I saw your post from Janeen’s site (no direction known). Thanks for the detailed writeup. It is impressive to see the choice of aluminum, I guess that dispels any argument that one must choose carbon because the ride on alum. is too harsh.

Interesting hub. I wonder if one additional advantage is that there are less shifting problems because it is easier to clean (less exposed parts), and so maintenance (except for oiling) is easier.

I think I would have gone with a suspension fork. I would imagine they could stand up to significant abuse and would make the ride much more comfortable, although I supposed anything could break, even the frame as you mention.

I don’t know much of the roads until you get to Chile, but some of those roads have huge rocks – although I did see mtn bikers on them. That was many years ago and may have changed by now, i.e they could be nicely paved.

Enjoy!

Of course it is ok, I am already recommending our faithful Santos Travelmasters to many foreign BikeTravellers, so maybe they will contact you.

Of course, you should add a link to http://WorldOnaBike.com on that page: not just to give your foreign site visitors a great example of Dutch bikes in action -in English-, but also because Google will love us both better

And we were quite homesick, but a week in Surinam with pindasaus & roti has helped a lot. And we are actually in ‘Europe’ now, in France! At least their overseas part, but prices are in Euros nonetheless..

Cheers, Harry & Ivana

I enjoyed your site. But euh…, not yet homesick?

While you are doing a bit cycling we are working hard in our shop.
We get more and more customers from outside the Netherlands.
This is due to our expertise ) But also because of the fact that people who live outside the European Union can get the VAT back.

I have written a piece on our website. If it is fine with you; here is the URL: http://www.vakantiefietser.nl/the-holiday-biker/

If not, do not hesitate to remove this spam;-)
And I am curious if you have met already cyclists that use the beltdrive?

Eric Schuijt

Thanks for your comment. Great to hear you will be going on a tour, wonderful that you are choosing a Santos Bike. We still have zero problems, after 16,500km (>10,000Miles), not a single spoke has snapped under our excessive weight

Ivana is 1m73 (5ft8?) as well & I am 1′84 (6ft) and we both use the 19″. I think I could also have used a 21″, but as I was ‘between sizes’ I opted to have the same, so that Ivana could cycle my bike if needed for any reason.
It seems that the 19″ frame should work for you, but please do check with a knowledgeable bikeshop. Even if they do not have the Santos in stock, they still should be able to measure all perfect positions/sizes on a test-frame, so you can take the measurements, tell Santos and they will build accordingly.

Note that the position/type of saddle (cane creek suspension?) and handle bars, and even your shoes will influence the fitting considerably, so let Santos or your dealer know as much as possible about your wishes)

The bikeshop will definitely sell you some accessories, so they will get their money worth of testing you

Good luck, let us know which bike you got!
Oh, and if you need a free weblog, get one here: http://BikeTravellers.com
Cheers,

Harry & Ivana

Your photos are great! Really inspirational! It looks like you are having a great time. I’m planning a trip across Europe this summer and from reading your website I’ve decided to go for the Santos Travelmaster. Please could I ask a bit of advice…

I have had a quick test ride on a 19″ frame Travelmaster and I think its the right size for me, but I’m not certain as it was only a quick ride. Please could I ask how tall you both are and if you’re happy with the 19″ frame? I’m 5ft 8in with a 31″ inseam. From your experiences do you think the 19″ frame would be the right size for me?

Any advice you could give me would be great. Good luck with your trip and all the best!

Joe