does grease go bad? my tub is also about 20 years old. it’s still real greasy!
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I don’t know that it goes bad. But it’s been sitting on a shelf in my garage for years without a lid (I think I lost it?) and I’m just ready for new grease I guess
Conti Terra Hardpack.
Next you’re going to tell us you put a tube inside a tire and pumped it up. You didn’t worry about sealant or weeping or anything.
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Oh yeah, I did that too. IRC Boken in 650x42 roll fine with tubes in em.
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I have largely avoided the gigantic seat bag on my bikepacking set up. I just dont find them convenient and it makes your bike so awkward. Anyway, i tried fork bags for a couple trips to extra storage and found the limits of these pretty quickly on singletrack. So i’m thinking my next move is getting a minimalist rear rack to strap stuff to. The pine mountain has mounts so should be easy, but browsing qbp and not seeing anything that strikes my fancy.
So looking for recs on a minimal rear rack that will fit over a boost mtb rear end. The brake is mounted inside of the chainstary/seatstay triangle, so it doesn’t interfere with rack struts.
Is tubus still the best option? everything else i am seeing from smaller brands is really expensive for something i am going to use 2x a year.
OMM Elkhorn? Tumbleweed T-Rack?
i looked at that one but $145 seems like so much for a rack. OMM also very spendy.
Yeah can’t argue with that. I have an Elkhorn and a Divide from OMM and both are sturdy and pretty light, but it adds up quick and doubly so if have to get thru axle adapters.
yeah, i have threaded mounts at the dropouts so that part makes it easy.
i see tubus is way cheaper from europe, but feels risky now that i just missed the boat on the de minimis exemption.
Bikepacking has a pretty good list of the various rear racks kicking around the market
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For the back, lower is always better, the ultimate would be those little side panniers, but if you are in single track then they could be problematic. Ive ridden a couple of times with a load up high, strapped onto the bars, and in the singletrack it was incredible. It really improved my riding. I dont fully understand it, but for gnarly bikepacking, front-loading is a real trend. Im a pretty average bike handler but I recall people saying back in the day that you needed to be right over the front when descending at speed.
I guess you need to compare the singletrack fun aspect to the accessibility/packing aspect. Im planning a big singletrack loop in October but I will probably just go with my usual setup.
Check out these set-ups. Front/frame + back-pack seems very popular.
I have tried several ways of loading up the bike. I have done a large seat bag + frame bag + front handlebar bag, but for my hard tail, I opted for dry bags on the fork legs + 12 L dry bag cradle style handlebar bag. I have a full frame bag and a small (maybe 3 L) seat bag so that I can use my dropper fully.
i’m just hoping to ditch the two fork dry bags and move that weight to the back. I’m sure on top of a rack isn’t ideal in every condition, but the rack gives me the options to either toss it on top or on the sides of the rack without the compromises of the fork mounts that were not sturdy enough and sat so low that i hit every possible shrub on the trail. And on a lighter trip I can just use the frame bag + handlebar bag.
I just don’t really pack light.. I like my clean clothes and my snacks and comfortable sleeping arrangements.
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So you’re telling me SSMTB went from “I can’t afford gears and suspension” to “I can’t afford a mechanical”?
Sorry, I dont follow?
Yeah im not a big fan of fork mounting. Have done it a couple of times but it didn’t work out that well for me. Was always water bottles.
I guess I associate singlespeed mountain bikes with cheap dirtbags*. All the singlespeeds in the article I associate with disposable income tech bros
*source - me and everyone I know IRL with a SSMTB
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I’ve been doing a bunch of test packing at home like a dork, trying out different arrangements, and I bet you could move the contents of the fork bags into a 8-10L dry bag on a rear platform rack. Just gotta figure out what rack obviously, as long as you can make room for dropper travel.
That’s $50 so not a huge investment if you hate it. It would also work with mini panniers.
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I think there are plenty of good reasons to SS. I have never associated it with dirt bags myself, but at the pointy end and in certain conditions there are advantages for sure. Strangely, where terrain is a combination of flat and super steep, they work real well. Pushing a really light bike up hill is just as fast as riding in your 32-52 . Where its super muddy there is less chance of ripping danglers off and the like.
I personally know three of the singlespeeders mentioned in that article and none of them are tech bros 