On the basis that if your freehub fails to engage, you're a bit stuffed, I've always just degreased the freehub and run that dry. I run a mixture of silicon oil and grease and it works great in the Alps. A thin film of silicon oil will help with all moving parts and acts as a lubricant down to -60 ...

Conti X-King 29 x 2.4 Protection. Did use Racesport version last year, but if you ride rough stuff, the sidewalls won't last 1000 km. The Protection version is only slightly heavier, but faaar more durable (and puncture resistant). With Conti's the important thing is to use those with Black Chili Co...

I walked it recently. More fun. It's mostly trackless. Very boggy around Bioda Bhuide. Most climbs too steep to ride, descents would be fun, but no tracks over long stretches (I always feel bad riding in such places - therefore I try to avoid them). After back (not bike! ;-)) packing across Skye and...

Few of us are on 100% optimised set-ups and we adapt to a range of kit more than I think most of us would expect, my interest here is that cleat position jumps out at me as one of the obvious areas of bike ergonomics I've simply never experimented with .. sounds daft now I realise it. It may affect...

slarge wrote:Artwork?

Tracey Emin style or Constable?

Pyro wrote:Jackson Pollock.

The one and only Goldsmith. An Original

Sick...
That's one of the reasons (and for that enough already) why I prefer to leave cities behind and enter the wild

Truly good stuff.
Only until you realise, that you're already in such a position and you'll not gain anything from a different one. Damnit. No spontaneous increase in performance, ease whatsoever.

jpw247 wrote:May just try Stu's inboard bar ends

That Mike Hall TD setup kind of thing?
Been thinking of some thing similar when pedalling against the "Brüscha" in winter on the fat bike on groomed tracks.

Stubby bar ends, foam, tape?

Cheers

I had some correspondance (late '13) with Alan about a more fun descent and recommended dropping down to Achnashellach. There is a price for most decent descents :wink: My girlfriend and I actually hiked over that very pass on Boxing Day '12. Didn't need crampons or axes :wink: After all it's mounta...

I spent the last 2 days of 5 last year promising myself assos shorts and a short travel full suspension bike. :shock: I remember you watching the suspension before the climb into Glen Affric - saying something like "nice how the suspension’s working for you, looks comfy“. Thing is, I have a sh...

Just thought about my numbness. Preparing for a long distance event last year, my ring finger went numb. I didn't change the bar but I changed the stem. 5 mm shorter - numbness gooone. + better riding position + more control + more fun + saved weight - spent money It's always worth having a look at ...

As someone who asked A. Goldsmith if he could no include more single tracks, I prefer a framebag with no velcro at the rear end of the top tube so I can grab my bike easily. If the steps are really high, the path blocked by boulders and stuff, I carry the bike with it's downtube on my shoulders and ...

I'm starting to think Mr Goldsmith has something against pedalling :wink: We might be saying the same about you come October 12th. :-P "you haven't been out mountain biking if you have not carried and pushed your bike for a considerable amount of time." That's how we have it here in cow c...

Hi Tom (...imagining a circle of addicts saying it in chorus) [...] baby due in 17 days [...] lose weight [...] hobby [...] bushcrafting [...] love getting out into the woods practicing skills [...] lot of nights out camping [...] rekindle the old days of out on the bike and mix it with the enjoymen...

The first of which was a 17 hour non-stop ride this weekend to work on fatigue management which I am now trying to recover from! Plan is to do the Cairngorms/Lakeland ITT's and then I think I've sorted myself out enter next year's race. Otherwise at least go back and do the second half. :-bd Stick ...

I rode a Jones with loops over 450 miles in the Alps. Loads of tech and HAB-accessed trails. No issues whatsoever. But put me on a susser w/o a packed load and I'd be on normal 740mm bars. Many things can work in the same places for the same people on different days is my point, it's more about you...

Oops, ja, looks like I completely miss understood you. A normal in this very forum more likely will be a Krampus than a 26” enduro. If a susser, it should have ample room for a spacious framebag, 29” wheels and 130mm max. This is then to be considered as the bearbones enduro bike :wink: Go to pinkbi...

Brothersmith wrote: it just made me question how out of touch with the "scene" i am.

Good feeling this, isn't it?

I was on a bike packing trip in the very eastern part of Switzerland this weekend. Practically all riding on single track. Some of them quite challenging (add a bit more difficulty to say Doctors Gate, add more loose rocks, bigger boulders, some snow and precipices, set this at 1500 - 3000 m). Pedal...

Thanks, looks like tons of fun
A shame we don't have such a community of bike packers in switzerland. Saying that, I'm out for three days to the borders of the swiss national park - with a good friend

Good stuff. Quite hilarious... I had some good laughs. Well worth watching every minute of this rawness. And I still struggle to remember how bloody long it was. Good grief. Soreness... that... just that. Thank god our mind is good in forgetting that stuff. What works? I am guessing prevention is be...

Chicken Legs wrote:Thanks everyone, the race has been brutal and amazing in equal measure, for a boy from the flat lands of Essex to finish in the top 20 has blown me away, must be all that training in Wales

You just made my day - rubbish - my week

Hats off to you.

For the swiss stages of the Albrecht route I know that this route misses the best parts, albeit running paralell to them. The Albrecht route too often follows tracks that are boring. Some examples: Albrecht follows a road down from Pass da Costainas instead of hitting the trails just some 15-20 min ...

I’ve got a X-lite 200 and my girlfriend a LiteLine 300. Good bags. You get a lot for what you pay. Rab’s Infinity 300 (Girlfriend’s got the 500, so this gives me a good idea how the Infinity serie performs is) may get 2-3 °C more out of the same weight than a LiteLine 300, due to the better layout o...

The gnar = fun, techy singletrack

SteveM wrote:and yes, Greg got a new job that meant this years race is on hold

That's... err... epic!

Back on track: Are there actually any trails, singletracks on the TD? Is it gravel grinding with some 10 % or so of tarmac?