Month: October 2017

Iceland trip planning: Vacaburra’s modifications

I haven’t forgotten about my trip to Iceland, but it’s taking me a while to gather the data for my next posts. Now I’m going to tell you how I prepared the bike for the trip.

Vacaburra near Djúpavík (Iceland)

You already know about the Holan panniers and my experience with them. I stuck white front, red rear, and orange side reflectors on them. Tuareg Rear Rack Extension was a good spending of 73 euros. It was the perfect platform to strap a Richa H2O 40l bag with bungee cords, that cost me 50 euros. On top of the tank I had a Richa TS 011 bag that cost me 45 euros. I bought both Richa bags in a local shop, and I have no complain about them.

Tuareg Rear Rack Extension

have been wanting to change my tires to something more off-road. I wanted Mitas E-07 Dakar but I couldn’t get them due to supply shortage. At the end I chose the more radical Continental TKC 80 and I’m so happy with them I will probably put the same in my next change. It’s true they don’t last so long, after 7200 kilometers of trip to Iceland I think they are three quarters worn. But the handling is so much better off-road… As a precaution, I have reduced my maximum speed on pavement to 100 km/h, 80 if it is wet. I don’t know if I’m being paranoid, but for me it’s a good trade-off.

I had wild dreams of reaching Sigurðarskáli and doing the F26. I was concerned about the range of the tank, so I bought two Rotopax Gasflask that fit nicely on top of the panniers and gave me almost 10 liters extra. With their straps and import taxes, they cost me more than 300 euros. It turned out to be a waste of money, because when I saw the rivers I had to cross I cancelled my plans. I did the F35 and other shorter routes, for which I didn’t need extra fuel. Maybe they come handy in some other adventure.

It was very clear that I needed some kind of cushion to endure the trip. After some search in the Internet, I decided to buy Airhawk 2 Cruiser Small pad. What a great product, I was riding several hours everyday with no problem sitting. My mistake was that I spent 170 euros ordering it from the US (taxes included), and then I found another suitable model of the same brand in a local shop for half the price. Oh well…

I could have lived without spending 180 euros in a pair of Pivot Pegz Mark 3, but I’m happy I did. A great product that makes off-road riding more comfortable and safer, and I recommend.

Pivot Pegz Mark 3

I had to replace a broken mirror, so I spent 40 euros in a couple of folding mirrors. These mirrors have a joint that allows me to have them in a more upright position than the stock ones, being less exposed to falls. They have already survived a few without touching the ground. A cheap improvement that I can recommend.

Folding mirror

I had a car-lighter socket, but I decided to replace it with a double USB socket that I installed in the center of the handlebar for better rain protection. Having two USB was very handy to charge the camera’s batteries while keeping the phone connected. It cost me 12 euros and it wasn’t difficult to install. I’m not sure if I did it quite right, because it still gives power with the keys off. I suppose it doesn’t drain the battery if nothing is connected.

USB charger sockets

I definitely should mention the heated grips, even though they are not part of this trip’s preparations. They were already installed when I bought the bike. I had good winter gloves and I still I couldn’t have survived without them, given the Icelandic weather.

I ordered a polycarbonate headlight guard, but there was a supply shortage and Rugged Roads kindly cancelled it. I was considering other protection parts from the same shop, but I thought I had already spent too much money. At the end, I didn’t need them.

In my next post about the trip, I will give you the detailed packlist of all the stuff I carried with me, including prices and my experience with the items. I took me a while to compile it, but it’s almost done.

Nomada Cases by Holan

This post is about my bad experience with Nomada Cases by Holan. I had some old plastic panniers that I used in my trip to Estonia, but I thought they were not good for Iceland. Too small, and probably neither waterproof not strong enough. I decided to invest in a new metallic set, and after considering several options I chose Holan‘s panniers. I liked their looks, the cut edges, the many strap hooks,  and the available extras of straps, bags, bottle holders and bottom boxes. I made an investment of 1329 €, divided as follows:

If you just buy the pannier system and locks, the price is pretty much the same as other panniers in the market. It’s the extras what made it so expensive. With everything installed, it looks like in the picture below. The reflectors are not included.

Gothenburg, on my way to Iceland

The first issues I noticed when I installed the rack are related to the bar that links both sides. The “flaps” with holes for the screws are not well aligned, and the bar touches and pushes the plate holder back. You can see this in the image below. Notice that the tight screw and bolt are pushing the flaps together, the misalignment was bigger when loose.

Holan Nomada Cases rack

This picture was taken after the Iceland trip. I was worried that the misaligned flaps would put extra force in the bolts that could make them break, but so far they have survived fine. The plate holder has scratched the paint from the bar, though.

Another issue is the weakness of the bottle holders. As you can see in the first picture, I was carrying a fire extinguisher and a 1-liter flask. The picture below shows how the holder bent down after the Iceland trip. Compare it to the unused holder in the background. The other holder that I used was bent the same.

Holan bottle holder bent after Iceland

The biggest issue was that the right pannier started getting loose and falling in bumpy roads. The picture below is a composition of one of such incidents, together with the wheel that Holan uses to tight the panniers. Loosing a pannier is a extremely dangerous thing, because it causes a sudden shift of weight that pushes you sideways. Fortunately this happened on bumpy roads with almost no traffic.

Loosing a Holan pannier in Iceland

The first time it happened I thought it was my mistake for not attaching the pannier tight, but it kept happening no matter how tight I twisted the wheels with both hands. At the end, when riding on bumpy roads, I had to stop every half an hour to make them tight again. I don’t know why this happened only with the right pannier; but in my opinion, relying on a wheel staying tight under vibrations is very risky and a big mistake. There should be some kind of safety lock or pin.

Another issue, related to the bottle holders, is the weakness of the locks. They are made of the same metal with the same thickness. The locks are designed to work as hinges as well, but one can notice they are not quite strong to even hold the weight of the open lid. The picture below shows how the hooks of the lock of a bottom EXP-box bent after the trip to Iceland. Those little hooks hold the weight of the box, and I was carrying tools in it. It never actually opened, but I used flanges to be safe.

Holan bent lock after Iceland

One issue of the EXP-boxes is that they easily get water when crossing rivers and such. My tools got rusty. If they aren’t meant to be waterproof, I think they should have a hole to let the water out.

Speaking of waterproofing, the rubber sealing of the panniers gets peeled off when pulling full bags out of them. The picture below shows how. So far I managed to stick it back.

Holan pannier rubber sealing

I placed the order for the panniers on January 3rd 2017. I can’t remember when I received them exactly, a few months later. I only used them in my trip to Iceland, July-August 2017. On September 10th 2017 I sent an e-mail to Holan explaining these issues with attached pictures, and asking for a compensation or repair. So far I didn’t get any reply. I will update this post if I ever hear from them.

It’s a pity that poor design or quality in the details ruins what otherwise would be a great pannier system. This, plus their lack of response, makes me regret my choice. Actually, after my trip to Iceland, I think I should have used flexible bags like the ones made by Wolfman Luggage (Just an example, I’m not endorsing the brand). I thought flexible bags were too weak, but other adventure riders I met were happy with them and their resistance to falls. If you are unlucky, you can probably do an emergency fix with duct tape. My metallic pannier system adds a lot of weight and made handling noticeably more difficult, specially off-road.