more comfortable. Learning by experience, lots of rain, colder temperatures, headwinds and more hills than in the Landes.
8. Windscreen wiper
You need one in April and May. Worked great, I saw the Hovelo one which I would like to try also. The screen has a nice CD-ROM pattern when the sun shines so I get to test polishing those out - she has some polycarbonate polish for the Yaris headlights!
More thoughts will probably come later.
* I forgot the GPS/phone when parked in front of a supermarket, of course someone had tried to get in through the window but had not managed to open the window or the door
This is more for builders past and future, little things to make your life on the road more comfortable.
1. The seat
You are going to be spending some time here so get it right for your particular body shape. I need vertebrae relief, I talked to Ventisit and asked Bodo what I can do to make mine better.
Get a Ventisit mat with the light fabric cover, you will be more comfortable. I asked if I could remove material from the double layer mat I have to make a groove for vertebrae relief. The answer was a prudent "yes" or more a "yes, but". you will have to do some stitching to keep the mat in the correct shape. On the road I had to remove a cable tie which had created a huge bruise in the middle of my back. Replace the cable ties with nylon fishing line is my best suggestion. That helped me but was not enough, a slot will have to be sawed out from the middle of the seat, I will illustrate that with photos when I do the job.
2. Luggage compartments
My front luggage compartments are OK. Sort of, because they are not French speed bump proof. They work fine for speed bumps that are built to the norm set by the transport authority but as you can guess they are not the majority.
So you need a luggage compartment which is high enough and which is not too high to get to things in the bottom. I use bags so that small objects like inner tubes cannot fall to the bottom to never be seen again. There needs to be a hole at the front so that you can click out. See pedals and cranks below.
I have a custom large hole in the top of the seat and the top luggage compartment can only be accessed from inside*. I only put lighter things like jackets, cover etc up there but, once again the speed bumps, they have a tendency to want to join me in the cabin. I will add a net to stop that happening in the future.
The bottom luggage compartments also have a larger non standard opening (kind of like the one on the new ventec plan
. I used the covers on this trip so that people could not see what was inside. While driving I designed a new cover which also acts as an elbow rest. With the arms back that far one could even install tank steering... I bought a couple of 15 litre bags from Decathlon (in the fitness section). They are water resistant and just the right size for my luggage compartments, I will get 2 more before the next trip. I also got a 30 litre model but it is a little too big to be useful, a bit of a pain stuffing it in there even though it was mostly clothes for the washing machine.3. GPS and other instruments
My clever idea of putting the Bafang LCD out of the way on the floor worked quite well. Until one day, tired, I stood on it when getting out. Drill 22 mm holes in M1 and epoxy glue 2 lengths of 22 mm CF tube there. The top one for the Sigma or other. I have my high beam switch there as well - it is in direct vision so you know if the light is on high or not. The lower one can hold the Bafang LCD.
I love my indicator switches (too heavy) with flashing LED but now I would put them in a 3D printed holder on the bar ends. One could hold the brake light switch too.
GPS - needs to be on a holder fixed to the right hand wheel well and under the hood so the sun does not affect reading the screen. Long distance travel requires a GPS. Switzerland is a nice country but the route to Spezi is not the best on that side of the Rhine... Turn on the annoying voice so that you don't go too far off track!
4. Brakes
Look further up in this thread, you will need real brake levers when you are driving fully loaded with camping gear. There are some TT brake levers which seem to be short enough to be installed in the end of the tiller arms without affecting the Rohloff shifter. The other solution is to add one of those accessory bars to the tiller and mount the Rohloff shifter there.
Or use a pair of bar ends as I have done. I find the driving position very comfortable too. Get the lightest bar ends you can find but they do need to be long enough. As a handbrake I use a velcro band. The latest one has survived since Alsace, I lost 2 before that...
5. Gearing
Sorry, you need a Rohloff. Your bank account may suffer a little but you will never regret it. I drove the whole way on the 42T chainring except for a couple of experiments on the 56T (of course 56T empty at the Spezi). 16T Rohloff sprocket, 50-406 rear tyre, go plat in the gear calculator. Lots of times I was at 35-37 km/h in 14th gear but that is fine. And when the battery died early in the day I used 1st gear and crawled up some steeper parts at 5-6 km/h. As long as you are moving forwards you are getting closer to the campground.If you are rolling backwards then you must have a problem.
I did regret a little to not have installed the chainring guards I promised myself before leaving. You need those when hand shifting at the front - you are tired, you have a huge truck bearing down on you from the rear, that is when the chain will fall off when shifting. Or install a front derailleur, click, click, you have shifted.
I was very pleased with my Mango style tensioner. I played a little with alignement on the way and got to a perfectly silent drive train (OK you hear the chain on the chainring, you know what I mean...)
If you only have one chain tube your Ginkgo idler pulley cage only needs one chain tube holder. Please don't ask how I know...
6. Tyres and tubes
Front CCU in 50-406, not much to say, they look like new, the track must be set correctly. One puncture on the left, the right which drove through all the holes and broken glass didn't.
Rear Gocycle 50-406, I put it on the day before leaving in place of the 56-406 Maxxis DTH. Puctured through the rolling band by a "sharp object" in Belfort. Another slow puncture in Germany but could not find the hole.
AV7 tubes, they don't hold air when they are new. I had noticed this on the trike and the CCU which didn't puncture held air much longer than the 2 new ones I put in. After a while they seem to be more airtight, the trike front tyres still have the same pressure as when I left 4 weeks ago. OK it has been inside and not driven but still.
7. Battery and BBS01
Arriving within 26 km of the Spezi the BBS01 started making noises, I though white nylon gear but then it stopped so I think more like controller FETs.
My battery was too small for the conditions I encountered. Last year 3.4 Wh/km and here 5.6 Wh/km. A > 800 Wh battery would have been more comfortable. Learning by experience, lots of rain, colder temperatures, headwinds and more hills than in the Landes.
8. Windscreen wiper
You need one in April and May. Worked great, I saw the Hovelo one which I would like to try also. The screen has a nice CD-ROM pattern when the sun shines so I get to test polishing those out - she has some polycarbonate polish for the Yaris headlights!
More thoughts will probably come later.
* I forgot the GPS/phone when parked in front of a supermarket, of course someone had tried to get in through the window but had not managed to open the window or the door
