Update: Thursday, November 16, 2023, 9:10:59PM EST
After reading the assortment 2023 TD bikes I’ve concluded that my beloved (but heavy) 2017 Salsa Marrakesh with some Vittoria Mescal 2.1 tires should be just fine. After all, I just want to finish in a modest time, averaging 90 miles a day completing in about a month. If I am sparse with my stuff the bike frame weight should not be an issue. I should be fine. This allows me to take a few extras like my camp stove to make coffee every morning and hot oatmeal to keep my spirits up. I want to be fast, just really enjoy it as well. That will mean more warm clothing that others might bring as well (but I still want a good bivy bag). There are also a ton of bikes that don’t have front fork suspension.
30% of the riders in 2023 rode Salsa Cutthroats but none of them were in the top five in any category. Just because it’s popular doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. After all, the last two TD record holders rode modified mountain bike XC rigs.
That’s likely what they already have and love on their slow bikepacking trips, which is totally fine. When it comes to speed and stability, and climbing torque, everyone seems to be coming around realizing that drop bars were just a stupid trend in the XC category which is what TD really is, a XC mountain bike race on simper terrain than most XC races. It’s not a tour. It’s not really even “bike packing” as most do it taking their time and enjoying everything. It’s a race, even if it is against yourself. The least amount of camping possible is best since staying at a lodge will always be faster, easier, and safer even if it costs more. I’d rather save up more money and be more comfortable while also being faster and safer. But that’s me. I lot of other people aren’t doing TD for those reasons.
Cutty has no front suspension, by the way. Every record breaking winner has always had it.
The 2023 record was broken on a Canondale Scalpel by a pro cyclist. Mike Hall’s record break was on a Pivot Les. Both are 29” wheel XC mountain bikes.
One advantage other that the TD is that the XC HT bike I get out of it will work very nicely on all the amazing MB trails around us here in NC, the main “blessed” form of biking in our state.
Yes. They are more efficient for everything—especially when you assume there are going to be aerobars and cow horns somewhere as well. Plus, I still want to be able to do a front-wheel stand on my bike when the back isn’t loaded.
I love Salsa as a brand and company. Salsa’s best XC mountain bike is the Timberjack, an absolutely gorgeous bike by all accounts. I just don’t know about the alternator drop outs. Plus it makes putting a Tailwind on awkward. The aluminum Timberjack only weight 4 ounces more than the Cutty carbon. Timberjack also appears to have the same geometry as both the Scalpel and Pivot Les.
Lightest fork in the world weighs 1380 grams. The Marzocchi Bomber Z2 (that comes with all the full-kit Timberjacks) weighs 1900. That’s fine.1G
Aero bars—an absolute must have—with electronic shifting to create multiple positions for shifting gears. All that shifting starts to get to you after several hundred miles. But the 2023 winner had electronic shifting just stop working and there are batteries to deal with. Plus it’s not like a bike with electronic shifting will work for 20 years. Eventually the drivetrain will have to be updated. Not so with mechanical.
I’m going to have to have my own custom wheel set (or make my own) so that I can get exactly what I want. A dynamo hub is mandatory.