curious as to the consensus of bikepackers as to the size of cassette and chainset
might help me finally decide between road 50-34 or MTB 38-28

so, what size cassette and chainset do you have on your bikepacking bike?

ta

Is there anywhere close by to post pub place to bivi out as my Fiesta van is a bit too small to kip in? As Colin says, the carpark's fairly flat. However, I'm going to try and arrange somewhere grassy for tents and such, so more details to follow nearer the time. I pitched my tent in the car park b...

The bike I will (one day) finish building

If the bottom bracket is road width you'll need an extra spacer each side of the cups. Easy fix that though. What rear mech will you use? A j-tec shift mate will let you use a Shimano Mtb 11 speed one with 11 speed road shifters. For off road it's worth it for the clutch. Will check bottom bracket ...

I'm self-building a gravel bike Frame is a Litespeed T5g, so more road bike than mountain bike. Can't quite decide on the chainset Already have an XT 11-40 cassette My original thought was to use an Ultegra 50-34 chainset; however, my current ponder is an XT 38-28 chainset Anyone have an suggestions...

http://www.wildthingspublishing.com/how ... kepacking/

http://www.wildthingspublishing.com/pro ... king-book/

will find out, as just ordered along with the bothy bible

quite a narrow band.
http://www.lochlomond-trossachs.org/rr- ... s-2017.pdf

Lupine make a USB charger.

https://www.lupine.de/products/parts-an ... sb-charger

Works a treat; when wild camping use the USB charger to recharge a Lupine NEO headtorch from an external battery pack.

ScotRoutes wrote:

Asposium wrote:just a random thought.

if not for safety then is there the garmin group track viable?

seems most people have a garmin

Only a few Garmins do online tracking and those that (currently) do use your phone. That means you run into issues of battery life and lack of signal.

ah

Spotwalla looks interesting.

Have contacted them to ask if there might be future support for the Iridium 9575 sat phone.
Thanks for the heads up.

just a random thought.

if not for safety then is there the garmin group track viable?

seems most people have a garmin

robbie wrote:Flights back booked for the Tuesday. So the pressure is on for 4 days

Join the group.

Manchester??

robbie wrote:Guys
Just trying to suss out flights home.
For those that have done it is 4 days realistic time to complete the route and get back to Pisa?
Cheers

My return flight is Tuesday night, so that's my plan

Garmin Italy maps arrived, so I can geek the route. :)

Amazingly I am free that weekend.

Just signed up.

I have a fenix 3 that I use for running, hiking and cycling. Works well. A "running dynamics" chest strap that enables the watch to display various running parameters. Ground contact time balance is particularly useful. A version of the fenix 3 (or all fenix 5) permit on-wrist heart rate m...

As a bit of a guide: Pisa airport is tiny, so you'll be out of there quick. Its about 2 miles to the station. Theres a frequent shuttle bus to the station, and just pay the driver. It drops you off at the back of the station and theres a couple of flights of stairs to get to the ticket office/machi...

If anyone is flying from Manchester to Pisa on Thursday 1st June then give me a shout. Only the one flight. Is that the one getting in at 21.55? If so what are your plans to get to Massa for the start. I've been looking at flights from Scotland it looks like I'll have to go out on the Wednesday. Un...

If anyone is flying from Manchester to Pisa on Thursday 1st June then give me a shout.
Only the one flight.

gairym wrote:

Asposium wrote:For those that have done the event before; how much of a problem will it be that I know zero Italian?

None, we all managed.

Phew.
Thanks

For those that have done the event before; how much of a problem will it be that I know zero Italian?

I'm entered

Flight booked

Best get the bike finished and start training

I rode the TT group start in 2015. It was my first multi-day, group start bikepacking trip and I was riding fully loaded (testing gear for the Highland Trail 550 a month later). If I were to do it again I'd be sure to have A LOT less gear with me. Having said that, we had excellent weather that yea...

If you wait until all interested have signed up then it's worth getting everyone together to book things like accommodation the night before the event. We all shared a couple of apartments this year, that despite being a half drunken ride up a hill away in the eve were actually really good & mo...

Wotsits wrote:The majority of us did a 7 day trip last year..

Is it EasyJet from Manc you're looking at?
Are the flights available for June next year already?

Yup, easy jet from Manchester to Pisa.
Okay, so fly back Thursday.
Hmmm
Ponderment

Can't decide what day to book the return flight.
Tuesday or Thursday.
Flight is silly late back to Manchester