Do You Need an ATB?!

[@lindenmoore]

Another great video! Thanks! When I got back into cycling after a long hiatus, I ended up getting a Surly Bridge Club. It wasn't the bike I wanted, but it turned out to be the bike I needed. I have well over 10,000 miles on it now. We've gone on numerous adventures, and I've been able to try out a ton of different tires because this bike can handle a wide range of them. It is my ride to work, my exercise machine, my mental health maintenance tool, and my go-anywhere, anytime exploration bike. I'm so happy with my accidental ATB purchase.

[@TimFitzwater]

100

[@bike-ride-beats]

Dude! This is awesome. If there were ever a video on KZbin that could take us back to the pure joy of just riding a bike as kids this is it! Love the descending down the highway construction zone. And the “hey I know a path” but it’s overgrown and impassable! 😂 Well done! Great vid.

[@TimFitzwater]

😎

[@lucasbrunelle]

Who gets to do what we do... bushwhacking, single track, jersey barriers The bike is the ultimate expression of freedom.

[@SawOne729]

facts.

[@BCD110]

Damn!! Now that is some serious Fitzwatering!! AWESOME!!

[@TimFitzwater]

😎

[@albert85b]

Yes, you do need an ATB! I built my Surly Bridge Club for exactly this kind of riding. Stringing together bike paths, suburban singletrack, industrial gravel and the occasional expedition further abound.

[@michaelhayward7572]

Ditto my gen 1 Surly KM...

[@MLRomo]

I recently added a rear rack to one of my specialized bike and I love it! Its so much nicer not having to carry stuff on you. Going to put it through the paces this weekend on a Wisconsin trip. Have an IPA on my brotha. 🍻

[@TimFitzwater]

Nice! Have a blast! I'm considering moving some rear racks around myself. Thanks so much!

[@KarlHerr]

Great vid Tim - I live for mixed surface rides and love ATB's! Your channel has really made me appreciate biking in the Midwest more. I used to watch some other rad KZbinr's, and sit and lust after the options in the PNW, but there's something about the way you capture your rides that made me step back and say, you know what, the rust belt has fun stuff too.

[@TimFitzwater]

I love to hear that. When I first starting making these kind of videos that is exactly what I thought. Awesome videos about travel ambitions I have are cool - but most of us live in places like Akron and that is where we can ride day to day.

[@jokawood]

I love the music you have on your videos!

[@brianhagan4728]

Really Like the background music you choose. Cool stuff.

[@TimFitzwater]

Thanks!

[@robertgraves3215]

Great shooting (as usual) Tim. Loved the thread the needle with the semis , and the skipping stones scene.The tempo and the energy of the music definitley captures , at least for me, the adrenalin rush of what we used to call "technical" riding. Then the colors slowly fade as the sun sets. Brilliant. Could be your best video yet.

[@TimFitzwater]

Thanks!

[@Tim9460-o9t]

Thanks!

[@TimFitzwater]

Thank YOU!!

[@chuckrodgers4780]

Great video Tim! ATB’s are all that most folks really need. Go anywhere , do anything !

[@TimFitzwater]

Yeah! I feel it more and more - especially after riding over 200 road miles on one in two days!

[@rockeastwood]

Nice slow-mo at the end w/the rock skipping. Everyone is different but I definitely need ATB because of the wide variety floor around these parts & of course I ride street. However, in the future I'm only buying vintage. It's what really moves me. You guys do it right.

[@TimFitzwater]

Yeah - I am very glad I'm not bombing around these on skinny tires anymore(so is my back). Even though my Raleigh and Gunnar don't qualify as vintage I haven't bought an actual new bike since 2001!! (I still ride it too) I just realized this GoPro can do 240fps - not too bad looking either. (though I still prefer the cleaner look of the 120fps). Cheers!

[@phillipdaulton9861]

That was awesome! Really enjoyed the bit passing by the Derby Downs and Goodyear Airdock. I worked at an FBO in the old City Hangar by the Airdock in the late 1970’s. An old Akron boy misses his home.

[@TimFitzwater]

Cool. Its wild out there now since they filled in the Rubber Bowl. People ripping around on motorcycles and the like - all right next to the airport and airdock....

[@jordanwilson4425]

at 5:25 i thought we were about to see yah be a balance king Tim!

[@TimFitzwater]

Ha! I like to show that we are normies not Red Bull riders!! 😎

[@rogerhart612]

Awesome, Awesome, Awesome video. Very cool sound track. 👏👏

[@TimFitzwater]

Thanks!

[@Mike-vd2qt]

Yep, have a good Labor Day weekend. Thanks for the cool urban rambling video.

[@TimFitzwater]

You too!

[@robbiedevine8518]

that is so excellent. buncha carefree misfits, wonderful. if i lived anywhere near i'd bring my own misfit / alt bike and ride along

[@davidjfife]

I built up a ATB this year. CO-Motion Cycles hand built frame. DT Swiss 350 hubs, DT Swiss 32 spoke wheels, Rene Herse 650bX48’s. SRAM 1X12, 10x52. Mullet. Running Ritchey Beacon gravel bar, Chris King BB, 175 cranks, ReneHerse fenders, Tubus rack. It’s my do everything bike. But I still ride my CO-Motion tandem the most. Set up about the same. Just with Whiskey mustache bars. Fun video!

[@malcraghill7]

You even made riding in traffic look fun! Great video, thanks for sharing.

[@TimFitzwater]

😎

[@Tim9460-o9t]

Sweet bikes. You guys have so many cool little paths to ride. Not much of that out here in the suburbs of Ky.

[@TimFitzwater]

Took years to find many of these "grey area" trails but some are so cool! Might have some as you approach the city?

[@1969Rake]

You all look like a bunch of 12 year old kids out exploring on your bikes. I love it, and wish this side of cycling was shown more. Great music choices btw. Keep up the great vids.

[@TimFitzwater]

Thanks so much!!

[@siemenz1225]

Tim always has a great team to ride with. A beautiful landscape in Ohio.

[@theowheelers1685]

Really good question. I've actually considered JUST an ATB! I have an XC hard tail which needs fork and hydraulic brake maintenance. I also have a steel frame drop bar bike with two sets of wheels (700 x 35 & 650 x 47). Thinking of just selling these and getting a Surly Bridge Club. I would get it in 27.5 and keep my 700 wheelset.

[@sagehiker]

Love my ‘20 BC 27.5 but have a cast off 700c wheel set ready to go.

[@TimFitzwater]

The Bridgeclub is a great ATB choice for sure.

[@bike.breath]

All these rides looked so vibey!

[@TimFitzwater]

😎

[@tmayberry7559]

So Tim. Yeah I'm checking it out now😊😊 Yeah it doesn't matter what you call it. It's still a bike. A fun human powered machine Btw there's a song called " you can call it what you want" by bill summers and summer's heat lol

[@-NateTheGreat]

Sunmer is drawing to an end! I have been riding Michigan gravel and Ohio back country roads to no end. You guys have some amazing bridges and elevation in the valley over there.

[@TimFitzwater]

People are amazed by how much elevation you can get in NE Ohio from the river valleys. We found the same thing riding from Traverse City in Michigan last year.

[@rhodrillewellyn5127]

Great vid, your music is always on point. Makes me want to ride

[@TimFitzwater]

That’s the goal!! 🤠

[@joowwwllllll666]

Looks like a very fun ride 🙌

[@vaquerosupreme3189]

Got my ATB: the Riv Appaloosa--26" Simworks Standalone rims with Simworks Super Yummies, Nitto Albatross bars, V-brakes. Funny that the Riv folks consider this a road bike. This one spends 98% of its rolling time in the Arizona desert singletracks.

[@mikeroneniner]

Sorry for the drool 😆

[@TimFitzwater]

I now consider my gravel bike mostly a road bike 😂

[@Conversationpace87]

That was sick!

[@rhymeswithbombs]

What a fun video! Great tunes!

[@TimFitzwater]

Thanks!

[@anniebikes7002]

ATB, yes, can be new or old. Whatever to handle various terrain but with some comfort. For me it's a 30 year old Hard Rock that my son set up with light hand built wheels and plush tires. I love it.

[@TimFitzwater]

Nice!

[@sagehiker]

Cue in 2014 when I bought my first legit hybrid, a ghastly 700c tired light mountain bike with 50mm fork at $700 US. I have six bikes now, four rolling, and two in dock for winter work over. The 2014 Kona Splice 3x8 is still roaming town and county roads three season grocery chaser and commuting ride. 2014 unless you were DIY guy with 90s rigid MTB dreams, there weren’t a lot of ATB options. Shops would nudge to a Cross or hard tail. I now have one project road bike. Everything else falls under the ATB umbrella.

[@another3997]

A few years ago I was gifted a hardly used Giant hybrid, with 700C wheels and suspension fork, from the year 2000. It's a great all round bike. I eventually put some swept back bars on it, a raised stem, and some Schwalbe 48mm knobbly tyres. It's really comfortable on road and gravel tracks, and negotiates rough stuff surprisingly well, better than some of the MTBs I owned in the '90s. Granted, it won't win any cross country or downhill races, I won't be bunnyhopping fallen trees on it, but I generally prefer slow, technical riding to speed. I can just get on it and ride it most places I want to. I just need an MTB for riding silly stuff. 😁

[@whileriding]

Hell yeah to summer riding!

[@TimFitzwater]

☀️

[@donparsons1237]

Rock on Tim and Gunn'en,,, you have some spook'em content my friend... I'm going too ride your area in the next few years. Western Canada Don,,, when Our America's is the Play Ground...

[@yves78]

yes! I rode through Joshua Tree on a 90s 700 series Paramount mtb modernized and got so beat up, I wound up getting a Salsa timberjack for the rougher stuff. I still have my 86 mongoose ATB and my trusty 2010 crosscheck

[@davidwebb2337]

Ride on!

love my my marin muirwoods on 2.4 tires with corner bar Godspeed

[@PapaBuffalo-716]

Cool video. Love to get the turn by turn navigation for that ride. (Just teasing) I get it was a mash up of rides. But A guy can dream…. Happy trails to you and your “Biker Gang”!

[@TimFitzwater]

Ha! Thanks! Really though the balk of this is one and half rides - two of our weekly evening rides.

[@ThriftyFramebuilder]

Those are my kind of rides! 👍👍

[@tonevers9117]

Any sportsbike with nobby nic schwalbe tyres or cyclocross tyres will do on any circumstance. So i used to ride a Specialized Rockhopper for 15 years to commute through heavy traffic in Amsterdam city and under all weather circumstances like snow , rain etc. Now i ride a 28 inch wheel sportsbike with nobby tires and it rides awesome because of good grip , smooth ride and puncture resistance. I use this bike for commuting and grocery shopping all year again on pavement , gravel , grass , gobbelstones without hesitation.

[@TimFitzwater]

For sure. I used to ride my vintage road bikes in some of these place. buuuuut..... I like being way more comfortable, being able to cover this terrain faster, and not having to put my foot down nearly as much. You'd be struggling in some of these spots on 28s.

[@tonevers9117]

I am not sure how you mean​ this, but i guess you ride 29inch wheels? In the international matches here in België and the Netherlands, the cyclocross rides 28 nobbed tyres. The patron and size of tyre makes a differance, but the thing that makes the real good ride is speed with trying not using the brakes to much. If a tire is to wide it will float and the grip is less. Of course we have wintertyres but the choice is also between soft rubber that stayes about 3 months in accurate condition or a more all weather kind with hard rubber compound in the middle and soft on the shoulder for instance @@TimFitzwater

[@TimFitzwater]

Pro cyclocross riders max out the tires at 33mm - the UCI regulation - not a personal choice. Skinnier tires are not grippier on dirt or rough terrain - that goes against all science and logic. But ride whatever you like and makes you happy!

[@aq7705]

YES! but with hybrid bars for comfort

[@Cycling_Brian]

Fun video montage!

[@voodlandroamer4543]

ATB all the way!

[@thomasmcroy1756]

Wide tires are the best. I don't bother with knobbies but a 40c slick is a handy tire. I like the Maxxis Re-fuse. Ive got a couple of old cross bikes that have room for pretty wide sizes. Greetings from Portland.

[@TimFitzwater]

Right on. The reasons I like knobs is that we do ride some mud and they also help a bit with flat prevention on the industrial stuff.

[@bffaris]

Epic riding in Portland. Ronde PDX riding in Forest park. You also have River City bikes. I bought my adventure bikes there.

[@JustJake77]

When it comes to rides.... I'm a firm believer in, "run what ya brung"... Some folk get so caught up in having the "right bike"..... I was just on a 70km gravel ride with my modern "Hardcore Hardtail" mtb. Sure, by the end, peddling a 35lbs bike was wearing thin... But still had a blast otherwise. Bikes are fun!

[@TimFitzwater]

Same - I started doing this stuff on vintage road bikes then realized I could be more comfortable. But it goes both ways - sometimes I'm overbiked and sometimes I'm underbiked - I still ride it all!

[@rogerc7972]

Tim just made me dust off my (other) bike. Fun music!

[@TimFitzwater]

Nice!

[@markday1714]

all most forgot great content. thanks!

[@bffaris]

A bike should be able to take you almost anywhere. Exploring on a bike is the best, in nature or urban.

[@another3997]

Very true, but the wider the extremes of terrain, the more compromises you have to make in general. Any type of bike can be fun, and with care, most can take you off the paved road. The last MTB I bought barely got used. My general purpose bike is a 700C hybrid, swept back bars, high stem and 48mm knobbly tyres. It copes admirably with all sorts of terrain, as long as I don't ride like a lunatic. I want to get something to occasionally ride silly stuff, without worrying about trashing the bike. Not fast downhill, XC or modern Trials, just slower technical riding on waste ground etc. Maybe a fat bike to match my midriff. 😂

[@DAMN55117]

Another very fun video! Good tunes. Fun shooting style. But who was the clean shaven gentleman in the gingham shirt?

[@TimFitzwater]

👨🏻‍🎨

[@robertroot3790]

Very cool!

[@jeffpittman8725]

YES!!!

[@philiprayner]

when I was a teen I used to ride trails like that with my old road bike sometimes I would just let half the air out of my tires and go and pump them back up when I got back on the road lol

[@TimFitzwater]

Even when we found these trails I was riding vintage road bikes. Then I realized I can go faster and be far more comfortable! (and stop destroying old box section rims)😂

[@Ey_up]

Pretty industrial!

[@TimFitzwater]

Yup - that what we got!

[@charmontravel]

Fast-paced and action-packed! Was that a mushroom that fella' broke on his head? White pumpkin?

[@TimFitzwater]

He'd be on the ground if that was a pumpkin😂

[@JDanielFerreira]

Fun, fun, fun👌

[@mitmon_8538]

I have yet to try a purpose built big tired (50C+) gravel bike, though I did once make a poor man's Salsa Fargo by putting drop bars on a Surly Ogre with a bunch of spare parts. It didn't seem very fun, but I'm not sure if that was because the geometry was all wrong, or I was just expecting something very different? But it seems like it's not possible for 1 bike to do it all. I think it is smart to have 2 bikes close to each other near the middle of the wide spectrum of TT super bike to full squish downhill chucker. One bike that's a little lighter with a little more aggressive position and an emphasis on speed, and another bike that's beefier and more capable of shenanigans like in this vid. Those 2 options could cover a ton of ride types.

[@TimFitzwater]

For sure. Being that I don't do serious mountain biking the Gunnar does cover much of my needs for that. When I did first borrow that bike from Otis to try he had it set up with even wider tired and drop bars and I did not like the way it handled at all. It felt really weird. I'm guessing it was a similar situation to your Surly.

[@anibaldietrich4825]

subtitles please.saludos de Argentina .

[@markday1714]

based on the title alone, YES.n+1

[@TimFitzwater]

😎 Which is perfect because I don't actually talk about it - I just ride it.

[@grumpycyclist3319]

I see another swept bar rider in your group, "I'm jealous"!

[@TimFitzwater]

They are taking over!

[@DopeEd]

everyone needs an ATB with a front rack.

[@arndtbc]

Cool music.

[@TimFitzwater]

Thanks!

[@dimoko]

northern state road cameo!

[@haemstah]

I kind of think of my new, light and flexy steel dropbar with 29x2.6 as an ATB. Just waiting on Mr Heine to come out with a 2.6 filetread next👍

[@TimFitzwater]

Nice!

[@billogrady882]

Every bicycle is an All Terrain Bicycle!

[@TimFitzwater]

Yup. Some just break or hurt.

[@mikeroneniner]

Awesome audio .

[@TimFitzwater]

Thanks!

[@cb6866]

Thanks Tim .How many skips ? And , Edmund , leashed , the coolest !

[@TimFitzwater]

I don't know - but there were some good ones - some bad ones too! Typing this while walking Edmund now!(well, he is walking me)

[@cb6866]

@@TimFitzwater no no. The stone skipping on the water in slow Mo

[@davetbassbos]

I think roadish tires perform better in gravel and (dry) dirt than mountainbikeish tires perform on pavement, and I mean both tread and width. I'm no Hans Rey, but I've taken my 25 mm Continental Ultra Sport III though many varieties of gravel, grass, dirt paths with occasional exposed roots, a lot of what you see in this video. Yes, you have to be careful and sensitive to terrain, but when you get back on the road you can jet instead of slog along, lol!

[@TimFitzwater]

Some of this would be rough on 25s - I mean you'd be walking. I know because I used to do these routes on 32s. I think modern supple tires with the newer tread patterns are surprisingly fast on pavement. I agree aggressive MTB tires can feel draggy. On the width - skinny tires only feel faster - they just aren't. Vibrations feel like speed but it is actually lost energy. On most pavement slick 42s would be faster than slick 25s. The science just backs it. Even the pros are getting up to 30s on their road bikes now. They'll probably be on 35s in a few years.

[@Roboprogs]

@@TimFitzwatertires sure can help, at least some. I traded the stock knobby tires on my Giant ATX for a set of Schwalbe (sp?) Hurricanes last fall. There’s a long shallow hill near home that I picked up about a 5 to 10 percent speed increase with the switch. It’s the sort of downhill you still have to pedal, particularly if you want to avoid traffic between the lights, rather than roll down at 5 MPH, so any speed up helps. Of course a bigger speed up would be if I lost the weight I put back on the last 2 years 😁. Thanks for the cool scenery.

[@ianslye922]

Would you guys consider a Poseidon redwood flatbar to be an adventure bike?

[@TimFitzwater]

Clearance for 2.6 inch tires sounds like it is capable of most adventures.

[@Hogdog970]

yes, you always need another bike, what was the question?

[@robertgraves3215]

An ATB is great in my war zone town . Just dodged a loaded syringe on the way home . The past 15 years or so have proven to non pro racing americans that wider tires (like umm, like they had in the 60's ?) still rule. Because Americans are gu-dushy. But on fast, fooshy, Bougie roads? sure , gimme my sexy, slick ass 700X25 or 28's with way more air. Berkshires ? Roads are fine for fooshing. I don't do a lot of hardcore gravel or cyclocross , so I'll leave that debate up to Y'all.

[@TimFitzwater]

Even the pros are mostly on 28s now which on their wide rims are probably closer to 30s.

[@robertgraves3215]

@@TimFitzwater I've wondered if the ancient Tour riders used 28's on the cobbles , then switched to weight weenie 23's on the brutal climbs? Photos I've examined with magnifying glasses have not concluded that yet.

[@TimFitzwater]

@robertgraves3215 Pantani was riding on 19s on the climbs! The narrow trend seems to have started in the late 60s and peaked in the late 90s maybe?

[@robertgraves3215]

@@TimFitzwater I have a bud who raced in that era , Is giving me a Raleigh Pro frame . I will ask him what the deal was with all that

[@robertgraves3215]

clarification: What I meant about the 60's was, and you probably know this... drop bar road bikes didn'r really exist. Most of us scrawny kids rode Balloon tired cruisers. And later , Banana-Ape bikes. The gas crunch got a lot of college kids on to road bikes. '72 was the year for me, though, at age ten.

[@kervilou5905]

15 years old when you (we) ride a bike out of roads !!!!! ......

[@CobwobblersBikes]

The real question is, do you need ANOTHER all terrain bike 😉

[@Jormvngandr]

I don't need an ATB, I got the mistress (fatbike) that roll over everything i throw at her, its just my skills & experience that is the limiting factor

[@TimFitzwater]

Nice. We tend to jump out on the road for decent stretches between the chunk so I do like the ATB or gravel bike to be able to still move quickly on the pavement. But yeah - if you aren't trying to keep up with anyone else the fat bike is great!

[@Jormvngandr]

@@TimFitzwater the thing is that I live in a place where it's snow on the ground for around 4-5months every year, so for me it was the choice that maked the most sense And as long as I stay away from tarmac, she is pretty rapid but still no speed easy even if I average 12-13km/h during my daytrips

[@dontipton4570]

I’m slow on my fat bike but man does it make me smile every time I ride it!!

[@TimFitzwater]

Did you see the new Surly Moonlander!? Crazy bike!

[@Jormvngandr]

@@TimFitzwater yes I've seen it & I want one even if I don't have any practical use for it, but n+1...

[@stevebailey7633]

Them thar look like gravel bikes to me….

[@TimFitzwater]

I guess a I consider my drop bar bike on 44s a gravel bike whereas my sweep bar bike on 55s would be a a rigid MTB or ATB. Just terms - the lines are all blurry. To be honest - I came up with that click bait title after cutting together this montage that had a bunch of different terrains….

[@stylespion]

Too bad you destroyed that giant bovist puffball instead of eating it

[@TimFitzwater]

There were a bunch - I can drop you a pin if you need some dinner!!

[@carlhansen9512]

It's not an ATB if it doesn't have a suspension fork with lockout. Prove me wrong. 😂

[@TimFitzwater]

Two words "Rene Herse". That is my front suspension!!!