ARTICLES
Nappo
Diamant 135
Nappo (Diamant 135) is based on the Trek 520 Disc. Basically it is the same bicycle just with different parts. So far I am very happy with with him, he has a steel frame and the racks (front and back) are very nice and carry my bags stable.
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After 4500 kms I had to change the pedals and the tyres and my frame (the "bottle holder pen" which hold the bottle holder) broke, which means that my frame had a crack. I had to weld it, now everything is fine again.
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Even though I like Nappo very much, if I had to buy a new bike I wouldn't buy it again.
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Poland our Rehearsal
Mid of June 2021 we decided to take a last regular holiday trip with our bikes for a week. We wanted to use this time to think about a strategy to tell our employers that we are going to leave. Also, we wanted to use this last rehearsal before our big tour to check if our gear is fully set and working. After all we wanted to make sure that what we are about to do is the right decision.
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We decided to go to Poland as it is close to Berlin and did neither require long train rides before we finally sit on the bikes nor elaborate planning. We did not plan any route before we left but just wanted to cycle where we felt like. Also, we did not decide on how many kilometres we will ride per day or where we sleep. As in Poland wild camping is legal in a lot of areas (check the following website to see a: map of legal wild camping areas in Poland and the network of official campgrounds is pretty good, it was not too hard to find places to sleep. The loveliest option was what we called “camping home stays”. Private people renting out their piece of land to campers for small money, providing toilets and shower, drinking water and all kinds of useful information.
WE CYCLED 500KM IN…
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...8 days, spend several nights wild camping, some nights in campgrounds, and one night in an apartment in Szczecin. We started off with 15 degrees (day temperature) and rain and came back with 36 degrees and sun (and obviously a sunburn). The lowest temperature we had was 4 degrees at night, which was challenging our sleeping bags and our limits regarding cold weather. We had strong winds up to 40km per hour at some days which was a good test for our tent and our storm cooker.
We have to say, that week in Poland went so much better than we thought and left us with a (maybe unrealistic) romantic feeling about our idea of a long-distance bike trip. If this is going to remain? Only time will tell. But it definitively made us more curious and excited for our big tour.
