Topics

1

Gear Talk / Mechanical or hydro?

« on: January 20, 2020, 02:07:51 pm »

This is probably a 50/50 split in opinions.

I'm looking at upgrade options for my Salsa Cutthroat v1 with ultra endurance bikepacking in the back of my mind, it is currently setup with Apex 1x11 / 11-42 cassette and TRP Spyre mechanical brakes. I'm not a fan of the SRAM shifters but they do the job. I want larger gearing and I am mostly debating if I should go hydraulic or not.

Option 1. (cheapest, about $80-90) Keep the Apex 1 shifters and rear derailleur as well as the TRP Spyre brakes, replace the 11-42 cassette with Sunrace 1x11 11-46 or 11-50 at likely the expense of crisp shifting and a little more weight.

Option 2. (about $500 at full price + need a new Microspline driver) Replace shifters with Gevenalle 12 speed mechanical (when available for Shimano), Shimano XT 12-speed RD with 10-51 XT cassette and XTR chain. Keep the TRP's.

Option 3. (most expensive about $780 at full price + need new Microspline driver), Replace shifters with Gevenalle 1x12 hydraulic kit that comes with the TRP Hylex RS brakes, XT 12-speed RD, XTR chain and 10-51 cassette.

2

General Discussion / Bears

« on: September 24, 2019, 09:48:54 pm »

When bikepacking in bear country, especially when you camp, cook and not able to dispose of your trash until the next town, how do you deal with this risk?

3

Gear Talk / Solo bikepacking, securing your bike

« on: September 24, 2019, 11:38:59 am »

When you travel as light as possible, say racing the TD, yet you must stop to refuel in towns and you are solo, how do you secure your bike? Or just pray no junky is in the area for a quick grab?

When I leave my bike on the car rack, it literally has 15 lbs of Kryptonite locks and cables on it and the rack is secured by two systems to the car. If otherwise I can't secure the bike well enough, I leave it home.

When bikepacking and traveling light, one can't carry a 5lbs New York chain so how do you do deal with this problem?

4

New England / Gravel routes in New England

« on: September 23, 2019, 10:08:47 am »

Looking for recommendations for 2 to 3 days (1 or 2 nights) gravel / forest / single track routes for solo bikepacking within 4 hours driving from Boston.

I do not want to see many cars if any. One of the reasons I'm getting into gravel riding is that I am scared of road cycling, too many distracted drivers nowadays, I can't enjoy riding if I constantly worry about the possibility of getting hit from behind.

5

General Discussion / Getting started? Frustrating.

« on: September 23, 2019, 09:47:59 am »

I've been a mountain biker for about 30-35 years. Recently I purchased a used Salsa Cutthroat as I wanted a "do everything" bike, especially for when I ride casually with my son (7) and my wife. I did not expect to love the bike so much and now I'm obsessed with bikepacking. I've done some bikepacking as a teen, then carrying a huge backpack but things got much better nowadays.

The thing is, my wife is not into sports including cycling, if we do 10-15 miles together that's a good day, she does not even want me to get her a decent bike and she does not want me to do bikepacking with our son until he is like 12 years old. I also do not have sufficient time off to do long trips by myself, December thru April I go skiing with my son almost every weekend and during winter and spring school vacations, June to September we have to deal with 2.5 months of school vacation eating up a lot of our time off work. Since my wife is not into it, I can't just take 2 weeks off for a bike trip or not even a week and leave her at home with my son. I do not either have any friend who is into this and while I dream of touring the divide some day, I just can't take a month off work.

So my only option is potentially do a couple overnight or two-nights trips through the year at most and not too far from home, until I retire in... 20 years, that's probably all I can do.

Who is in that "busy life" situation? How do you handle getting out there? How do you handle being on your own in that sport, no friend, no support from your husband or wife?