Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Your other comment was deleted (most likely by YT) and I can no longer access it, the one where you were asking for my routes. I plan and track routes with Ride with GPS, if you access my rides, those I the routes I ended up taking. Alternatively, Strava. Let me know if you'd like any other info.
Nice vid. Re: hills = your Kona has a pretty good gear range already (much better than most gravel bike “bike packing” set-ups), easiest mod would be to swap out the 26 tooth granny gear for a 24. That’ll give you a slightly lower climbing gear as well as a psychological boost!! The other option is to ride more hills, but climbs are rarely easy on a loaded touring bike. Have fun!
Thanks for watching and for the suggestion. I recently bought the bike, switched from a gravel bike, and haven't considered swapping out gears, but you do have a point!
I grew up in Kearney Ontario north of Huntsville and I have biked all these roads but mostly with an empty bike instead of a full pack. I agree. Lots of hills.
@@WheelsonaBike I started out as a kid on a coaster bike traveling around for bottles at 2 cents each. Moved up to a ten speed but the tires where narrow and no good for gravel. Finally blew the wad on a Rocky Mountain Mountain Bike and found it was the best all round bike for the areas. You could go anyplace with it and even though it wasn't as fast the times came in better because it took the hills with ease and it made a great bike to pack with. You could haul a ton on that thing.
@@WheelsonaBike Yeah, I like to make comments on both the RU-vid channel and wherever I saw it on Facebook. Helps more in driving traffic to your RU-vid channel I believe. Kona Sutra... nice bike. It was on my short list of bikes I was looking for this year. Ended up with a new Trek 520 Grando 3 weeks ago.
Thank you again. I appreciate the support. Trek 520 was on my list as a touring bike, but I was really set on getting a bike with bar end shifters, and Kona Sutra is the only one from similarly priced bikes (Trek 520, Surly LHT, Salsa Marrakesh) that still has them.
@@WheelsonaBike Funny thing is, I'm the opposite. I was hoping for the STI shifters instead of bar end shifters (road bike racer from in my past). But I'\m sure I could have got used to bar end shifters too. Both would be fine :)
for the uphills: I had Shimano sora "gear" 50/39/30T Chainring 9s 11-32T cassette Now I removed the big gear and left 39 and 30 teeth. Because I don't need 50 teeth on my touring bike, And I changed the cassette from 9s 11-32T to 9s 11-42T Now I have no difference between the heights and the flatlands. Thanks for the video We're waiting for the next.
You're the second person commenting on gears and ratios. I mentioned in the other comment I didn't even consider this as what the Kona has (11-36 10 speed, 26/36/48t) should be sufficient, but this may be what I have to think about next. I'm planning a cross Canada trip, so need to figure this out sooner rather than later!
@@WheelsonaBike I guess you have the right gear, which doesn't need to be changed, Let's focus on 26 and 36T Chainring which you have versus 36T in the cassette, this is very convenient in uphills. And if you like the change, you can increase the number to 46T and 50T 10s cassette. If I were a Canadian, I wouldn't hesitate to cross Canada from Quebec to British Columbia - east to west, Good luck for the trip.
@@WheelsonaBike For me, the West is much more beautiful, Alberta and especially British Columbia, Moving from the ordinary to the beautiful place gives motivation, strength and activity to move forward, And the climate is very beautiful there, so this trip I consider it the best trip in the world of bike tours 💓
@@muhammad-Redha Interesting. I'm considering west to east, but have also thought of riding east first, flying out to Vancouver and cycling back to Toronto. Options...
Great video! I didn't get to do any bike touring this summer but I'm looking forward to following along with yours through these videos :) I'm curious to see which lock station you stayed at!
Thanks so much for tuning in! I enjoyed watching your past bike touring adventures, they certainly taught me a lot. I stayed at a few lock stations. Started off with 42, then 40, then 33. I had a great experience camping there. Absolutely loved 40, Thorah.
@@WheelsonaBike Oh wow, lots of lock stations! When I watched the video where you showed what you packed for the trip, I was trying to figure out which lock station you were at. I'm guessing that one must have been 40. I can imagine it would have been a quiet option for camping. Lock 33 must have been the complete opposite to that lol. Having camped there myself last year, I'll be interested to hear about your experience in that upcoming video :)
Yes, that video was shot at lock 40. I found that to be the most charming of the four (I finished my ride at a station in Peterborough). Lock 33 was "fine", but I'd not stay there again. Have you stayed at lock 1 in your travels?
My technique for climbing hills on a tour is to get into the easiest gear and spin or grind until the top. That being said, I hiked a few sandy ATV trail hills this summer because I couldn't get traction.
I ride the 2021 Kona Sutra Touring bike. I recently published my 1500KM review of the bike ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-eyZsBIdpgFI.html. Which bike do you ride?
