Hi all,

I ve been discussing bikes with my girlfriend and we came to the conclusion that she needs a new one. Thing is: The criteria seem to favour something like a hybrid. What she wants to be able to ride is: 1 week tours with full luggage (e.g. along a river or something, dusty gravel tracks at the most here) and then also go for some trail fun in the Grunewald here in Berlin which features sandy up and down single trails.

So we are looking for something which combines the advantages of a 29er MTB with regard to its stability/controlability and comfort in riding a nice medium big tyre (my girlfriend tried both my Cannondale F2 Flash 29er and my 29er Scalpel) with the options for packing 20kg of stuff into 2 big packs fixed to a solid rack (like Pletscher) that you can mount to the frame (not just to the seat post).

So what are your recommendations? Thank you for your ideas!

Matt

Hi everyone,

I think it might be that I do need a new MTB... my most probably recent one was a Cannondale 29er 2012 Flash F2 Alloy...

So if I don't want another Cannondale, what would be the appropriate successor? I'm not looking for a fully, but for a similiar fast pacing race bikepacking hardtail, that I can ride 28-30km/h steady on good asphalt or 25km/h on appropriate gravel, but also go up and down any singletrail (where it is not advisable to rather carry your bike down or push it up )

What are your recommendations?

Thanks!

F

Well I had to follow a given track all day long, so all I needed to do was zooming in and out quite often, depending on how tricky the track was hidden in the woods etc.

For free navigation without following a track... well... all GPS devices with a small screen suck imho, because its almost impossible to get a good overview of the area and then to decide with small track to actually choose to go where I want.

The 20 does just fine, but I would get the older version without the touch screen. In my experience, you need to switch the scale of the map often, and with the buttons on the side of the eTrex, I don't really have to look there to adjust. On a touch screen, you have to look at it closely etc... too much distraction from the path right in front of you.

I downloaded map packs for MTB and openstreetmap, and they were totally sufficient, so save your $ and don't buy the map packs from Garmin.

Hi,

while I am very happy with my Cannondale F2 29er and disc brakes in general, I am pretty much unhappy about the problems that come with the pneumatics:
2 years ago I had the nasty situation that both disc brakes failed service while I was riding about 15 mph down a narrow forest track. I simply rode into the uphill side of the track, coming to a halt without any injuries, but that was very lucky. It seems the fluid had overheated (the discs themselves had a nice heat coloring afterwards), and of course you can't repair that yourself, let alone somewhere in the woods. This simply ended my backpacking vacation.

So the question is: Is there a offroad-proven way to combine my Shimano Ice-T RT98 (203 front, 180 back) with a mechanical brake system?

Thanks for your help!

I have a Thudbuster LT on my Cannondale F2 29er, and its perfect. It literally saves your ass, and you can even ride down 5" curbs without pains in bum or backbone.

2 years ago I did the Grenzsteintrophy here in Germany which is 950km offroad, with a lot of old NVA military concrete plate paths:

You can see the lots of small holes in the plates, and the plates rarely lie smoothly next to each other too. Without any suspension, this would have been very nasty. With the TB LT it was no problem at all to ride these tracks for miles and miles, 10 hours a day.

Hi there,

I'd like to invest some bucks in 2 small frame bags which I can mount on top of the frame of my Cannondale Flash F2 29er hardtail, and a saddle bag which I can mount below my saddle on said bike. I am using a Thudbuster LT though, and a SQlab 611 active saddle which does feature some movement (great to reduce the pain in the a**). And I can't mount any bags within the frame, because I have 2 bottles in there which take all the space (no, I don't want a camel pack).
Plus I'd love the bags to be light... after all I want to reduce the overall equipment and gear weight.

What are your recommendations?

Hi all,

I am looking for info on how many routepoints I can pack into a single route file to make sure the etrex 20 does show all the points on screen and delivers the "beep" when I cross one of the points.
There is a limit (i ran into it), but I don't know whether its 400 or 480 or something else. When you happen to cross it, the etrex just stops showing any points and no route either. Its kinda annoying. If you change to a track-file with exactly the same amount of points and the same points, it still shows you a nice line all through the map, but you don't get the "beeps" which do help with orientation especially when you are riding fast.

I did not find the necessary info on the garmin page though...

Thanks for your help!

I finished the Grenzsteintrophy 2014 last year in 8 days with a set of slightly used Rapid Robs with Antiplatt inside for protection. Didn't have a single flat tire, and felt pretty good with them. I was lucky to ride in mostly dry conditions. A few of the singletrails with mud wouldn't have been rideable with rougher tries as well since they were pretty steep and slippery. Had a Racing Ralph with me just in case which I luckily didn't need.

Since lots of miles are on the old military roads with large, bumpy concrete slabs the Rapid Rob, Racing Ralph or Continental Race King are a good choice imo.

The no-go for the Thule rack is due to the cross section of the aluminum tubes where they would get attached. The tubes are oval ones, designed to spring a little up and down, taking some power of bumps. So the smaller distance within the oval design is vertical, but that is where the weight of the Thule rack would work too.

There is no space to attach normal racks on the frame of the Cannondale F2 Alloy due to the design of the rear plate holding the axis of the rear tire, we checked on that at my bike shop.

Hi everyone,

trying hard to make my next 10-day offroad-ride less painful than the last one, I was wondering whether I should use a Canecreek Thudbuster LT, since I read a lot of good reviews and about happy bums looking for info on it.

My problem now is: I need to move some stuff with me too, and last year I used a Topeak MTX Beam Rack (V-Type) for that.
Looking at the dimensions of the Thudbuster seat post, can't see how I get the beam rack attached at all.

Does anybody have solutions/ concepts/ pictures of what works as a rack system with the Thudbuster post?
Since I have a M sized frame, I bought the V-type rack, would the A-type (for XS and S-size frames) work?

My bike: Cannondale F2 Alloy 29 (which is a hardtail), but I can't use the Thule Tour Rack
https://www.globetrotter.de/shop/thule-tour-rack-227593/
because the frame wouldn't stand it.

Thx for your help!

Well I've been using A&D since I read about it on here, my sister has to send me some every once in a while (she's in the US, I m from Germany). If applied generously its still there after a 12h ride. Did a 6-day-600km-22.000 height meters trip last summer in the alps including the Grossglockner, and had no problems at all.

Well, I did use Chamois (and wore a Gore Bike pant). The butter only reduces friction. I am looking for something that reduces the actual bumping which without any suspension kicks right into your hip bones.

Hi everyone,

last tour really tortured my bottom because the track had LOTS of concrete slabs with a lot of holes which made for a majorly bumpy ride. I want to ride the rest of that tour, so I m expecting the same torture again. Now I m wondering what I could do to reduce the pain in the ass.

Right now I am riding a Cannondale 29er Flash F2 29er 2012er Alloy which had a Lefty in front, but no suspension for the back tire. For a saddle I already have the SQLab 611 active which does have some flexibility, but bumps from roots or slabs still get right through.
I am wondering whether you can recommend any suspended seat posts?
Cannondale offers a flexible seat post (Flash Carbon Seatpost), can anyone share their experience with it?

Alternatively I guess I can only switch to a fully, I guess. Love the geometry of my Flash, so I d go for a Scalpel 29er, which are sold out here.

Just had to quit a bike tour after about 400km/ 3 days partly because of saddle sore (other part was that my GPS fucked up 3 days in a row in the middle of nowhere and didn't show the route anymore, just the spots).

I was using some Assos, but i guess not enough (btw. Assos is the stuff that cools your bum).
Also I was riding a hardtail, it was a very bumpy ride, with lots of track on concrete paths where you have a crack between the blocks every 2 meters, and I apparently had too much weight in the backpack.

What I can confirm that more standing is quite a relief.

So what I am wondering: What are you guys using these days? Any updates on your 4-year-old postings?
What is that A&D stuff (and is it that baby aisle stuff) (I m from Germany, so I don't know the US brands)?

Hi everybody,

this year I m going to participate in a 1.100km MTB bikepacking trip, and we expect passages of several hundred meters where we have to push or even carry the bike over wet stones and boulder fields. And I plan on participating in a multisport race which has offroad biking passages as well, most likely with push/carry-passages too. So I will need shoes with serious grip.
I have Shimano SPD A 530 pedals on my Cannondale Flash Alloy F2 29er, they are perfect to get out of them very quickly if needed.
I need new MTB-shoes anyways, so I was wondering what kind/brand of shoes you can recommend that fit my description. If you had bad experiences, please share as well so I get spared.

Thx a lot!

Hi everybody,

I am searching for tires for my Cannondale Flash 2 29er, that are both suitable for fast riding on the road as well as good and controlled riding on hilly and most likely wet single trails in scotland.

So far I found two tires that look good, one by Schwalbe, and one by Continental:
Schwalbe Smart Sam, for the 29er it is available in 1.75/ 2.1/ 2.25.
 
Continental Race King, which is available in 2.2 in the Protection version.

Both look like they are going to provide fast rolling without much resistance with high pressure. When on the trails I m going to reduce the pressure a little to increase grip.

My question: Do you have first hand experience with one or both of these tires? Which one is recommendable?

The freeload rack looks intriguing to me. It d sure work around my back wheel, but rather not on the front wheel (got a lefty)  
Did anyone try the freeload rack yet, or is it so new there are only reviews and no experiences with it?

@ Von Petrol: Is that a 29er you are riding?

I have my doubts that the content of 2 Ortlieb bags will fit into the 2 obviously smaller packs on the red mountainbike, so I m going to have a look at the Old Man Mountain solution for now.

Thx for all the ideas 

The Mountain rack looks extremely interesting. How is the silver alloy piece attached to the upper tube of the back frame part? It looks like there is a screw, but the frame does  not have any holes in that area.

Very nice first picture btw