You've got good advice and direction on gearing. I think the Appaloosa sounds like the perfect bike for the riding you do. Thought I'd chime in on tires:
Most of my riding sounds similar to yours, with the exception of the mix leaning slightly more toward off-pavement in rockier (rocky mountain) soil. I come from a mountain biker background, but have seen the light: High volume, supple sidewalls and a good rubber compound are the key for almost everything, and I think that basically all types of knobby treads are overkill the vast majority of the time. (Unless you're drifting through high-speed, banked turns at a mountain bike park, or smashing through jagged rock gardens, big knobs are mostly about magazine hype and testosterone. But similarly, unless you're racing in a peloton and leaning hard into corners on loose gravel, even "gravel" treads are mostly overkill too.) Additionally, without knobs, you can fit a bigger-volume casing. Depending on the vintage of your Appaloosa and rim width, you may be able to fit a 2.3 or 2.4 or 2.5 inch tire. Schwalbe's G-one tires are perfect. They were originally developed for mixed-surface racing with beaches and sand floatation being part of it. On asphalt though, they feel fast like a road tire. I can't keep up with the regular tech updates and proprietay names for their different compounds they offer, so you might need to do some research. FWIW https://www.schwalbetires.com/G-One-Speed-11654585 On Monday, March 24, 2025 at 4:54:48 AM UTC-6 Nick Payne wrote: > My Appaloosa is running 36-24 chainrings on a 110/74BCD crank with an > 11-40 cassette. RD is a Shimano GRX 810, only rated by Shimano for a 34t > cassette, but with the B screw most of the way in it copes with the 40t cog > no problem. I generally buy my 110/74 cranks as bare crankarms from Spa > Cycles in the UK - they charge STG30 for the arms, plus whatever postage > would be. > > Nick Payne > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/d846a2fe-9bf3-4538-8bef-94968f864fc6n%40googlegroups.com.
