cedube

I'm planning on riding some of our nation's "rail to trail" routes beginning next year. The majority of these seem to have crushed rock surfaces, the Katy Trail in Missouri being archetypical, though some are asphalt. Some are day rides, and many are treks of several days from start to end point. I anticipate carrying no more than rear panniers and a bar bag; essentially "credit card" touring plus. I'm trying to identify the best bicycle for this sort of activity, and I'm gravitating toward the Trek DS or the Giant Roam series. Any thoughts or suggestions, especially based on personal experience?

robow

Just pick a bike, anything will work on the crushed limestone trails so just make sure it fits and that you're comfortable on it. My only suggestion would be to select a bike that does not limit you to tires smaller than a 28mm.

tcarl

Either of those bikes you mentioned would work. I ride the Katy frequently. What I'd look for in a rail trail bike: larger profile tires which you can run at a somewhat lower tire pressure. I weigh north of 200 lbs. and ride 700x32's with 55-65 lbs pressure on the Katy, and that gives me a pretty firm ride. If I wanted it to be soft and comfy, I'd use only 40-50 psi. The tires on either of the bikes you mentioned would be good. You want a stable bike - railroads don't have sharp corners. You don't need quick handling other than to veer around snakes and sticks, but you'll be riding in a straight line constantly. Get something that tracks nice and straight so you're not always fighting with it. Railroads also didn't have steep grades. If you're only going to be riding this bike on rail trails you may want to get a narrower range cassette. I noticed one of the bikes you mentioned had an 11-36 cassette with 26-36-48 cranks. If I had that crankset and was only going to ride on (flat) rail trails, I'd replace the cassette with a "junior gearing" 14-25 or 15-25. Since these trails are flat and straight I'd do something to get a variety of hand positions on the bars - bar ends or extenders or whatever they're called - I don't ride flat bars so I'm not familiar with the options. I just know that you mostly just sit on the bike, no hills to stand on or coast down. When I first started riding the Katy I did have a flat bar hybrid. It was hard on the hands and wrists. You need to do something to be able to vary your hand placement. Finally, again due to the flat, straight nature of these trails, get a comfortable seat. You'll mostly be just sitting on it, mile after mile after mile - no hills or anything to stand up on or vary your sitting posture.

Squeezebox

nothing to add to what tcarl said. Only thing to add is you might want to check the local weather to see if the trail is soggy or dry. We have had a lot of light rain here lately, more expected. Katy is bound to be soggy right now.

indyfabz

Don't overlook the Mickelson Trail in South Dakota, although you won't find much limestone. It's more dirt/gravel/sand, but it's a beautiful ride. Also, there are some noticeable grades on the trail. You can see some photos from my experience (I did about 100 of its 109 miles) here through photo No.140-43:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/105349...7655263744881/

tarwheel 

As others said, tires are the big issue for riding on rails to trails. I would focus on bikes/frames that can handle at least 32 mm tires with fenders, and 35-40 mm is even better. There are many, many bikes that meet this criteria these days among touring, cyclocross and gravel grinder bikes. Of course, the geometry is also important, but that's an individual matter.

I've got a Soma Saga that I use for touring and riding on greenways and unpaved trails and roads. The geometry is just right for me, and it can handle tires up to about 40 mm wide with fenders. I rode this bike from Pittsburgh to Washington DC last summer on the GAP-C&O Canal trails and it did great. My friends were riding a Raleigh Tamland and an All City Space Horse, and both of those were great as well. We are all planning to ride the Erie Canal trail in August with the same setups.

I've also ridden on unpaved rails-to-trails on my Bob Jackson World Tour, Ritchey Breakaway Cross, Waterford RST-22 and Specialized Sequoia. All of them performed great with the proper tires. I personally see no need for disc brakes, and my bikes all have canti brakes or long-reach calipers.

jefnvk

I ride the limestone/clay MUPs in Michigan all the time on road bikes. I personally prefer 32mm (Paselas are what I have on most of my bikes), even if I have had my slick 28s on them on occasion, I'm never that comfortable with it. Fenders are wonderful for when the rain hits, limestone and clay trails will coat you with mud in a hurry otherwise. Even if you sit out the rain, it can often take the trails a while to dry out.

Standalone 

I had a tough time on the C&O out of DC -- soggy, puddles, mud. It's a mule towpath, not a rail bed, so the going isn't as smooth as most rail-trails. My Panaracer 27" x 1 1/4" were not quite up to the task in places, at least not with the amount of weight I was taking (part of the trip required decent clothes for hotels and such in Pittsburgh)

I did have to skip a bit of the trail, but would up getting in a good 270 miles of riding.

I'm looking into 29er or 650b bikes that are a little more robust than my Raleigh Alyeska.

Erick L

Add my vote to 32mm tires (or bigger) with fenders. The latter are nice on dusty trails.

rm -rf

Your picks, Giant Roam and Trek DS, both have front shocks and flat bars. That's a good design for shorter rides on mixed rough surfaces. But most crushed rock rail trails are quite smooth, and don't need any front suspension.

For longer days on crushed rock rail trails, a drop bar "gravel bike" that can take 35c or larger tires would be ideal. I'd want fender mounts and at least a rear rack mount. The drop bars give you lots of hand positions for a long day on the bike. Set the bars pretty high, and it'll be much better than a flat bar bike.

You may find that you will ride on more than just rail trails someday.

I switch my gravel bike to smooth 25c or 28c tires and fenders, and that is perfect for long road rides. I can carry clothing layers and food on the rack, and fenders are fantastic on wet roads, even if the rain has stopped.

Country roads are very nice on bikes, even with no shoulder. There's usually not much traffic.

Lefthook

Kona Sutra is also worth a look, 40mm tires, steel frame, I have used on many rides on the Erie tow path.


KONA BIKES | 2016 BIKES | SUTRA | Sutra

fietsbob

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy - Creating a nationwide network of trails from former rail lines and building healthier places for healthier people. | Rails-to-Trails Conservancy


LBS Sells trek Not Giant so Ill say the DS is OK, from what I see.

indyfabz

I am not a fender person, but this is correct. My bike, etc., got very dusty on the GAP and some other limestone trails.

Leebo

I'm a big fan of a 29er with say 2" tires, with front sus as a good all arounder. Do you want or need a front sus fork? That's up to you. You can always run smaller tires as well.

JerrySTL

Here's the Katy Trail on a rainy day without fenders. This was taken a couple of weeks ago.

spinnaker

Don't forget about the Great Allegheny Passage and C&O trails. Makes for a nice long ride.

mrFreel

I was on that ride on the Katy Trail and had a great time. You are right that the rainy Tuesday did create quite a few mud stripes. I rode my Surly Straggler equipped with 35 series tires and it was a perfect setup.
Mike

nfmisso

We rode our T50 tandem on the Katy a couple of years ago, GREAT trail. Even in dry, the inside of the fenders were coated with a thick layer limestone dust. Fortunately the wide fenders mostly protected the bike from the limestone dust.

Erick L

Another thing on rail trails: mind your front wheel as soft spots abound.

DropBarFan

DC area bike paths used to be all limestone, moderately smooth but drivetrain gets gritty quickly. A daily lube/wipe probably in order for limestone trail tours. Even in rain I never got muddy back like in Jerry STL photos, wow.

deapee

Some days on trails like those mentioned, I'm super glad to have a 29er...other days I wish I had a cross bike. I guess in reality there isn't anywhere a cross bike can go that a 29er can't, but the opposite isn't necessarily true. The answer to your question depends greatly on the conditions you will encounter. The DS or a cross bike will be able to make it, there's no doubt about that...it's just about how extra cautious you care to be.

cedube

Thanks to all of you for your great advice. It's all been very informative and helpful.
I'm 66 years old, 6'2" 240 (ex-football player) with some biking experience. I've done smaller triathlons on a Trek fitness bike (basically a road bike with flat handlebars) and I've ridden on the Katy Trail on a Giant mountain bike (though not "end to end.") I'm very much interested in riding the rail trails in order to stay off streets and away from cars. I have an artificial shoulder, and I fear a crash would be catastrophic. For that same reason, I've been leaning toward bikes with something resembling touring geometry but with the upright position and suspension fork of a mountain bike to ease jolts on the arm. Based on the comments received, I think I may need to study the Kona Sutra and the Novara series more carefully.

boomhauer

Don't look up to admire the river bluffs for more than a few seconds. I rode into the ditch. It hurt my pride.

Altair 4

Fenders plus this ^. Some years back, we rode the GAP with two days of rain. I didn't have fenders then. Unbelievably, the wet limestone grit that accumulated on my drivetrain really did a number on my chain.

I rode it on my Novara Forza. It worked well with bar-ends to give me a variety of hand positions.

bradtx

cedube, My experience has been that a touring bike, or a CX bike, will work well on any kind of semi maintained groomed path.

At your weight I would suggest 35 mm tires at least on a bike that can have fenders mounted for any multi day rides. This leads me more to a touring bike than any other and the Novara Randonee is a worthy option. Stability will be greater due to the longer wheelbase and more relaxed head tube angles on the touring frame.

Brad