Ian,

How much backpack capacity are you after?

Osprey Talon 22 is a great, generously sized, comfy pack, but a slightly portly 782g. The Inov8 Elite Race is a tight 15L, but can feel very clammy, however it only weighs 275g, and would be my choice for 'racing'. From the geek who knows the weight of everything and the value of not a lot!

Contrary to my previous comment, my lightweight bivi bag sleep system could be considered a great success for racing as it was so unpleasant it made getting up early an easy decision!

Forgot to add:

What worked:

Dave Barters UK bikepacking map - none of the glitches I have experienced using Ordnance Survey mapping on the Etrex. And on the one occasion that the pink GPX line temporarily disappeared, I still had the route on the map.

Etrex 30 & Lithium batteries - only one change required after at least 50 hours of use.

Cue sheet - got a lot of confidence and enabled better decision making from knowing wher the next significant locations where; have now updated to include estimated time as well as distance, based on this years pace. Weirdly, my GPS distance was about 1% greater than the bikehike derived distances, which some other riders also commented on.

What didn't:

The wifi at OBH.

Getting a meal at 2030 in Kinlochshit hotel! (Other opinions may exist...)

What worked for an old deisel:
Travelling to and from Tyndrum by Caladonian sleeper
Patagonia Storm racer jacket - bomb proof and Patagonia Houdini windproof
Fresh ESI custom extra chunky grips
Revelate harness despite being heavy
Sp dynamo, cycle2charge and 10000mAh battery set up for lights, gps and phone
Maxxis TR tyres compared to Continental tyres for a proper stress free protection tubless ready set up
Working on my hydration skills carrying a 500ml soft bottle( in frame pack) and hose and 600ml ss bottle in stem cell. Didnt bother with filter, iodine tabs etc - but used electrolyte nuun tabs for first time.
Coke. Never drink the stuff apart from when on the HT - found it to be proper rocket fuel
Nordisk tent.
Pocket rocket 2 and a 600ml ti pot with a 110gr MSR gas canister
Nightly bum maintenance discipline with wet wipes and Charlie's bum butter. Charlie saved my arse.
Good Balance of meeting other riders in cafe and for short sections, namely Adrian, Bert, Phil, the Danes, Clockwise Ben, Howard and Anita and riding largely by myself loving the deep play
Whistlestop refuelling.
Looking to be in my pit eating hot food by 11pm and being on the bike by 6am

What didnt work
I loved the Ikons on the way up to the OBH, but after that when things got more burly my lack of skills could have done with something more beefy up front.
Torq carbo drink powder- used this for the first time. never again: talk about gas bombing my gut
Bam socks - nice, silky and comfy when dry but prefer standard wool mix type socks when wet
Spot tracker
My pre race determination not to stop and faff and take unnecessary photos etc

ianfitz wrote:Gore One 'shake dry' jacket - expensive, an early birthday present to myself. Hands down the most incredible bit of outdoor kit I've ever had my hands on (and I used to be a kit tester!) light and packs small, but who cares about that. It is continuously waterproof and doesn't wet out. Ever. Incredibly breathable, put it on over damp clothes and they will dry while you ride. Fit is perfect and I wouldn't change anything about it. Looks fragile but interactions with gorse and a little tuck and roll off-the-bike suggest it is much tougher than it looks.

I have been thinking about this, a lot, but was concerned with durability. Would go for a hooded version, perhaps the Arc'teryx Norvan Sl Hoody, as their quality and after sales service are superb.

As a top fabric for a bivi bag, this could transform the traditional, condensation-rich experience encountered on damp nights where the 'breathable' fabrics wet out. I'm off to email W.L.Gore...

ZeroDarkBivi wrote:

ianfitz wrote:Gore One 'shake dry' jacket - expensive, an early birthday present to myself. Hands down the most incredible bit of outdoor kit I've ever had my hands on (and I used to be a kit tester!) light and packs small, but who cares about that. It is continuously waterproof and doesn't wet out. Ever. Incredibly breathable, put it on over damp clothes and they will dry while you ride. Fit is perfect and I wouldn't change anything about it. Looks fragile but interactions with gorse and a little tuck and roll off-the-bike suggest it is much tougher than it looks.

I have been thinking about this, a lot, but was concerned with durability. Would go for a hooded version, perhaps the Arc'teryx Norvan Sl Hoody, as their quality and after sales service are superb.

As a top fabric for a bivi bag, this could transform the traditional, condensation-rich experience encountered on damp nights where the 'breathable' fabrics wet out. I'm off to email W.L.Gore...

I bought one based on Ian's recommendation. Wore it today on an off road ride and it is superb... BUT BUT BUT I rode past a blackberry bush and with one swipe of the brambles my £200 jacket is ruined. I am absolutely gutted. I would advise anyone who gets one to stay well away from any form of vegetation.

I would advise anyone who gets one to stay well away from any form of vegetation.

Does that include vegans?

Bearbonesnorm wrote:

I would advise anyone who gets one to stay well away from any form of vegetation.

Does that include vegans?

Obviosly Stu, No one likes Vegans

Well having gone round the Highlands with no problems, last Monday saw me use the MTB to bike into work as the commuter is in dry dock. Cue a sudden temporary jamming of the whole drive train and me finding myself on the deck with lots of blood around. Gave the bike a check over but couldn't see what had caused the jamming. Despite my best efforts with plasters and bandages I ended up in A&E for the afternoon with a couple of stitches in my elbow

This afternoon I had another look at the drive train. For some reason the clutch mechanism didn't seem to be working so off with the cover.

The brace visible mid right in the photo below has snapped recently There's no rust or dirt on the surfaces of the break so it's pretty recent.



A new mech is in order methinks.

Dave Barter wrote: I bought one based on Ian's recommendation. Wore it today on an off road ride and it is superb... BUT BUT BUT I rode past a blackberry bush and with one swipe of the brambles my £200 jacket is ruined. I am absolutely gutted. I would advise anyone who gets one to stay well away from any form of vegetation.

Dave did you buy it with a credit/debit card? Some include accidental damage cover, something definitely worth checking.

Apart from that, the jacket repairs i've seen done by Lancashire Sports Repairs have been top notch. Being a licensed Gore-Tex repair centre they have access to gore fabrics.. Could be worth an email..

http://www.lancashiresportsrepairs.co.uk/

Minigrip, some of these, sorted.

http://saltstick.com/product/saltstick-caps/

Dave Barter wrote: I bought one based on Ian's recommendation. Wore it today on an off road ride and it is superb... BUT BUT BUT I rode past a blackberry bush and with one swipe of the brambles my £200 jacket is ruined. I am absolutely gutted. I would advise anyone who gets one to stay well away from any form of vegetation.

Bloody shame Dave.

Wotsits wrote:

Dave Barter wrote: Dave did you buy it with a credit/debit card? Some include accidental damage cover, something definitely worth checking. /

What Jase said. I bought a surfboard a couple of years ago on my credit card, when strapping it onto the roof a couple of weeks later it got blown off and hit a rock on landing. Credit card company paid up for a replacement without arguing.

journeyman wrote:What worked for an old deisel:
Coke. Never drink the stuff apart from when on the HT - found it to be proper rocket fuel

On bigger rides, I now always ensure I have a bottle or can of Coke in my pack in case Mr Bonk decides to make an appearance. I never drink full fat Coke other than when riding though.

Stans Sealant:

IMG_2106 by Joe Blow, on Flickr

Found several cuts like this on my Schwalbe Ralphs, but only noticed one significant decrease in air pressure.

I knew my brakes needed new pads, but didn't want to replace them on the trail as the Avid X0s are a PITA to replace - pressing the calliper pistons back in (to create room for the new, thick pads) requires loosening the bleed screw and has potential for introducing air into the hydraulic system. What came out of the front calliper wasn't pretty...

IMG_2105 by Joe Blow, on Flickr

Lucky the disc rotor isn't completely shagged.

Dave Barter wrote:

ZeroDarkBivi wrote:

ianfitz wrote:Gore One 'shake dry' jacket - expensive, an early birthday present to myself. Hands down the most incredible bit of outdoor kit I've ever had my hands on (and I used to be a kit tester!) light and packs small, but who cares about that. It is continuously waterproof and doesn't wet out. Ever. Incredibly breathable, put it on over damp clothes and they will dry while you ride. Fit is perfect and I wouldn't change anything about it. Looks fragile but interactions with gorse and a little tuck and roll off-the-bike suggest it is much tougher than it looks.

I have been thinking about this, a lot, but was concerned with durability. Would go for a hooded version, perhaps the Arc'teryx Norvan Sl Hoody, as their quality and after sales service are superb.

As a top fabric for a bivi bag, this could transform the traditional, condensation-rich experience encountered on damp nights where the 'breathable' fabrics wet out. I'm off to email W.L.Gore...

I bought one based on Ian's recommendation. Wore it today on an off road ride and it is superb... BUT BUT BUT I rode past a blackberry bush and with one swipe of the brambles my £200 jacket is ruined. I am absolutely gutted. I would advise anyone who gets one to stay well away from any form of vegetation.

Eeek. Bad news Dave! Sorry to hear that.

I feel bad that my comments may have been a factor in this! They were based on my experience, mainly on the HT, riding down the final decent to Ullapool. Which is particularly horse ridden, and a full-on off the bike tumble that saw me rolling along the ground. Seems that I was lucky to escape with it intact.

Not your fault Ian, we're all basically sharing experience on this thread and I think you and I had different ones!

I did not buy the jacket on a credit card sadly but did buy direct from Gore. So I've written them a nice letter in a grovelling stylee to see if there is anything they will do.

ctznsmith wrote:
I use a bit of sticky backed velcro on the underside of the top tube. Stops the velcro strap sliding round and makes it more stable.

edit: I probably didn't come up with that idea, it may have been from someone on here.

I sometimes get this issue. Sounds like a nifty solution - I'm going to try this

whitestone wrote:Well having gone round the Highlands with no problems, last Monday saw me use the MTB to bike into work as the commuter is in dry dock. Cue a sudden temporary jamming of the whole drive train and me finding myself on the deck with lots of blood around. Gave the bike a check over but couldn't see what had caused the jamming. Despite my best efforts with plasters and bandages I ended up in A&E for the afternoon with a couple of stitches in my elbow

This afternoon I had another look at the drive train. For some reason the clutch mechanism didn't seem to be working so off with the cover.

The brace visible mid right in the photo below has snapped recently There's no rust or dirt on the surfaces of the break so it's pretty recent.



A new mech is in order methinks.

Ouch - can't actually see whats bust on your photo Bob but I didn't think the clutch mechanism could jam the chain?? Be interested to see exactly what happened as you really wouldn't want something like that happening in the middle of nay place.

That's just a shot from a tutorial on how to adjust the clutch not my actual mech, should have made that clear. It had broken where the adjusting screw (you can see red loctite on it) passes through the brace. I don't know if the chain jammed because of that breaking and therefore the jockey arm swung too far forward or it broke because the chain jammed and it happened to be one of the weakest parts.

The mech was over three years old and I'd done 9300Km on it so I was probably pushing my luck. There's a new one on now

Hmm thats about how old mine is with similar miles.... and I'm doing 325 miles on it this weekend.......

This very simple hack was worked well, and has lasted much better than I expected. On HAB too steep to push, I carry the bike on my right shoulder, which can become a bit sore after a few minutes. I used to use my waterproof stuffed into my shirt to provide padding, but this obviously falls-over when I am wearing the waterproof! This is just some sticky foam (draft excluder type of thing) from the hardware store, which made shouldering the bike a bit more bearable. I didn't expect it to stay attached for long, but it has stayed put through several days of riding in wet and boggy terrain.

Gotta love cheap, low-tech solutions!