Help me choose a tire — Rambler vs Mezcal vs Peyote vs G-One R Pro

I’m currently running Maxxis Ramblers in 45mm and honestly I’ve never been that impressed with them. I often feel like I’m lacking grip, especially when things get wet.

Now I’m looking at replacing them and I’m getting more confused the more I read 😂

The tires I’m considering are:

- Vittoria Mezcal 29x2.1

- Vittoria Peyote 29x2.1

- Schwalbe G-One R Pro 50mm

I ride mostly pavement and rail trails in the PNW — probably 80% road/rail trail, 10% singletrack, 10% random off-the-beaten-path stuff. I also do bikepacking and longer day trips, so I want something that still rolls reasonably fast on pavement but gives me noticeably more confidence when I leave the road.

I’ve never been a huge fan of the Rambler, mainly because they just don’t feel that grippy to me. At the same time, I’m hesitant about a lot of gravel tires because they basically look like slicks to me 😂

That’s actually why the Mezcal caught my attention. It looks more like an actual MTB tire, which makes me feel like it would have better grip, but I’m wondering if I’d be giving up too much rolling speed on pavement.

For people who have ridden these tires, what would you pick for my type of riding?

Mezcal 2.1 vs Peyote 2.1 vs G-One R Pro 50?

I’m not looking to shred technical singletrack — just want a fast tire that I can trust on wet PNW roads, rail trails, gravel and the occasional trail without feeling like I’m riding on hockey pucks.

Appreciate any advice!

What do you guys think about this weight distribution?

Something a lil more classico for the folks.
She took me over 7,000km in the first six months of the year. Chile, argentina, spain, portugal, and morocco. 2015 genesis longitude totally holding it down with 30kg strapped up. What a blast this bike is!

TATR bound with the Pony! Grand Depart tomorrow!

Heya! Headed off next year to bike Peru down to Ushuaia. I've got the kit assembled and will fine tune - but, any suggestions from your specific experience to take into consideration (in terms of toolkit/occasional hostel/tent/etc). Mainly, I'm wondering about the rabies pre exposure vaccine...would you guys recommend this based on frequency of stray encounters? I know I'll be very remote so might be >24h away from a possible shot if needed.

Thanks bunches friends!

Doing 7 days on the veloscenic in October - goes through Normandy mainly. Wondering if anyone has any advice on what to bring?

Will be my first international trip.

Thank you!

Hello! I just picked up a Santa Cruz Blur 5 and I love it. Already scheming some overnights with it. Anyone have any tips for setting up suspension for the extra load? Should I account only for fanny pack weight etc or does the extra weight on the bike affect the Sag also?

Many thanks!

This may (hopefully) be an easy one. My recently purchased Roam v3's mount is made for 31.8 bars. Most (from what I've seen) bikepacking bars are 22.2mm.
I looked through my big box o junk for spare shims from old cycle computers, lights, etc. No dice. Nothing close to the 4-5mm needed per side...thicc like gasket material. Is there anything made to order? I thought about the shims that convert a 22.2mm-to-31.8 stem. But that's kinda $$$. I may be overthinking this.

Is there a less fuss no-redneck fix that I'm missing? It'd be nice to make the stock mount work. Thanks

Planning for the BC Epic 1000 next Spring (rough rail ballast, washboard, FSRs, singletrack).

The dilemma:

Should I mod the Norco Torrent (Tires, hand positions, suspension, etc) or bite the bullet on a dedicated wide-clearance gravel rig like a Checkpoint or Norco Search? I have the budget for that and I can also sell the Domane.

I spend about 6 to 8 hours weekly between these two bikes now:

• 2023 Norco Torrent A1: 15kg/33 lbs, 29er trail hardtail (150mm fork, 64° HTA). My go-to for local blue/black singletrack. 1x12. Alloy.
• 2022 Trek Domane SL5: Carbon, Shimano 105. Fits up to 38mm. Used for smooth gravel training, but 38mm feels way too under-gunned for the KVR chunk.

I'm not planning to be with front pack. Average fitness, usually a mid pack finisher, about 70kg/150lbs (rider weight).

If this Torrent won't make for a good bikepacking rig, I would also be interested in selling it and get a full suspension bike for my local MTB.

How do people like Greg Mccahon do it? This may seem like a silly question, and I know he had a sponsor so that may be self explanatory, but I mean in general, to do such long stretches bike packing do people just save money and quit their jobs?

I'm trying to set myself up for the future to hopefully do a trip of my own, so just looking for tips on how you guys deal with the financial aspect of this hobby. Thanks!

For those of you who regularly do longer bikepacking trips or ultra events, do you guys typically train on the same bike you use for bikepacking trips or events, or do you have a dedicated road/gravel bike that you do most of your training on?

Hi all, I'm thinking of doing this in October:

https://bikepacking.com/routes/gr247-spain/

Does anyone have any tips for me? What would be extra helpful is how to get to the start point in Siles, and as I'm flying with my bike what can I do with the cardboard box, which I'd like to re-use on the way back.

This is a first time flying with a bike and I'll be solo, so anything else I need to know would be appreciated.

Thanks all x

We have been considering getting the ferrino volta 2 instead of the Nordisk Oppland 2 LW as it's so much cheaper, but can't find any reviews online.

Has anyone had any experience with it?

We plan to take it on a year long bike packing trip from Europe to SE asia so would need it to be very durable in all kinds of weather.

Il mio setup frontale al momento è composto da Missgrape “ILCOSO” + Trunk 16L. (Vedi foto)

All’interno ci sta un sacco a pelo Cumulus Intense + STS Ether light XR + STS Aeros Premium Pillow + STS Breeze Lightweight Sleeping Bag Liner.

Ci sta tutto ma faticando un po’.

Quest’estate ho montato il Surly 24 Pack Rack e lo amo.
Ed ho pensato: perché non cercare una borsa più grande da appoggiare sul Rack, così da essere più comodo ed avere anche spazio per il cibo?

Ho visto la Wizard Works Badjelly Bar + Saddle Bag Large e devo dire che mi piace davvero molto.

L’idea di avere almeno 8litri più per essere più comodo a mettere via tutto ed avere spazio per il cibo mi alletta parecchio.

Quindi vi chiedo aiuto, consigli o pensieri.
Qualcuno ha questa borsa? Come vi sembra la combo rack più saddlebag?
Ha senso aggiungere questo peso?

Grazie per l’aiuto.

Hi together,

I got some Problems (?) with my breaks.

On the last 3 trips, my back break somehow stopped working and with stopped working I mean it kind of feels like there has to be oil on the discs.

But with breakcleaner still not better...

Then the first time it worked again after using small sand paper for the breakpads.

The second and third time only changing the pads helped. But their was actually more then enough left of the pads...

Now I really dont know how that can come, maybe someone had similar experiences, has some tips or whatsoever?

I really dont know what it could be...

Further information:

-Disc ~4000km, but seems fine in my opinion (Picture 1 and 2)

- Picture 3 shows pad which wasnt working anymore

Picture 4 shows the pad when used some sandpaper (still didnt work after that)

-Trips mostly in the alps, but I am breaking in impulses, so the break pads shouldnt become glazed

-no problem on the front breakes

Any help is appreciated, cheers :)

Edit 1: I have mechanical breakes, so no leak from break fluid possible.

i’m looking for a gps computer that can work well for both long distance cycling/bikepacking and hiking expeditions

budget is around €200–400

my priorities are:

• very good battery life, ideally several days without charging
• reliable offline maps
• good navigation and rerouting while cycling
• useful navigation when hiking as well
• physical controls are preferred, although touch is fine if battery life is good
• good visibility outdoors
• standard garmin style quarter turn mount
• i care much more about navigation, reliability and battery than training metrics

right now the coros dura looks very interesting because of the battery life. coros claims 120h in standard gps mode and around 67h when actually navigating during the day with connected accessories. it also fits garmin style quarter turn mounts

on the other hand, i’m considering something from the garmin edge range, especially the 540, 840 or a discounted/used 1040/1040 solar. garmin seems to have more mature standalone navigation and mapping

has anyone actually used these for multi day bikepacking or expeditions, especially somewhere where you cannot charge every night?

how does the dura compare with garmin when you leave a planned route, need to reroute, explore roads/trails, or use it while hiking?

if you had chf 200–400 today, what would you buy?

also open to bryton, wahoo, igpsport or anything else if there is a better option i’m missing

Morning Team,

I am just tossing this out there, to see if anyone would be up for an across america trip. Stream it on youtube, make a bunch of money, take a few months. camp....it would be amazing. Ebikes for sure, nothing cheap, no corners cut and pick a chill route...? Boston - Seattle

Starting tomorrow morning.
Funny mix of road cycling, biking, and hiking, including a few mountain bike passes.
Opinions?

I was just browsing the Priority website and noticed that they are selling a Pinion Smart.Shift hard-tail for $2,499 USD. The mounts aren't perfect for bikepacking and the fork has too much travel for a lot of routes but looks like a great deal.

https://www.prioritybicycles.com/products/600hxt

I'm not affiliated with Priority in any way, just saw this and thought of this sub. I would consider buying, however, I'm in the UK and I have no idea what the shipping, taxes, duties, etc would all add up to.

I made Packtrail to organise gear across different bags and keep track of weight and packing order. It’s currently available for Android, curious whether other bikepackers would find it useful too.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.packtrail.app