Has technology changed touring?

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)
tatanab
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Re: Has technology changed touring?

Post by tatanab »

Just think, in pre "technology" days, say pre1990 --
1. We might send a post card to work colleagues. Now many are in email contact.
2. We might phone home once a week from a phone box. Now it is constant contact through mobile phones and other devices that demand charging.
2. We just went, we did not need routes to follow.
3. We might arrange to do a slide show when we got back. Now it is all on the blog.

Simpler times and I'm happy to be a simpleton
DarkNewt
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Re: Has technology changed touring?

Post by DarkNewt »

Bicycler wrote:The flip side has been the way that our expectations have changed in line with that technology. Once upon a time you just upped and left with what you had. Now it's too easy to spend months on the internet researching and to come away with the view that you need x bike with y kit and need to wear z clothes. You can easily come to the conclusion that you can't afford to go touring, that your bike isn't up to it, your tent is too heavy and your clothes are unsuitable. I understand that cycling is a minority pastime for enthusiasts who like to have good quality kit. That's all well and good but it risks deterring people by making them think that it is necessary to spend £££ on cycling stuff to go touring. That's why it is good when occasionally someone pops the marketing/enthusiast bubble to show you that you really don't need anything more than a bike and a desire to tour: http://tomsbiketrip.com/you-dont-need-a ... rob-maria/


I agree totally with this as I have done both and experienced on a budget and now with a lot more kit.. theres fun in both, however I believe yes we should do more to make sure people don't get put off!
Currently planning my next adventure and trying to get over two operations in 6 months but still going strong!
email: newt@systems-engineer.info web: thedarknewt.blogspot.co.uk
PaulB
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Re: Has technology changed touring?

Post by PaulB »

horizon wrote:The really amazing thing is that new technology has completely and utterly let us down. The greatest benefit that technology could have conferred on cycle touring is the huge diminution in working hours that would have allowed everyone if they so wished to go touring - the Great Leisure Time revolution. It was promised but never happened. Compare that to the universal adoption of the two week holiday early in the last century - that was a technological revolution as much as a social one.

So how much time has technology freed up for touring? Not a lot as far I can see. Cycle touring, obviously, is a time consumptive activity - technology cannot shorten it. Personally I would give up every piece of new technology for the freedom to have few weeks' extra time to tour.

Flying has changed people's horizons and yes, you can fit a trip to Australia into your annual holiday now. Using Google to plan a trip saves a little time. But two weeks is still two weeks and then it's back to the grindstone.

Cycle touring by its nature tends to eshew technology beyond the bike itself - that's the idea. And all those gadgets don't really detract from that (even though I don't use them). But they cannot really enhance it either: cycle touring needs time, serendipity, an open mind, some physical resilience, a sense of wonder and a feeling of joy. Technology could have released us to be able to experience more of that (even with paper maps) but instead it chained us to our work and held out as compensation some new toys to use on a short break. Give me an extra week over GPS any day.


I totally agree. We were told that computers would revolutionise work and we would all have much more leisure time and be freed from the every day grind. Computers now demand more of our time and people are working longer hours as they cannot be out of reach. I like computers and use them in my every day work - I'm using one now to send this! However, when I'm "off duty" I'm OFF DUTY! When on holiday I do not want to receive emails and telephone calls from anyone. My mobile 'phone (not a Smart one) is for my convenience and no-one elses. If you want to 'get away from it all' then do just that, don't take it all with you otherwise you may as well stay at home.
DarkNewt
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Re: Has technology changed touring?

Post by DarkNewt »

PaulB wrote:
horizon wrote:The really amazing thing is that new technology has completely and utterly let us down. The greatest benefit that technology could have conferred on cycle touring is the huge diminution in working hours that would have allowed everyone if they so wished to go touring - the Great Leisure Time revolution. It was promised but never happened. Compare that to the universal adoption of the two week holiday early in the last century - that was a technological revolution as much as a social one.

So how much time has technology freed up for touring? Not a lot as far I can see. Cycle touring, obviously, is a time consumptive activity - technology cannot shorten it. Personally I would give up every piece of new technology for the freedom to have few weeks' extra time to tour.

Flying has changed people's horizons and yes, you can fit a trip to Australia into your annual holiday now. Using Google to plan a trip saves a little time. But two weeks is still two weeks and then it's back to the grindstone.

Cycle touring by its nature tends to eshew technology beyond the bike itself - that's the idea. And all those gadgets don't really detract from that (even though I don't use them). But they cannot really enhance it either: cycle touring needs time, serendipity, an open mind, some physical resilience, a sense of wonder and a feeling of joy. Technology could have released us to be able to experience more of that (even with paper maps) but instead it chained us to our work and held out as compensation some new toys to use on a short break. Give me an extra week over GPS any day.


I totally agree. We were told that computers would revolutionise work and we would all have much more leisure time and be freed from the every day grind. Computers now demand more of our time and people are working longer hours as they cannot be out of reach. I like computers and use them in my every day work - I'm using one now to send this! However, when I'm "off duty" I'm OFF DUTY! When on holiday I do not want to receive emails and telephone calls from anyone. My mobile 'phone (not a Smart one) is for my convenience and no-one elses. If you want to 'get away from it all' then do just that, don't take it all with you otherwise you may as well stay at home.[/quote

In his book the MIghty Micro Christopher Evans predicted a 20hr working week and retiring at 50... he wrote after he had been naieve about greed and that the actual fact as above is that they will just mean getting more out of us not freeing us up!

When they can get robots to do every job what will happen to the workforce then.... probably cycle touring till they are 1000
Currently planning my next adventure and trying to get over two operations in 6 months but still going strong!
email: newt@systems-engineer.info web: thedarknewt.blogspot.co.uk
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Vantage
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Re: Has technology changed touring?

Post by Vantage »

DarkNewt wrote:
When they can get robots to do every job what will happen to the workforce then.... probably cycle touring till they are 1000


They'll starve to death because they'll be out of work, there'll be no benefits system as the tories will have wiped it out and food banks will be out of stock. If they don't starve to death, they'll freeze to death as bedroom tax will have forced them from their homes. Those who had bikes will have sold them to buy food along with whatever camp/tour gear they had and Cameron, Smith and Osbourn will be sitting by the fire eating steak and laughing their ***** off at the mass suicides from depression and hopelessness.
Bill


“Ride as much or as little, or as long or as short as you feel. But ride.” ~ Eddy Merckx
It's a rich man whos children run to him when his pockets are empty.
DarkNewt
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Re: Has technology changed touring?

Post by DarkNewt »

Vantage wrote:
DarkNewt wrote:
When they can get robots to do every job what will happen to the workforce then.... probably cycle touring till they are 1000


They'll starve to death because they'll be out of work, there'll be no benefits system as the tories will have wiped it out and food banks will be out of stock. If they don't starve to death, they'll freeze to death as bedroom tax will have forced them from their homes. Those who had bikes will have sold them to buy food along with whatever camp/tour gear they had and Cameron, Smith and Osbourn will be sitting by the fire eating steak and laughing their ***** off at the mass suicides from depression and hopelessness.


Hi Bill, i hadn't quite thought of it that way :-) somehow cheer up doesn't cover it!
Currently planning my next adventure and trying to get over two operations in 6 months but still going strong!
email: newt@systems-engineer.info web: thedarknewt.blogspot.co.uk
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foxyrider
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Re: Has technology changed touring?

Post by foxyrider »

We have no chance do we - the other lot stole my pension pot and had me destitute while in work!

Anyone for the Greens? :?
Convention? what's that then?
Airnimal Chameleon touring, Orbit Pro hack, Orbit Photon audax, Focus Mares AX tour, Peugeot Carbon sportive, Owen Blower vintage race - all running Tulio's finest!
psmiffy
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Re: Has technology changed touring?

Post by psmiffy »

Technology - It is not compulsory - you can take as little or as much as you want - technology has not changed touring - you still just get on a bike and ride from A to whatever takes your fancy - technology is just a facilitator
blackbike
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Re: Has technology changed touring?

Post by blackbike »

Since I started touring in the 70s technology has made it much better.

Bikes, tents and camping equipment have improved in quality and reduced in real price just like most consumer goods.

As for 'technology' in the electronic gadget sense, I own a basic mobile phone and use a cycle 'computer' as a speedo and a mileometer, but I see no need to use more sophisticated devices for navigation or for data analysis of my rides.
mercalia
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Re: Has technology changed touring?

Post by mercalia »

blackbike wrote:Since I started touring in the 70s technology has made it much better.

Bikes, tents and camping equipment have improved in quality and reduced in real price just like most consumer goods.

As for 'technology' in the electronic gadget sense, I own a basic mobile phone and use a cycle 'computer' as a speedo and a mileometer, but I see no need to use more sophisticated devices for navigation or for data analysis of my rides.



I have a cheap £2.50 cycle computer left on the bike 24/7 that no thief wants, from ebay that has basic speed and trip/distance very useful for knowing how unfit and weak I am & when to stop ,how long my tyres are lasting - marathon 368 ( 2000 miles rear barely worn, front even less so could be new). I do have an old ( c 2005) pda with transreflective screen that dont need a backlight in bright conditions ( better than your "smart" phones), which I use instead of maps and a basic nokia 106 phone with fm radio, thats it.
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bigjim
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Re: Has technology changed touring?

Post by bigjim »

I toured in the 60s. All I had was a Carradice saddlebag and a 5 speed bike. I stayed in Youth Hostels or maybe a bus shelter. They were one of the happiest times of my life. No technology the likes of what we have today. Maybe it was youth and freedom from care but I can't remember wanting anything more.
DarkNewt
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Re: Has technology changed touring?

Post by DarkNewt »

I just cycled back from Exeter on Sat, met a lady who was on holiday in Scotland with her husband who has a hip problem and can't cycle she had decided to get cycling again. She just decided there and then to cycle a JOGLE. We met her in a cafe and bought her a sandwich, she had her bike and an A to Z and stayed at B&B's, what an inspiration! I am a fully loaded tourer, camping etc.. with loads of tech two ends of the spectrum but we both enjoyed what we do!

My friend and I are going to visit her and her husband and cycle near where she lives, this world is great! Cycling can be whatever you want just enjoy it, for all those who turn their noses up at people with tech and for those who look down on someone with a cheaper bike lower budget etc.. stop and think before you open your mouth focus on enjoying what you do, don't concern yourself with what the other person is doing just take the joy that they are having.

I saw a guy like myself heavy not a typical cyclist shape, he was on a brand new bike expensive, all the gear and he was struggling up a hill and I saw him give up and start pushing, couldn't help myself pulled over told him to keep going and his fitness etc.. will soon catch up till he enjoys hills, he got back on and gave it another go I hope he carries on and wears that bike out!

If you are going to comment on the way someone else does it, encourage them take pleasure in the fact they are doing something they want to in the way they want to, offer advice but don't be offended if they disagree we all learn on the way. I love the tech and it's part of my pleasure I also like just getting on my bike and peddling enjoy life!

watch this music video for me says it all: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtF6Jej8yb4

Have fun everyone, I am sat here still smiling from meeting both of them life is good!
Currently planning my next adventure and trying to get over two operations in 6 months but still going strong!
email: newt@systems-engineer.info web: thedarknewt.blogspot.co.uk
bretonbikes
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Re: Has technology changed touring?

Post by bretonbikes »

I think the biggest change for the better came with the Mountainbike. 30 years ago when I first started cycletouring a bike geared for touring meant a proper touring bike - (and even they were generally too high geared for loaded touring) - but then cheap mountainbikes and hybrids brought sturdy bikes that would do the job. Nowadays £300 will get you a bike that will cope with an extended tour (for me the break point - literally - is that it must use a cassette as freewheel axles are too fragile) - so less than a week on the minimum wage will pay for it.

The next biggest change are cheap tents and sleepingbags - £100 will get you gear that 30 years ago would have cost you three times that in absolute terms - in real terms the cost is probably <20% of what it was back then.

Thanks technology and lots of Chinese working for peanuts.
38 years of cycletouring, 33 years of running cycling holidays, 8 years of running a campsite for cyclists - there's a pattern here...
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foxyrider
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Re: Has technology changed touring?

Post by foxyrider »

Personally I think rather than kit (bikes/tents etc) where technology - for me, has changed things is in planning. My first proper tour (as opposed to taking the bike somewhere and doing day rides) was all about guide books, maps, sending faxes to make bookings and so on. Fifteen years later and I have an incredible amount of information at my finger tips, expert advice, booking in just a couple of clicks, expert advice etc, etc. It doesn't mean that I wouldn't have done similar trips without all this IT but I would have been less informed about stuff to see and places to stay.

Bike/equipment technology has affected the kit I/we use for touring, the bikes my parents/grandparents toured on were in their time changing how things were done with new fangled derailleurs instead of hub gears, more cycle specific clothing etc. We have a huge variety of bikes and gear to choose from now, far more than even ten years ago, but we don't need to embrace all the technology to make the trip. What does concern me is the degree that some kit is now considered by a very large percentage of people to be essential - I'm talking GPS devices here, why have we so many people who cannot read road signs, read a map, use basic navigation skills? Its not just cyclists of course. (how many threads on here are about GPS use/routes/charging?) I know people who use their 'satnav' to get to work - along the same route they've used for many years without the damn things. I'm not saying they aren't useful but the reliance on such bits of kit is ridiculous.

Maybe we should start a L'Eroica touring group? We could make up some silly rules about kit to be used and ensure the weather is always horrible (every tale from my parents of touring in the fifties involves some extreme of weather, full hostels, closed b&b's and distances my legs ache from just hearing about!).

the good stuff from my pov;
    wider range gearing
    improved quality of bike parts
    improved quality of camping gear
    better access to the above
    the interweb

These have all improved the touring experience and whilst I can't see much room for weight reduction, I'm sure the performance of materials, indeed new materials will continue to push the boundaries. In another twenty years we could have the same discussion and be lamenting the Goretex, the GPS units etc all of which will have been superceded!
Convention? what's that then?
Airnimal Chameleon touring, Orbit Pro hack, Orbit Photon audax, Focus Mares AX tour, Peugeot Carbon sportive, Owen Blower vintage race - all running Tulio's finest!
Bicycler
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Re: Has technology changed touring?

Post by Bicycler »

The interweb is a mixed blessing. Sometimes the planning gets in the way of the doing.
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