Bike Set Up

[Ken Yokanovich]

This will be my 4th attempt at this ride. Each and every year,
before, during, and after each ride I find myself thinking through a
variety of different equipment set up ideas. Weather will always be
the final determinant. Over the next several months, I'll be curious
to read what other people's ideas are for bike, gearing, tires,
fenders, racks, lights, etc. Me, well there are about 3 or 4 bikes in
various states of assembly in the basement right now looking for the
right inspiration to make for the perfect assembly. More thoughts
later... What are others thinking?

[MG]

Right now, I'm looking pretty hard at my Salsa Vaya again, but I also
have a new Giant TCX-0 coming in December that could sway my decision,
so we'll see how it all shakes out. I just put some 46c Bontrager
tires onto my Vaya that I'm absolutely loving, and tubeless, they're
not only a wash weight-wise compared to the Schwalbe tires I was
running, but they don't feel any slower either, and they ride so
smooth that they're a compelling combination. I don't know if I can
shoehorn those fatties into that Giant, so the Vaya may end up being
THE bike for those tires... Unless it's super muddy, then I may put
those wheels onto my Fargo with the fenders and get the massive mud
clearance.

So yeah, I'm sitting with three bikes right now as options. Throw my
La Cruz Ti in there and you have four viable options in my stable.

On Nov 13, 1:58 pm, Ken Yokanovich <reflector.collec...@gmail.com>
wrote:

[Bicycletorch]

I am quite certain I will end up back on my Cross Check singleized
again. I made the mistake this year of not keeping the fenders on as
I was worried about mud packing whilst running my Bontrager XR 29X2.0
tyres. For my 3rd try at Trans Iowa, I plan on skinnying to 29X1.75
tyres and keeping the fenders. Probably stay with the 42X22 gearing
unless the weather looks perfect. I figure I will have a 21t and 20t
freewheel ready to switch in the hotel before I depart, just in case.
I have a Supernova E3 triple on order that I am going to compare to my
Edelux I ran this year. I figure you can't have too much light.
Hopefully my basket bag is ready in time to do some serious shakedown
rides. I would like to try to carry less stuff this year. Chronic
overpacker. That being said, I am tempted to get a small (Nitto?)
rear rack/bag to help balance the bike out. It seemed to make a
difference this year. Unfortunately, the gravel is going to be frozen
solid very soon and will not give me accurate race conditions. Some
things you just have to wing.

On Nov 13, 1:58 pm, Ken Yokanovich <reflector.collec...@gmail.com>
wrote:

[Dan Buettner]

Rookie here - I have what's likely a suboptimal choice, a Trek hybrid,
and don't think I'll have the resources to acquire a better steed
prior to April.

So, I'm going to make do with what I have. The only real downside to
it is it's heavy - it's been a very durable 365 commuter the last few
years.

I run a 1x9 setup and will probably put on a smaller front chainring
for TI. I've been working on devising places for more bottle cages,
as I'm not keen on the idea of wearing a Camelbak for the entire 30
hours or so (but maybe I need to just get over that!) - see here -
http://dbuettner.dyndns.org/blog/adding-water-bottle-cages/

I'll also be testing wider tires - I'm not an experienced gravel /
backroads rider; what are some decent choices? My frame is somewhat
limited in terms of what it will accomodate; it appears up to about a
700x45c may work.

For those who have done or tried this ride before - what are some
things you wish you had on the bike last time? And what did you have
that you didn't need?

Man I am stoked!

[Joe Partridge]

Couple thoughts:

I'll be wearing a pack and carrying a 3-liter bladder.  I'd be pretty hesitant to DIY additional water bottle cage mounts; it just seems like an invitation to problems during the race.  300+ mile of gravel can shake even factory-spec, fully torqued bolts.

As for tires, I'm thinking 28c all-condition tires it conditions look dry-to-damp.  If it's wet, then 29x1.9 mountain bike tires might be a better bet.  But everybody has their own opinion on tires.

Best of luck and happy training!

Joe

[jacques_mpls]

Joe,

Just curious, why 28's vs 32's?

-Another Rookie

On Nov 19, 2:04 pm, Joe Partridge <partridge....@gmail.com> wrote:
> Couple thoughts:
>
> I'll be wearing a pack and carrying a 3-liter bladder.  I'd be
> pretty hesitant to DIY additional water bottle cage mounts; it just seems
> like an invitation to problems during the race.  300+ mile of gravel can
> shake even factory-spec, fully torqued bolts.
>
> As for tires, I'm thinking 28c all-condition tires it conditions look
> dry-to-damp.  If it's wet, then 29x1.9 mountain bike tires might be a better
> bet.  But everybody has their own opinion on tires.
>
> Best of luck and happy training!
>
> Joe
>

[Joe Partridge]

For me, 28's are enough.  I rode *25c* tires for a 135-mile gravel race this spring.  I used a 32c in front and a 28c in back for Dirty Kanza this year, and they worked great!  My recollection of Iowa is that the roads tend to be much better in Iowa than in Kansas.  If it's dry.  If it's wet, I'm riding a 29er MTB with floaty tires and hoping for the best.

That being said, I used 26x1.95 when I finished TI.  You are going to see all kinds of tires at the start line!

Joe