This customized Jones Plus bike went to a customer in Sunset, South Carolina. He originally contacted us about building a bikepacking/offroad adventure bike with plus size tires, Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14, and Gates Carbon Drive belt for riding dirt routes that he had picked out across the US. The bike would be used for serious back country riding and needed to be built to stand up to anything he might encounter off the grid. For these types of adventures, where every piece of equipment needs to work without fail over various terrain weather conditions for hundreds or even thousands of miles, the Rohloff/Gates drivetrain is a perfect fit. He was interested in the "Plus" model from Jones Bicycles based on reviews he had read, and a test ride on our demo bike coordinated with a business trip to San Francisco confirmed that this was the right choice.
Riding the Divide is one of the most awe-inspiring and grueling cycling challenges in the world. The 2,700 mile, 200,000 foot elevation gain ride goes from Banff, Canada to Antelope Wells, New Mexico, traversing the whole length of the United States along the Continental Divide. The Divide is also the route of the annual Tour Divide, a famous unsupported endurance race. The record for the race is 15 days, but the ride is also done at a more leisurely pace by non-competitive riders who want to enjoy the beautiful Rocky Mountain scenery along the way. We built this Rohloff SPEEDHUB-equipped Ventana El Comandante for a customer who is planning to ride and train around his home near Columbus, OH with the goal of eventually gearing up for a Divide ride of his own.
Taking a four month tour through the Balkan Peninsula in Europe requires a commitment to adventure. As with most self-supported bike trips, you must be prepared for different road conditions, varying weather, and unexpected mishaps. The embrace of the unknown was exactly what inspired this build: the customer, from Santa Cruz, CA wanted a fully-equipped touring bike to set out to see new parts of the world. Based on his criteria, we set him up with a Co-Motion Americano equipped with a Rohloff SPEEDHUB 500/14, belt drive, generator hub, and an array of other reliable touring components to keep him comfortable during his travels.
We built this Surly ECR for a customer in Mount Pleasant, SC who is bikepacking through
the backcountry of Colorado this summer and planning a future tour along the
Rhine River in Germany. He has toured extensively through Europe in the past but
was considering a new Rohloff SPEEDHUB-equipped touring rig to make his future
adventures as enjoyable as possible. He had been comparing a number of 29er
frames before the ECR was released last year, including Surly's Ogre model. He was drawn to the larger volume tires of the 29+ platform, but the Krampus frame didn't have the right geometry and mounting points he wanted. Once the ECR became available his decision was pretty easy, and he contacted us to put together this bikepacking-specific ECR with some unique
modifications and a custom paint job.
