phedge

Hello all, first post here, so TIA.

We will be spending a month or better in Tucson this winter and wanted to pick the collective braintrust on best bike setup. Coming from the mid-west's damp and thorn free environment, things look a little different out your way. I'll be bringing a bike suitable for gravel and road riding along with two different wheel sets. So questions about best set-up for both ride types.

Is tubeless with a quality tire the way to go, or does Tucson require even more protection? Say Gatorskins, backed up by slime tubes plus etc. etc? Would there be different requirements for gravel vs. road riding ie- tubeless for road and Gatorskins for gravel? Any other recommendations/input greatly appreciated.

Chain lube, always a fun topic. I'm kind of assuming dry lube is the way to go out there but wanted to see what others do out in the desert. I've always been a wet luber so will need to learn the secret handshake of dry lube so any advice there is welcome.

Thanks for any insight and really looking forward to not riding in the basement this whole winter.

debade

We biked and hiked are 10 days in Tuscon. Our biking was on miles and miles of paved paths. The road infrastructure allowed us to easily get around without a car. We stayed close to the university.

We mostly used our car to get to hikes. Mountain biking was popular on many of the hikes. Since I am not a mountain biker, I will let others provide their experience.

I was very impressed with their biking infrastructure road and paths. I took many pictures to share with the engineers from my hometown

VegasTriker

I have lived in the desert environment for a couple of decades now. Google on "Tucson yearly weather" to see what the averages are for temperature and rain. Wet is not likely to be a problem and for Midwesterners, the temperatures are going to be a treat. Although I lived in the Midwest as well and road down to at least zero degrees, I like warm so tend to ride in the middle of the day as winter approaches. My answer to goatheads and tumbleweed is to learn where to expect them and carry spare tubes and a pump everywhere I go. It's not like you get a flat all that frequently. I never tried tubeless and absolutely hate using slime. You could carry a couple patches and a tube of glue as secondary insurance but have never needed it here in the Las Vegas valley. You are more likely to encounter goatheads off road. Here they tend to grow at the edge of the road and paved trails where runoff from infrequent rains collects.

Bob Ross

When we're in Tucson the missus and I do primarily road rides...mostly because the road riding around Tucson is so good that we don't feel the need to get off the road (which is certainly part of what motivates us to do gravel rides when we're at our other home in the Northeast). Neither of us have jumped on the tubeless bandwagon yet, for either road or gravel; but if you're already a member of the Slime Tribe I see no reason not to continue using them just because of Tucson's conditions.

I have it on good authority from some local cyclists that tire liners are a good idea for offroad riding, because cactus thorns are tenacious! I even know some roadies here who use them. But so far I haven't felt the need to get that paranoid.

Here's perhaps a relevant data point regarding tire type for road cycling: Over the past 2 years my wife and I rode ~5,000 miles (each) in and around Tucson. She has Gatorskins, I have GP5000s. In all that time, I got one more flat than she did. (She got 0, I got 1. Not sure a Gatorskin would've prevented her from flatting in my situation, as I rode over a hacksaw blade that was lying on the shoulder!)

In short, don't overthink it.

phedge

Thanks for the replies, good info. Not sure yet which direction I'll take but leaning towards tubeless, mainly because I like learning new stuff and I'm retired now so I have the time to put into it.

Good data point, puts it into perspective.
Don't overthink it? Man, that takes away half the fun!