The many faces of my Rawland Ravn

This bike is very versatile. I got this bike primarily for gravel road touring but I also wanted to be able to do unloaded rides in the woods and trails locally. I've played around with a lot of different configurations trying to find the ideal setup. It handles them all very well.

New bike naked. As light and free as it would get.

 

Fat Rando. With the addition of fenders, lights, and a Swift rando bag I was ready for some longer rides. The rear rack is out of place in this setup.

 

The fenders proved problematic on rides in the woods where they were getting clogged up with leaves and needles. So I took them off.

 

Touring style. My first loaded touring with the Ravn was a short trip to the coast. Went with the full 4 pannier setup. As a low trail bike I thought it might not handle well with weight in the back but this was not the case. It was quite stable with this setup.

 

Here I took off the front panniers and used the Anything cages with drybags. I don't really care much for this setup.

 

Rear load only is not ideal for this bike but it still handles fine. I like my old Arkel XM panniers though.

 

In this mode I got rid of the rear panniers and used a large drybag on the demiporteur rack. The Ravn likes more weight in the front. I like this setup and will probably use it again.

 

For Loop tour 2018 I went with smaller panniers in the rear. I just couldn't squeeze all the stuff I wanted into the previous configuration with the front drybag. The smaller rear panniers worked out well. Once again the handling was fine. For this tour I swapped out my Compass Rat Trap Pass tires for some Schwalbe Almotion touring tires. Still tubeless.

 

Bikepacker. This may be the ideal setup for this bike. I rode over the Coast Range on logging roads with this setup and the lighter weight really made a difference. The handling was great. I still don't care for the Anything cages though, and of course I can't carry as much stuff as with panniers. Even for a 3 day trip to the coast I was kind of limited but still had my tent, enough clothes to stay warm, an d enough food and for one or two days. I used my Camelback as well on this ride.

 

Mountain Bike

Ready for the trails with these new 26x2.35 Schwalbe Hans Dampf knobby tires. These are the tires I really want for bikepacking as well.