[Closed] Dirty River Bike Choice

something that floats?

Indeed! Damn my fat fingers.

I did it on my Cotic X with tubeless 40c Nanos.

'Tubeless' is the most important word in that sentence. There seemed to be several million people puncturing every kilometre...

Building up a fearless vulture for next years 200km

1x11 and prob running nano, resolute combo, tubeless

Both times I did it on my Saracen Hack with 40c Nano tyres ... You can do it on 35c tyres but it'd be hard going. Kaffenback if you can get wider tyres on. The Frontier if you can run something narrower. Max you'd need is 2" really.

It seemed on the day that 40mm ish tubeless seemed to be the popular choice - I know I was happy with that.

Other than that, whatever will be comfy for you and fun to ride. Oh, and I'd probably go for a smaller gear than 34/32 if I were to do it again.

Thanks all, the input is very much appreciated. I'm glad to see that the Kaff isn't immediately discounted, but I think that 35mm is as much as I can squeeze in. Is it out of the question to run that narrow?

I'd go kaffenback for the drops* or stick weird bars on the sonder.

But I'd also be doing the 200.

You should do the 200. You can bin it and still do the 130 on the day at about km 120 where it splits.

Its a long day with some exposed bits that being stuck on risers would suck the joy more than having to go a bit slower on the roughest bits of which there aren't many.

Edit:

Guy i rode it with has done it on a cannondale cyclocross with 35c if not smaller. With no issues other than being knackered.

Not sure where the quote came from

There were a fair few people with tyres less than 40mm. Who got round ok.

40mm gives you a bit of comfort as some of the sections, especially the one after the second feed station were pretty rough.

Tubeless as said above is a good idea as there are a lot of punctures. Did not see as many this year as the year before though.

Done the 200 twice with 35mm Gravelking SK's with no issues.

There's only 2 really rough sections that warrant anything bigger. Tubeless is a must though.

I did it on an On-One Pompetamine set up singlespeed with 37c tubeless tyres (WTB Riddler) and double taped drops. Didn't feel beat up at the end but then there's not much flat on the (old) route where you'd be sat down.

I'm trying to think of the second rough section - there's the track out of the forest before you get to the second food stop. There was a short section of new biggish gravel on the descent of the Forest Drive.

Some of the early descents are pretty rough if you're forced off the good bits by arseholes who don't look over their shoulders... Thats where alot of the punctures and lost waterbottles were two years ago.

The missus did it last year (650x47 Gravel King SKs in her case). She reckoned it was pretty smooth compared to her training rides - Peaks stuff like Houndkirk Rd and Brought/Shatton Lanes.

I marshalled and ended up helping a couple of guys with punctures. Mostly seemed to be down to stupidity/crap riding. One guy had had 4 punctures by CP3. He was on 35mm tyres (non tubeless that had originally been tubelessed). I asked him how much pressure he was running and he   said 25psi! I.e. the same pressure I'd run in a 2.3 proper tubeless Mtb tyre on the front!

Also you'd see a lot of riders just punt their bike at rough stuff or a kerb with no attempt to hop or ride light and you'd hear the rims bottoming out. The event seemed to attract a lot of proper fit roadie sportive types but with minimal handling skills. If you have a passable mountain bike skill set you'll probably avoid most of the issues.

I was on 40mm Maxxis Ramblers last year. I'd been warned on here that they were fragile, and sure enough the front got slashed just riding along an innocuous fire road. Tyre boot and tube repair thankfully held to the end. Now using the ubiquitous Gravel Kings.

I did it on my Cxer with 40c Gravel Grinders on and it was ace, the second time I did it I had Griffios on and I pulled similar times.

For comfort and “forget the rattly descents” 40c’s would be the go-to size.

Though don’t let that limit your choice, you know how you want to ride it.

Ace, loads for the reading there. Thanks very much!

It's got me wondering what the terrain is mostly about though - how rough are the descents?

My wife has done the 200 twice on a 29er hardtail with 2.25 tyres - ralphs or mezcals. But that's because she uses that bike for everything. I think next year she'll put a rigid fork on it to make it a bit more 'specific', but that's it.

The other thing she raves about are the pair of feed bags (stem cells?)  so she can scoff easily all the way round.

@oddnumber - most of the descents are fine, there's usually a clean line down them. Until the first food stop unless you are well off the front then you'll be in a lot of traffic so might not be able to take the best line. The roughest descent this year was the track heading west from here  http://streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=359512&Y=576741&A=Y&Z=120  which had brick sized stones embedded in the surface. It was a bit rougher than pave, on an MTB you'd just blast it but on a CX/gravel bike you'd need a bit more care but wouldn't be that much slower.

It’s got me wondering what the terrain is mostly about though – how rough are the descents?

There is quite a rough descent early on (probably the first significant descent) that took me out (pinch flat) the second year I did it. I've had two pinch flats on both the times I've ridden the event (both running tubes). There is another fast, quite rough descent before the tarmac section before th second feed, that took lots of riders (well, their tyres) out, although I got through both years without trouble. Overall, there's nothing too rough or anything really remotely resembling 'MTB-technical' ... Its pretty much all double-track fireroad, with relatively smooth surfaces along the wheel tracks, but often a central ridge of loose gravel.  You can get up to some fast speeds on the descents. 38-45 c is probably the sweet spot for rolling speed, volume, comfort, and being able to navigate the central loose gravel if overtaking another rider at speed.

You can run with tubes, but run them (quite a lot) harder than you think you should, and this will probably get you round fine, but the trade off will be less comfort over 8+ hours of riding, meaning more fatigue. But carry at least 2 spare tubes (you can exchange for new tubes at feed stations)

Of course, this year's routes are set to change, so all of our previous experience may count for nothing!

The first year it was on, loads of people turned up on 32c tyres with some minimal tread patterns... They didn't make that mistake again.

I put 29er tyres on my CX bike last year, pumped up to 50psi, and still got a puncture (as I have done every year, and I've never gone lower than 40c)

Go for the biggest tyres you can, and go tubeless would be my advice.

Some of the roughest sections from the first year were removed, but there's still a couple of bits which are pretty full on on a cx bike. The vast majority is fireroad.

 If you have a passable mountain bike skill set you’ll probably avoid most of the issues.

Every puncture I've had, has been on fireroad, for no real obvious reason. Big tyres with good pressure, and no unusually large rocks, and... pop. Happened every year. I don't know if it is luck or what, but it has baffled me as I don't get them elsewhere, and made it through all the worst sections just fine.

Do you wear dentures?

If so, 40c’s minimum 🤣

A group of us did the 130 on hardtails this year, only because that's what we already had. Felt like the right tool for the job, for us.

No punctures between us on 2.1 inch tyres with tubes, pumped up harder than we'd have them on the trail. Appreciated the suspension forks going flat out on the fast rutted descents, where the verges were littered with people fixing punctures on their (mainly) gravel bikes. Bigger tyres have a significant advantage there.

Ran out of gears on the long, fast, smooth(ish) descents, and ran out of handlebar trying to make ourselves streamlined - that's where the gravel bikes were flying compared to us 🙂

We weren't trying to be competitive though, just to finish, which we all did.

I built up a salsa vaya last year to attempt the 200, although with the intention of at least making 130km. Unfortunately i came off 2 weeks before and damaged my hip, was still going to attempt it but as it happened got stuck on a job in london (seemed doomed, so determined to be there this year). Anyhoo, i built it up with 43mm gravelkings tubeless, xt rd and 40t cassette, 54/30 up front. Performed superbly at the dorset gravel dash which was fully loaded and pretty harsh terrain in a couple of places so will be going with that next year.

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the advice and experiences. The fattest tyre I can wedge into my Kaffenback, by all accounts, is 35mm and the narrowest on the Sonder is 2.6".

Unless anyone wants to buy the Kaff and I can incest in a Camino? 🙂

Invest, even 🙂

done it few times on a rigid 29+ singlespeed, fueled by spiced rum mixed with energy gel, going for a mental drop barred 29+ geared monster truck for a giggle in 2019. To be honest there are some bits of lovely double track that some of the narrow wheelies really suffer on and ride like miss daisy, whereas with big rubber you can yob about and have a giggle.

great event, with a lovely vibe to it, so dont panic too much about bike choice, just take a good attitude and be prepared to struggle to leave the fire pit at stop 2 if the weather is horrible outside 🙂

Get a Camino Ti. That's what I fancy if I do the Reiver. Bit extravagant to buy a bike for an event but with a second set of wheels, it could replace 2 or even 3 of my current bikes.

The Kaff on tubeless 35's is the boring answer. Depending on the rims, you might get a higher volume than you think.

I want to enter this year bit offtopic but does anybody know if this event sells out quickly do i need to wait up for the tickets to go live so i can get my place?

They sell out pretty quickly as I recall.

Total arm chair pundatory here. But you could try these on the MTB

Apparently very low rolling resistance

https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/mtb-reviews/schwalbe-big-one-2016

A set of mary bars might allow more of a tuck and more hand positions

https://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/HBOOMA/on-one-mary-handlebar

I had these on my hard tail with slicks. Not really any slower than my gravel bike

Anything with 2 wheels will get you round. But probably for most of us something that's reasonably comfortable for many hours in the saddle would be best. So a bike that you're used to riding, of the 2 you mention I'd choose the Kaffenback. There's really nothing that would be too rough for it, I did the 200 on 35c tyres and it really wasn't bad at all, I'll echo the "must be tubeless" comments too, whatever bike you use, make it tubeless!!

After reading this thread and having done kielder 101 a go before, i'm tempted to give it a go. How much more of a beast is the 200 over the 130km route?

Also what kind of time does the average rider finish the 130km course in? When i last did 101 it took us just under 8hrs taking it steady

I did the 130 in 7h30m this year. It was the furthest I'd ridden by a reasonable way and my main training was a few long road rides (~100km) plus commuting to work every day. Helped that the weather was good and the feed stations were plentiful. Loved the whole event, thought it was really well organised. Braving the 200 next year!

The final part of the 200 is around the lake (about 40k maybe?), which is really easy going. Some short sharp climbs here and there, but mostly nicely rolling on a smooth path. Up until that point it's pretty brutal, with plenty of climbing.

That said, they're supposedly making updates to the course this year, so any route advice could mean nothing...

Good thread but my question is about gearing.

Big hills no doubt but how steep.

I have a rigid mtb with 2.25 tyres and 36 oval up front with 11 - 46 out back...... ridden over. through and across pretty much everything on it but will be trying to keep up with a mate on a gravel jobbie....   assuming we get slots of course.

Last year due to a lack of planning on my part and a shortage of suitable tyres I ended up on 650b 47mm WTB Horizons, and got lucky with weather and course conditions.

This year it will be Panaracer Gravel Kings 48mm, with 1x 36 - 11-36. Could possibly take the advantage of a bigger chainring with the extended range 10 speed cassettes now available but to be honest after a certain speed on the fire roads it was a case of getting on the drops and getting comfortable - nice long descents.

How much more of a beast is the 200 over the 130km route?

Its a mental challenge more than anything, when folks start turning off at the castle and you realise you’ve got another 70ks to go.... that’s when it becomes hard... the “extra” bit isn’t that challenging in a physical way because the route uses flatter sections, probably designed that way by the organisers, but the next 30/40mins can play havoc with your concentration levels.

Thanks for the advice chaps. I've got a place fortunately, so will hopefully see some of you there. All I need to do now is get into something remotely like reasonable shape and it'll be happy days 🙂

I've got me a place, just got to decide on the bike now.

Cross bike with 38's and 42t with 11/36 or a 29er either rigid or not with 2.25" tyre and 32 or 34t with 10/42

Good thread but my question is about gearing.

Big hills no doubt but how steep?

Nothing particularly steep but some of it is relentless. Factor in a headwind and you can be crawling along up a gravel road at 4mph for 30 minutes. FWIW I was running a 34/48 chainset with a 12-36 cassette which is my standard 3 Peaks set up.

I used my regular CX bike which has done Three Peaks a couple of times plus countless "mixed" rides in Peak District, Yorkshire, Lake District etc. 35mm tyres which were adequate if not perfect - if I ever did it again I'd go for 38 or 40mm.

OK, without giving too much away, the new routes are pretty different - plenty of the same trails but often in different order and direction. The 'lumpiest' descent that folk talk about is not used this time (so if you love it, apologies now). The ford is also not in - or at least that one isn't 😉 40mm tyres are still ideal. I'm happy on 36 x11/42 gearing on either 650/50mm or 700/40mm, but I'm not super quick and the phrase "to get a good finish, you have first to finish" should be a mantra. #notarace

We've made efforts this year to give faster riders a chance to push on for the first several Km, so as to avoid jostling and rash overtaking on early lumpy descents (safety first). Given half decent weather, we think the new routes will be 5-10% quicker than previously. There should be less advantage to having bigger tyres/MTB set-up, if it was used for rough ground, but lots find it more comfy. From this, you could correctly assume that this year will be easier on 35mm tyres than previously. I'd still go 40mm at least given the option.

I’ve gone with the 130 route. Looking forward to something a bit different

Good thread but my question is about gearing.

Big hills no doubt but how steep.

Lots of long climbs at 4-5% but there is the occasional short steep section especially on the bit by the lake at the end.

Let's just say 39x18 singlespeed isn't an ideal gear!

Lots of gearing chat...I'm entered for the first time and my bike is 42x11-42, so first gear is 1:1.  Should I be looking at getting a smaller chainring or will it be suitable (I don't mind pushing a larger gear for short periods as I'm used to riding SS, but at the same time I'm not hugely fit in terms of outright pace!)

The old route had very little flat, you were climbing or descending. For me 1:1 would be a proper bail out gear, there's a lot of long easy climbing, just a few short ramps that you can rush. A gear that you can happily push for a twenty minute climb after a lot of riding would be my aim.

Gearing: I can’t really think of anywhere on the route where a pushing a monster gear would be helpful, so I think lower gears are a good idea. I coped ok this year on 34/32 but would have had far more in the tank towards the end if I’d used lower. It’s not the steepness of the climbs, but they’re long and they do drag.

Of course this might be nonsense with the new route