40 mm tires can get you far. This was the direction I went for a few years. I did eventually buy a rigid mountain bike and it's definitely better in the rough stuff, but noticeably slower on pavement.

Just watched the video where Lael talks about crossing paths with Steffen. I don't feel bad for him anymore.

I sort of feel bad for Steffen, but the lack of sleep certainly had to be an influence on that blunder. Huge congrats to Lael. Seriously impressive performance.

Any word on Sarah?  Looks like she was stopped for a long time around Newton, KS.

Yeah, man. It can get way worse. Hopefully it doesn't.

Can you fit 29+ up front instead?

To use the whole bar, you don't really want to lengthen the stem. The main hand position for me on long rides isn't at the ends of bar, but closer to the loop. I use standard length grips and tape the rest of the bar, so my hands are often in front of my brake levers when I'm just cruising around. I'm pretty sure Jeff Jones has actually suggested getting a shorter stem for a lot of people.

I run a regular 29er tube in 29+ all the time. I use one bike for everything so I swap tires quite a bit. It has never given me any trouble.

I tried to buy shifters and brake levers that didn't take up much space, so I could keep as many hand positions as possible. I really just ended up buying a Zee shifter (1x10) with no indicator window and deore hydraulics because they work well. The bike is still set up single speedy, so I don't even know if the hand positions would have been affected, but that was the thought process.

I just bought one a few days ago, and so far I love it. I'm getting away from drop bars in general because I never used the drops, but I wanted to keep as many hand positions as possible. The space to move your body forward and back is great. The extra space for lights, bags, etc. is a bonus.

They are expensive, but I just couldn't find anything that could compete with them. I bought a take off set at the lbs so I did save a few bucks.

I'll follow up here. I had a set of wtb i23's built up and I'm running nano's, 29x2.1. If my cross bike ever sells, I'm going to have a wide front rim built and put on a plus size tire. That should cover all my riding well enough. I thought hard about just running ardents or ikons all the time, but couldn't bring myself ride them on pavement that much.

I'm interested in hearing thoughts on this too. My riding splits up very similarly. I will likely build a second set of wheels some day, but for now that's not in the cards.

I haven't bought any in 8 years or so. I never felt like it worked very well, and it got really smelly. I know a few people who swear by it, so maybe I'm crazy, but it wasn't for me.

Used rigid forks are usually pretty cheap. Might be worth it to look into that, but tires are going to be the biggest difference.

Usually after a couple hours our group of riders is matching each others' pace pretty well, so the set up changes may not matter much.

If it was me, I would keep the Cannondale. Replace parts as they wear out. Have you had the brakes checked by a good mechanic? Even cheap hydraulics are good these days. They might just need to be adjusted/bled or maybe new pads. I would rather ride a 29er for a route like the divide.

Trek makes the 920, which is similar in that it's a drop bar touring bike built mostly for dirt and gravel. Only been out for a couple years though, so if you're looking for a used one, they might be hard to find.

Why not bikepack on the ragley? Put a frame bag on it and a dry bag below the seat and handlebars, and you're good to go. Unless I'm missing something.

I've never done super high mileage, but I started having digestive issues when I started working at a desk more and spending less time doing a physically demanding job and riding my bike as much as I used to. I have recently been riding more and it seems to be helping, though it could just be a coincidence. It seems that really intense workouts are more helpful than longer, endurance base type workouts.

I don't have a background in any of this, so my evidence is entirely anecdotal and likely being misinterpreted in some way. I do know it sucks.

My wife and I ate paleo for about a year, and it was helpful. If you give that a shot, give it at least a month. It takes a while to adjust.

Looks good! Have you gotten to test it out yet? Anything you especially liked or would do differently next time?

Crank brothers tools have pretty good chain breakers. I use the M19 I think, and I like it. I'm not sure I'd be comfortable changing a 25c with only one lever, and I'm not a fan of the skewer handle idea.

The park tool stick on patches are great and don't weigh anything.