What bike for the Tour Divide?

Thoughts?

Inbred.

I’ve already thought about it…. got to be a 29er.

Singular Pegasus would be perfect I reckon. Perhaps with a lefty on the front, deffo no fox forx though!

My mate is doing it. (he may be along soon as he does no real work, just reads STW all day)

Hes got a titanium 29 Pegasus with a custom made lefty and funny handlebars. Weighs nothing, seems to ride really well. Hes doing it tubeless and currently is practicing like mad.

He has even been experimenting with sadles, shorts, shoes etc. You need a lot of planning for 12 hours in the saddle for 25+ days !

Aidan seems to do *well enough on his Swift.

* slight understatement.

Pegasus for me, which is handy as I already have one 🙂
I’d stick with a rigid carbon fork at the front too, I reckon.

29er definitely. SS – no chance. Suspension, probably not.

Panniers for me I reckon.

Gears would be good, yes.

“Fixie” Dave Nice is doing it S-N on a custom rigid fixed: http://cellarrat.blogspot.com/2011/03/beatrix-is-almost-done.html

Flat bars + ends, drops or silly bars?

Carbon could be nice too.

pjt201 – any particular reason you’d go for a lefty?

I watched the Ride the Divide film t’other night – it looked like they were using Tri-Bar attachments on silly bars

@ dawson – That’ll be the Siren Fred Bar I think, which puts the tri-bar position up and back closer to how it would be on a road bike. http://sirenbicycles.wordpress.com/2008/11/24/are-you-a-fred/

I like my Carnegies, so I’d go with those and consider the Fred on top of the stem for the tri bars.

The vast majority of the miles are fire road and not technical. Its close to being cx territory but the sheer miles would be painful on a cross and something with a bit more give would be best. Hardtail 26 or 29. Gears definitely as the climbs go on and on and on and on. Tempted to say rigid fork but again a shirt travel sus fork would be nicer. Oh and as light as you can but make sure it will go the distance!

@IanB – yup, that’s ’em

@disco stu – they seem to do quite well for reliability and their light. I know if I were planning to ride a bike 2700 miles i’d want it to be light as possible.

I’d go with the Matthew Lee school of packing too – “what you’d take on a normal day ride plus sleeping gear”, would be a rough few weeks, but might be a few days less if you take the bare minimum.

No rack or panniers, too heavy. Velcro and straps to attach things to bikes are far lighter. Oh and you’d have to take a sack full of spare pannier bolts, those things rattle loose just looking at them.

I’m not riding 2,300 miles with all my stuff velcroed to my bike.

May take a rucksack, depending on how light I can make my kit.

lol @ Trimix, cheeky bugger 😉

Here’s my 2012 TD bike (Singular Pegasus). A Ti 29er hardtail seems just about perfect for the race from what I can tell. Tri-bars highly recommended as they provide another hand position for those looong hours in the saddle. Also good for drying out your socks apparently. It’s currently singlespeed, could be tempted to keep it that way, but not sure how much I want to bugger up my knees.

Oh, and the Lefty has a full lockout, which will I suspect be very useful (already is on long training rides).

Flat bars + ends, drops or silly bars?

Whichever type you’ve put in thousands of training miles on over the last few years.

molgrips…these “velcro” bags are ace. No problem with stability. Panniers are sooo 20th century :-). Got a custom frame bag too…

I don’t have a problem with stability with panniers.

Might go for a rack-top bag and bar bag tho instead, with a big camelbak. Undecided.

I wonder about the riding position on those 29ers tho. My old Orange P7 (which I would’ve used if it hadn’t been nicked) had a lovely stretched but comfy position since it was from 1996… That’s what I’d go for position-wise.

Got any pics of yourselves riding these bikes?

only pic I have is front on during a race so no use to you from the perspective of bike fit. When I specced out this bike it was specifically with the TD in mind, and I knew what measurements work for me. It’s essentially what I’d have as an all-day bike at home, although the bars are raised a tad from where they’d usually be.

A couple of things I’ve changed following lots of long rides…changed camelbak for wingnut pack (MUCH better for shoulders/wrists), changed carbon risers for alloy Carnegies (no numb fingers). I’ve also experimented with shorts/saddles/shoes/sleeping kit etc & just about settled on the final setup. I wanted to get it all nailed well ahead of time so I can concentrate on fitness & the route.

Tempted to spec a belt drive Rohloff actually. Only the efficiency thing that’s concerning me a bit, plus the shorter spokes might not make for a very comfortable wheel.

Flat bars + bar ends for me I think, which I would not use MTBing at home.

I’ve also experimented with shorts/saddles/shoes/sleeping kit etc

I think Jenn recommended two pairs of shorts, made by different people, so that the seams and pad rub in slightly different places.

I think Jenn recommended two pairs of shorts, made by different people, so that the seams and pad rub in slightly different places.

yep I read that somewhere…sensible advice!

I’m not riding 2,300 miles with all my stuff velcroed to my bike.

I’ve read somewhere (bikepacking.net, possibly), that a set of panniers have never made the entire trip. You could try and set a new record for fastest time with intact panniers 😉

I’m much more in favour of the frame bag thing, due to the improved weight distribution. You’ll have less space than panniers, but I’d view that as a good thing as you want to travel very light. Panniers + rack is too heavy before you start to put stuff in there.

@pedalhead – what SS gear do you use when the bike is fully laden?

Also – what seatpost have you got in those pics?

The seatpost is an Eriksen “Sweetpost”. Best clamp ever, and the brushed finish matches the Pegasus perfectly :-). I haven’t ridden the bike fully laden since going singlespeed, but planning on going with 32×20 for the WRT….based on a recommendation (actually…wasn’t that you?!). Usual ratio is 32×19 as I like to be able to get up hills & don’t mind spinning out on the occasional flat bit.

Great reading 😀 To the OP I reckon I’d like a Custom Potts Ti with Rohloff and enve rims, and some new Jones Ti bars up front with a typeII fork. Though that lefty does look very interesting. Pedalhead did you research the leftys reliability?

Know a guy who does things like that on a santa cruz tallboy. Seems to love it, and it does sound like the right bike for the job.

that a set of panniers have never made the entire trip

I’d be very surprised if that were true, given that panniers and racks have racked up (pun intended) hundreds of millions of miles on tourers the world over. 2,300 miles is not particularly unusual for a long distance tour.

Ian you know I know how to travel light, regardless of the amount of space I have 🙂 I am thinking a rack top bag might be better though.

I was also thinking on the ride home tonight about baggies vs lycra. Baggies are nice and comfortable in the heat but the likes of Assos don’t make them. Then I thought that the aerodynamic factors could actually be significant – after all that distance lycra could be worth an extra 50 miles or so – imagine getting to the end and being told you had 50 miles to go 🙂

The same might be true of panniers.

what’s all this talk of 2300 miles? The TD is over 2700 😉

yokaiser…yeah the reliability thing was a bit of a worry with the Lefty, but basic maintenance is very simple and the damper is just a RS Solo Air in mine. I do get bearing migration, which I can fix out on the trail if necessary, but I’m looking at ways of solving that.

I would not bother with suspension. The worst problem you’re going to have is stutter bumps on those dirt roads, and you’re going to wish for rear suspension there. Just can’t see the use for the extra expense and weight.

Ian you know I know how to travel light, regardless of the amount of space

Yes, I know – which is why I think panniers aren’t the thing for the job as they’d be too big. Top rack bag would be the best idea, as you say.

@pedalhead – yes, you probably did get that from me. Reassuring though, if nothing else 😉
<hijack>I looked at those Erikson posts last night. Just had a big battle to extract a USE Carbon Sumo from my frame – no damage to frame, but the seatpost is now in the bin. What prep have you done to keep the seatpost from sticking to the inside of the frame, as I’m wary of putting ti against ti?</hijack>

I have trouble with the carbon post in my 5 – I have to remove it and scrape out the corrosion from time to time. Cyclopedia have a nice tool they lent me for this.

Ti 456 did me very well last year and my rack made it all the way and I’m sure my Ortileb front panniers would have too if I hadn’t gone mega lightweight for the last 12 days. Completed in 32 days wasn’t racing but did do the last 1200 miles in 12 days to get a taste of what it might be like to race it.

My wife was on a ti456 too, same pannier set up. Unfortunately she struggled with the altitude and had to call it a day in Steamboat Springs.

A great adventure off to the himalayas for my next trip, less than a month away!

PS Ian B, I did the Polaris you planned down in Mid-Wales, great event can’t wait for them to start doing proper ones again.

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Soaking up the View[/url] by Mountybiker[/url], on Flickr

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Boreas Pass2[/url] by Mountybiker[/url], on Flickr

@IanB… I think galvanic corrosion is only an issue when differing metals are in contact? Anyway, I just use a load of grease on mine, and also make sure I remove it now & again. If you go for one of the Eriksen posts for your Pegasus, do yourself a favour and pay a bit extra for the “Scotchbrite” finish…it matches the Pegasus beautifully 8)

I think galvanic corrosion is only an issue when differing metals are in contact?

Different conductors.. and carbon conducts, remember..