JakeRidesAgain

I've been a bit fascinated with bikepacking lately, and was looking into building myself an offroad 26" touring rig with drop bars and a completely rigid frame. I figured I'd ask around and see what everyone else has put together as an offroad touring bike. Drop bars, flats, whatever you got as long as it rolls through the dirt!

fietsbob

this one of mine is made for unpaved road touring,
rather than single track into the bush.
https://www.cyclofiend.com/working/20...clark1008.html

I have lost my need for drop bars with trekking bars.

you can do as you wish.

nubcake

This is the bike I am hoping to do some off-road touring on in the near future. I have aspirations of doing the Tour Divide which is more of a bikepacking race than touring and plan to use this bike without the Xtracycle.

djyak

How do you like your trekking bars for unpaved roads? Any problems with control? Been thinking of them for a while now. I have a raised straight bar, but need more options for hand placement on long rides.

VT_Speed_TR

I love my Salsa Fargo for dirt road/off road riding. I load it with some lightweight backpacking gear in dry bags strapped to the front and seatost racks and I'm good to go. Its the first generation, which was designed more as an even split between road and offroad. The current generation has a geometry which allows for a suspension fork and is weighted more for offroad. However, I like mine more after taking a demo ride on the new version. Its a great riding bike and very versatile.

wahoonc

I am using a Giant Iguana from around 1989-90. I don't do heavy off road, mostly fire trails and some single track. I used the Jandd Expedition racks to give me more mounting options, primarily for the front panniers. I have butterfly/trekking bars on mine. I haven't done any tours yet, but I have done a several mile ride along old logging roads and fire cuts(yes I did put the tires on first ), so far I am happy with the general results.

Aaron

Barrettscv 

This will be my offroad touring rig;

My Origin 8 CX700;

• 48, 36 & 22t triple with a 11-32 nine-speed cassette
• Salsa Woodchipper bars and Tiagra STI Brifters
• 40 spoke Velocity Dyad 29er rims with high flange hubs
• 700x47 Schwalbe Smart Sam

Chris Pringle

Barrett,

Your CX700 is really sweet, man! What rack(s) are you thinking of getting for that rig for your off-road tours?

revelo

Thorn Nomad MKII, intended for touring the back roads of Nevada and the Mojave and Sonoran deserts (southern california, western arizona). Hardpack dirt roads if possible, but limited amounts of sandy roads okay. Very little single-track. Max load is 23 liters of water, 7 kilos of food, 6 kgs of camping gear, 3 kg bike tools and spares, 1 kg books and maps:


More details at https://frankrevelo.com/hiking/biking_nomad2012.htm

tate65

Havn't had the chance to do a full loaded ride, but have ridden several of our MTB trails, used it for over 1000 miles commuting since I got it in Jan. Looking forward to some bike packing/touring. 2012 Fargo 3.

fietsbob

djyak, look into Ergon's GC3 grip/bar end combination, that is a really easy swap over ,
you are just changing grips , but the bar ends are a smooth transition ,
1 bolt, hidden, is also holding the grip..

I am OK with the trekking bars , but i'm not the one doing the endless dirt road touring.

Others have.. It's called the World tour for a reason.

in germany you can access Koga Miyata's signature scheme,
they give you a parts pick list , they assemble the components, build a complete bike , racks mudguards Rohloff. Schmidt dyno hub, the works .
You pick it up at the nearest Koga bike shop Dealer.
https://www.koga-signature.com/en

Six jours

Homemade frame built for use with the Rohloff Speedhub, meant for day and credit card touring on and off road. (Extended self-supported tours are out for no more reason than that I didn't bother adding serious rack-mounting points - I simply don't have the time for multi-day touring right now.)

The 42mm Grand Boise Hetre tires handle fire roads perfectly, and roll very well on the road as well. The bike gets a little overwhelmed with technical single track - steep downhills on such terrain are an exercise in speed control - but otherwise does everything I expect to do off-road.

Askel

The bike that hooked me on the concept:


Got both a Pugsley and a Fargo this winter to do more of such. Fargo for things that sort of resemble roads and the Pugs for things that don't.

enigmaT120

So far I've just commuted a little over a thousand miles on this, but I intend to do some overnight camping trips up in the coast range on dirt and closed gravel roads:

Barrettscv 

The Blackburn MTF-1 Front Rack works perfectly with the Surly Cross Check fork: https://www.universalcycles.com/shopp...s.php?id=45615

The Blackburn EX-1 Disc Rear Rack makes up for the lack of usable eyes near the axle. The rack & fender eyes on the CX700 frame are midway between the axle and the Cantilever bosses, making them useless. See photo below.

https://www.universalcycles.com/shopp...s.php?id=45609

pasopia

There is a big thread running on mtbr:

https://forums.mtbr.com/bikepacking-b...ut-765533.html

Chris Pringle

You're quite perceptive! I looked at your bike yesterday and wondered how you'd install a rear rack given the funky dropout configuration. I wasn't sure where the rack eyelets were. I'm glad you found some viable rack solutions though. In spite of this design slip, I really dig the bike!

Barrettscv 

Yes, It's the only design flaw in the frame. The fork, however, should be replaced with a Surly LHT disc fork or a Surly Cross Check fork if you run Cantilevers.

The bike is perfect for damaged gravel paths or 50/50 on-pavement/off-road touring.

cyccommute 

I know it's cool to be 'Old School' but take it from someone who has actually toured 'old school', rigid isn't the way to go. I did a 300+ mile tour through Colorado in 1986 on a Miyata Ridge Runner on jeep roads and dirt roads. The pounding that you put yourself through isn't worth the coolness factor. I got the feeling back in my hands about 6 weeks after the 5 day tour ended.

I've done other tours (less ambitious) since then and, at the very least, front suspension is truly a blessing. It cuts down on the vibration (which leads to the numbness) and increases your control. The last thing you want to happen on a fully loaded bike is to catch a wheel on a rut. Front suspension helps greatly in those situations because the wheel rides up and out of the rut instead of being caught in it and throwing you to the ground.

I don't have pictures from my latest off-road tour...my daughter removed the batteries from the camera and didn't replace them But these are examples of what I use now.


The Moots (slightly different configuration now) is almost ideal. The rear suspension isn't all that sophisticated but it does take the edge off of rear wheel hits. Here's the bike, naked, and with a trailer attached.




I don't like trailers but the bike is easier to ride off-road with a trailer than with front and rear panniers (as I did in 1986).

This picture just shows the trailer that I use a bit better.


I now have Revelate design bags (haven't used them yet) that will work with either the Moots or this bike.



This bike has an advantage over the Moots in that there is absolutely no bob in the suspension until I need it. I can lock the front out for pavement sections and the rear is naturally locked out until it's needed. The fork can be shortened as well so that the bike is a bit less laid back for pavement travel.

saddlesores

BMC frame and miscellaneous parts bought online on taobao (chinese ebay).

JakeRidesAgain

I appreciate the advice, and will heed it. Honestly, that wasn't something I'd thought of, and my hands have a total tendency to go numb, so I'm glad you brought it up. I still want to go as low tech as possible, this is doubling as a blogging project and (long story short) the bike is designed to be simple to use and repair after an apocalypse. But in the mean time, I guess I'll take my creature comforts where I can get them.

truman

Here's my Vaya on the GDMBRoute, just above Salida, CO

irwin7638

Here is my dual purpose touring bike. I haven't taken it off road for an overnighter yet, but have something planned for later in the summer. I changed to thumbies and interrupter levers since these photos.



Marc

Aushiker

Nothing fancy here. I use my Giant XTC 2 and now pull an Extrawheel Voyager behind it. Prior to that I pulled a BOB Ibex behind it.



Andrew

revelo

I would disagree. Both my recent tours were mostly on dirt roads in the Nevada and Southern California deserts and mountains. These roads were often severely washboarded and otherwise bumpy and the tours were much longer than your tours (25 days/853 miles, 21 days/800 miles, not counting zero days). On the first tour, I used a front-suspension mountain bike and hated the suspension, even after tightening the springs up as much as possible, because it interfered with steering on sandy patches. Because the suspension smooths out the surface, I wasn't able to feel precisely when the bike hit sand. On the second tour, I used a rigid front fork and this gave me a more precise feeling of the ground, so that I stalled less often. (Photo of the Thorn Nomad I used on the second tour above.)

The way I avoid hand numbness is to raise the handlebars above the saddle so there isn't so much weight on my hands. Also, I occasionally sit even more upright and hold the handlebars with my fingertips if my hands do get sore after a long stretch of washboarded road.

I seldom encountered ruts, but sandy spots are common. You just have to learn to deal with the bike stalling now and then. Don't wear clip-ins or toe-clips. Rather, use BMX pedals so your feet will slide off when the bike hits a patch of sand and comes to a sudden halt. And make sure to have plenty of standover height. As for big rocks, just get off the bike and push when the road is full of these, as it sometimes was on my tours.