..similar to Rick's tarp support last summer. Worked well, I've been intending to figure out a similar pitch for my tarp rather than 'adapting to the situation' ie making it up as I go and a different bodge each time..

I make porridge in the pan (with sugar, milk powder or coffee mate, and fruit if I have it) and eat out of the same pan, just 'wash up' with a bit of water and dry grass, sand etc. Seems to clean it out pretty easily. And it leaves something behind for the bugs and birds rather than more plastic to ...

I think static sag is misleading for working out rigid fork lengths, since once the bike's moving over the bumps the fork's average length seems to be shorter, or 'active sag' is more than sat-on static sag. You're right looking at stood-up position or downhill sag, same reason. If your sus fork use...

Morocco looks fantastic.. That was in Jan/Feb?

Will have a look at those pics later.. and if a trip there looks likely I may ask for that GPS file, thanks.. I had a chance to take up a spare space on a trip there just like that a few yrs ago, didn't for the sake of a few £100 and regret it now. Slovenia / eastern Europe looks good too, dsuza's t...

Ray, did you have any particular areas in mind for your morocco ride? A friend and I may go there next year and my French is enough for my week+ solo trips in France but we've not looked at a map yet. Sounds like you were thinking of a long trip? D45yth, where did you go / anywhere you'd recommend? ...

Somewhere with some good trail links leading into it - half way along the SDW, Ridgeway or similar, or well connected with sustrans paths? There must be some good trail-central locations like that.

That's a good idea, just a bivi spot and some stories about how everyone got there, be it 20 miles, 200 or a week's ride.

Intending on being there! Just got to sort transport.

I know what you mean. I'm bad for keeping myself to myself but that trip was a good new experience, I guess I found the complete unknown aspect of a spur-of-moment trip meant I had nothing to lose, whereas other trips have been all about my plans, a well-read up on route and aspirations. I'd sign up...

I've been reading climbing/mountaineering books again - climbing trips were where bivi-ing started for me. Climbers seem to go to places where they have routes in mind, hook up with other climbers and get on with it, or go on expeditions with people they don't know as the norm. My first 10-day bikep...

Some great advice there ^. On the bivi / tent question, unless I'm out for a few nights I would just use a tarp, personal preference though. On a longer trip a tarptent or small tent would be better protection, if there's 2 or 3 of you out for a while, carrying 1 light 2 man tent is a good thing. Ta...

It was a good day today at the Bagcave...Mr Postman delivered my Rob English twenty niner! :D http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s53/kiddcougar/20141459-90fb-45f0-9637-31f7d638a9b2_zps0d76d186.jpg You're kidding... : ) I love the idea of a pack-bike for bike-packing but the Ritchey's aren't quite r...

Tricky to find S/H I expect, but the all-round susser that grabs my attention is the Liteville, there's a version that has pretty much a full frame-triangle's worth of bag space to thanks to a unique shock/rocker system in the top tube.

Apparently these are going for £312 on some sites .. so I'm open to an offer before sticking them on STW )

Local race series, 1990? Had a taste for odd-ball bars even then. Maybe just a time-trialler in denial.. only pic I have, luckily.

Hi Ian, I'd need to use the bar more first, your idea of having sit within the bar is good, I thought it'd need to sit on top to work with a bar roll that's strapped to the stem section of the bar. Width - not much more than a std OS map / folded paper notes sheet would leave plenty of bar space, he...

A custom bag to fit inside the loop is on the cards soon I think 8-) Ian, if you can make a fairly light + slim pocket (snacks, gps / mp3, camera, arm warmers max? ie up to a kg or so packed) that sits on top of a loop bar with a map/route-notes window on top in the next month or 2, I'm buying one....

Gairy, I've had the same issue with Stans rims and conti and maxxis tyres when using a tube - the tube just can't force the bead into place in the lower sidewall design of Stans rims, the corner area doesn't seem to see a pressure high enough. I got the contis to seat using a bit of wax lube - no id...

Potential interest here too. If they came in 60cm sections that were modular, could use 2 front-centre and 1 each side, or 2 each front corner etc? Not sure if that's a good use tho as I'm still learning about tarp pitching.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8236/8525847534_279ced88a5.jpg 1x6 with an oval ring and no guide - 34 front and 17-32 rear. Worked fine, seemed a good idea in the 'Mountain Mayhem' sticky clag sections. New Wildcat Tiger bag has done a couple of longer trips now, very pleased with it. Totally stable...

Just finished eating a king's banquet after getting in from a late Feb bivi.. late, but quality ) a trip plan that I'd had in mind for a while, the weather looked ok and I had a catch-up bivi to do. I rode the Ridgeway from the Chilterns end (starts about 4 miles from where I live) to the other end ...

BRP, it's lovely bike.. great mix of Rob's trademark tech and your wishlist spec. Bags finish it of nicely! And personally I love all black bikes, just can't go wrong there.

I had the same thing with a tyre, traced it to a bead that had become detached from the casing on one side, so the casing could bunch up in places so the sidewalls were no longer parallel, causing the wobble. Took me ages to figure that one out! :) couldn't get it to go straight and got it replaced ...

Lovely bikes - the Retrotec 29+ with 15mm axles in particular. So are hub geared belt drives becoming the norm for divide riding and bikepacking then? I aim to move onto hub gearing at some point and have looked at belt drives but there don't seem to be many frames that are suitable for a belt drive...