what kind of bikes on GDMBR

[stever1210]

Hey Folks

I am looking for feedback on the kind of bikes people rode over the GDMBR

also ultra light camping or did you pull a trailer

and your impressions of all that.

thanks

Steve Reynolds

[BikeFreak]

I used a regular 26 inch MTB with an aluminum frame and a spring/oil front suspension fork (GT Zaskar and Marzocchi Bomber fork). I have read multiple times that fullies don't make it - the terrain is too rough on the joints. I also used a bob yak and was not going lightweight all. The trailer did its job very well and nothing broke on it. I never felt that I missed a rear suspension, however the corrugated roads were very annoying - the front fork could not even the ripples out: It was all shaky no matter what.

I did the entire stretch with a Rohloff Speedhub and never had one single problem with it. In Salida, CO I went into a bikeshop and paid them 10 dollars to clean my drivetrain - it was a big mess from just oiling 2x a day. It was one of the best 10 dollars spent on that trip :-).

Lucas

[stever1210]

Lucas,

thanks for the info
did you have to break off trailer in certain areas due to road conditions
did you ride with others or solo

thanks

Steve

f

[JayH]

Full suspension rigs have ridden the GDMBR, a friend of mine did it on a fully.  It's certainly a good idea to have a lockout on both sides. Surely there is a greater chance of failure but that doesn't mean it can't be done.   I think you'll find all kinds of bikes on the GD. I did 1700 miles from Banff to CO in a Salsa hardtail but you'll see fatbikes, SSs, etc.   And I didn't see any reason that one can't do it in traditional rack and panniers so long as they are really rock solid.  Vast majority of the trail is not singletrack and even the singletrack that we did do wasn't crazy narrow, in some spots you'd just have to be a little more careful like descending Richmont Mt. Of course, bikepacking is better in the winds across the great basin and I did it that style, but it can be done with traditional touring gear so long as it's sturdy. 

You'll find a lot of water bottle cage failures from the weld points so same issues may affect racks... 

Jay 

[stever1210]

Jay

thanks for responding!

did you use  panniers or trailer or ultralight  (revelate bags)?

thanks

Steve

[BikeFreak]

Lucas,

thanks for the info
did you have to break off trailer in certain areas due to road conditions
did you ride with others or solo

Just south of Eureka, MT where you climb into the mountains on a forest road, an avalanche had covered the road with snow and broken trees. I had to carry my stuff in pieces for lets say 2 or 300 feet across and assemble it again. Otherwise you will not have to split your rig.
I rode solo about 80 mi a day and my fork did not have a lockout.

On the trip I met two Dutch guys riding North. They had bikes similar to beefed up touring bikes and with Ortlieb panniers. It is amazing that the Ortlieb plastic brackets can cope with that terrain.

There is a webpage called www.bikepacking.net there you will find many people who have ridden the Great Divide typically with frame bags and such.

Lucas

[JayH]

Jay

thanks for responding!

did you use  panniers or trailer or ultralight  (revelate bags)?

thanks

Steve

I used a revelate "gas tank" and the revelate frame bag (rebadged for Salsa) but I used a boulder bikepacking drybag harness for the handlebars and I used a thule pack0-n-pedal rack with a Banjo Brother's trunk bag.  I also used a deuter bike daypack for other items...  Most of my friends I did it with had Vicensas (spelling?)...   

If I go back, I'd just ditch the trunk bag and put on my small panniers on my rear rack... and I'd probably configure a small food bag in addition to the harness in front (just to try to reduce the weight in my backpack)...   Especially since I'm done with most of the singletrack already...   

Jay

[stever1210]

Jay,

Appreciate the info

So would you say going ultralight is still preferable to panniers

and did you have any issues with your bike and was it a 29er and or which model
from Salsa

thanks
Steve

[JayH]

It was a 2013 El Mariachi with the alternator dropouts...  No, had no issues with bike. I somehow accidentally hit the Shimano brifters somewhere in southern WY/northern CO such that my front der stopped shifting to the granny gear but I figured that out in Steamboat Springs.  The Shimao brifters have a switch which configures the shifter from a triple to a double config which I somehow accidentally hit w/o realizing it.     And yes the elMar is a 29er.  I also ran plain old fashioned tubes, no slime, no tubeless.   

Jay