Great looking group racing fun! In Utah-ha-ha, Horses have right-of-way,(Horse Farmer!) hikers next, bikes after that, and moto has to get out of the way of all others, unless on BLM land where you better bail quickly when you hear em comin! Were 3-speeds w/coasters allowed?
Our right of way is a courtesy thing here not rule of law. No 2 or 3 speeds, the rules are as follows:
Rules for bikes:
Gearing:
Single speed only. No internal geared hubs (sturmey-archer, bendix two speed kick backs etc.) no derailleur of any kind (A chain tensioner is fine). No external gearing. No gears. No fixed gear. Each race will be different from the last and you may want a different gear ratio for each race and you can have any gear ratio you wish. We have found that 30-36 in the front and 18-22 in the back is the range best suited for this event, see what works best for you.
Drive system:
The rear hub must be a coaster brake. Single speed coaster brake only. No two-speed kick backs, etc (I know what they look like) Some coaster brakes are better than others, do your homework and get a good one. See below for more info. Cranks of any kind may be used as well as pedals.
Braking system:
Coaster brake only on the rear wheel only. No hand brakes of any kind. No secondary braking system of any kind. No drum brakes, no cables, rods, levers, etc of any kind. You pedal forward to go forward and back to stop. Nothing else.
Frame:
Preference for old double bar cruisers but there are no frame restrictions. We have found that cruiser frames and lower end frames with a horizontal dropouts work the best. Frames with a rigid/vertical dropout are difficult to get proper chain tension. We recommend the following types of bikes:
Single speed mountain bikes
Pros: take new bike goodies well, light.
Cons: Can be costly, hub spacing is 135mm and coaster brakes are 110mm. You can make a 110mm coaster into a 135mm ish hub with a longer axle and some spacers. It will take some work to get the wheel to fit well. Can be done with an axel swap and spacers.
Cruisers
Pros: Cheap and look cool too! Already have to correct spacing for a coaster brake.
Cons: Don't take mountain bikes goodies like threadless forks etc. Most have 1 piece cranks. Heavy.
Any 26" bike that has a horizontal drop out.
Pros: Older Mountain bikes are cheap and plentiful and easily adapt to our purpose.
Cons: None really, an ideal choice for this event.
Forks:
Any.
Wheels/tires:
You can have any kind of hoop/tire combo. I suggest a light wheelset that you've laced a coaster brake into. Something rugged is good, I've done each race with cheap alloy cruiser rims, they have held up fine thus far.
Handlebars etc.
Everything else is left up to the individual rider.