Given that it is Spring, at least in most of the country, and rainy, I would especially point to this sentence, near the end of the post.
"In really wet conditions, you should try to avoid trails, anyway, because riding a bike (or a horse, or hiking) on muddy trails damages them more." As a land owner, and local conservation activist, I can attest to the damage that any vehicle can do to fragile trails, especially when they are wet. Michael, Westford, Vt On Mar 30, 12:39 am, "XO-1.org Rough Riders" <adventureco...@gmail.com> wrote: > I just read Grant's latest post. It's a really nice introduction to > rough riding (or underbiking) and some of the techniques that come in > handy, as well as some of the many reasons to approach multi-surface > riding in this manner. I think he's being very conservative, though, > in suggesting that those used to 2" tyres should try 1.5" as a way to > sample rough riding. My feeling is, if you're going to do something, > go all the way. I first started rough riding by accident, or at least > without planning to do so. (I'm going to write up that experience for > the Rough Rider's Guide to the Galaxy which all participants in the > Rough Riders Rally will receive this July.) Anyway, I went straight > from trail riding a "rigid" mountain bike with 26x2.1" tyres to trail > riding a "road bike" with 700Cx23mm tyres and never really looked > back. > > That said, it all depends on your local trail surface. Down here in La > Jolla, some of our local trails are pretty rocky. I found that even > more true, sporadically, in the Santa Monica Mountains. I've actually > never flatted an inner tube while rough riding, but that's because I > don't try to run 23mm tyres in super rocky terrain. So, around La > Jolla, and the Santa Monica Mtns, I usually run 30-32mm tyres to > protect the tube (and rim). But if your trails are as smooth as those > in the SF East Bay (where I discovered rough riding), I found 23mm > tyres, or 25mm/28mm at the absolute widest, to be more than adequate. > Of course, YMMV; don't forget those skills I bragged about in my > original article on the subject, way back in 1993! > > http://www.xo-1.org/2007/09/mountain-bikes-who-needs-them.html > > - Chris Kostman > La Jolla, CA -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
