Anyone ridden this section of the Eastern Divide Trail? https://bikepacking.com/eastern-divide-trail/
This will be my first long ride on mostly unpaved surfaces. I’m currently riding a Coptic steel frame gravel-type frame with 700c x45mm (front) and 40mm (rear) tires, which is the biggest it can fit on the frame. Gearing is shimano ultegra 36/48t crank and 11-40t cassette. But I’m considering switching to a 2025 Marin Four Corners 1 that has micro shift sword- 29/46t crank, 11-38t cassette and comes with 700c, 45mm tires possibly with room for up to 50mm.
Perhaps it’s not that big of a difference, and I’m just over anxious from my bad experiences touring on 28 mm tires and constantly getting flats, stuck in the mud, sand, etc.
Curious to hear other peoples thoughts and experiences of riding the EDT! What did you like or not like about your gear/set up? What would you do differently?
by ridinrivers
2 Comments
If it’s an Ultegra crank it should be sub-compact meaning that you should be able to put a 34T small chain ring on it. 34:40 will be a better gear ratio for pushing a fully-loaded bike up the steep hills you will encounter.
I’m a comfort kind of guy so I’d go low and big tires. I live in VT and my “gravel bike” is a salsa fargo with 2.2″ tires. My gearing is 32×11-50 which is generally low enough but there are some steep climbs. I rarely pedal hard enough when bikepacking to spin out. I think 45mm is fine. When I had a more typical gravel bike I rode pretty much everywhere on those