All Things Bikes and Tacos! (...and every vehicle imaginable)

Just found this thread. This is my Felt Broam 30. Love riding up in Vermont.


Question for camper/cap owners. how do you carry your bike? I used to have a fork mount rack on top of my Jeep. I ended up buying a kuat Dirtbag fork mount to mount perpendicular in my bed with the tonneau cover open, but now that I'm getting a cap, the fork mount wont work on the bed rails due to the height. I don't really want to buy a hitch mount rack, but I guess I can if that's the only option. something off the side of the cap would be cool, similar to this.

 

I don't have a camper or cap but I do have a bedrack i throw on every so often. I don't use the side mount like that. a lot of us have hitch racks. 1up's are popular here. they can swing down and out of the way of the tailgate. You can also get a swingout so that you can swing the whole rack out of the way.

 

Never knew of 1Up until now. Thanks for that! I like that they have a single bike hitch rack. I don't need more than that. haha

 

@Nimble9 makes/made a product similar to what you’ve pictured. As a long time truck cap owner I’ve considered modding up a camper capatible option. I opt for a 1up hitch rack most often but will roll tailgate style for quick rides.

@Gunshot-6A is it possible to link the blog @abacall wrote on bike carrying options in the first post of this thread?

 

popular option is the 2 rack. I have the 2 rack super duty with extension leaves when the need arises. Anotehr option is the quikrstuff. the original 1up designers split off and started quikrstuff. is it that much better? not sure. i've only seen 2 in the wild and never handled one so i can't say.

 

Can you find the link for me? I could only find TiresOnTrails and it errored out when I clicked on it.

 

i dont have a cap yet, but am planning on getting one by/for summer.

i think adding bed stiffeners and a fork mount to that is the way to go for security. keeps bike entirely in the bed and everything should lock. can even loop a chain through the frame into the bed stiffener. someone on here made a nifty wheel mount for the side rails. bed stiffeners are recommended for caps with tents on them anyway?

if im just riding 10-15 min from my house ill probably through a tailgate pad on and leave the back window open. this shouldnt damage the struts on a shell would it?

if my bed starts to get too crowded then i guess a 1up is the way to go.

very rarely do i carry more than 1 bike anyway

 

Yea I’ll try and track it down after I feed my minions.

 

@Gunshot-6A found it, but it’s a dead link. My bad for the wild goose chase.

 

I guess it's time to create one for this page as a single post!

 

@abacall, I’m trying to join you in that 170 rear club. Got the Ultimate with a Super Alloy Racing spring.

Couldn’t find a 205x65 to save my life, got a 205x62.5 and cut the little 2.5mm plastic spacer. The sag marking on the shaft don’t match up and it does say 62.5, but I can live with that.

 

Bikes under my cap, I stagger the mounts so they all fit. That’s a full size truck though, you might need a mid or high rise cap to make that work on a Tacoma.

Before the cap, I had a Diamondback bed cover and I mounted a Rocky Mounts track to the top and used the same fork mounts.

 

Those of you with gravel bikes - anyone notice a different from a 650b wheel to a 700c? My redwood is riding on 650b's and I don't really have a complaint - can get some wider tires mounted up which work great on mild single track up to fire roads, but I notice a decent amount of drag on pavement runs. Coming across a good selection of budget friendly 700c wheels that I keep looking at.

My typical gravel ride is consistent of 50% pavement, 50% dirt/gravel/single track. The hills to get over to the trails can be brutal on pavement and really not sure how much a larger wheel would offset the grind. Although I guess a harder rolling resistance is only strength training at the end of the day.

 

I do most of my riding on my 3T Exploro with 650x48s and race on 700x38-42. The 700s are faster but it's marginal.

Tire choice is going to make the biggest difference. Both tread and width moreso than diameter.

But increasing your overall diameter will also give you higher gearing which will make it tougher to get up the hills.

Personally, if I were in your situation, I'd keep the 650s.

What tires are you running? There are a lot of shit gravel tires out there. You can get away with them on gravel and trails but they reveal themselves on pavement.

 

@guitarjamman I run 2.2” on my Cutthroat, and at times, sure I wish I had some skinnier tires for some of the rides I do, but I actually prefer the wider tires for what I ride most of the time (dirt/gravel/single). I look at it as a benefit feeling more comfortable on the rough stuff with a bit wider tire than having a skinny to go a little faster when I’m on the pavement.

One of these days I’ll buy another wheelset so I can run two types of tires, but who knows when I’ll actually do that.

And I realize now that you are asking about 650 to 700, which I can’t answer, but can give a perspective on the wider tires I guess.

 

I stopped hosting it a couple months ago. Paying over $350 per year out of pocket for something I got zero return on didn't make sense to me anymore. I put it out there to help others, but traffic started to dwindle and I got a house and a baby boy. So, it's gone.

I'm not sure if I can still access the original WP files, I hope so. I put a shit-ton of time into that site, so it'd be good to save that somewhere I guess. I'll see what I can dig up over winter break and make a post somewhere. I think it makes more sense as a separate thread, so people can contribute to it.

Yeah buddy! From my (seasonally) limited experience with the 170, you won't regret it one bit. I am curious to hear your comparison since you spent a good amount of time on the 152.
That spring might work ok, but I'm not sure if the damping will match the spring rate correctly on the shorter spring. What I mean to say is that, as the spring comprises its rate changes, and those values might not match up to the valving on the damper. Think of it as this, as the coil compresses, your coils come in to contact with one another and ramp up that rate bit by bit.
Another thing to consider is that the shorter spring might not allow for full travel as it compresses into its stroke. I'd definitely contact WA1 before getting on that setup, let them chime in.
Once I dial in my spring rate on the 170 with cheaper optioned coils from RS, I'll dig in to researching compatible light springs. Again, WA1 might have a good option.

 

Reading about the springs, they tend to have the highest tolerance for a linear spring rate than any other one I could find info about. Something around 1.5% change at most through out the entire spring compression.

Also, it's meant for a 65mm stroke shock. Look into them, apparently they're not uncommon on UCI DH and EWS bikes.
https://www.superalloyracing.com/pr...ic-compatible-65mm-stroke-pom-spacer-included

 

I am running a 650bx47 WTB Venture front and back which is pretty low profile for pavement - can average close to 12-13 mph with the majority being pavement and some fire roads mixed in. If I do anything, I may keep these and then go with a 700c and skinnier tires depending on the terrain for the day. Not a harm to have two sets of tires (other than my wife killing me adding more wheels to the stable).

 

If you have a shortbed it may be tough to fit inside depending on the bike. I ride a 57.5cm salsa warbird and I have to set the bars turned all the way to one side and take the air out of the rear tire...even with that I shattered my window back in august. Maybe the added weight of the kayak made it worse? Not sure but even my large trek stache barely fits with air out of the back tire. I haven't even attempted my ibis ripley af because I think it's like an inch longer than the stache.

As you can see, I also have a hitch rack. I was driving down from Maine to Virginia and usually prefer to keep my bikes under the cap for longer drives....probably won't be doing that again.

 

Think you'll have time to host two of us in late Spring?

Also just booked a Costa Rica riding trip for late-January. Pretty pumped