The N1 Prototype Goes Camping
When we started this project, I was adamant that this would not be a bikepacking bike. That's not to say that it wouldn't be able to handle bikepacking, but at it's core I wanted it to be quick, lively, lithe and playful. So when selecting tube diameters and butt profiles, the question was "what tubes will make this bike sing as it pushes into hairpin tarmac corners, and forgive the occasional mistake in line choice while taking on a singletrack descent that some might prefer a mountain bike for. Power transfer was definitely at the forefront of our design choices, but creating a tank to carry everything but the kitchen sink was not.
Thing is, we (and we suspect many of our riders) don't want to buy a dedicated bikepacking bike for the occasional, but oh so memorable bikepacking trips we take. This is Project N1 after all (N=1... well except for that mountain bike I have... and the e-cargo bikes Randall and I ride) So what's the solution? Just send it!
In late July I strapped a pile of gear (kept tidily in place thanks to our friends at Ortlieb) to prototype #1 and took the ferry out to Catalina Island with a group of friends.
Making landfall in Two Harbors on the Southwest side of the island, we made the short trip to our campsite in Little Harbor on the Southeast side of Catalina. The dirt road that traverses the island has rolling terrain with a healthy dose of washboard mixed in, which it became imminently apparent was going to bother my recently sprained elbow.
This resulted in (somewhat hilariously) a lot of one-handed fully-loaded descending down to camp. Fortunately, a well loaded bike is rarely lacking in stability, and even if I had't set the dropouts to a fully slack 71.7º HTA it would have had plenty of stability at speed; it sounds a lot sketchier than it felt. At high speed the springy feel of Ti was noticeable, soaking up a lot of the buzz created by the aforementioned washboard and a smattering of stones embedded in the road surface. Dedicated bikepacking rigs would have felt substantially more rigid to be sure, and for a multi week tour that may well be a welcome change to deal with a heavier load, but for my needs I was appreciative of the comfort a lighter tubeset provides. Cornering was composed - holding a line over the bumpy hardpack was a non issue.
After a long weekend of rambling around the island unloaded, hanging on the beach, and of course feasting, it was time to head home. We strapped our bags back on and pointed the bikes North, climbing up toward the highest point on the island for a leisurely lunch at the Airport in the Sky, before making the blazing fast descent to Avalon on the Northwest point where we would catch our ferry.
Without a doubt, the newest generation of SRAM AXS brakes are head and shoulders above the original HRD brakes. Both modulation and power have made major strides, which made the steep and twisting road down to town considerable less stressful with a full load (though nearly getting run off the road by a drunk golf cart driver did get the adrenaline going).
