On a whim this morning I decided to see how the old Panasonic would do with some easier singletrack riding. Probably not the best idea I've had and doubly worse with the condition of the one arm. Only did maybe 5 miles at most of varied uphill and downhill terrain. Most of it not to bad but some rocks and such to deal with. The main problem I had was the chain skipping/jumping when on the smallest chainring and largest cassette cog. At first I thought maybe I had the RD limit at bit off. But these are also biopace rings so maybe that's what was causing the problem. Or maybe it was something else, I'm a road biker so not use to dealing with a setup like this. Brakes were OK for the most part but I have to be honest and admit they were nowhere near as strong and direct as the discs on my Poprad. Handling wise it was ok also, perfectly doable for the most part. I did have one time on the uphill where it pitched up steep and curved around a boulder. The front end lifting on me as I powered through that piece. I'd also want to pull off the half clips if I ever use it for something like this again. It was sketchy sometimes getting my second foot back into the one clip. I only had one pedal strike the whole test so that's good. All and all I say the bike can do smooth singletrack easy enough. Handling on some of the tight switchbacks was tricky but probably more because of my inexperience and not the bike.

I just need to figure out the gear skipping issue to use it around here. Too many steep areas, even if I stick to the gravel roads. Any suggestions, RD limit, chain length, ditch the biopace,..????


Downhill section

Lots of rocks and switchbacks right past this

Intersection of the closed off old trail

More rocks around the bend

Downhill

Crossing the creek

Old campsite

The bit in the shadows by the trees is where the front lifted on me. It's much steeper than this picture makes it seem.

Did a bit of Wheeler Canyon also

View at the beginning

And it appears it was the RD Low limit. Every couple of revolution with the crank showed the chain would ride up on the cassette cogs and then drop back down without completing the downshift to the next cog. Tweaked the low limit and it seems good now. I even took it in some rough bouncy grass in that gear combo and it stayed in gear now. I'll test it in actual use again soon.

Beautiful trails!

Those trails look a lot like the ones available in my area. It's rare to have a good stretch of a mile or more that is relatively smooth for an unsuspended road bike to enjoy. Still, I occasionally try to take my road bikes on short stretches, mostly to get a break from cars.
I sold my last full-suspension bike a few years ago because I didn't like loading it in the car to take to trails - I'd rather ride out from my front door. Most of my local trails are safer to navigate on mountain bikes, with suspension and 50mm+ tires.

What gorgeous country! I've never gone out to Salt Lake.