Started out in the “mud fun” post but was too much backstory. This is a separate post about why I’m running two different tires on my bike, something that I can share around to cycling buddies and also possibly be an intro to bikepacking for friends.
It’s the result of an interesting collaboration between two Japanese companies: the tire-maker Panaracer and SimWorks, a maker of bikepacking-specific bikes and gear.
I said “feel like my setup is dialed in” rather than “I know for sure it’s rock solid” because even though I’ve gotten back into cycling for a few years now, I’m still relatively new to bikepacking, the more adventurous cousin of bicycle touring. I didn’t grow up in an outdoorsy family and I’ve taken a very staged and cautious approach to taking camping supplies off-grid.
^ Feels like a section to wrap up with, like a teaser transition to Mt Laguna and other lessons to learn. Also too many qualifiers and hemming and hawing, or is it personal?
^ Explain bikepacking or my focus on durability?
What makes it great for bikepackers is that it’s knobby and durable enough for going offroad while remaining light and fast enough for long trips, rather than just going for pure size and downhill jumps.
More direct statement, something like: it’s not a huge tire for monster trucks like a typical mountain biker, it’s knobby for the type of hybrid tires that are more popular for gravel or bikepackers, which is more my interest area.
Or again: this is the biggest, knobbiest tire I could fit under my front fork, which is where I need grip the most so I don’t go down, whereas the rear can fishtail around a bit and it’s not scary at all, actually pretty fun. I’m really happy with the Panaracer SK+ tire in the back - I went through so many flat tires until I finally found something with enough puncture resistance. I even came back from the local mountains with a giant screw in it!
I can already think of a few things I would have done differently. I’m sure the rear brakes messed up because I had to take them off in order to put the belt on, I learned that from a Ryan Van Duzer video. But I could’ve probably cleaned most of the mud off without taking the wheel off. Come to think of it, I could’ve dipped the whole thing in the lake to wash it all off in seconds, since I’ve got a belt drive instead of a chain and a Pinion gearbox that’s sealed from the elements. I’d be curious to see if that would’ve made a difference with the air bubbles or whatever’s made my rear brake spongy ever since.
That’s how you learn though! Putting it out there was a great way to learn too. I got feedback from my new bikepacking buddy Billy that I met at the last full moon ride. Apparently issues like this is why he prefers a hydro-mechanical brake that’s made to be bombproof from exactly these kinds of challenges. I didn’t even know a hybrid type of brake existed!
I’m really growing in confidence in getting off the grid and bikepacking. Teaser about my Mt Laguna trip, maybe also a goal of eventually leading gravel rides to get more people into very lightly technical terrain and experience the joys of biking away from cars, more to say on that later.
Links:
- Super yummy
- simworks usa
- rein (sp?)
- AAB
- simworks popup at AAB
- Billy
- Hydromechanical brakes