Search found 419 matches

by padonbike
Tue Jul 04, 2023 9:15 am
Forum: Your Trips & Adventures
Topic: North York Moors 300
Replies: 15
Views: 1063

Re: North York Moors 300

Good write up. I also did the Boltby Bash in 1989 on a Saracen Trekker with Shimano Deore XT 3 x 6 (no, that's not a tipo!) and a rear U brake (weight approx 1kg). I remember seeing my first Cannondale MTB there, back when oversized aluminium was a thing of the most exotic and rarest wonder! SPD had...
by padonbike
Thu May 25, 2023 9:48 pm
Forum: Your Trips & Adventures
Topic: I'm fairly sure you can't, but can you?
Replies: 5
Views: 1121

Re: I'm fairly sure you can't, but can you?

Thanks, I'm coming through with 8 relative novices on gravel bikes so going by road may win in the end.
by padonbike
Thu May 25, 2023 3:23 pm
Forum: Your Trips & Adventures
Topic: I'm fairly sure you can't, but can you?
Replies: 5
Views: 1121

I'm fairly sure you can't, but can you?

In the far North West (Sutherland) Loch Dionard: I know this stretch is not rideable, but is it passable by pushing bike along the side of the loch for 1.5km or too rocky/boggy? Starting Gualin House and going all the way through to Gobernuisgach Lodge all looks perfectly decent landrover track, jus...
by padonbike
Fri Dec 02, 2022 4:24 pm
Forum: General banter
Topic: How long does a drivetrain last ??
Replies: 12
Views: 676

Re: How long does a drivetrain last ??

question is then how long would normal 1 x gears do ? I've had issues with chains on ssp due to using a ssp chain on n/w chainring, despite correct chainline and must've gone through 1 chain in 1000 km. On 1 by but before Eagle (or sticking within the Eagle ecosystem) I went through chains at about...
by padonbike
Tue Sep 27, 2022 7:00 pm
Forum: General banter
Topic: Flying Easy Jet with gas cannister/CO2/meths in hold bag
Replies: 25
Views: 1638

Re: Flying Easy Jet with gas cannister/CO2/meths in hold bag

160km is ambitious on this terrain, are you flying back on Saturday 29th? We did the whole original route in 61/2 days and it was quite tough. I had to bail on day 6 due to a cracked frame but have since ridden the Gudar section a couple of times, the rest of the group slept at the campsite at Alca...
by padonbike
Mon Sep 26, 2022 5:34 pm
Forum: General banter
Topic: Flying Easy Jet with gas cannister/CO2/meths in hold bag
Replies: 25
Views: 1638

Re: Flying Easy Jet with gas cannister/CO2/meths in hold bag

Yes, I live about 3 hours from Teruel. Your best bet is to go from the airport to the Decathlon store at San Fernando de Henares which is about 10 minutes away. You will definitely not find anything in Zaorejas, in fact there will be bugger all until you get around to Valverde. I'd also stock up on...
by padonbike
Sun Sep 25, 2022 10:02 pm
Forum: General banter
Topic: Flying Easy Jet with gas cannister/CO2/meths in hold bag
Replies: 25
Views: 1638

Re: Flying Easy Jet with gas cannister/CO2/meths in hold bag

1)yes 2)no 3)no 4)definitely no If you want me to sort 2,3 and 4 happy to do so. What day do you arrive? If Sunday, could be a problem but Decathlon do 2, bike shops do 3 and Chinese shops do 4 So are you over there in Spain? We arrive Saturday 22 Oct mid morning Madrid and are driving over to star...
by padonbike
Sun Sep 25, 2022 8:05 pm
Forum: General banter
Topic: Flying Easy Jet with gas cannister/CO2/meths in hold bag
Replies: 25
Views: 1638

Flying Easy Jet with gas cannister/CO2/meths in hold bag

Hi I've been dragged kicking and screaming from my Cairngorms comfort zone to do the Montanas Vacias bikepacking trail in Spain at the end of October. It's a long time since I've taken a bike on a plane and I've never taken a bike + bikepacking kit in a bike bag so I would like to know what I can pu...
by padonbike
Sun Aug 21, 2022 5:09 pm
Forum: General banter
Topic: Weather in Spain Sept-Oct
Replies: 10
Views: 742

Re: Weather in Spain Sept-Oct

Thanks, great write up, really useful, especially about the villages without cafes or shops :shock:
Grumpy guardian at a rifuge and bad/stale food is all you need after a long day. Same happened to me at rifugio called Mulaz when hiking the Alta Via due many years ago.
Still remember it now!
by padonbike
Sun Aug 21, 2022 11:34 am
Forum: General banter
Topic: Weather in Spain Sept-Oct
Replies: 10
Views: 742

Re: Weather in Spain Sept-Oct

Thanks that brilliant
Any info and contact appreciated
We're flying from Edb so Madrid is only choice
by padonbike
Sat Aug 20, 2022 11:22 pm
Forum: General banter
Topic: Weather in Spain Sept-Oct
Replies: 10
Views: 742

Re: Weather in Spain Sept-Oct

I'm thinking about going to Spain and riding the Spanish Divide and Montanas Vacias in September and October. Anyone familiar with the routes and weather conditions that can be expected around then? Flight booked for last week of October to do MV route. Just stared doing initial research but temp c...
by padonbike
Thu May 26, 2022 2:10 pm
Forum: Anyone playing out?
Topic: HT550 Grand Depart - May 2022
Replies: 219
Views: 20680

Re: HT550 Grand Depart - May 2022

Alexinthepeaks wrote: Wed May 25, 2022 8:26 pm Im hoping to hit Contin at around 1am early Sunday morning....no going back from there......That could be a bit optermistic on my part mind!
I'd aim for midnight: it's only 190km with 4000m climbing. :-bd
by padonbike
Sun Aug 08, 2021 11:18 pm
Forum: General banter
Topic: Bothies Open Again.
Replies: 1
Views: 475

Re: Bothies Open Again.

It will be interesting to see how quickly the ones that locked the door promptly will re-open: Balmoral estate, Attadale estate, Melgarve, some Kielder bothies ....
( Not all these MBA).
by padonbike
Mon Jul 26, 2021 1:32 pm
Forum: General banter
Topic: Honey, I smoked the discs!
Replies: 14
Views: 1753

Re: Honey, I smoked the discs!

Well thanks to everyone for the advice. 7 tough days with around 700kms including Torridon and Glen Affric and the brakes performed really well. Can't remember who, but the two key pieces of advice were: 1) manually ABS the brakes - momentarily releasing even on steep descents helped. 2) the origina...
by padonbike
Thu Jul 15, 2021 11:19 am
Forum: General banter
Topic: Mixing brakes - is it acceptable?
Replies: 24
Views: 1783

Re: Mixing brakes - is it acceptable?

I recently snapped the steel forks, (at the top of the front hub drop out, fortunately while going up hill. Managed to limp the 10km back home very slowly), on my trusty road single speed. Replacement 1 1/8 steel forks are relatively cheap on santafixie, but the basic info that they DON'T provide is...
by padonbike
Sun Jun 13, 2021 9:15 pm
Forum: General banter
Topic: Honey, I smoked the discs!
Replies: 14
Views: 1753

Re: Honey, I smoked the discs!

The pads are LO3A and I will look into the finned type in future L03A are finned...!?! At least all the ones Ive had on my bike have been finned. https://cdn.mantel.com/images/product.php?image_id=122018&w=760&h=570 I've been trying to find somewhere with some in stock, at an acceptable pri...
by padonbike
Sun Jun 13, 2021 4:35 pm
Forum: General banter
Topic: Honey, I smoked the discs!
Replies: 14
Views: 1753

Re: Honey, I smoked the discs!

Thanks people, some really useful replies. Although the descent was familiar, I was definitely taking it carefully this time because of sore ribs and using brakes a lot more, so I'll try to avoid this in future. The pads are LO3A and I will look into the finned type in future - Uber do one but are o...
by padonbike
Sun Jun 13, 2021 9:46 am
Forum: General banter
Topic: Honey, I smoked the discs!
Replies: 14
Views: 1753

Re: Honey, I smoked the discs!

Thanks Greg. Temp in both cases was similar, around 20c. Yes was definitely dragging brake more than normal, especially towards bottom as steepness increased.
Good point about discs, although I'm not sure I can increase them with this set-up, hence looking down ceramic pad avenue.
by padonbike
Sun Jun 13, 2021 8:29 am
Forum: General banter
Topic: Honey, I smoked the discs!
Replies: 14
Views: 1753

Honey, I smoked the discs!

During a long descent in the Highlands with lightweight bikepacking gear on (approx +10kg) I got to the bottom of the descent and, as well as smelling, the dics pads were actually smoking! I've never, ever had this happen before, indeed I thought it was just a myth. I was using sintered pads in Shim...
by padonbike
Sat Jun 05, 2021 8:57 pm
Forum: General banter
Topic: From Sea to Mountain - Locations?
Replies: 37
Views: 3734

Re: From Sea to Mountain - Locations?

Why not River to Mountain? If you want to do the longest unbroken climb in the UK, put your back wheel in the Feshie burn and ride to the summit of Mullach clach a' Blair. 660m climbing. Brownie points: zero dabs on the climb up. Mega brownie points: burn-summit-burn in <60 mins Snowdon or Cader Id...
by padonbike
Fri Jun 04, 2021 11:41 pm
Forum: General banter
Topic: From Sea to Mountain - Locations?
Replies: 37
Views: 3734

Re: From Sea to Mountain - Locations?

Why not River to Mountain? If you want to do the longest unbroken climb in the UK, put your back wheel in the Feshie burn and ride to the summit of Mullach clach a' Blair. 660m climbing.
Brownie points: zero dabs on the climb up.
Mega brownie points: burn-summit-burn in <60 mins
by padonbike
Wed May 26, 2021 9:41 pm
Forum: General banter
Topic: HT550 2021
Replies: 637
Views: 65190

Re: HT550 2021

A bothyologist writes: Carnmore is a howf, not a bothy. :ugeek:
by padonbike
Tue May 25, 2021 10:35 am
Forum: General banter
Topic: HT550 2021
Replies: 637
Views: 65190

Re: HT550 2021

At sub 4 day pace it is 8 hrs from Ft William back to Tyndrum but that's on the old road route into Bridge of Orchy. I would say the more recent off road, up and over from end of Rannoch Moor adds 30 mins.
by padonbike
Tue Mar 10, 2020 3:51 pm
Forum: General banter
Topic: North Yorkshire on line map
Replies: 9
Views: 2073

Re: North Yorkshire on line map

Zoom in to an urban area. You have Mastermap level detail, ie houses with gardens. You will not get that on bing an I also suspect bing will be dated compared to local authority mapping. 1) why would you need anything more zoom that the 1:25,000 Bing provides? 2) the source for Bing and local autho...
by padonbike
Thu Mar 05, 2020 4:17 pm
Forum: General banter
Topic: Fisher field crossing
Replies: 10
Views: 2541

Re: Fisher field crossing

I would imagine that any snow melt would contribute to the height of the river, but the most noticeable differences in height come from prolonged and/or intense rain. In any case, the low temperature of the water at this time of year is likely to be prohibitive. Think about how you would dry yoursel...