The weak point in that wheelset is the rear hub.  Find spare parts for it now and learn to rebuild it trailside, before your first overnighter.

A little more than a year ago Jeny, Dan and I traced a historic route through central Utah.







Our route wended through and over the major landforms of southern Utah, following an emigration route from 139 years ago.









When you have a few minutes, please have a look here:

https://mikesee.exposure.co/a-landform-tour-of-utah

Thanks for checkin' in.

Heaps and heaps of snow in the central Colorado Rockies.  More than normal.

25 years ago they were everywhere.

Swap meets or shops that have bins of old stuff might be your best bet.

For longer rides/tours I suggest DT Swiss hubs for people.  They're among the lightest hubs going, crazy durable, easy to maintain, and rarely need maintenance.  350's are inexpensive.  240s cost more but weigh less.

I bring this up in this discussion because you can remove the cassette from either of these hubs with zero tools required.  Swap your spoke, then replace cassette, also with zero tools required.

For this very reason I used DT hubs when I created and raced the Kokopelli, Grand Loop, and Divide.  Also on 20 years worth of races and expeditions in/across Alaska, winter and summer.

DT hubs are very hard to beat.

The Reverend and I did a little tour not too long ago.  In so doing we got to see, sense, smell a chunk of the desert southwest waking up from winter and stretching her arms toward spring.







There's nothing particularly special about the place we chose.  It is much the same as all the lands around it.  We picked our route not so much for what it has as what it lacks: official protections.  So much of the land within this region is federally protected -- Grand Canyon and Zion National Parks, Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, Lake Mead National Recreation Area.







These protected parks are much needed and heavily used by people recreating in RV's, powerboats, jet skis, houseboats, and many, many helicopters.  There are still rules against riding sans road in those parks, and we have to play by those rules. 







Clearly these parks aren't wilderness anymore.  Parts of them are wild for sure, but not wilderness and definitely not Wilderness.  They have become a managed -- almost catered -- experience and you can feel it in many ways.  Perhaps in every way.  When craving a wilderness experience as I have been recently, the parks simply don't scratch the itch.







As yet there aren't many places nearby that have embraced the silence and lack of impact of bicycles.  Not enough money in it is my guess. 







But the raw desert outside of the parks still inspires, and so we found a way to link a derelict double track with washes and a short stretch of ephemeral creek to create a figure 8 of sorts, and thereby to immerse ourselves into the wilderness that remains.







What we saw was earth, sky, stars, rock.  What we felt was engaged, plus a little wind on our cheeks.  What we smelled was mud, silt, dust, dirt, occasional and welcome greenery.  What we are left with is a sense of relief.  And renewal.



In a word, spring.





Thanks for checkin' in.

Next episode: Ground beef.

http://lacemine29.blogspot.com/2019/04/divide-stories-ground-beef.html

So is the common practice to wait two weeks until after the snotel telemetry bottoms out? What if you were to go as soon as it hit 0"?

I really wanted to try it this year, but come June 14th I'm occupied. Not sure I will hit it right...

Lots of variables.  Very unlikely IMO to be ready by your deadline.  But it could warm up fast and come down quick.  A dust storm over Moab (common in spring) could blanket the snowpack with dust, accelerating melt.  Could have lots of rain.

I'd say it's unlikely, but anything can happen.

The reason is that you don't really want to ride across GJ at night.

There's maybe a mile of road to get from the LL trailhead (north terminus of Tab) to bike path, and you can take that bike path to within ~1/2 mile of the E terminus of the Koko.  Smoove, flat, and safe.

And I saw some culverts sitting aside Monument road tonight that had something stenciled on them that led me to believe we're soon to be getting bike path from town to the LL trailhead.  Definitely not in time for this year's GLR, but soon enough.

Now that it's spring (it is spring, right?) thoughts drift to this loop far too often. Why is this loop so compelling? Damn you MC.

Too funny -- I just went to check the Columbine snotel and was delighted at what I saw.  Heaps of snow means Escalante Creek will run for a month+, maybe even 6+ weeks, which is just delightful.

And then I remembered that it was the same snotel that people use to correlate GL start dates.  Dohp.

Come paddle while you wait!

I’m about 5’5”-5’6”. I have two bike packing bikes, a Fargo with 29” and I also use a Mukluk. Ive wondered about a 27.5 wheelset for the Fargo.  I’ve also thought about getting a second set of wheels for the Mukluk with 27.5+ or 29 to use as a bike packing setup.

If efficiency is important, use the tallest wheel/tire combo you can.  People down to 5'2" can easily, easily run 29" wheels with no adverse effects on frame geometry.

If you've already got 29" wheels on your fargo, no reason you can't ride them on your Mukluk as well.

27.5+ is capable and fun, just not as efficient as 29" or 29+.  27.5" wheels fall into 28" holes after all...

I suspect you could easily run 29+ as well, but you'd likely need a custom frame to get the geometry just right with no unwanted side effects.

And if I’m shorter than 5’7”?

How much shorter?

Given a choice, and assuming you're over 5'7" tall, I'd always, always, ALWAYS choose 29+ for bikepacking trips.  Except if I needed fat tires for snow or sand.

The overall rollover capabilities of 29+ wheels are highly desirable for multi-day trips.

Like MikeC suggested, I would repack the bearings as well as the freehub.  I would also do the headset and bottom bracket.

Agreed on the BB, but not the headset -- I want that sucker to turn as slowly and stiffly as possible, to dampen out unwanted vibrations that effectively steer your front tire off the packed track and into deep snow.

I'm experimenting with a Cane Creek Viscoset right now, and liking everything about it.

Short answer = Lauf for sure.  It does move a bit when climbing out of the saddle, and that movement is the point -- it's isolating you from the stuff that will beat the crap out of you if you don't have one.

Long answer = https://lacemine29.blogspot.com/2017/12/divide-stories-bike-evolution.html

26 and 27.5", from 3" up to 5" wide.

Pics, specs, pricing, and contact info here:

http://bigwheeldeals.blogspot.com

Thanks for looking.

Pics, specs, pricing, and contact info here:

http://bigwheeldeals.blogspot.com/2018/07/derbydt-240s-b-wheelset.html

Thanks for lookin'.

Pics, specs, pricing, and contact info here:

http://bigwheeldeals.blogspot.com/2017/01/29-wheelset-with-xtr-hubs.html

Thanks for lookin'.

Do you feel you've found your optimal set up for say high mountain late spring/summer/early fall single track trips?

The parameters for every trip are so different it's really hard to say I've settled on anything.  Just when I think I have, we come up with some new trip and have to rethink how to make everything work.

Screaming deal right there -- can't even get the rear hub for the what you're asking for the whole wheelset.