Hey all,

I'm leaving Sunday from Boston to bike across the country. I'm aiming to be in Colorado Springs on July 15th, and will ride the Colorado Trail out to Durango. Some company would be nice, anyone planning on riding it this year?

Thanks,
Brian

Spent some time debating this one. Which would you choose?

1. Powergrips
2. Shimano PD-M647
3. Shimano PD-A530

For 4 months of touring, mostly road but the CT and trails in Utah mixed in

Alright, so I've narrowed it down to two options:

1. (Coming in from Utah) Bike the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, then backtrack to St. George and take a bus across the desert
2. Bike the AZT from the South Rim to Flagstaff, then take a bus across the desert

Back tracking to St. George would be less exciting, but also save me about 180 miles of desert and the trip on 89...

Thanks for all the help

Good thing I double checked...

So if I started from the Grand Canyon around September 15, I should have more luck? I should also say that once I hit Phoenix, I'm riding east into California.

Is August 15th too early for the AZT? Thinking about going from the Grand Canyon down to Phoenix. Thanks

Thanks for the help. I'm looking at Continental Travel Contract tires for the road sections. For the CT, I'm leaning towards Continental Mountain King Protection.

Any word on the new version 2?

Quick Question -

I have Bontrager Race Lite Tubless rims right now. I'm planning a cross country ride from the east coast to the Colorado Trail, then continuing on roads and eventually making my way to Banff and getting on the GDR. Starting off, I'd like a smoother touring-type tire, but it seems that tubeless isn't much of an option. I also don't want to deal with the hassle of sealant if I don't have to. So can I run tube tires with tubes on my tubeless rims without any problem, and then switch back to tubeless when I get to the CT?

Thanks

Thanks for all this info

I'm planning a lengthy bikepacking trip of the US, and am just about to start mapping the California portion. Here's what I'm looking at:

-Come in from Arizona on Rt 62
-Cut into San Bernardino National Forest by Big Bear Lake
-Hop on the Sierra Cascades route by Adventure Cycling Acc. up to Lake Taho
-Cut over to San Franciso
-Ride up the Pacific Coast to the Redwood forest

This thread has opened my eyes to the possibilities of getting off-road more though, especially considering I'm riding a mountain bike. I've mixed in a few forest roads but was hoping to get your opinions on route alterations.

Mostly I'm concerned about seeing Lake Taho, Yosemite, and the Redwoods. I'm looking to stay away from loops, making progress toward Oregon and over to Crater Lake.

I was originally planning on just riding Rt 1 up the coast, but might check out the Krebs Bike touring map on N. Cali.

Thanks

Thanks for all the replies. I actually bought a bike used a few days ago and it came with a Fox Talas from '07. It's basically brand new, the bike has only been ridden a few times. I love the fork but it doesn't have lockout on it. Am I crazy to think I could ride over 7,000 miles without lockout?

If not, I suppose I would take the plunge and pick up a Fox 32 F100. Doesn't seem like there's a huge bias towards coil forks, and $900 seems like a lot of reliability. 

I'm planning a pretty lengthy tour incorporating the CT, GDT, AZ, GET, and any other trails I can find on the way. I'm putting together a mountain bike with a Jamis Dragon frame, but getting stuck on the fork choices.

I'd like to have a coil instead of air, just for the sake of reliability. Checked out RockShox, Marzocchi and Fox but haven't come up with much. The only coil fork with a good range for touring seems to be the RockShox Sektor RL Coil U-Turn, 100-140mm.

Here's the link:
http://www.jensonusa.com/store/product/FK268A19-Rockshox+Sektor+Rl+Coil+U-Turn+Fork+11.aspx

Not too much info out there yet, anyone have an opinion?

Thanks

Anyone know of a route that will take me from Fruita to Denver?

Thanks