# Anyone single speed toured?



## ernesto_from_Wisconsin (Jan 12, 2004)

For real this time, I am going to ride maybe one whole day (masochism) or divide it in two...a 234 mile ride up to northern Wisconsin. Because I am from Wisconsin.

Anyway, I am planning on changing my gearing from 46/16 to a 44/18 for this jaunt. It will be hilly here and there, and I am going to pack very light. I've decided not to camp because for the price I am going to pay for a bivy sack, a sleeping bag, sleeping pad, etc - I am only going to seldom use it, so I'll save some $$$ by just spending the night at some motel or something. All I am bringing is water, water, water, food, and more food, and some clean clothes, and extra shorts. The typical tools and a couple of inner tubes. 

The end of my trip will be at the family cabin, so no need to bring a ton of unecessary stuff with me.

Opinions? Should I bring a midget? My photo album of moms?


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## The Yetti (Dec 22, 2005)

I always pack a midget for long trips, they are always handy, and good for panhandling for money if you break down and need some cash...


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## ernesto_from_Wisconsin (Jan 12, 2004)

they're also good for insulation if the mercury drops. And if you need some candy, they're good at scaring kids into giving them candy.


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## johnnypecans (Jan 5, 2009)

I think the real question is - does your bike have the bosses to mount a midget? Because if not, you'll have to figure out how to strap him to your handlebars.


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## ernesto_from_Wisconsin (Jan 12, 2004)

johnnypecans said:


> I think the real question is - does your bike have the bosses to mount a midget? Because if not, you'll have to figure out how to strap him to your handlebars.


I can probably wear him as a teddy bear back pack.


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## fishcreek (Apr 10, 2007)

no need to bring food. just go inside a convenience store hairy naked and sound like chewbacca. GRLRLRLRLRLRLRL. food served.


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## johnnypecans (Jan 5, 2009)

ernesto_from_Wisconsin said:


> I can probably wear him as a teddy bear back pack.


All I can say is 'backsweat'. Maybe you could pick up one of those Burly kiddy trailers and put him in there.


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## ATBScott (Jun 4, 2006)

If you had a Jones or Blacksheep truss fork, you could strap a midget to the side of the fork using Zip Ties, but that means you would need to carry some tool to cut them. I don't think toe straps are long enough to go around most midgets.


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## ATBScott (Jun 4, 2006)

I think that selfpropelleddevo and Aosty have both done SS touring... Aosty did the Hut trip on his SS a few years ago as I recall, and selfpropelleddevo I think rode down the Coast Hwy on an SS.... I could be mistaken. Resume the midget banter.


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## moschika (Jan 12, 2004)

I just rode from SF to LA for the AIDS ride, ~500 miles in 7 days, and there were 15 fixie riders - i was geared. one of those guys started in oregon and was going to continue to mexico. the guy going to mexico just had a couple panniers.


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## azepicriderandrunner (Feb 8, 2008)

My experience with touring on a singlespeed says bring a bivvy, pad and bag

GLR and AZT Day 1 and Kaibab. It puts less pressure on the ride, makes you enjoy the ride a lot more knowing that you can always stop if you are tired or precip begins.

Check out bikepacking.net for more info also.


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## CHUM (Aug 30, 2004)

don't forget midget food......cranky midgets are bad luck.....and mean....


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## ISuckAtRiding (Jul 7, 2006)

I'm planning a trail ride from socal to norcal pretty soon. Anyone wanna go?


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## umarth (Dec 5, 2007)

I'd gear low. I did a 135 mile from Eugene to Portland over night and I had enough gear for Thanksgiving weekend. The ride is mostly flat, but I had a headwind almost the whole way and I was around 70 gear inches. I guess I did it fixed one time too, but the big lesson is to have it around 60 and be ok with the mosey.


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## Schmucker (Aug 23, 2007)

44:18 should be fine for Wisconsin, especially since you'll be packing light. Maybe even a little too low, but it depends on your tire size too. Just bring what you need to keep the bike going, keep you warm/dry/happy and hydrated and fed.


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## chumbox (Jan 9, 2008)

Yeah Aosty has done the Hut trip and there are two blogs about it which are amazing, sadly I can't recall the links.

Also Tomimcmillar does quite a few such as this one:
http://tomi-mcmillar.blogspot.com/2009/05/locked-loaded.html

I don't know about others but there is heaps of info generally on www.bikepacking.net

FWIW I jam getting as we speak rack mounts added to my SS frame so I can child carry and SS tour. Good times ahead. (I know you don't require rack mounts to tour anymore but it's a long story I'm not going to bother with here).


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## j e SS e (Dec 24, 2007)

Midget backpack eh?.......now I know why the "SS Condom" inquiry. 

No pics of this trip, please.


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## Velobike (Jun 23, 2007)

Credit card and an iPhone for luggage. One pays for, the other finds you accommodation.

Around 65" usually works. Fast enough for touring and you shouldn't have to wlk much.


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## max-a-mill (Apr 14, 2004)

i have done 2-3 day tours across PA (~400 miles) yearly for the past three years.

i used a 44x18 all three years and found it to be a great touring gear! the only time i wished for more was when we had a 30-40 mph sustained tailwind one night. i did walk a couple parts of certain climbs each year but getting off and walking occasionally is kind of nice anyway to stretch everything out.

having a small down bag and a thermarest pad might be kinda nice just in case.... i never carry a tent cause if it is raining i just keep riding. i have been forced to sleep out for a 2 hour roadside due to sheer exhaustion before and found the thermarest REALLY useful; the sleeping bag made a nice pillow.


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## p nut (Apr 19, 2007)

What kind of a bike are you on that's got a 46x16 gearing. Are we talking road bikes here?

I would like to do a camping/touring trip one day on my Surly Steamroller. I'd probably gear down to 44/46x18.


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## ~gomez~ (Sep 26, 2006)

bring some moist towlettes


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## Hjalti (Jan 22, 2004)

*Yep*

Five out of seven bikes (not including the moto) in this pic are single or fixed, touring up from MD into PA.


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## Fat Bob (Mar 5, 2004)

This guy


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## Fungolo (Apr 24, 2005)

These guys


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## chumbox (Jan 9, 2008)

For anyone still looking here is the blog of the hut trip with a SS tourer on board. It's a great read and has some epic photos

http://forums.mtbr.com/blog.php?do=showentry&e=1355


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## ernesto_from_Wisconsin (Jan 12, 2004)

I am going to postpone my trip until a few weeks from now. My chest is killing me.


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## ernesto_from_Wisconsin (Jan 12, 2004)

I am going to postpone my trip until a few weeks from now. My chest is killing me.


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## Slumberjack (Jan 19, 2011)

~2 year power bump~

So has anyone else toured or bike camped with one gear?


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## p nut (Apr 19, 2007)

Isn't Slowerthansnot doing the divide? On a fixed gear, none the less.


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## Bro (Dec 20, 2010)

p nut said:


> Isn't Slowerthansnot doing the divide? On a fixed gear, none the less.


I think he had to cancel for this year. Greyhound lost his bike, and he was already hella delayed, and everything just went wrong. Just hearsay though, I don't think he ever updated us on his divide fixie thread.

I do SS touring all the time. It's usually no more than 30 miles in two and a half hours or so, but it's still a self-supported tour, right?


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## jmmUT (Sep 15, 2008)

I have a few times. I just did Durango to Telluride fully loaded and tipsy 80 miles on 32:22. Here some stoke-age:


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## bdstorer (May 4, 2007)

*Single speed touring.*

Yep. Plenty of times on a range of different singlespeeds. Advice? Pack light, use a small gear. The two last shots are of a surly Steamroller I toured fixed on.


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## Dion (Oct 22, 2009)

These guys are insane. They are also brutally fast on the cyclocross course - many of them on SS's



> Compirsed of a number of native Californian riders, MASH SF embarked on the Tour of California 2009 as they traversed the state by bike over a few days back in February. In this preview of the upcoming video, we're given a glimpse of the natural beauty afforded to those lucky enough to experience the beautiful state as the crew of riders covered 750 miles in America's largest cycling road race.







PREVIEW: MASH Tour of California 2009 from MASH TRANSIT PRODUCTIONS on Vimeo.


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## p nut (Apr 19, 2007)

Dion said:


> These guys are insane. They are also brutally fast on the cyclocross course - many of them on SS's...


Ok, that's awesome. I thought I was moderately smooth spinning at the upper RPM's. Until I saw that vid.


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## mikesee (Aug 25, 2003)

Slumberjack said:


> So has anyone else toured or bike camped with one gear?


Yawp.






That was a few weeks ago. Headed back for more a few weeks from now.

Beginner tip: 11 days of food, 2 SLR's, plus a sleeping bag, pad, boat and paddle weigh a lot. Factor in soft sand, 4" tires, and ~4psi when calculating your gear inches.

I ran 24 x 20t = 33.6". It was too tall...

MC


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## Sparticus (Dec 28, 1999)

mikesee said:


> Yawp.
> {crazy}
> That was a few weeks ago. Headed back for more a few weeks from now.
> 
> ...


Whoa. I mean... whoa.

--sParty


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## Dion (Oct 22, 2009)

p nut said:


> Ok, that's awesome. I thought I was moderately smooth spinning at the upper RPM's. Until I saw that vid.


MASH SF competes in MTB, CX, track, and road racing. I guess when you work as a bicycle messenger all day riding the San Francisco hills, this is what you get.

I've been personally dropped by a few of those guys.


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## Slumberjack (Jan 19, 2011)

mikesee said:


> Yawp.
> 
> _Video_
> 
> ...


Nice! I actually caught this video the other day on the revelate designs blog. I'm really jealous of yer guys trip, and it has given me enough inspiration to tour one geared myself.

I'm doing Bismarck nd (flat) to Missoula mt (mountains) to get things started, so does anybody know if it would be smart to use a flip flop hub for additional gearing?


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## bdstorer (May 4, 2007)

Slumberjack said:


> does anybody know if it would be smart to use a flip flop hub for additional gearing?


Yeah, it is a good idea. I run dual single on my MTB, 34/32 upfront and 22/20 outback. Gives me a gear for general use and a lower gear for the ups. Chain lenght is the same for both gears. On my Roadie I run a front 44 ring with a White Industries dual single 17/19 freewheel, which again gives a good all round gear and a lower one for the hills.


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## bdstorer (May 4, 2007)

A few more pics to stoke the fire!


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## CBizzie (Mar 2, 2011)

Sparticus said:


> Whoa. I mean... whoa.
> 
> --sParty


heard that.....talk about epic....


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## jeffgothro (Mar 10, 2007)

Never toured a fixie (in fact, never owned one - I prefer cassettes), but, I am technically homeless and live on my single speed G.T. - does that count as touring, sort of?


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## Dion (Oct 22, 2009)

This needs to go into the JealouSSy thread, but I have a deep envy for those who can take the time off to do a bicycle tour. In my crazy hustle of a life - I will never be able to do that


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## bdstorer (May 4, 2007)

Dion said:


> This needs to go into the JealouSSy thread, but I have a deep envy for those who can take the time off to do a bicycle tour. In my crazy hustle of a life - I will never be able to do that


Dion, why not just do sub 24 hour tours? Just pack up and head out for an overnight 'shortie'?? I love doing these, pack the bivy bag, a warm jacket and some food.. pick a local destination within striking distance and go!

Sometimes I take my packed bike to work with me at the end of shift, say on a Friday and at knock off, ride off into the sunset. I'll head to a destination around 20 or 30kms distant (hilltop, creek, beach etc), camp for the night, break camp with the dawn and ride back home by mid morning to be with my family. Works great and fits in with my wife and kids as they only miss out on a small portion of the weekend with me. Highly recommend it.


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## bdstorer (May 4, 2007)

*Siinglespeed tour - Sub24*

Sub 24 hours tour in the Northern Territory. Yulara to Pirripakalarintja. One gear. Bivy bag. water and food. Left Saturday morning, back Sunday arvo.


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## p nut (Apr 19, 2007)

bdstorer said:


> Dion, why not just do sub 24 hour tours? Just pack up and head out for an overnight 'shortie'?? I love doing these, pack the bivy bag, a warm jacket and some food.. pick a local destination within striking distance and go!
> 
> Sometimes I take my packed bike to work with me at the end of shift, say on a Friday and at knock off, ride off into the sunset. I'll head to a destination around 20 or 30kms distant (hilltop, creek, beach etc), camp for the night, break camp with the dawn and ride back home by mid morning to be with my family. Works great and fits in with my wife and kids as they only miss out on a small portion of the weekend with me. Highly recommend it.


Great idea. I'm going to try that. Nice drop bar GT Peace, BTW.

+repped


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## Dion (Oct 22, 2009)

bdstorer said:


> Dion, why not just do sub 24 hour tours? Just pack up and head out for an overnight 'shortie'?? I love doing these, pack the bivy bag, a warm jacket and some food.. pick a local destination within striking distance and go!
> 
> Sometimes I take my packed bike to work with me at the end of shift, say on a Friday and at knock off, ride off into the sunset. I'll head to a destination around 20 or 30kms distant (hilltop, creek, beach etc), camp for the night, break camp with the dawn and ride back home by mid morning to be with my family. Works great and fits in with my wife and kids as they only miss out on a small portion of the weekend with me. Highly recommend it.


I am a Fraternal Insurance Counselor (insurance agent) for a very large Fraternal Benefit Society. I work every day, including most weekends and get paid commission only (thank god for residuals). Today was my first "day off" (even though I worked this morning, just no client meetings) in two weeks 

I do hit the trails 5 days a week, but for very fast bursts of rides that last no longer than 1 1/2 hours (including riding to the trails) - so I guess it suits my cyclocross endeavor. The ONLY way I can possibly take a "vacation", even for one day, is to hit a big sale and make my quotas early in the month, which never happens.

I count my blessings that I live within a few miles from my trails and ride as often as I do during my "lunch".

It's all good - please keep sharing the pics everyone... these are great!


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## bdstorer (May 4, 2007)

p nut said:


> Great idea. I'm going to try that. Nice drop bar GT Peace, BTW.


Cheers! The Peace is back in flat bar mode now, replaced with a geared Fargo (which broke  see Fargo thread for pictures). Sub24s are a gear way to hit the road. I was living in the Northern Territory when I first got into it. Being remote area, single speed suited the job perfectly as there is very little that can go wrong. Once addicted to riding with one gear, pretty much all my touring has being done on one. I like the simplicity and as long as you don't mind walking the steepest hills, works fine.

Here's another sub24 from Yulara to the Sedimentaries via Kata Tjuta.


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## pistolpete (Jun 12, 2007)

Been tourin' single since '74. Yeah,I'm old. Did 6000k+ over last winter in Western Australia on my fixie.39X17. Nice folks,'til you give'm a car. Angriest drivers ever. Been all over the Sierra Madre as well,fixed,natch . Carry less,live more. Tequila weighs less than beer.


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## p nut (Apr 19, 2007)

Got any pics, pistolpete?


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## Sheepo5669 (May 14, 2010)

pistolpete said:


> Been tourin' single since '74. Yeah,I'm old. Did 6000k+ over last winter in Western Australia on my fixie.39X17. Nice folks,'til you give'm a car. Angriest drivers ever. Been all over the Sierra Madre as well,fixed,natch . Carry less,live more. Tequila weighs less than beer.


This guy rules! ^^^


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## shogun9 (Mar 25, 2008)

Leaving on Saturday for an 8 day solo fund raising ride. The bike will be my GT Peace 9r that will sport knobblies for the first time, wohoo. 
@mikesee; absolutely amazing. 
@bdstorer; beautiful, been to some of those places but not by bike I'm afraid, what bivy sack is that? Another Peace going walkabout!
@pistolpete; Are you saying I'm angry, huh? I'm not effing angry, no I'm not. Just kidding but I agree with you that is partly why I will be riding the Munda Biddi (Munda Biddi Trail Foundation new site coming soon) here in Western Australia. Yes, let's see some pictures, please.


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## blackgriffen_1 (May 18, 2010)

Did a century from a hilly part of Washington to the Canadian border, then back a bit south. Fixed gear, 46x18, a seat bag, two frame bags, and some too-heavy packing. Man, what a long day it was!


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## bdstorer (May 4, 2007)

shogun9 said:


> @bdstorer; beautiful, been to some of those places but not by bike I'm afraid, what bivy sack is that? Another Peace going walkabout!


Mate it is a Black Diamond Bipod Bivy.. just sold it and bought the Tripod version as in the Bipod I can't sleep on my side  ...have some pics of your GT Peace in touring mode? I use mine fairly regularly on 'bikepacking style' sub 24/48 hour mini tours. I like to head bush for a few days and get away from it all.. Here's another pic of the Peace.


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## shogun9 (Mar 25, 2008)

Adventure begins tomorrow!


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## rep (Sep 7, 2004)

What kind of rack is that?


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## jmctav23 (Oct 16, 2010)

appears to be a Your Platform For Adventure

costly but they look quite versatile


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## shogun9 (Mar 25, 2008)

*Freeload rack*

Only just come back from my trip.
It's a Freeload rack; have a look here: Your Platform For Adventure
Has been absolutely fantastic, zero problems, well worth it.


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## buddhak (Jan 26, 2006)

Shogun9,

How was yer trip?


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## shogun9 (Mar 25, 2008)

It was absolutely fantastic. Very challenging but lots of fun. 
I have uploaded a slide show of some of the pictures to Youtube.




I will SS tour again.


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## kbporter (Dec 12, 2008)

*Surly Steamroller*

I love touring on my surly steamroller. For bags I use a revelate designs seat bag and feed bag and a jand frame bag to carry all of my camping stuff, food and tools and carry my h2o and clothes in a osprey manta back pack. Pic below is from my trip this July on the GAP and C&O, just after I crossed over the continental divide.


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## p nut (Apr 19, 2007)

Dude, that Steamroller is sick!! One of my favorite bikes in my garage (if not, the favorite). I plan on doing a double century on it next year. Ive got it set up on 700x32's and 42x17/19 right now. Blast to ride.


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## blackgriffen_1 (May 18, 2010)

kbporter said:


> I love touring on my surly steamroller. For bags I use a revelate designs seat bag and feed bag and a jand frame bag to carry all of my camping stuff, food and tools and carry my h2o and clothes in a osprey manta back pack. Pic below is from my trip this July on the GAP and C&O, just after I crossed over the continental divide.


Nice ring, 46 tooth? I'm running the same one, in the aforementioned size (in the above pics). :thumbsup:


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## kbporter (Dec 12, 2008)

47:17, debated switching to a 47:19 for the GAP/C&O ride, but never did.


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## kbporter (Dec 12, 2008)

p nut said:


> Dude, that Steamroller is sick!! One of my favorite bikes in my garage (if not, the favorite). I plan on doing a double century on it next year. Ive got it set up on 700x32's and 42x17/19 right now. Blast to ride.


Thanks, it's definitely one of my favorite bikes as well. I love how versatile it is. I was running 700x32's on it for this trip, but also run 700x28 for loaded road touring and 700x25 for charity/road rides. Good luck with your double century!


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## blackgriffen_1 (May 18, 2010)

kbporter said:


> 47:17, debated switching to a 47:19 for the GAP/C&O ride, but never did.


I ran 46:18 on my tour, and it proved to be just about right, if not a little high. Recently swapped down to 42:18, holy crap it's a low ratio! (insert spinning ass off smilie) Sweet rings though, my All-City has a couple thousand miles on it and shows absolutely no wear, just grime.


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