BigAura

Steel? Really? Are you sure? Couldn't find a carbon frame?

willibrord

If I had the dosh, I'd be all carbon all the time. But I wasted too much money on that stupid bamboo kit. My best option is an older Pugs that one of my mates, will sell me cheap and I can convert to 27.5 for the Baja. Or the Katy.

indyfabz

Like how Will has changed his bike description yet again.

I am calling....



SB maybe?

saddlesores

huh? you're restricting your choices and are completely switching out your
bike because of some suggestions on a website, and getting a bike that is
(is it? do rules allow pugs?) "allowed", but you're gonna screw it up
going against the sage advice you just received?

please write "saddlesores" on the line after "beneficiary."

willibrord

What do you think I should do?

chrisx

I don`t know what you should do.
I do know what I am going to do
I am going to ride a 26 inch wheeled bike down the Baja. Why? Because I can buy 26 inch tires and wheels in most every village in the world, including Baja. 27.5 plus may give a better ride. Smother on the bumps, float better in the sand, more stylish, etc. Until you need parts. My rigid fork and frame can take about a 2.5 inch tire. My suspension fork may be able to take a 2.8, I need to check on that. The guy with the 27.5 wheels will push as much as I do. The guy with the 27.5 *+* 3 inch wide tires will ride through the areas where me and the 27.5 guy get off and push through the sand.


If you want to travel down the dirt roads of Baja California on a bicycle, you need to be in shape. When was the last time you rode 100 miles in one day?
Rule ·1
You must be able to pedal 50 miles every day of the week.
Rule ·2
The 50 miles must be pedaled with 10 liters of water, and 20 pounds of camping gear and food.
Rule ·3
Up and down steep hills for 50 miles with a lot of weight on your bike.
Before you spend a single dollar, find out if you can pass rules 1 2 and 3.

willibrord how old are you?

There was a retired guy who traveled down the Baja on donkey. Took him six months. If you want to travel to Baja you can. Many an old timer does so. Before you do it on a bicycle check rules 1 2 and 3.

Graham Mackintosh wrote a few books about traveling alone in Baja.
Into A Desert Place by Graham Mackintosh
His books give you a better idea of what to expect than most anything else you can read.

chrisx

When I buy a new bike with + plus tires, it will be a 29 Plus + not a 27.5 + plus.

The 2016 27.5 plus+ bikes will be on sale at the end of January. On sale for about the same price as fixing up a used pugs.

If you just have to have a 27.5 plus bike,
get a real one.
It will ride so much better than an obsolete pugs with the wrong wheels.
Modern geometry is much better.

willibrord

Chrisx, thanks for your input.

I'm 39, I have done some touring on the GDMBR in Colorado and the Gibbs river Route in Oz
Nothing as sustained as the Baja Divide yet.

LBS and my mates think the 27.5+ conversion will work.

I am still considering options.

chrisx

Here is a link to one of the guys that walked with a burro.
BajaNomad - San Diegan To Hike Baja Peninsula - Powered by XMB

Here is a guy that knows how to tell a story.
https://www.grahammackintosh.com/Pages/default.aspx
I read some of his stuff before I went to Baja the first time.

Baja California is a good place to visit. If you go far enough into the hills, they will bring the old west alive for you. The first time I had 700 x 40mm Marathon xr tires. That was a mistake. Pushing that through the sand was hard. Next I went down the Baja a couple of times on a 29er with 2.55 inch tires, and once with racing ralph 2.4 inch tires. The ralphs float better in the sand, but are terrible for traction on the descents. Then I decided to go further south. I guess I liked it enough to check out some more places. Then I figured out that 26 inch tires are available all over. Other size tires require a long bus ride to the capital city. So I bought a 26 inch wheeled bike. I went a few years without one,(26er). I will be riding my 26er across Baja.

I figure a 26 inch rim with about a 29mm internal width is the way to go. They can take a 26 x 2.8 tire. A 26 x 2.1 tire can be used if you have to buy one in Puerto Cabezas Nicaragua, or some other out of the way place.
Velocity
Velocity Wheels - Hand Made in USA
Stans
Flow MK3
Both make rims for baja and third world touring bikes. Velocity makes rim brake versions.

I am willing to sacrifice performance and ride quality for reliable transportation. Sensible shoes. By the way, mail drops fail quite often in old Mexico.

27.5 plus+ is a better bike, yes. Untill you need a part that you can not buy. 148 mm hub, rim, tire, etc. Remember you are passing through Bahia de Los Angles, not Lake Tahoe. World of difference on the part shelf

chrisx

Some ramblins about Baja California Sur

DISCOVER AN OLD WORLD
December 2010

Pedal a bicycle into the mountains. The Sierra Pedro in Baja. At the last tienda before the pavement ran out a guy in a funny hat said [ back, you go back ]. All right, he really broke a stick into pieces in an attempt to show me what to expect from the road.

I have a good stock pile of water, three days worth. Route finding should be easy, my map shows only a couple of roads. The road follows the river, river of sand. Soft sand great for camping. A little hard to pedal in though. With most of the water gone my bike gets a lot lighter and easier to push through the sand.

The canyons in the lower foot hills are, worth a look. The pools of cool clear water appear, and flow under ground again. The caves show signs of human use for thousands of years. Lost on the wrong road. A blessing. A wonder land. people know not from wince they came. The caves show signs of human use for thousands of years.

Another day, I meet a man in a truck, taking some sheep to market. Sir, is this the road to San Pedro? Taking his hat of, he puts his hand on his head and shakes it no. There is a language barrier. He is pointing and then motioning to go left. This becomes the daily routine.

A man invites me into his mountain home for coffee. Adobe bricks, palm frond roof, dirt floor. His wife makes the best coffee. When I ask about the road to San Pedro, he motions that I have to go up up up. With a stick he draws a map in the dirt. He talks on his CB radio. The only words I pick out are Americana, and San Pedro. He says the odd motor cycle passes this way, but this is the first bicycle to pass by.

Sometimes the road is fist sized rocks, sometimes football sized rocks., other times, hard packed dirt, always more sand. Some times I pedal sometimes I push. My map does not show all the roads all the small ranchos. I am told there are many ranchos that have no road. Every person I meet asks if I have food and water, I do, yes.

One afternoon; I accept an invitation to lunch. Rice with small pieces of tomato cut on top, beans, tortiass, and coffee. The plates look like depression glass, the kind my great grandmother had. I try to use my best manners and eat only a little. His wife and two daughters are beautifull. His open air, palm frond roofed dinning area separate his sleeping quarters, and his dirt floor kitchen. on the way out I hand him 50 pesos. He reaches back from his chair and picks two oranges and a lemon for me. There are some fine horses here. Did I forget how to live right?

As I gain elevation the road gets steep. I take three steps up, slide back two. and give the bike a push. The cowboys are riding donkeys now. They look at me take their hat off and scratch their head. San Pedro? By know they all heard about the loco gringo crossing the mountain. When was the last time a cowboy stooped to let a bicycle go by? I find gates open, 100 feet up the mountain I look back and see a man close the gate. I see five more cowboys in leather chaps push a tree branch aside and ride donkeys out of a rocky creek bed. Muchos ranchos no camino.

Is the mountain to much for me? No. I can make it. Dark this early? Full moon, winter solstice. I have to make it to the top. Going down is not so easy. I have modern brakes, they are no match for the mountain. miles go by, at last a flat spot to lay my tired self down. To tired to cook food, guess again. Plain rice never tasted so good.

Shortest day of the year. Plenty of time to explore an old mission. My supplies all but gone, my water very low, I can not find the mission water. Two oranges and a lemon, yes!

The hills are ride able now. The 29 inch wheels roll over football sized rocks quite well, when I need water, I'm brave on the long down hill. A bridge building crew has running water piped in from Huh? Running water all I want. Drink, wash, all I want. Cool clear water.

At last a tienda in a mountain village. Tuna, crackers, cold coke. Does the lady yell at me for having a weeks worth of dirt on my shirt? No. She knows I don't read Spanish, so she puts what I think are crackers back on the shelf, and hands me crackers with a picture of tuna on them, thanks.

More miles of rocky down hill, one last camp, last of the 20 patches on my tubes. Only 20 miles of highway 1. Whats wrong with the fat lady in the silver Honda with the California plate, must be her road.

hotel, hot water, sleep.

chrisx

If a guy in a funny hat says, (back you go back), you know it will be a good trip.

"If it were lush and rich, one could understand the pull, but it is fierce and hostile and sullen. The stone mountains pile up to the sky and there is little fresh water. But we know we must go back if we live, and we don't know why." - Steinbeck, Log from the Sea of Cortez

willibrord

Good story, Chrisex, but you have posted it before in this thread.

The baja looks so cool, but you really need 27.5+ wheels with 3 " tires, capacity to carry 3-4 gallons of water in your bike packer bags and a light CA frame would be nice.

Different from the Katy for sure.

chrisx

Oh oh! I have become too confused to remember what I posted on the 5th of September.
I just checked a calander, and discovered I plan to depart in less than two weeks.

"27.5 plus+" would be better than what I already own. Once I visited Baja a few times, I decided to venture further south. In Oaxaca you can buy a 27.5 tire, but not a plus tire. In Chiapas they have no 27.5 and no 29 inch tires. In Guatemala you can get a 29er tire at Old town Outfiters in Antigua. It has been over a year since I stopped there. They had 1 29er tire and 42 26er tires, 0 27.5. That is one 29er tire for the entire country. In El Salvador I saw 0 29er and 0 27.5. In Honduras they have rim brake 26er bikes. In Nicaragua I saw no 29ers. How does a 24 hour bus ride to Managua, on dusty gravel road sound, if you need something other than a 26 inch tire. In Costa Rica, I saw 26er only, but did not look in any bike shops. Same with Panama. They may have a 27.5 somewhere, maybe. In Medellin Colombia they have a few 27.5 and 29er bikes for sale. Not many, but a few. Should not be more than 12 hours on a bus, if you need a tire or new rim. In Lima Peru I saw only 26ers on the road. Lima is not bicycle friendly. In Huancayo Peru they have 26 inch tires and rim brakes for sale.

In Baja California there are 500 miles between modern bike shops. However, there is a bailout possibility. You will seldom be more than 50 miles from MX 1. Linea ABC or some other bus stops in every town along the highway. You can get home with a broken bike. Do not arrive at the Tijuana central bus terminal at night! Mexican people have big hearts. If you are stuck, they will most likely take you to a town in there pickup.

26 plus bikes are off to a slow start. There are just a couple of choices at the moment. A few older 26ers can handle 2.8 or 3 inch tires, and switch to 2.1 inch tires if needed.
What is better?
Relibality
or
performance?

willibrord

You're a good writer, do you have any more stuff you've published?

chrisx

I normally load 7 liters of water on my bike in Baja. (And 2 in my stomach, If a long water-less stretch is ahead.) That can be stretched into 2 days but is not enough for 2 days.
1 liter = 1 kilo. 7 liters = 15,4324 pounds. 4 gallons = 15.141647136 liters, = 33.381 pounds

4 Gallons of water is not realistic. Volume and weight prohibit an additional 33 pounds of water on the bike. When does the added weight slow you down, or prevent you from pedaling up a hill?

chrisx

Published? No one will pay me to type.
Been a long time since I thought of this, the only other story I bothered to type. The cycle in the story got left behind in La Paz. I bought a 29er when I got home.

The chore of discovery

A bicycle chronicle



February 15, 2008. Welcome to New Mexico the land of enchantment. For 10,000 years and more, people lived on this land, the Ancient Ones. Who were they? How did they live? What would they say, if they could see my bicycle, my polyester shorts, 8% spandex?



There is a storm coming, a big one. The wind is already blowing me side ways. Sometimes my saddle bags catch a big gust, and stop me dead in my tracks. My newly chosen route is south of the mountains and away from the higher elevations. I found a short cut on the map. I’ll save a day, maybe two.



The recommended bike route goes through some beautiful mountain passes. The Gila cliff dwellings, the houses of the Ancient Ones, are only a day’s side trip. The weather man promises a foot of snow in the higher elevations. I’ll take the boring low road. Away from my one planed side trip, away from the snow, away from history.



By evening the storm starts to grow. What are the little white things falling from the sky? They sure sting my face. I know it’s not hail, hail falls down, this stuff is blowing sideways.



The map doesn’t show my short cut as a gravel road for 90 miles. I can’t take a gravel road for two days, not on a fully loaded bike. I’m turning back, back to the main road.



On a pitch black moonless night, I’m pedaling north into a violent wind storm. The rain is coming harder now.



The ancient Ones made it. They had no rip stop nylon. How will I pitch my tent in this wind? What did the Ancient Ones eat on a night like this? I have a can of beans. My multi fuel camp stove doesn’t burn well in a gale. The Ancient Ones lived their whole lives without nylon rain pants. Were they warm and dry on a night like this?



A side road leading to a sand quarry, and I’m off the highway. I see a hill and some tall grass fenced off from the rest of the quarry. Looks like my campground. Maybe I can get out of sight, and find shelter from the howling wind.



With a mighty effort, I drag my loaded bike over a sand mound, past the gate, and into the unused area. The view of Elpaso is spectacular from this ridge. Like a city sized snake, the lights follow the other side of the Rio Grand. A puff of wind powerful enough to push me brings the urgency of finding shelter back to mind.



Those 50’ high rocks were not visible from the road. They sure are in the right place to block the wind. The rain lets up just long enough for me to pitch my tent. I’ve found a sandy spot next to some wind blocking rocks. There is brush, tall grass, and thorn bushes all around. I should be safe from prying eyes. My sandy spot is not the low spot, I wont get flooded during the night.. I’m not so close to the cliff a falling rock will hit me.



Did the Ancient Ones know something I don’t? I’m a long way from the cozy warm isle at Walmart, where the choice between red and blue seemed so important. As I pound the last tent stake into the ground, the rain returns, harder than before.



I’ve got some of those damn fruit bars, and some peanut butter. Just incase I couldn’t cook dinner in a storm. What were the Ancient Ones doing on a night like this? Were they toasty warm, snug next to a fire? Nice bit of jack rabbit roasting on a stick? Did the Ancient Ones consider the tempest a normal part of life, nothing to worry about?



The Ancient Ones had no synthetic sleeping bags. I wish I knew how to live my life without Walmart. They did, for 10,000 years. As I drift off to sleep, the sleep of a person who pedaled 14 hours into a gale force wind, I dream of the ancients.



I should get up. It’s getting light out. A dream stage sweep through the night before tells me I'm safe here. I searched far into the night for a place to make camp. I haven't slept past first light in weeks. My sleeping bag is warm, the only coddle I'm going to get.



As the vission of the flute playing cliff drawing gives way, to the sound of a diesel powered quarry truck, I unzip and roll out. I didn't see that house last night, And it's only 50 feet away. My eyes focus. Three of the four corners of this adobe house have crumbled back to the earth from which they came.



With the light I see that I'm in a small aryo. I've spent the night in a small bottle neck canyon. The narrow entrance is guarded by a hundreds of years old crumbled house. From all sides it looks like a grass covered hill. Inside the cliffs are 50 feet high, solid rock. A few shallow caves about half way up the rock walls make natural cliff dwellings. The natural shelter isn't big enough for an entire tribe. I'm in a 10,000 year old camp ground.



20 steps out of the arroyo, the wind blows my hat off. As I turn to pick it up, I take one last look. all I see is a grassy hill. Welcome to New Mexico, land of enchantment.

willibrord

It's good stuff even if you aren't paid for writing it. Thanks.

chrisx

"As the trip progressed most of the equipment wore out. His tent zipper broke, his boots split, and the majority of his buried caches were unearthed by coyotes. "The water and whisky are all that they didn't get."
https://www.grahammackintosh.com/Page...venturers.aspx

There is a reason why this guy gets paid to type

willibrord

There are 100 people signed up for the Baja Divide group start on Jan 2.

chrisx

I am going to start early. I ordered a 26 x 3 inch tire, hope it fits in my fork. Should be able to depart in just a few days. What do the rules say about deviating from their route?

what did you decide to do?

mdilthey

Have they done it? I did it. I measured it. I ride the bike every day. With 175mm cranks, I would have hit my pedals on the ground every time I cornered. I rock strike a lot with 26x3.8" tires, 27.5x2.8" is even shorter.

I've said this like three times, it's not a very good idea.

saddlesores

sure, there ya go again, bringing in your knowledge and experience!

pffffft! there's nothing in the baja divide RULES that says you can't!

chrisx

[QUOTE=saddlesores;19230496
pffffft! there's nothing in the baja divide RULES that says you can't! [/QUOTE]

It is natural law. The law of servival
They can not enter every natural law into the rules.

Leebo

Pugsley? Why not run 3.5 -4.0 inch tires on the rims it comes with? More float is better for sand land.

chrisx

What is wrong with 26 x 4 pugsley wheels?
Would float great in the sand sections.

I learned the hard way, to stop second guessing the bike manufacturers. Expensive lessons, change the bike the way i like it, then pay again to put it back the way it was designed.