Mountain Bike Touring 101
By: Mark Konitzer
Bikes:
The most important piece of equipment to have for a
successful trip is going to be your bicycle. Cycle cross, touring and dirt bikes
are a few that may work for less rugged-dirt trail riding, but anything other
than that your going to want a true mountain bike. With a ridged-framed bike you have less chance
of something important breaking (i.e. shocks), but the comfort level is brought
way down. Unless being used for very short rides, the ridged frame will be very
unforgiving on your body and will become very uncomfortable on long rough
rides. It’s recommended that a bike with at least a front shock be used for
most rides.
Now some food for thought is whether to use a hardtail or go
for the more forgiving full suspension bike. The major pro with using a full
suspension mountain bike would be the comfort level. The full suspension bike
has shocks in the back, which will absorb most of the small rocks and bumps and
will be a lot better for your body in the long run. The disadvantages of a full
suspension bike are going to be weight and the rear shock has most complicated
things that can break and needs routine maintenance. Also there is usually a
major price difference between hardtail and full suspension bikes. With the
extra rear shock in the back, the full suspension comes out to be quite a bit
more. For trips in less developed countries it’s recommended to stick with a
hardtail, which has less stuff to break.
So the choice of which bike you use will greatly depend on
the type of riding that you’ll be doing. The terrain and location are other big
factors. But in the end it all comes down to personal choice.
Gear carriers/
trailers:
The next thing to consider after you have thought about the
types of bikes is how you want to carry your gear. There are three good options
for carrying your stuff: panniers, trailer, or going ultra light. The option
you choose will greatly depend on the type of terrain you will encounter on
your trip.
Panniers are bags or boxes that are used for carrying gear
that can be attached to both the front and back of a bike. The advantages of using panniers is it gives
you a feeling of a more compact bike, since everything is attached to your bike
and you won’t be towing a trailer behind you. Also portaging or crossing
unrideable terrain is easier to deal with. One consideration is though is if
your riding rough trails you will need stronger wheels to support the weight of
you and your gear.
A more popular option has become using a trailer, a BOB
trailer to be specific. The BOB trailers are durable trailers, some with
adjustable suspension, that ride low to the ground and keep the weight of gear
off of your bike. You may not think it, but this trailer performs very well off
road on rough terrain. The trailer can carry up to 70 pounds and comes with a
dry sack that you place all of your gear in.
The last, increasingly popular option is to go ultra light.
The ultra light option is really the only choice for true multi-day riding on
technical single track. The object with going ultra light is having no more
than 20 pounds of gear on you at all times. Many people are even getting down
to less than 15 pounds of gear. The most common technique is to put everything
in a dry sack and strap in down to a rear rack that sits about your tire, with
any remaining gear carried in a backpack.
Gear Considerations:
- · Consider that type of brakes you need for your trip. If you are traveling in less developed countries you should stay away from disc breaks that will be harder to replace or repair.
- · If you do choose to go the hardtail route, look into suspension seatpost. This will be easier on your body and less expensive than going full suspension.
- · You wont be on your bike the whole trip, so consider less stiff mountain biking shoes. Look for some comfortable ones with more flex in the toes.
- · Make sure you bring spare parts. Your going to want extra tubes, patch kit, cotter pins for the trailer, spare spokes for your wheels, an extra chain and bring a first aid kit for yourself!
Where To Ride:
Your almost done, you just need to find a place to go ride!
Really the options are endless here. There are thousands of miles of biking
trails that travel through national forest, state parks, national parks or even
your family friends property in British Columbia. You can go to your local
rangers office or just get online to find trail maps and other information on
where you would like to go.
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