Tour Divide

Hub gears? How much of the route is hike-a-bike? SS negates hanger, RD, FD so might make that muddy shitfest manageable.

Internal gearbox in BB area of frame. Frame is being built at the moment...

A guy I was following on day 1 had a rohloff, he rode straight through the special mud, I tried to follow, broke hanger and mech as I powered through. So yeah, definitely better, but not infallible.

Not much hike a bike, just the top of some passes, and always where there are clouds of hungry mosquitos.

There's a mandatory CDT (continental divide trail) section in New Mexico that isn't part of the GDMBR, that has some hiking but it's also some welcome singletrack after lots of boring roads in NM...

Was it Mark Beaumont that broke a Rohloff during one of his big rides?

What bike are you getting? I remember seeing downhill bikes many years ago built around some kind of gearbox contraption. Some Russian-sounding name I think

https://www.singletracks.com/blog/mtb-gear/the-pinion-gearbox-solves-common-problems-but-creates-new-ones-a-test-ride-review/

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/1-question-whats-keeping-the-gearbox-down-2017.html

Ah, it was Nicolai

https://www.bikemag.com/gear/mountain-bikes/preview-nicolai-bikes-now-available-us/

I'm getting another Triton from Dmitry in Moscow, full custom similar to my TD one, but slacker head angle and pinion gearbox.

Not everyone likes the pinion, and I'm not sure I will, but I generally let off the gas before I shift anyway to save wear on components and I'm not that fussed about the weight. I've broken upwards of 6 rear mechs in the past 2 years, and I get through about a chain every 2 months on the MTB because it's so muddy around here. I'd rather just not have to deal with that shit!

For the same type of riding? What's the slacker head angle for?

Slacker head angle as I'm going to run a longer travel fork (120mm as opposed to 100mm travel). Generally I ride quite steep technical stuff, TD is the exception to this really. I'll probably run a rigid fork when I ride that again.

here's my existing one just before I set off for TD in 2015

These days it's set up like this

Presumably you can get away with rigid because you have enough ability to ride techy stuff without suspension. To be honest I never notice any difference on my little xc races with suss fork vs. without. I seem to crash just as much on either bike.

How big are those tyres? I do like the removal of deraillers. Stupid bloody things.

TD doesn't really warrant suspension I think, the worst thing is the relentless washboard. I had 6 months of nerve damage in both hands after. I would add more padding to my grips, get better gloves perhaps. I think a Lauf fork would just bounce around as it's undamped and a normal fork would probably be fucked after 2000 miles in the dust/mud.

I'd also think about having aero bars (but not too low) so you can just rest your hands on the really corrugated sections through CO and NM that go on for hours.

27.5 x 3"

I think a Lauf fork would just bounce around as it's undamped

Someone I spoke to recently or maybe I read about somewhere said they were really good for that washboard stuff. Maybe I got my wires crossed. What's so special about those forks anyway? I think I'd probably prefer SS rigid... right up until the point my hands no longer work..

Mad. Like what a fat bike used to be.

@hippy I think the thing you'd struggle with the most is the lack of internet so you can tweetrant about the mosquitos and punctures.

Found this the other day, gives a nice overview of the route

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11w6DkH0A1Y

No net? Out.

I'd guess I had no reception for >80% of it.

It's great having no signal

Yeah, on TABR it's the same in the mountains but then I'd go through towns and they might have usable signal or wifi. It's not a deal breaker.

Totally. That's the point of being out there anyway.

Josh Kato is likely out :(

Josh Kato posted on Facebook

"I don’t normally log into Facebook while racing my ultras. However,
this Divide is turning more into a survival march for me. Last night I
awoke vomiting, shaking and coughing uncontrollably. I was able to
point my bike to Del Norte. Feels like my body is on auto-pilot right
now. Can’t really make it do what I want it just does what it knows it
should. Not 100% sure what is wrong. Feels like multiple things at
play. Perhaps I pushed too hard and found my limits or maybe something
simple as bad food. Who knows, I’ll see how the Del Norte hospital
rates things. (Nurse humor: it will be sort of fun to walk in and tell
them I feel like I might die) This race tests you in ways you can’t
imagine. Before I set out this year I had two objectives. Chase and
catch the Mike Hall record flag (just for a bit) and to complete the
race as fast as I could in memory of a friend who can’t be here now. I
intend to honor my promises. I don’t know at what speed my legs will
now carry me but I shall continue forward. We can do more than we
think we can and we can be better than we are. Sometimes unexpected
stuff happens and we have to figure it out. Believe me, you are
tougher and more resilient than you think! We can all be better and we
can all do more."

And then:

"Well folks, this is a bit more serious. I will remain in hospital
tonight and transport somewhere else. Won’t say much now as I need to
contact my family. I want to say this- Remember, if you can be out
there do it! Don’t waste time thinking of doing things. Get out there
now! Chase your dreams!"

https://dotwatcher.cc/race/tour-divide-2019

Meanwhile, back at Brush Mountain Lodge, the racers faced the
indignity and reality check of Reid Passmore, a tourer on his heavy
touring bike, riding solo NOBO over the "impassable" trail from
Steamboat to Brush Mountain Lodge. It seemed to be a wake-up call for
some of the racers who were convincing themselves that the track was
"not passable" - despite 4 riders having already passed it. That from
a group of 11 racers, no-one would harden up, suck it up and start
hiking with their bikes on their backs, was surprising to many
veterans in the bikepacking community.

Embarrassing!

From Kim Raeymaekers post you can hear that they were relying on
hearsay and someone doing a reconnaissance ride on Lael's film crew's
electric bike:

That sounds like cheating to me.

Fuck.

Hope he's OK. I guess so.
Josh is the best. His mental altitude is fucking inspirational.