BIKEPACKING BAJA CALIFORNIA – BAJA DIVIDE – BIKEPACKING GEAR

I must admit I’m passionate about small bikes (despite the curse of the tiny space available for the frame bag…). They’re like mountain goats charging uphill, completely unfazed by steep or rough terrain — they just go. And they keep going even when loaded with a good amount of gear. So yes, small bikes work wonders here in Baja.

My 2022 Salsa Rangefinder is no exception. I’ve put it to the test on every type of road and off-road trail the region has to offer, tackling the steepest climbs we have. Whether simple in its stock version or modified and loaded like a pack mule on my last trip, it never stopped climbing.

“I’m 5’7” (172 cm), pretty lightweight, and got myself a size SM from @revolutionbikeshop ( thanks, Joel, for being patient and dealing with all my messages to organize the shipment to Mexico! ). I could have gone M but as i said before, most of the times little goats are what you need here. For sure for a world bike packing tour I would get myself a larger frame.

I was looking for a non-pricey aluminum 27.5 bike to take the place of my older steel little goat, a Marin Pinemountain, but all shops that i had contact with ran out of the cheaper versions of the Rangefinder and the only one left was the Deore 12 sp. So that was my forced lucky pick!

Aluminum because my bikes have to deal with salty coastal air all year round and i was kind of sad seeing all my steel frames so far forming rust on every single tiny scratch and inside the eyelets and plus i really wanted to test this “entry” option by Salsa Cycles that comes with average good components that I knew i could easily fix or replace down here in Mexico.

Because yes, that is the main issue here, especially if you live a little remote like me in  far village away from cities and airports. If you go fancy you better buy a spare whole bike and a full workshop set of mechanic tools and you better know how to fix and replace pretty much anything in your garage because if something goes wrong ( and things here do ! ) the closest proper bike shop and mechanic could be at 300 or more miles and most likely they will not have any of your high-end parts in stock.

So the Deore 12 sp version sounded to me like the perfect compromise between quality, pice and repairability.

I have to admit that the top pulley of the derailleur is already kind of messed up and it didn’t passed the BAJA-PROOF test but honestly, who cares! The pulleys and the Deore derailleur are very easy to order here even through Mercado Libre ( a sort of Amazon for all Latin America, very efficient, secure and organized ) making it possible to get them delivered in few days compared to the average 2 weeks/month-long process of getting a high-end part shipped down here tying to avoid crazy import taxes. This confirms that expensive components in moving parts are not always the best choice, especially for travelers.

One small-very-big feature of this bike is the derailleur hanger being a separate changeable piece and not part of the frame, making it very safe for traveling in Baja. In case of the highly probable accident of hitting the derailleur on a rock and bending the hanger, the problem can be solved by simply carrying a spare hanger in the emergency box and change it on field.

Talking about the cargo capacity of this bike it comes with quite a few attaching points including down-tube  bottle cage eyelets, top-tube bag eyelets, rear-rack dropout eyelets and rear-rack seat post brace eyelets.

Just with these features alone, it’s clear that the bike is definitely suitable for bikepacking, not to mention its ability to accommodate tires up to 27.5×3” or 29×2.6”, making it efficient even on sandy terrain.

One thing I’d really love for Salsa to explain is why on earth they don’t sell the bike with tubeless-ready tires! The stock rims are ready to be converted, but the tires are Maxxis Rekon 2.8” without TR, using inner tubes. This basically adds at least $150 to the bike’s cost because nowadays — especially if you live in Baja — everyone uses tubeless. So anyone buying the bike ends up ordering a pair of tubeless-ready tires at the same time.

The stock TranzX YSP18PLQ dropper seat-post felt a little too stiff for me so i got rid of it but it is definitely a good extra value that comes with the bike – and maybe compensate the lack of tubeless tires?? -.

Shock absorption is not quite the top quality of aluminum frames and probably if you live year round down in Baja like me a steel or titanium more flexible rigid bike would be more comfortable in the long term, but is totally salt-proof so it makes you feel good an relaxed about having your bike sitting for months in the garage during the hot summer knowing that is not being eaten by the rust and same after those times when you decided to push your ride much closer to the ocean shore.

The Tektro Gemini hydraulic stock brakes worked just fine giving plenty of brake power and reliability even on the steepest and longest downhills even if i recommend to replace the stock pads with better quality longer lasting ones.

I personally switched to a rigid Sasa Cutthroat carbon fork V1- totally compatible – with double eyelets mounts on each side to have more cargo capacity but the stock Suntour suspension fork works great as well and definitely compensates a lot the stiffness of the aluminum frame – something i really missed on my last trip !! -.

In conclusion, the Rangefinder Deore 12 27.5+ is an excellent, budget-friendly option for a fully equipped bike ready to tackle the Baja Divide without issues. While the stock components may not be top-tier, they remain easy to source and repair. The bike is reliable, and we can confidently say it has passed the BAJA-PROOF test!