Thursday November 6, 2014
6:25 a.m. Bird Nest Guest House
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Feeling much better this morning. I can tell I slept well because I woke up with strong memories of all the insane dreams I had. I can really feel the difference between the mornings when I remember those dreams and the mornings when I don’t. My body doesn’t seem to get much benefit from sleep when I don’t remember the dreams.

My (very small) goal for yesterday was to bring the long “end stop” from my new MK3 Bikebuddy to a bike shop and ask them to drill a hole through it. With this hole, I’ll be able to mount the MK3 securely in an unusual way and then use the MK3 chassis to attach my oversized Minoura water bottle cage. In a rare turn of events, things worked out well. I measured the end stop well and marked the hole accurately. The dude was willing to drill it out for me. He didn’t get the hole 100% centered, but otherwise he did a good job. And it attached to my bike just as I hoped it would. Now I have the option of using the MK3 as a quick release mechanism (as it was designed) or as a modified braze-on extender.

I wrote to the Bikebuddy company to tell them about using the MK3 this way, and they wrote back to say that the MK2 would have been a better choice if I was going to modify it in that way. The problem there was that the company – for reasons I don’t understand – had no information about the MK2 or the MK1 models on their website. They are listed along with the MK3 and they are included in the written description of the products. The MK1 and MK2 are both meant to be permanently mounted on the bike. The water bottle or fuel tank itself is attached and detached. The MK3 is the deluxe model with the quick release design. However, there are no photographs of the MK1 and MK2, so I had no idea what they looked like. I wrote back and asked them to send some info on those models.

While I was in the Internet café, I ordered another over-sized water bottle cage. It happened this way: With the success of mounting the Minoura cage using the MK3 chassis, I decided to get a second Minoura and put it on the frame’s downtube. I was going to do that yesterday. But then I remembered that in the world of oversized bottle cages, there is another model that is considered the best one to get – the BBB Fueltank XL. In fact, the Minoura is never even mentioned. No one knows about it except for me, apparently. Everyone talks about this BBB one as being the best. I’d never seen one and couldn’t buy one here, but I looked into ordering one online and I found a company that was willing to ship it here to Malaysia at a reasonable cost. A few mouse clicks later, and it was done. I have no idea if it will fit on my bike, or if it will be better than the Minoura, but I hope so. The one problem with the Minoura is that the portion that attaches to the neck of the water bottle is just a stretchy rubber ring. It might be very strong and long-lasting, but I doubt it. It seems like something that will break. It’s also a pain to put on and take off. The BBB has a much more efficient solid ring with a spring mechanism. Anyway, people seem to like it.

While I was doing that, I started to think about Sigg bottles. My whole life, I’ve used Nalgene bottles. I planned to put my 1.4-liter Nalgene into one of these water bottle cages. The problem is that it has a wide and flat lid. It doesn’t have a narrow top, so I have to rig up a strap of some kind to hold the bottle in place (once again using something in a way for which it was not intended). Sigg bottles, on the other hand, have narrow necks, just like the plastic water bottles you buy in stores. They even make a (very expensive) 1.5-liter bottle that has both a wide mouth and a narrow neck. It’s a combo deal. I went to the high-end camping store in the hopes that they had this bottle and in another rare stroke of luck, they did carry this bottle and I got to test it with my Minoura cage. To my amazement, it nestled inside the Minoura perfectly. The problem was that the narrow neck at the top wasn’t quite right for the rubber ring. It might work perfectly with the BBB, but I won’t be able to tell until it arrives. Actually, the real problem with the Sigg bottle is the price. Being made of aluminum and coming in fancy colors, etc, they are twice the price of Nalgene bottles. The imported Sigg bottles in Malaysia (the 1.5-liter wide mouth “traveler” model) costs the equivalent of $50. That’s a lot of money for a bottle. I like the idea, of course. It would be awesome to have two bright 1.5-liter Sigg bottles on the bike for a carrying capacity of 3 liters. Then I could even mount a fuel bottle on the bottom rack and get that out of my pannier bags. This has the advantage of keeping the stinky fuel away from clothing, etc. I’ve never done that mainly because I needed the water bottle cages to carry water, and the Arkel pannier bags have so many pockets that it was easy to keep the fuel bottles separate from everything else.

While I was at the camping store, I took another look at the MSR Whisperlite Universal and the MSR Whisperlite International. The International is another option for me. It might even be a better option. The advantage to the Universal is that it can use canister gas as well as liquid fuel. That’s cool, but it isn’t essential for me. And that ability might come with a price in terms of design. A dedicated single tool is always better than a multi-tool. When a tool has to do ten things, it tends to do those ten things just moderately well. Compromises have to be made. So if a stove can burn ten different types of fuel, perhaps this ability comes with compromises in that it won’t work as well as a stove that burns just one type of fuel or three types of fuel. The International can burn white gas, kerosene, and gasoline. The Universal can also burn canister gas. But doing so requires another jet, a redesigned mounting system, and a second attachment device. Plus, to use the attachment devices, they have to be detachable. Since the International has only one attachment device, it is permanent and a solid part of the fuel line. This obviously has many advantages. Who knows if the Universal will leak, etc?

The International has less parts, weighs less, and costs less. So it’s probably the wiser choice. I do have one concern, though. When I read reviews of the Universal, people rave about its ability to simmer because of the new fuel preheating tube design. I think the International has this same design, but I’m not sure. No one mentions it.

Tags: Arkel pannier bags, BBB, Bird Nest Guest House, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, MSR Whisperlite Universal