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catalina island, ca

Old 01-14-22, 04:18 PM
  #1  
jpjuggler
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catalina island, ca

catalina island, ca,

for anyone who has ridden catalina island for some bike packing, do you think a trek 520 with 38mm tires would be ok? Or do you think I would def. need a mountain bike?
Thanks
JP
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Old 01-16-22, 10:24 AM
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Originally Posted by jpjuggler
catalina island, ca,

for anyone who has ridden catalina island for some bike packing, do you think a trek 520 with 38mm tires would be ok? Or do you think I would def. need a mountain bike?
Thanks
JP
It'll work, but won't be the most comfortable ride if you're using drop bars; change them to wide flat bars if possible. I'd suggest an MTB (hardtail with good front shock) with wide handlebars for improved comfort. Back when I did it bicycles had to use the automotive roads (they're dirt outside of Avalon and Twin Harbors), but they get rutted after a rainstorm. The hiking trails are not maintained to the smoother quality of the roads, but check with the Island Conservancy to see if you can use the hiking trails as an alternate. Great 'open' scenery (very few trees), but watch out for bison on the roads.
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Old 01-18-22, 10:30 AM
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I think you'd be fine- bikes are still relegated to the fire roads. There are some sections that are a bit chunky but most of the fire roads are pretty decent. I've ridden it multip0le times on a gravel bike with 42mm tires.
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Old 01-18-22, 12:55 PM
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does catalina still have the $75 fee per person for riding mtb/gravel/fire roads annual pass thingee?
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Old 01-19-22, 01:52 PM
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The conservancy has a $35 membership that gives you an annual bike pass. I looked on their website and didn't see a day pass option... but I could have just missed it.
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Old 01-25-22, 03:00 PM
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It's a small island; even if you ride every single track available you'll run out in a couple days. So I don't think there's much point worrying about optimizing your bike for the roads; you'll have plenty of time to get where you're going even if you walk the bike a lot. MTB is fine, the 47mm-tire gravel bike I rode was fine, the cheap hybrid bike my GF rode on 1.5" tires was fine. I don't see much point changing out equipment just for this. Trek 520 on 38mms will be fine.

The issues are: reserving campsites well in advance (unlikely you can just show up and wing it), considerable heat and lack of shade in summer, steep inclines on a few of the main roads, and most of all the very very fine powder moondust that will be all over everything in the dry season. I had to stop and scrape dust out of the front derailleur limit screws, as they packed up so hard with dust I couldn't shift any more. It's hard on chain lube too. Rainy season could be different yeah - but that's less and less of the year as time goes on.
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Old 01-25-22, 09:34 PM
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