Its funny how different people look at this stuff differently.

Damage to tires and chain are really the only thing that would prevent me from moving forward. Chain pieces don't take up much space. I'm not sure if a tube or a CO2 cartridge/head is lighter/more compact, I'll check.

I'd like to keep the fiber spoke, since I'm running v-brakes, a true wheel is a little more important. 

As I was going through this again last night I decided I could probably omit:

-hypercracker (had it for 15 years and never used it)
- sewing kit
- chain lube (I guess this depends on how wet things might get)
- disposable rags
- hose clamps

I'm planning for 2-3 days on the Maah Daah Hey trail and trying to pair down my kit to fit in my existing bags.

One area I think I may be over-packing is my tool kit. Below is a list of what I have. What do you guys think is unnecessary for a short trip vs a long trip vs at-all?

6   cable ties
24   Duck tape, inches
6   spare chain links
2   cleat bolts
1   fiber spokes
1   HyperCracker
1   mini sewing kit
1   patch kit
6   safety pins
1   small bottle chain lube
2   disposable rags
1   Spare tubeless valve
1   Tube, ultra lite, 26x2"
1   Gerber multi tool with metric allen bits
1   tire lever
1   mini chain tool
1   mini pump
1   CO2 cartridge
1   CO2 inflator
3   chain pins
3   hose clamps

I'm looking to do the Maah Daah Hey trail as a 2-day unsupported trip at the end of this month.

So far the only option I found for a shuttle is Dakota Cyclery. They want $200 for up to 4 riders (Its just me going).

Does anyone know any other less-expensive shuttle options? Anyone else out there want to do a trip like this around that time and share a shuttle, or maybe swap keys half-way?

Anyone have any other suggestions?

So, what is good now?

I thought I heard Smartwool has also gone down hill, but maybe I'm mixing that up.

I just got a Minus 33 top for Christmas, looks OK, but also made in China. Haven't worn it yet. They do offer heavyweight 400 gram tops and bottoms which might be just what I've been looking for.

I've got an Bruce Gordon BLT touring bike that I'm going to / have stuff(ed) some 29er tires in for dirt/off-road use. I'm starting with a new slate to build up some wheels for road and off-road touring, and I need some input.

Rims will be Rhyno Lite. Rear hub will be XT. How many spokes are people running? Would 32 be OK in the front?

Generator hub?: A friend suggested this to me but I'm going to need some convincing. I don't intend to tour or race during the night. I do see how it could be nice for USB charging my iPhone, camera, etc, but I can also use a battery pack for that. Of course the generator would mean that I wouldn't need to find a place to plug in every few days. This bike does get ridden around town a lot during the non-frozen time of the year, with a different wheelset. I could see a generator and light being useful for that. But of course I'd need 2 hubs then. Ready to be convinced if you can recommend it, but not feeling it at the moment.

Tires: looking for something that will roll pretty fast, I'm thinking semi-slick rear can't be bigger than 2.0, front, I would prefer greater than 2.2 (I have room up front for 2.4, easy). Best I can find are the Conti Race King Protection. I wonder if there' something out there that might roll faster on pavement in the sizes I"m looking for.

Thanks in advance for the input!

Its really hard for me, as a midwesterner to fathom camping without a tent. If you did so around here during the growing season, you would probably be drained of blood by morning. Hammock, tarp, whatever, but you NEED a mosquito net!

I realize this is not a major issue in southern AZ. But what about wind? I would think I would like at least a low-slung tarp to keep the breeze off me at night, for warmth and comfort.

As for critters, I realize its not much of a risk, but a few years ago car-camping in Sedona in March, we had a small, white scorpion saddle up to our camp fire. I hated the idea of harming another living creature, but I also didn't like the idea of risking having him around drunk/half asleep campers. So I flicked him into the fire. I still feel bad about it, I have no idea of knowing if he would have hurt someone, but he could have.

I have zero ultra racing experience, just 20 years of mtb and touring experience. For what that's worth.

I tried wireless for a while, had three different models at one time, but they all failed and I'll be sticking with a simple wire unit for a while. Problem with wireless is that both the battery in the unit and in the sensor tend to drain fast. When one goes down the whole system is shot, and you never know which is causing the problem.

The Cateye Mity/Enduro computers have been redo tousle reliable for me. I still have two old Mity 3 & Enduro 2 computers in sevice. All they need is a new battery every 2-3 years.

Enduro 8 has a stem mount option. Worth looking into.

There is an old route from Flag to the GC on double track and dirt roads, apparently following an old wagon road route, that is reported to be doable in a day. Cosmic Ray's guidebook has a write-up about it. Never did it myself but always wanted to. You could probably follow the AZ trail out and this route back or something like that. If you're ambitious it sounds doable as an over-nighter.

I don't generally travel at night so a modern camp headlamp ( mine is a Black Diamond Storm) is bright enough for me to ride by on the odd occasion where I end up riding after dark for some reason.

I've got duck feet. What can people recommend for a shoe with a really wide toe box? I would prefer something with the appearance of a "normal" shoe but I also like a stiff sole.

Thanks.

It seems that most people are choosing waterproof zippers, I am just curious why that is? My wife is making me a frame bag for my new Beargrease and typically we have been using 'sports' zippers from the fabric store because they are easier to pull than the waterproof ones and readily available at the local fabric store. Since the rest of the bag will be Cordura and not waterproof, any other reason to choose the waterproof zippers besides looks?

Yeah, outvoted by my better half! We're going to stick with the free-standing Copper Spur.

On a related note, does anyone know if you camp in Death Valley in the spring and don't bring a tent, do the scorpions sneak into your sleeping bag and sting you?

So for those of you with the Fly Creek and other non-freestanding tents, do you ever have trouble trying to find enough points to tie down to?

I'm curious if people have any experience with / opinions on the values of a freestanding tent vs a non-freestanding tent. For the last 12-15 years I/we have been using an old The North Face Slickrock tent. But its old now and really starting to fall apart, so we're shopping for a new one. It's "package" weight is 5 pounds 3 oz.

We're considering the Big Agnes Copper Spur UL2 and the Big Agnes Fly Creek UL2.

The Copper Spur is freestanding has a lot of space, especially vertically, great venting, 2 doors and 2 relatively large vestibules. Would stand on its own without stakes for dry weather, or needing a minimum of 2 stakes for wet weather. Its packaged weight is 3 lbs 7 oz.

The Fly Creek is a guyed out tent, so even if its dry I think it would need 4 stakes just to give us all the floor space, and probably 8 stakes as a minimum if it was rainy. Its a bit cramped inside, if 2 people wanted to sit up at the same time they would definitely have limited position options and have to have their back up against the wall of the tent. Just one door and one vestibule, but probably about as much vestibule space as our current tent. Package weight is only 2 lbs 10 oz!

The Copper Spur does save at least 1.5 pounds over our current set-up, plus its a lot more space inside and bigger vestibules than our current tent.

But the weight weenie in me really wants to like the Fly Creek. Cutting our current shelter weight in half would be awesome. Truth is, it would probably just be me in there half of the time. My wife and I are pretty friendly so to speak, but I can still see the tight space being an issue in the morning when she is grumpy. My biggest concern though with the Fly creek is its need to be staked out. Its not uncommon for us to be camping someplace you can't effectively get stakes in the ground, I mean sometimes you can find a spot for a couple but having to put 6-8 in the ground might be a challenge. Sure, you can tie them off to bikes or rocks or trees, but... well, this is what I'm asking, I don't know how well that would work?

Can anyone give me some advice about using a non-freestanding tent in real world conditions?

Thanks for the info slhappy.  Our exact plans haven't settled yet.  I'm thinking we'd fly into Vegas and then take a shuttle/tour bus to DV and just bike it from there.  Right now I'm thinking Feb. 16-26th, but there is some wildfire training in Prescott AZ starting on March 10th that I might go to, in which case we'd move the trip to the end of Feb/beginning of March.

Plans are still really up in the air, I'm just trying to get some base info so I can make some good decisions.  I did find some videos online after I posed of 4x4 driving in the area so I have an idea what the road surfaces are like.

I've been to Death Valley a couple times, but never really got "out there" more than a couple miles from the highway.  Since I'm pretty busy with my business during the warmer months of the year, I'm always looking for someplace well above freezing to ride in winter and early spring.

So, I've been researching off-pavement ride options in and around Death Valley and haven't found much.  Apparently riding bikes on rough roads in one of the hottest places on earth with limited water availability isn't that popular.  Understandable, because  from what I am seeing you would probably have to carry 2-3 days worth of water at times.  But oddly, I can't even find much about 4x4 driving on these backroads to help me figure out some route ideas.  My only real goal is to see The Racetrack, and to stay at lower elevations as much as possible to enjoy the warmth.

Anyone have any thoughts, experience, or resources that might help me?  I have found this map, but its kind-of hard to read this huge PDF on a screen, and I'm trying to figure out where I can order a paper copy.

You know, very few ticks on this trip, I think I picked two off of me the whole time, and I was doing a lot of bushwacking.

The fork was custom made by a friend of mine.  He was in the middle of building it when the Everything Cages were released, so I just asked him to add a couple more holes.  As it is set up, I can use it with my low-rider rack, or the Everything Cages, or just mount 2 water bottles, so its pretty versatile.

Yeah, I don't see any reason why the strap slot need to be at the mounting points, in fact, I don't know if you need them at all; once things are strapped down tightly I can't imagine they would slip.  There are effectively twelve 3-3.5mm strips of aluminum that hold the mounting plate to the rest of the cage.  If those strap slots did not exist, we'd be looking at six 30mm strips taking that same load.

The odd thing is that the Everything Cage that broke had my 1lbs sleeping bag mounted in it, but the other cage had a 2lbs hammock and did not break.  The cages are rated at a 4 lbs capacity.

It sounds like you are on the right track putting together a route.  Hayward would be a good location to start from and return to if you want to work it that way.  I attempted to follow the 2010 route to a T north from there, but as I mention in my blog I wasn't feeling well and short-cutted it.  To be honest, it would be a full day's ride on the trails up to Drummond or Delta from Hayward if you stay on the route.  I don't know the area up there too well, but it did look like the route was more round-about then it needed to be.  I know its meant to send you on some good singletrack, but it seems like route to Drummond could have been more direct (while still hitting plenty of good trail).

North of Delta there are no services and no sources of water until you reach Lake Superior (though there are a couple houses in the last 5 miles).  Its surprisingly wild country out there.  Between US-2 and Hwy 13, about 30 miles of riding, I saw just 2 bear hunters and 4 ATV riders).  I would fill up your belly and bottles at the Delta Diner before proceeding, and figure on a full day from there!

Thanks, fixed it.

If you're looking for some route advice, let me know.  I think this has some great potential to be a great route, just needs a little fine-tuning.

I just completed a 639 mile, 8.5 day tour along the Trans-Wisconsin route following back-roads and trails from south to north through the state.  I wrote up a blog along the way if you want to check it out:

http://frankonabike.blogspot.com/2011/07/day-1-yellowstone-lake-sp-to-nelson.html

Note that this a bit of an "anti-bikepacking" ride since I carried absolutely nothing on my back, all the weight was on my bike, and it worked pretty darn well.