Hello WS,
Setting off to Ushuaia, Argentina on June 12th to ride back to Alaska.
Looking for some assistance with my bike (surly pugsley). I know very little about bikes. I bought it recently and all was well, but then the chain started slipping a bit, and then the chain broke one day. Maybe I have a bent derailleur,, maybe I just did something stupid I don't know. I am looking for someone to teach me how to troubleshoot the current problem and check out the bike in general to make sure she is ready. I also would love assistance packing the bike for flight. Zero experience with all forms of bike touring and bike ownership. I will be in Anchorage from Jan 4 - 12 and would love a safe place to store the bike as well as I will likely be staying in a hostel. Thanks for any and all help!
- Matt
A Google search shows 5 bicycle shops in Anchorage. You'll have to ask the locals which one(s) has/have the best mechanics. It's winter in Alaska so I'm guessing the mechanics have plenty of time on their hands.
I can't tell where you will be departing from when you start your trip to Ushuaia in June. Wherever you start there should be a bicycle shop from whom you may get a bike box in which to pack your Pugsley.
You must like riding in cold weather. June 12th in Argentina will be 9 days from the winter solstice. ;-)
Mark
Hi Matt,
there is a really good REI in Anchorage, they are helpful, and helped us both store and build up our bikes before we started our trip. They may also run some bike maintenance courses.
A good hostel is the arctic adventure hostel.
There will be more REI's on your way south, and MEC in Canada.
You will need some skills on you way as your chain and cassette will need regular maintenance during your trip.
Reconsider your date of arrival! Lots of interesting and beautiful roads, especially passes in Argentina and Chile will be shut. We arrived there in march and it was already snowing and cold.
enjoy the ride
anna
ps looking back on our trip, one of the funnest parts was being inexperienced and open to everything new and excited about it all
I'm pretty sure that was a typo and the correct departure date is the second one mentioned (ie - in Anchorage Jan 4-12) . If not - very brave!
This couple was looking for bike boxes in Ushuaia for the end of January to fly home - if you fly in with a box perhaps you could arrange to leave it somewhere for them to pick up.
https://www.warmshowers.org/node/79873
Sorry yea I am departing Jan 12th to Connecticut to see family then Jan 19 i fly to Ushuaia.
On a trip like this, you will be completely dependent on yourself, hundreds of miles from the nearest bike shop. Learn to take apart your bike and reassemble it. Hire a good mechanic to tutor you. Yes, this will cost his hourly rate for a couple days. You need to spend that money. This is a wonderful trip, but also an ambitious trip, and you need to minimize the chances of major problems.
For me, a red flag is that you don't know how to disassemble your bike and put it in a box. It's not very hard, and every task that goes into that is something you need to know to do field repairs during your trip.
Yea... I agree I need to learn some things.. Hence the post... Trying to find someone to teach me... Not too worried about it though. I'll figure it out it on my own if no one can teach me.
If nothing else, you could search Youtube for bike mechanic videos. A quick search, "how to pack your bike for a trip," got this result:
https://www.youtube.comresults?search_query=how+to+pack+your+bike+for+a+trip
There are many, many videos on bicycle mechanical issues.
Enjoy!
Mark