When a long time customer and professional photographer residing in Aspen, Jim Paussa, came to us with a unique request to build a 29+ custom bike with drop handlebars for bike packing, we jumped at the opportunity. This was not a commonly built style of bike, in fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one before. We at Zinn Cycles always love this type of project.
With our extensive experience with riding and building 29+ mountain bikes, we knew Jim’s idea was a good one. 29+ tires are so good for bumpy and chunky terrain, which is often what you encounter on a long journey off road. They can be inflated at a much lower tire pressure than more standard gravel bike tires, meaning they take a lot of the abuse that would otherwise go right into your body. Joints and muscles feel much more fresh at the end of a long day riding on 29 plus tires, which means you are more ready for the miles of the next day.
Adventure gravel bikes have been very popular over the past couple of seasons, and they generally feature a tire up to 50mm in width. While this is going to be significantly more Cush and grippy than a 35mm tire, it doesn’t come close to the 29×3.0″ tires that are on this beast. While they may be a bit slower on faster roads and smooth trails, the larger tires roll over the bumps and rocks so easily that you end up faster on that type of terrain. This set up basically takes adventure gravel riding to another level and opens up more legitimate mountain bike terrain.
all photos on this post were taken by Jim Paussa. Find him online at https://www.paussa.com
