This isn’t the bike advice thread!! What’s going on here
It was meant to be ridden as a bike, in the winter, so two cages seemed pretty good at the time (design is almost a decade old). I had the one with the lefty and it was fun to ride. Maybe build it up 29 x 3.0
He needs advice to buy a bike so he can post it here
There’s gotta be some deals from the 27.5+ fad of 5 years ago.
Seriously, @ProCracknfailBro
Yeah, I’d think so. If I were in your shoes I’d look for something that can fit 2.5" tires – a BSO might be able to get you a not laughably heavy frameset (throw most everything else out, scrounge for used components at the local bike co-op, strip the wheels down to the rims and relace them to good hubs, then splurge on some light (fsvo “light”) tires) that could be the base for a sub-$1k machine.
(I’m not simply ivory-towering about the BSO; my partner bought a $5 Murray Baja a couple of decades ago, and I’ve reworked it into a 650b porteur that’s nimble enough to ride on a 100km loop. My mountainhack – ex Trek 820 with a new rear triangle and low(ish) trail fork-- is maybe not a BSO, but it’s fairly closely related to those things.)
Kona Unit or Unit X drop bar conversion would be perfect ATMO. Or a La Cabra but that’s going quite a bit above your price range.
Post your bike from 10 years ago
Ah I didn’t realize there was an advice thread. I will take these suggestions and return with a bike to post. Thanks everybody
you’re all good
every thread is the advice thread if you ask for it
And sometimes even if you don’t ask
You’re too clever for us. Our motto is ‘our team of experts is ready to tell you your bike sucks’ but, hey, no bike!
Late here but kinda surprised nobody suggested a Jones. Seems like a perfect application.
Alternately if you really want drops and don’t have a beard the Tumbleweed Stargazer fits 27.5x3.
Edit: oh, lol, cost. Yeah maybe get a used fatbike type thing and put 29x3 wheels on there. Or just actually do what Euphorbia said, spend the money on a trad rack and bouldering pads, and get into climbing instead.
I thought about that, but as a gentleman of heft, a 27+ has worse roll-over than a 29er around 2.4. With sand, the 27+ just pushes stuff out in front and bogs down. The 29er sometimes knifes into small soft mounds, but overall it’s faster and saps less energy.
That said, the Kona Unit X that @Unknown.Gnome recommended is sounding better and better - 2.6" tires have a heck of a lot of float, and are juuuust small enough they avoid the boing-boing effect of plus tires.
And Konas are on sale right now, so he might be able to score a deal - even if it’s not 1 bong. (That said, ‘going off alone into the desert’ would make me budget more than $1k just out of self-preservation.)
The Only Winning Move Is Not To Play.
Atmo
Point of order: that bike posted is a Specialized Fatboy, not a Cdale.
For something like this I’d try to find the local FB mtb or gravel riding group or meetup or whatever and ask the locals what they ride. Something like a Trek Stache might be great with 29x3.0 tires. IMO a fatbike is tempting but Q-factor might be annoying if you’re going for more of a stretched out drop-bar aero-ish body position. Worth keeping in mind.
Jones SWB would be most excellent. They seem to always be on sale. And if you find yourself not wanting B+ tires you can run some nice zoomy 29ers.
Crust Nor’easter is pretty slick too but a slightly more complicated build to run 2.8”. But I’ve got my wife’s sorted to run 2.8” with a little Tom foolery.
Not unless Specialized used CAAD technology on their bikes. It says Cannondale on the downtube, SI cranks, and the light Jumbo Jim tires that came stock on it.
Lol I’m a dumbass and didn’t look close enough. You are right.