No suspension on Great Divide trip
 

I have a great bike setup that I like for international traveling but am going to do the Great Divide trip sometime with my son. I have a surly troll with the troll fork and cantilever brakes. I initially thought of getting a mountain bike 29er for the trip but was wondering if I could get away with no suspension and just putting on a 2.5 inch tire and running the pressure low. I could also get a suspension seat post, but I really don't want to buy a new bike or even put different fork/wheels/brakes on my troll. I will probably be pulling a trailer as well so I won't be going fast.

Before this years tour divide race started I was looking at a website that listed what a lot of the riders were taking and what type of bike they were going to ride during the race, I can't find it now :(. Most of the listed riders were not using any type of suspension for the front or rear. One reason I came across was durability and reliability of a non-suspension fork. Hope this helps good luck.

Here's two riders that used Surly Troll bikes, with a crazyguyonabike journal. Browsing the days, it looks like they have a lot of photos and reports of the ride conditions.
Journal page 2.
You can click in the timeline at the bottom of each page to jump ahead.


I'd make sure I had low enough gears. Trolls have a 26-36-48 front and an 11-36 10-speed cassette. I've stalled out on a rough gravel road on a day ride, at just a 10% to 12% grade in my low gear of 30-29. That would easily climb a 10% grade while seated if it was paved.

Thanks for the links. Sounds like I will go ahead with no suspension. I have built the bike around just the frame so have a 9 speed on it with better ratios.