What bike for the Hiawatha trail (dirt/gravel)

[Trek420]

Oh my!! When are you planning to go Smitty? How fun, planning a great bike trip AND shopping for a new adventure bike! I'm sure you'll get lots of great advice. I have a Jamis Aurora Elite I bought at Free Range Cycle a few years ago, and it does really well on hard pack gravel and rough surfaces. I also use it for commuting and some of our light tours (longest has been four days). It handles heavy loads really well. Not sure how small they make their frames though.

Good luck!

We both have Soma Buena Vista's from Freerange. It's a great bike! I'm 5'0 and enjoy the fit, step through. The bike has a surprisingly nimble, fast, feel. It's very light. If I wanted to thin the stable down to one bike this is the one I'd keep. Light and fast enough for road rides, accepts fat tires and fenders, brazen ons for touring and commutes. Added benefit, it just makes people smile.

Knott took everything off of her Surly cross check and transplanted it to the Buena Vista frame. Result was a much faster bike.

I also got the Vaya and love that. But try a Soma!

[smittykitty]

Thanks ladies, now let the exploring begin! We are hoping to go next summer. We like to get over to the panhandle
every year or two. It is so beautiful! We take the travel trailer to Farragut State Park for a week. We also went to Heyburn State park two years ago, as it is right along the CDA trail.

Thanks for the advice on lights and jackets in the tunnel. I'm thinking maybe one on each bike and maybe one on each helmet.

Of course we will hit the Trail of the Couer D'Alenes again. DH is ever on the look out for moose!

[smittykitty]

Well we ended up with Giant hard tail mountain bikes. DH got the Talon 2, I got the Tempt 2 (women's version). Will be visiting the Hiawatha trail next weekend. We also picked up handlebar mounted headlamps. Not sure if we need helmet mounted lights also. Had to go to River City Cycle in Portland to find me a small size bike. What an incredible selection, very helpful.

Very excited, but feel a bit unfaithful to my Ruby!

[Sky King]

Or take a headlamp that you can put around your helmet but also use in camp, etc. We finally put the trail on our calendar for the end of September. We are taking the touring bikes - Gilles Bertoud and Rivendell, we have dyno hubs and some fantastic lights. Look forward to hearing about your adventure!

[rebeccaC]

We both have Soma Buena Vista's from Freerange. It's a great bike! I'm 5'0 and enjoy the fit, step through. The bike has a surprisingly nimble, fast, feel. It's very light. If I wanted to thin the stable down to one bike this is the one I'd keep. Light and fast enough for road rides, accepts fat tires and fenders, brazen ons for touring and commutes. Added benefit, it just makes people smile.

Knott took everything off of her Surly cross check and transplanted it to the Buena Vista frame. Result was a much faster bike.

I also got the Vaya and love that. But try a Soma!

+1 on looking at soma....the double cross too if you don't want a step through. the double cross can go up to 35c tires for dirt/gravel