Rivs on the Great Divide Trail

[Anne Paulson]

All this talk about double top tubes, lateral stiffeners and other
ways to make a frame strong reminded me once again about Adventure
Cycling's Great Divide Trail from Banff to the Mexican border. I've
long thought it sounded like fun, but I don't have a bike with a
suspension. I once did the first ten or fifteen miles of the trail,
out of Banff, on a rented mountain bike, and it seemed pretty
technical; I remember in particular a steep twisty climb on
"babyheads," that is, rocks the size of a baby's head. But now having
read the full description and a bunch of Crazyguy journals, I find
that the Banff section is not at all representative. There's a bit of
singletrack, but most of the route is on dirt roads, which I love to
ride on.

I see also that no one seems to complain about their frame. Trailers
break, spokes break, wheels fail, but frames don't get mentioned.

So, who here has ridden the Great Divide? What bike did you use? What
tires? How did it work out?

--
-- Anne Paulson

My hovercraft is full of eels

[Michael_S]

I haven't tried it yet but I've spoken with a few people who have ridden the GD. The go-to tire is the WTB Nano Rapter 29er.

 

Also plenty of people ride the whole thing on rigid bikes as well as full suspension models.  My plan is to ride a steel hardtail 29er with a short travel fork w/ lockout when I ride part of it next year.  That is the concensus "best" bike from most GD riders. But if you have something else, just do it.

 

~mike

[Anne Paulson]

On Tue, Jul 12, 2011 at 10:57 AM, Michael_S <mikey...@rocketmail.com> wrote:
> I haven't tried it yet but I've spoken with a few people who have ridden the
> GD. The go-to tire is the WTB Nano Rapter 29er.

What if you ride a bike with 26" wheels? Like, for example, a
Rivendell Atlantis?

[Michael_S]

The Schwalbe Marthon Extreme comes in a 26 x 2.0 inch version.  It would be a good tire for a trip like this  as it rolls pretty well on pavement and does

great on dirt.  I would stick with something around 2.0 inches wide for that much dirt riding. There are some pretty rugged sections in the northern half I've been told. It's certainly very doable on an Atlantis, Hunqua or Bombadil.

 

~mike

[Christian]

I rode the Montana section in 1998 (on a 1996 Voodoo Erzulie with a
front shock) and have talked with others about the more southern
part. Based on my experience in MT I'd do it rigid with as fat tires
as I could fit. It was almost entirely dirt roads with some single
track. As per my post last week, I'd like to do it again on a
Hunqapillar or Atlantis as I don't really want a suspended mountain
bike but do want a Hunqapillar or Atlantis. I'd love to hear about
others' experiences. I do remember reading somewhere about a guy
doing it on a Bruce Gordon Rock n Road.

[Anne Paulson]

On Tue, Jul 12, 2011 at 4:32 PM, Christian
<christian....@gmail.com> wrote:
> I rode the Montana section in 1998 (on a 1996 Voodoo Erzulie with a
> front shock) and have talked with others about the more southern
> part.  Based on my experience in MT I'd do it rigid with as fat tires
> as I could fit.

Have you talked to anyone about the more northern section and how that
would go on a rigid bike?

[Larry Powers]

Kent Peterson road the Great Divide Race on a rigid single speed mountain bike in 2005.  To be fair I believe he has since done it on a geared rigid bike.

Larry Powers
 
Get a bicycle.  You will not regret it if you live. - Mark Twain

> Date: Tue, 12 Jul 2011 17:05:31 -0700
> Subject: Re: [RBW] Re: Rivs on the Great Divide Trail
> From: anne.p...@gmail.com
> To: rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com

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[Solomander]

One of the guys at Salsa Cycles rode a first generation Fargo on the Great Divide Trail.  The bike was a 29er with a rigid fork and drop bars.

Joel

[Christian]

Hi Anne

I started about as far north as you could at the time--northern MT.
It was almost all gravel and dirt. The route has now moved further
north and that might be rougher. I'd check the Adventure Cycling
forums too.

Christian

On Jul 12, 8:05 pm, Anne Paulson <anne.paul...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Tue, Jul 12, 2011 at 4:32 PM, Christian
>

[Michael_S]

That was Joe Meiser. I met him at a showing of Ride the Divide.  Which is a great documentary film if you can see it.  http://www.ridethedividemovie.com/

 

In fact the 1st two  finishers this year both rode rigid bikes. I'm sure someone had done this ride on 35mm tires.

 

~mike

[Jim M.]

On Jul 12, 8:17 pm, Michael_S <mikeybi...@rocketmail.com> wrote:
> In fact the 1st two  finishers this year both rode rigid bikes. I'm sure
> someone had done this ride on 35mm tires.
>
> ~mike

Yes, Deanna Adams on Ritchey 'cross tires:
http://www.xo-1.org/2009/06/deanna-adams-tackles-tour-divide.html .

Kent Peterson tried again last year on a SS. I'm sure he would have
made it but his hub blew up and he had to push 40 miles for help.

[cyclotourist]

Yes IIRC I believe he was on a Redline Monocog and it was his freewheel that gave out on him?

On Tue, Jul 12, 2011 at 9:03 PM, Jim M. <math...@gmail.com> wrote:
<snip>

Kent Peterson tried again last year on a SS. I'm sure he would have
made it but his hub blew up and he had to push 40 miles for help.

--
Cheers,
David
Redlands, CA

...in terms of recreational cycling there are many riders who would probably benefit more from
improving their taste than from improving their performance. - RTMS

[Kris Kenow]

I have those exact tires and have been very happy with them on pavement as well as dirt.

"Slow and Steady wins the race"  

Kris

---

Date: Tue, 12 Jul 2011 11:07:30 -0700
From: mikey...@rocketmail.com
To: rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com

Subject: Re: [RBW] Re: Rivs on the Great Divide Trail

The Schwalbe Marthon Extreme comes in a 26 x 2.0 inch version.  It would be a good tire for a trip like this  as it rolls pretty well on pavement and does

great on dirt.  I would stick with something around 2.0 inches wide for that much dirt riding. There are some pretty rugged sections in the northern half I've been told. It's certainly very doable on an Atlantis, Hunqua or Bombadil.

 

~mike

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