A motley bunch…

Or: there’s more than one way to crack a nut.

I’m just back from a short but sweet stint in the Cibola National Forest, a rugged swathe of land just outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Thanks Jeremy and Tim for a great ‘night out’ – pics and words coming soon.

In the meantime, listed below are our respective setups for a night of potentially cold-weather camping. The ride encompassed the whole gamut of terrain; technical singletrack, mellow forest roads and a pavement blast.

The three of us ran markedly different rigs, but that didn’t stop us all having a great time. Choose where your priorities lie, accept the inevitable compromises, and then get on with the ride…

Jeremy's Rivendell Hunqapillar, complete with Schwalbe 2.3 Moto Aces, trad saddlebag, Nitto rack and front basket.

Trad: Jeremy’s Rivendell Hunqapillar, complete with Schwalbe 2.3 Moto Aces, saddlebag, Nitto rack and… front basket. (Especially speedy on road, Jeremy wasn’t expecting the slabby singletrack, but coped admirably)

Tim's Raleigh XXIX, meticulously garbed in bikepacking gear.

Tech: Tim’s Raleigh XXIX with Reba front shock, garbed in Revelate bikepacking bags and water bottle/Anything cages galore. (a nice all round setup for both on and off road bikepacking, particularly effective over rough forest tracks)

My Krampus, running 3in Knards and Porcelain Rocket gear.

Fat: My Surly Krampus, fitted with 3in Knards and the Troll’s hand-me-down Porcelain Rocket gear, with an Ortlieb bar bag and a King Kage top cap cage mount. (a veritable rock-muncher, comfortable, yet surprisingly smooth rolling on pavement too)

5 thoughts on “A motley bunch…

  1. Gary

    I’m curious how Tim attached all that hardware to his fork. I assume screw type hose clamps? Does the bottle cage and the Anything cage share a clamp? Has it been durable enough for him? At least till the Anything cages break. 🙂

    Reply
  2. While Out Riding Post author

    Yes, good old hose clamps, including one on the headtube to mount a kind of elongated water bottle to use as a bag support.

    The Anything Cage/water bottle cage combo works nicely. I don’t think Tim has had problems with them so far, but his trips are a few days at a time, rather than multi-week rides. Maybe mounting them on a suspension fork helps soak up some of the vibrations, too.

    And yes, the hose clamps double up – you can see it a bit more clearly if you scroll down this post:
    http://whileoutriding.com/2012/04/24/lost-and-found-bikepacking-around-hermit-peak-nm/

    Reply
  3. Pingback: XXIX+G | gypsy by trade

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