What Bike to Ride
Take the right equipment for the trail.
The type of tire you ride is more important than the type of bike.
Before deciding on tires and bike, consider the wide variety of surfaces offered to you on this trail. There are sections of gravel, grass, hard packed dirt, ballast, loose rocks, smooth dirt roads, smooth paved roads and cracked paved roads. Mud season will complicate some of this…
So, now that you know what's ahead— In general:
Wider tires are better that narrower tires (AT LEAST 32mm!!).
Smoother tires are better than big knobbies.
At the end of the day, you will be happy you had wider tires.
At the end of the smooth dirt and pavement, you will be happy you had a smoother tire.
In Mud Season, after a deluge or on the rougher spots, you will enjoy wider, knobby tires.
Whatever the condition is right now, it will change.
When in doubt, remember it is the "Cross New Hampshire ADVENTURE Trail"
The more comfortable and/or skilled you are with riding on a wide variety of surfaces, the less knobby a tire you will need. The less confident you are, perhaps a wider tire with medium knobs will be good to get that confidence to plow right though some of the rougher spots along the way. AT LEAST a 32mm tire is required, more width is nicer!!
You want to spend more time looking around at the scenery rather than looking ahead at the upcoming surface conditions! One of the "Adventures" of the Cross New Hampshire Adventure Trail is choosing the right bike and tires for the trip!
