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Northcape to Gibraltar by bike, summer '98

The Beauty and the Beast ...

Because we were living in Singapore until 3 weeks before we started our trip, we had to order our bicycles "long distance". Which is not the easiest task to do and maybe is not the best way to approach it, but in our case there was no alternative.

After checking the web-sites of many manufacturers we settled for Koga Miyata's. And in particular the Randonneur and Randonneur Lady models. Two black bikes, one called "The Beauty" and one, with its Spanish bull style bar-ends "The Beast".

For non-dutch people, the Koga Miyata brand sounds very Japanese, but they are manufactured in Holland, mainly based on Japanese parts. The frames are from Miyata, while many moving parts are from Shimano.

The Randonneur's we ordered (one 57 cm and one 48 cm), are coming full of features, however we did replace a couple of those. The major change was the replacement of the suspended "spaghetti-shape" handlebar. The whole construction becomes too heavy and too complex for a real long distance trip. Also the handlebar bag needs a special fixture that brings it too far out front. So we settled for more conventional types.

Then we opted for "real" Brooks leather saddles. Well, you are old fashioned or you are not. And on each bike, one of the bidon holders was replaced with a 1.5 litre PET bottle holder. Finally, after having done a training trip through heavy rain we discovered that the short version rain-protectors are indeed ... too short. Maybe they look sporty, but you still get a wet back. So we got the normal long versions. But for the rest, the bikes are as standard. They look very sturdy and solid, so let's hope this eliminates most technical problems during our trip.

The bikes were bought from Lohman, a bicycle shop in the centre of Amsterdam, who also did all customisations of our bikes for this trip. Thanks guys!!!

On the topic of bags, we opted for the Ortlieb Front-roller and Back-roller bags. These bags are made without zippers, similar to rafting bags. Especially the 100% waterproof guarantee is what attracted us. Let's see if after the trip we still have dry clothes.

The Beauty and the Beast
the Beauty and the Beast
48 kg
including
luggage
 The Beast

For the technically interested, the specifications of the bicycles are:

  • frame: constructed from Koga-Miyata FM-1 triple butted chroommolybdeen oval tubes; fixtures for all accessories.
  • fork: Unicrown fork chroommolybdeen
  • handlebar: (was) ITM Synergic Randonneur and shock-absorbing ITM Traffic flex
  • brakes: Shimano LX V-Brakes BR-M600 and Shimano LX BL-M601 with BPC system
  • spokes: DT 14g. stainless steel
  • hubs: Shimano XT FH-M737/HB-M739 40/36g 100-135mm
  • tyres: Continental Top Touring 2000 37mm
  • rims: Mavic T-217 sup UB CD 40/36g
  • saddle: (was) Selle San Marco shock-absorbing with leather deck (now Brooks full leather saddle)
  • seat post: Koga shock-absorbing 26,8mm ø
  • cranks: Shimano LX FC-M569 4-arm with gearwheels: 22 / 32 / 42
  • bracket: Shimano LX BB-UN52
  • pedals: Koga Combi
  • cog set: Shimano LX CS-HG70i 8 speed 11/12/14/16/18/21/24/28
  • pump: Combo Master blaster
  • derailleur: Shimano XT RD-M739SGS
  • front changer: Shimano LX FD-M566
  • gear shift levers: Shimano LX SL-M569
  • mudguards: (was) SKS short version (now SKS normal version)
  • front lantern: Koga oval Halogen with reflector
  • rear light: Reflex light LED with capacitor
  • alternator: Union bracket alternator
  • racks: SL Touring and Trekking
  • stand: Pletscher
  • lock: AXA SL-7

... three months later ...

And how were our bikes at the end of our journey. In one word: perfect! We were still using the first set of tires (at the end of course a bit worn out) and in total we had four flat tires becuase of punctures over 7200 km. What amased us especially, were the quality of gears and brakes. Over the last years, the influence of mountain-biking has really improved the quality of these parts dramatically. At the end we were still using our first set of brake shoes.

Also the Ortlieb bags stayed waterproof till the end. We had the "light weight" version, but no problem of wear and tear. For the rest, only one of our lowriders broke because of too many vibrations. Which luckily didn't cause us any problems. So, the Koga Randonneur's really did a good job. The roads were often tough, the distance was long, but our equipment really did very well.

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