Topics

1

Gear Talk / Drivetrain questions

« on: January 25, 2009, 07:27:35 pm »

I'm in the midst of upgrading my bike for a TA tour. I did consider buying a new one, but it was far too expensive. I've gotten to the point of looking at my gearing, and from the few thousand miles I've put on it on day trips I think I need some lower gearing. It's an 8 speed, and currently I'm running 28-38-48 up front and 11-12-14-16-18-21-26-32 on the rear. I was thinking of Sheldon Brown's custom cassette:13-15-17-19-21-23-26-34. Has anyone used these before? Does the combination work well for you? Should I also perhaps find a smaller front sprocket? Would it be worth it to upgrade my derailleur to a long cage version? I realize vastly different solutions work well for different people, but I was just wondering what everyone thinks about this topic.

Thanks for any help!

2

General Discussion / April too early? (Westbound TA)

« on: January 25, 2009, 02:57:16 pm »

I was thinking of leaving early April. I have nothing requiring me to leave at this time - it's just an estimate. Only reason I'd like to leave earlier than May is because I don't plan on traveling all that quickly. I'd like to take five months or so, rather than the standard three months. My question is whether or not portions of the trail will be completely impassable. I'm sure I'll see snow and cold at the higher altitudes, but I don't know to what extent. Also, are there any other cyclical weather patterns to plan around? I know on the PCT for example, you more or less have to adhere to a certain schedule to align with weather windows. Too early or too late and you'll have streams too flooded to cross, mountain passes closed due to snow, etc. Is there anything like this on the TA?