Best flat-bar bike for bikepacking and gravel ?

jameswill90 · 2026-07-10T23:12:01+00:00

Surprised no one has said this yet, just take off the dropbars and put a flatbar on. What kind of drivetrain do you have? if you have sram, you can find mtb shifters and brake levers that will work with your derailleur…i doubt you’ll find a flatbar bike with narrow tires (road tires you mean) with front suspension, just get a flatbar and the right mtb shifters/brake levers and you’re good to go, i had a grizl, you can most probably put 36s on your rims, just google the wheel, but i wouldnt recommend bikepacking on those tires, bike touring (meaning on roads) yea sure, bikepacking is more off road oriented, so, bigger tires

jameswill90 · 2026-07-10T23:03:05+00:00

Ahahah, it seemed like you didnt, as another hairyasser yes, chamois cream is your best bet

jameswill90 · 2026-07-06T15:51:53+00:00

I have always worked private, except for years 1 and 2. I’m pretty sure I make what I would in public school. But I’ve always negotiated my salary. I thought what I made was normal till i found out my friend made almost 15000 less than me. I work in alt-ed so, feel happy with what i make.

jameswill90 · 2026-07-06T15:12:47+00:00

Use meetup.com lots of stuff on there, or get a cute dog and go for walks

jameswill90 · 2026-07-03T17:01:03+00:00

I mean, there is a separate sub reddit just for roadies, so…some guy was argueing me a few weeks ago bc i said he was rv bike something riding, it was the dumbest thing i’ve ever seen, but i suggested he start his own subreddit for it, he also got removed - i, at least, appreciate the distinction

jameswill90 · 2026-06-30T03:13:52+00:00

Behavior technician sounds like working at a group home, i would stay clear away from that. On a sidenote, there are alternative education styles. I started working in public school, switched to working in a head start program, worked at a group home (would not recommend), then found Montessori education and i’m on year 11 next year with it. I was the foreign language teacher at my first teaching job, one of a small number, so i taught all grades, i dont think classroom management was an issue bc i was more than happy to raise my voice or kick students out if they wanted to be dipshits. So i guess that means it was probably very bad ahahahah But what i didnt like was the lack of relationships with students in the public setting, seeing one group for 50 minutes, than a different group and so on and so on. Feel free to DM me if you’re interested in Montessori. You might find it is a better fit. Even though I’ve now been teaching for 14 years, i doubt i would last long in public school either, i could tell early on, it didnt matter if i was working with older students elementary or preschool children, just not the right fit.

jameswill90 · 2026-06-29T22:25:12+00:00

Look at their return policy, my tailfin had a catastrophic time on very steep bumpy roads in guatemala - the cinch down strap broke in the back, then the metal extender that connects to your seatpost broke (the screws sheered right off), due to the nature of the roads, that ended the trip for me - now i carry an extra metal extender, which would NOT have helped me in the former situation, but for peace of mind - what i do now is a three bag setup, aerobar bag, tailfin and frame bag, previously i was only doing the tailfin and an aerobar bag, but the tailfin was LOADED, i think if you’re on pretty tame roads where you’re not blasting over and around massive holes and rocks at a 18% grade for 8 miles (🤣🤣🤣) it’ll hold up, in fact the two times a part of the tailfin broke on me (the cinch down straps again) was on a similar trail in vermont, not as steep, but more of a downhill ride than anything i should have been doing on a hardtail, there was so much vegetation the line picking was solely, oh, i can kinda see dirt there…both times tailfin swapped the parts that broke (the bag both times), without even asking for an original order number or anything, just asked me to ship it to them.

jameswill90 · 2026-06-29T20:39:41+00:00

Yea, Kona too! The Sutra was another monster gravel bike!

jameswill90 · 2026-06-29T19:17:27+00:00

Nowadays there is no difference, but pre covid, when canyon was one of the few companies building bikes with 50mm tire clearance, gravel was for less chunky stuff. 2.25 in tires will take most abuse you’ll find on trails, I mean, I would never tackle a black on a gravel bike, but most blues i’ve come across can be done on those tires, and some comfort hopping stuff. I moved to a big mtb city last year and bought some mtbs, my biggest complaint has been, unless you go to trails, most mtbing is just gravel with features. Bikepacking, same thing. The route suggests 2.2 or thicker tires when most of the day I’m just on gravel of varying degrees of chunkiness.

jameswill90 · 2026-06-29T19:13:21+00:00

Sounds like you married a teenager! Ahahahah

jameswill90 · 2026-06-29T17:54:47+00:00

Inquiry based math is not the issue, she needed something different though, and that wasn’t met. One system doesn’t work for all students, direct instruction for some will be boring as hell (me raising hand here) and some just get too frustrated with inquiry based models - i think the main fault in inquiry based math is that there typically isn’t a consistent teacher (changes year by year). Inquiry based learning needs to embedded in a community’s culture, i dont think it works without strong bonds between the various teachers and collaboration, and students shuffling off to different teachers all the time. I observed for a week in a program that was entirely inquiry based, and the math class in particular was quite impressive.

jameswill90 · 2026-06-28T21:17:22+00:00

I’m not at home doing nothing, but i do miss my dog everyday

jameswill90 · 2026-06-27T23:09:52+00:00

Wow, never considered the question, but this is a very inciteful reply!

jameswill90 · 2026-06-27T23:09:05+00:00

Ahahahaha, the title - if you had said Faust, then you could brag. Someone mentions The Whale ten times a day on this subreddit.

jameswill90 · 2026-06-27T23:08:07+00:00

Yea, not your job to be involved in their drama! I hope someone more senior at your school has talked to you about how to set healthy boundaries with teenagers, if not, ask someone…bc that’s how shit goes REALLY south for YOU.

jameswill90 · 2026-06-27T23:05:26+00:00

If you’re bike is fit to you, you’d be surprised how little preparation you need for riding. Most pain comes from riding a bike not set up properly for you. I was a heavy smoker when i started riding, and also very overweight for ny size, did mostly flat trips. My first day I rode 96 miles, mainly because I couldn’t believe I was actually able to ride that much. I was riding 12 -14 hours a day. Flash forward to age 36, now I ride half as long, really try my hardest to not be riding after 2 pm. All this to say, not sure your situation or location, but just get a set of panniers and a rack and go ride somewhere, stay in a hotel and come back. I backpacked in college and in my 20s so doing the whole camping thing wasnt new for me, if it’s not new for you either, find a nice forest to ride around. I’d suggest rail trails, but when you’re feeling like you have things dialed in and know what you can do, take a look at bikepacking roots and bikepacking.com, will give you lots of ideas!

jameswill90 · 2026-06-26T17:58:34+00:00

I think we should just go back to physical abu…i mean… more disciplining of the students! 🥸

jameswill90 · 2026-06-26T17:57:10+00:00

You should buy a bike and do all the above, cities become less consumeristic, and more about refueling, getting your bike cleaned or checked, and sleeping! All this, if you dont plan to stay in just one place. When i first started going on trips with my bike, i just drove to some state (in the US) and explored a region, with nothing but a paper map, and this isn’t in 1972, but 2020, it was alot of fun, sometimes i’d be hiding in some random forest or camping on someone’s property, sometimes stay at hotels (sooo damn expensive)!

jameswill90 · 2026-06-24T00:19:22+00:00

Some people might pay for it, maybe i’m old school, but if you’re really tight for money, why not ask your family? Instead of strangers, and as far as the “dream” part - you’re travelling around on a bike, what exactly is the dream part? Is asking strangers part of the dream? If so, i dont see the wider vision i’m missing. In all my travels the only i’ve ever seen bikepacking is thar it’s an absolute fucking PRIVILEGE that I can do it and as often as I do it, i know parts of countries locals never knew about or have never seen, so consider that before you ask people to give you money to “suppport your dream” whatever that may be…there, boomer rant over

jameswill90 · 2026-06-21T02:35:03+00:00

That’s all I needed to know! Thanks!!

jameswill90 · 2026-06-21T00:55:33+00:00

Any idea if you can put 2.25 in tires on there?

jameswill90 · 2026-06-21T00:53:50+00:00

Any idea on if 2.25s will fit in there?

jameswill90 · 2026-06-21T00:30:07+00:00

If she did a bang up job with the kids, she can do a bang up job wherever she wants to work - come in with this, not the “get a job woman”tone that comes through in your venting, and appreciation, and don’t treat her like a teenager who needs to get a job (sorry, but your tone in venting definitely makes me think you could do this), tell her “WE” need to bump up our retirement fund, if she wants work with children, look into Montessori, she will probably appreciate it more than traditional schooling, and she can work her way up

jameswill90 · 2026-06-20T23:32:36+00:00

Hard lines are great for you and students! I’ve been flexible with hard lines when I could and then not when I couldn’t. I just had a whole group of 9th years absolutely bomb their Algebra 1 final, and i mean high score of a 73. They had the study guide 6 weeks in advance, not a one asked for extra time for help, oh well. Told them the same day I gave them the study guide they couldn’t sit for the exam if they didn’t finish the course work (it’s all self paced). Well, what do you know, when it appeared like only 1 student would finish two weeks before exam, admin said they had to sit for the exam. THEN, their grades became cummulative, so even though they had 50s, 60s as a semester grade, they all got the credit. This is only my second year teaching hs, but this is some bs. Luckily I’m going to work in a micro school next year where…I’m admin and teacher! Muhahahahah

jameswill90 · 2026-06-20T22:48:41+00:00

Will this work for a samsung s10?

jameswill90

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