Originally Posted by
andrewclaus
I've only ever ridden a small NE corner of Iowa, on the ACA Northern Tier route, along the Mississippi bluffs. Plenty of steep climbing.
Those 35 mm tires would be fine on the Mickelson Trail, if you want a faster, lighter bike. My wife rode it on 25 mm Schwalbe Marathons. I would choose 32 mm gravel tires if I could do it again. Cyclists I saw on MTBs, mainly local townspeople, seemed to be struggling.
Yeah the gravel doesn't look too technical from the pics. The old Stumpy is fine though; old rigid MTBs are reasonably light all things considered. Mine weighs in at 27 lbs. I haven't weighed the Raleigh but I'll bet it's a good 2 pounds lighter even with the leather saddle. So I might take it; good tip.
Yeah, there's fine climbing in NE IA, SE MN, and SW WI. That's one of my favorite areas to ride. I'll have to check out the ACA maps of the area.
