Review: Osprey Manta 25

Osprey returned my Manta 25 (22L) pack, after re-inserting the bladder support panel the eBay seller had pulled out. With the support in, I conclude there is no way the pack will hold a 3 liter water bladder, 7 days of food and a small stove. This is difficult to conceive, since my cycling pal has a 28L and it holds vastly more. Back to the drawing board on that one.  I think I will need to actually go to a store to buy one, taking 7 days of food and the stove with me.  I did carry it around while day hiking and it is really comfy and holds day hike stuff fine.  The bladder and bite valve are really nice, far nicer than my life partner's basic Camelback.

Osprey Radial pack 34 Review

                

Osprey Radial 34 review/reflections

Overall, this gets 3 out of 4 stars

Elements I really like/love:

• The zipper pull tabs are the best I have ever seen
• Bright green color is very visible and seems to make an impact on drivers
• Blinky clip strip is excellent and should be found on every pack everywhere
  
• There is a sleeve under the blinky clip to clip back the waist strap when you aren't using it
• The double pocket in the far back (when accessing the pack) has two compartments- great since I carry both a laptop and ipad
• Second pocket has a diagonal topped slot in which I keep my glasses- they don’t fall out, but come easily when fetched
• Hidden rain cover. Brilliant.

Elements which could use improvements:

• Water bottle/side pockets- don’t hold tall bottle at all, secondary internal pocket in one of the side pockets interferes with the pocket’s usability, zippers require two hands to close, making it unlikely I will store my wallet or phone there. If there was a loop or something to hold onto while zipping, two handed closing would be easier. 
• Small front pocket is too small- would like it to hold my phone and wallet, key clasp is not purposeful, since it doesn’t keep keys from falling to the bottom of this tiny pocket
• Second pocket back- too deep, items fall to bottom, which takes up space in the next pocket back- suggest it is shallower
• Not enough pen slots (which I use for other things, like a spoon, sharpie, mat knife)

• Third pocket back-Document pouch- the reinforcing tape for the mesh pockets on the other side of the divider obstruct documents from sliding easily down. I solved this by inserting a piece of cardstock, so documents now slide in easily.  This really should not be necessary.
• The handle on the top- should be black, because my hands are often dirty and this shows clearly on the bright green-
• The helmet clasp- the idea is great, but the shock cord is too short and rather cumbersome. ***UPDATE- I have gotten used to this and can make it work well for me.
• Make it lighter in weight

Surley Troll

Thinking, planning, scheming.  The Great Divide Mountain Bike Route (GDMBR) is on my horizon and as such a new bike was in the equation.  My LBS, Campus Wheel Works, kept me in their sights for almost a year, looking out for a bike that would perform well in a wide variety of settings.  The GDMBR is comprised of single track (one lane dirt trail), double track (old roads), dirt roads and pavement.  Trying to find a bike to cover all aspects of this trail and carry panniers or tow a trailer is a challenge.

In late August, Ethan pointed me towards the Surley Troll, a hybrid/road/mountain bike which is able to morph into many different things, due to the multitude (ooooh- I've used that word twice today) of dropouts and braze-ons.  This configuration allows Rohloff hubs, which contain internal gearing to take the place of a derailleur, disk brakes, cantilever brakes, fenders and racks. Ethan poked around until he found a front suspension fork which could accomodate a rack (something mountain bikers would generally frown upon). I will miss using the really cool OEM fork, which has braze-ons for water bottle cages on the outer edges, along with braze-ons for anything else you can think of. The price tag comes to under $2,000, which is still a whole heck of a lot of money to me.
There is now a Thudbuster seat post on it and pedals which will accomodate Power Straps.  It seems like the Power Straps will outperform cages and give some of the advantages of clipless pedals without the special shoes. Addtionaly, it has a King water bottle cage and a new fangled Camelback bottle, which doesn't leak when turned on its side.
Now the bike just needs a rear rack and better reflectors and/or lights.  Here is a wonderful resource on tail-lights.  So sweet when someone does my homework for me and does it well.
 Oh, and when I asked about the dreaded "chain slap" which occurs when the derailleur can't absorb the slack caused by going over big bumbs, Ethan suggested a Cycle Stuff Chain Stay Wrap, which will probably be more durable than a cut up tube. I think the handlebars are Multibar Butterfly bars.  They should offer up a nice variety of hand positions for all the washboard road along the GDMBR.
I will be aiming for the summer of 2013, unless Adventure Cycling calls me to lead a tour, in which case I will gladly shift gears.

Review:
This is the first mountain bike type bike I have ever owned that was sized properly.  It rides smoothly, with the Thudbuster taking some of the jarring out of the rear without the weight of a full suspension. The fork (Rockshox) seems to offer a nice balance of absorption and has the ability to lock the suspension.
The rack is an Old Man Mountain and came with several options for mounting, but is designed for a suspension fork.  The disk brakes on this bike will help with the brutal braking conditions the bike will be subjected to, carrying a full load of panniers, water and me. Mud and water have affected every touring bike I have used, but this bike will see more mud than on a road tour, though not necessarily the downhill speeds seen on a road tour. I thought the tires would be too much for roads and not enough for of road- wrong: pretty good all around.

Two irritating things- the front derailleur cable comes out diagonally, impeding my ability to grab the bike and carry it by the seat tube up/down stairs and that same derailleur's clamp is placed between the two water bottle mounting points on the seat tube, necessitating the use of spacers (which it didn't come with) to attach a cage.