Originally Posted by
Erwin8r
Good stuff! How did your bike feel over the non-paved stuff? Given your experience, anything you would have done different to the bike?
While the surface was not paved, it was still very smooth. The surface is like stone ground into a fine powder. It makes for a nice surface, BUT, it gets everywhere. Even with full fenders. A loaded bike like that handles quite differently. First, all the weight is over the rear end making your front want to wheelie with only slight effort. Your handling is effected quite a bit, cutting sharp corners isn't going to happen. Your front tire is also prone to understeer in loose gravel. Once again, this is because all the weight is in back.
Going at it again, for this specific trail I would choose larger diameter slicks rather than cyclocross tires. The cross tires preformed well, but kicked up a ton of dust/general crap. Something like a set of Big Apples might keep dust down and provide a bit more sidewall suspension than the cross wolfs. I also think I would opt for a trailer, or pick up a front rack and bags for extra storage.