BIKES OF 2024
Another year is almost in the books. As I look back at 2024, it was an incredible year of riding bicycles. So many riding memories for this year. Our mild winter allowed me to get more riding in outside than any year in recent memory. I rode my two favorite events; The Mid South and The Heywood. I did a multi day bikepacking trip through the Black Hills. Fall brought us to Colorado again and I got to ride a few of my favorite routes in Steamboat Springs, CO and in the Colorado/Utah borderlands area. All in all, I could not be more pleased with the year.
So…..What was my favorite bike? Actually, that answer is much more difficult than in years past. The experiences on my bicycles this year were so rich and diverse that as I look back at the year, the experiences bias my opinion of “favorite”. So this year, I am just doing one post with all the bikes I rode and spent time on in 2024.
If favorite is defined by which bike I rode the most, this is hands down the star of 2024. I rode this bike more than any other and the bike I rode at both the Mid South and the Heywood. It’s a pretty special bike to me and one that I plan to continue to tweak and upgrade over the winter. I suspect it will be main ride in 2025 as well. Going through each and every feature on this bike would take a very, very long time. It’s as close to perfect for me as I have ever had in a bicycle.
The Sunliner turned out to be a real surprise for me. I built this to do my multi day bike packing trip in the Black Hills. I really enjoyed building this bike and sewing a really custom frame bag and bar mounted camera carriers. It proved to be a steady and super comfortable rig on my tour as well. What I did not expect is just how fun it is to ride as a mountain bike….Or All Terrain Bicycle. I ended up taking this bike to a number of different places and rode it on every possible surface. It is just so good. I shouldn’t be surprised given how much I have written about and love its drop bar sibling, the Stargazer. I have a few things in store for this bike in 2025 including finally getting the front generator hub and light system set up. This is the rig I ride when I don’t have a destination in mind and just go pedaling. I absolutely love it.
I am now onto almost 3 years aboard this rig. In all honesty, if I could only have one bike, this would be it. It is just so versatile. Throw 50’c tires on it and go ride gravel. Put 2.5” tires on it and ride as a true drop bar mtb. Put 2.2’s on it and ride endless gravel, dirt and pavement loops. Put your 2.2-2.4 tires on it, load it up and go do the Great Divide. Seriously, it can do absolutely everything. I will finally upgrade to the titanium version in 2025. My deposit is in with Tumbleweed. Stay tuned.
I just couldn’t bring myself to sell this after I got the Meriwether Ti. I truly do love it and still ride it. While mostly a back up bike, and my indoor trainer bike, I really enjoy it. I have the set up dialed. This past year I rode it when I wanted a change, when my Meriwether Ti needed some maintenance and as a loaner bike when folks want to try gravel or come into town. I will keep riding this in 2025 as well. I just enjoy it a lot and really have the fit dialed. Honestly, if I did not have the Meriwether ti pictured above, I’d seriously considering getting a titanium version of the Cache. I really do like it that much.
As I look back at the year, it is evident I didn’t ride off road too much this year. I also didn’t ride my fat tire bike too much either. But when I did, I rode my Ibis Ripley (now 3 years old) and my Surly Wednesday (now 9 years old? 8? I lost track).
I finished off the year riding something completely different. I picked up a used Meriwether, 650b rando inspired custom frame built back in 2017. Here is a sneak peek. The seller was downsizing his impressive fleet of bicycles. The frame set came with a really sweet custom 2 piece frame bag set up as well. While I will undoubtedly sew my own bags for this and make it truly my own, they sure work well. More on this bike in the future. I think it is going to be a really fun bike to own and ride. I can’t wait to show ya the finished version.
