hokiefyd 

I took a quick spin down some gravel paths through the park this evening. This bike is really fun, and these Continental SpeedRIDE tires are great for this sort of stuff.

BluesDawg

IMG_20170520_122326117_HDR by Benny Watson, on Flickr

IMG_20170522_165549483_HDR by Benny Watson, on Flickr

IMG_20170522_164103227 by Benny Watson, on Flickr

TimothyH

@BluesDawg, would you be so kind as to post a route for this?


-Tim-

rumrunn6

that's it right there

Gidgmom

I smiled recently when I saw there is now a genre of bikes named for riding on gravel. I and several friends have for years been "gravelbiking" not knowing that's what we were doing as we were engaged in an even more obscure activity called: "bikejoring." Bikejoring is a sport for people with dogs who like to pull -- especially popular with people who have sledding breeds such as Huskies. I've had Samoyeds and began bikejoring and dogscootering in 2003. My scooters (Diggler Alpha Disc) have 20" wheels and that's what I did the first couple years with my Samoyed, then we moved to bikejoring -- for which I bought a Rocky Mountain Vertex 30 hardtail mtb. I then bought another of those and then a fatbike (Trek Farley 5 - for beach and snow). My Samoyed club has several people doing bikejoring and dogscootering -- with different rigs. We mostly run/ride on the C&O Canal near Washington, D.C.

Here's a webpage of various bikes, scooters and gear we use. I'll also (hopefully) get a couple of photos to upload. This is my first time trying to post a photo....

Bikejoring Gear

Clearly I'm not going to figure out the photo posting function today. Here's another page from our club's website with videos and other info related to bikejoring-dogscootering;

Dogscooter_Bikejoring

You'll see at the first link a photo of a friend's Trek 7.5 FX with 700x42 Continental Cyclocross knobby tires that replaced 700x32 street tires. It was a world of difference to have the Continentals -- plenty of grip on the C&O Canal, which is essentially a dirt road with some gravel/rock and frequently mud.


.

motorthings

Most excellent!

TimothyH

Seattle Forrest

Did 40 miles yesterday, mostly paved, some dirt and gravel too.

TimothyH

Drove up to the Cohutta Wilderness today and scouted some routes. Can't wait to get up there with the bike next weekend...

ckindt

Some more IA pics from a ride yesterday. (47 mile/3500').

JamesB722

@ckindt, how are you liking your Stuntman? My n+1 is flaring up and I'm considering adding an "adventure", "gravel", "all-arounder", etc. to my stable. I've also looked at the Raleigh Tamland. How are the alloy forks on your Stuntman?

ckindt

I really like it and have no regrets (especially with the corp discount).

First the weight - it isn't a WW bike. I think my 62cm was close to, if not over, 28lbs. box-stock.
I got it down to 25.1 lbs. with PD-m520s and two bontrager RL cages.

1. Remove the dropper post and its hardware. It weighs over 1.25lbs. I bought a CF post off E bay. I didn't get the CF post weight before installation, but it's much lighter.
2. Replace 50c MSOs. They weigh over 800 grams each w/o tubes. I use Maxxis Ravager 40c 120TPIs now. They each weigh around 430 grams. 3.5lbs vs 1.9lbs of rotating weight?
   I did like the ride of the MSOs, but I really like the Ravagers better. I ran the MSOs tubeless and run the Ravagers tubeless too. The Ravagers are much more compliant and are more comfortable than I expected even over the rocks they call gravel on the freshly prepped roads here in SWIA.

I also replaced the stock saddle with a Brooks C-17 and the stock cranks/bb with a Sram Rival 1/GPX bb. I'm not sure if this was a weight gain or loss since I didn't weigh the parts. This was more of an upgrade in comfort and performance.

I chose the Stuntman over the Tamland for two reasons:

1. Low BB and generally slow geometry. There are lots and lots of rollers covered in rocks around here and I wanted the most stable geometry I could find for confidence in higher-speed descents.
2. 50c tire clearance. Despite my change to 40c, I wanted the option to run wider tires than the typical GG.
3. Color - yeah I'm old enough to remember the Fall Guy and I even built the plastic model of Colt's pick' em up truck when I was a kid.
4. Stack - and I'm one of those taller folks who likes a big stack.

OK. So it's 4 reasons.

Some other points:
I'm indifferent to the 1x. I have a road bike that is 2x11. So, I don't use the Stuntman for road riding.
I dropped the gearing on the Stuntman a lot so i can conserve my energy on longer rides that always seem to include a lot of climbing on marbles. I run a 34-tooth with the 11-42 and I have a 32-tooth on the way. By the time I spin out the highest gear, I'm on the next climb already.
If I used the Stuntman on the road, I wouldn't be satisfied with the lack of range offered by the 1x. Since I don't, it's a moot point.

I use the stock wheels. They're ok for me even though they needed to be trued out of the box.

I replaced the stock rear axle with a Lightning Bolt-On Replacement Axle from TRAP.
The OE axle worked, but the threaded portion seemed too short and didn't engage all of the threads in the hole. Moreover, the quick release cam lobe was too thick and I had to unscrew it a half turn to close the lever completely.

I can't really say much about the alloy fork. It's beefy and looks tough. I haven't pulled it to weigh it yet. I don't know if I really want to - what you don't know won't...

Hope all of the rambling helps!

Seattle Forrest

This is USFS road 9712 in Wenatchee NF. (For locals, start at Blewett Pass and follow the road up. Avalanche lilies blooming now, great larch viewing in October.)

Enchantment Peaks, Mt Stuart on the left



Diamond Head



Empty road ahead



Approaching Tronsen Ridge

dgodave

Awesome looking ride. What bike for this one?

BluesDawg

This was just a very short ride from home in Coopers, GA (between Milledgeville and Gordon). I'll see if I can work up a good longer route that includes these spots and other good roads in the area. In the meantime, let me know if you're thinking of coming down this way and I'll show you all the local dirt/gravel roads.

Seattle Forrest

GT Grade. Gravel road bike. 28 mm tires, slicks.

It was my second time up there and I had to turn around before long. Was able to skirt the edge of those snow fields for a while, but they covered the whole road before long. And I'm using stiff road shoes with cleats.

shoota 

Pretty much sums it up.

rumrunn6

that red soil looks like CT but why do I think you're not in CT?

shoota 

Oklahoma

TimothyH

I would love to ride the area and plan to take you up on your offer.

Really means a lot to me.

JamesB722

[QUOTE=shoota;19627032]Pretty much sums it up.


/QUOTE]

How do you like your Tamland? Pros/cons? I'm considering adding one and am looking for feedback.

Thanks.

shoota 

I love it, with a crankset and wheel upgrade. It's ok with the stock wheels though, but the stock rings don't shift all that great, especially compared to Ultegra rings. The guys at the shop were all pretty impressed with this bike. And for the money it's REALLY hard to beat (like impossible). The geo is slightly more aggressive than other gravel bikes, which I don't mind, but nowhere near as aggressive as a road race bike, like my SuperSix. I love the color when it gets dirty, I love the internal cable routing, the brakes are great, 11s 105 shifts well, mounts galore, clearance for up to 45c tires, there's really nothing to fault it at all. If you have any other specific questions fire away, I'd be glad to help. (If you want one be sure to sign up for their corporate account, it's waaaay cheaper. Or Amazon, the prices fluctuate there but can be significantly cheaper too.)

trail_monkey

Todays short ride. I love spring time flowers. Fresh gravel was everywhere and it was rough riding. These pics are from a level B side road.

Cyclist0108

Waxed drivetrain with 46/30T crank and 11-36T cassette.

TimothyH

Cohutta Mountains, Northwest Georgia. This was easily one of the most difficult rides I've ever done. Only 44 miles but 6180 ft climbing and nine miles of washed out road on the shoulder of Big Frog Mountain as pictured in the 4th shot left me exhausted.

I was exploring a side road and surprised a group of about eight boars! They seemed as startled as I was and I didn't stick around to take pictures.

Burned through two bottles and a 70 oz camelbak in about four hours and used a Sawyer filtration system to filter water from a beautiful mountain stream.

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/21735338




Lake Ocoee. The Ocoee River is where the 1996 Olympic kayak competition was held.






Big Frog Rd. There was a four mile descent over this. It forcefully inhaled big time.






Conasauga River.




-Tim-