... and we chatted about bikes and cycling for a while, turns out he used to ride quite long distances once upon a time. Anyways, it appears that he also left me a box. A big box. Full of bike. Thanks to Slackman99 for the tip-off on the Bargain Alerts Thread and Stu for the recommendation :-bd Just...

Just done a test pack, 29lbs without food and water last WRT on the ECR i scored a whopping 62lb :o Is it just me, or doesn't everyone's bike weigh over 13kg (29lb) without any luggage?! :shock: I'm at ~13.5kg (30lb) for the bare bike, plus about 5-6kg (11-13lb) of luggage including CamelBak but ex...

April done —  Overnight in Fenlandia . A long night out bagging Explorer Squares and less time sleeping than I would've liked. It's incredibly flat around here — Strava smoothed the climbing to less than 2m per kilometre! Climbing Welsh hills next weekend, with more climbing in 2km than I did all ni...

Just re-use a 250ml tonic bottles: Recycling at its finest :wink: Nice one :-bd Unfortunately, the boss always buys Fever Tree tonic in leetle cans :roll: I do like that the pouches are flat, so easier to pack, I think. I'll see how the pouches go, they could be 'orrible to live with — if I ever co...

Mountain bike. I've just added some potential hike-a-bike to my route

... and saved me over 100g on my WRT packing with a set of these: https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71ac292iWYL._SX522_.jpg 200ml is just enough whisky for a weekend out in the Welsh hills and 9g per pouch is over 100g lighter than my (plastic) hip flask :-bd (Be aware that some other...

Stevemorg wrote:Do you think the pliers are small enough to help split quick chain links?

Do you mean, are they pointy-enough to fit between the side plates? It will fit half-inch and 8-speed, but won't quite fit into a 10-speed chain.

... and left me a Gerber Vice Pocket Mini Tool : https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51TjcYdc-wL.jpg A one-off price drop at £13 and weighs a measly 70g :-bd I should probably post it to the "wot pliers?" thread, too.  I need pliers to remove the pins to replace my V-brake pad...

There is probably a neater way to do this but I'm not that advanced with Excell. Put this in the totals row at the bottom and delete column E: =SUMIF(D2:D34, "=y", C2:C34) Where you've got kit listed in rows 2 thru say 34. The above formula should be in row 35 and if you add more rows the...

^^^^^ Thanks Whitestone — that's useful info. I'm still a little way off, but getting closer

Ti pot AND a Ti mug. Bike lights AND a head torch More TLS training required. :-bd :grin: Two mugs/pots work for me — I can have noodles going in the big mug (pot) while having a brew on at the same time in the little mug. Compared to the JetBoil + mug I took last year, it's already half a kilo lig...

I've been running the numbers and I reckon I'm up to about 7kg of luggage, plus water. Roughly breaks down as: Navigation = 350g (maps, GPS, batteries) Shelter = 2.2kg (tarp, bivvy, sleeping bag, mat, pillow) Cooking = 500g (Ti pot + Ti mug + 8g stove + fuel + cutlery) Food = 2kg (packing it all in,...

ScotRoutes wrote:Scotland

Good point.

I use Strava all the time. You really need to look into VeloViewer...... Ay, I'm quite proud of my 10x10 square :-bd (although I've got a few key squares to bag that should see that shooting up soon) However, it always strikes me that uploading an X-marks-the-spot of a surreptitious sleep-under-som...

Nice one, Stu

Unfortunately, being a confirmed flatlander, there are about 149 other riders who have the legs to get there/anywhere in Wales before me

Never mind. Cup of tea, anyone?

Aye, but at the risk of sounding like an arse, the descriptions on Amazon and Multi-Tool Store say "All locking blades and tools", which, if true, means they're not UK carry-legal, not even for the eventuality that it's useful, maybe, just in case. At least I don't think so, not from what...

Skeletool CX for me. I’ve stripped and serviced a hub trailside with one so wouldn’t use any other brand. I bought a Leatherman OHT in the US for about £40 and it’s simply excellent. Pliers are much tougher but at the expense of weight Aye, but at the risk of sounding like an arse, the descriptions...

I'm just putting them here as a placeholder, but I have managed three bivvys so far this year — January — "Pluggin' Mud up Oliver Cromwell's Hole" [ map ]— very, very, very muddy; wheels locked solid it was so muddy February — "Double-bagging in Lady Bush Close" [ map ] — very, v...

I rode WRT last year with a Super C Audax (Barley-esque in size) on a Bagman 2 support and it was very stable. However, the bag+support are over a kilo in weight — nearly 1.5kg for the Longflap + Expedition rack — whereas the equivalent bike-packing bags are about 500g. Given that I managed to pack ...

Someone else got some windtunnel time a few years ago and bar bags weren't as bad as you'd think. The worst offenders appeared to be bags that stuck out sideways behind the rider's legs/hips — like Carradice. https://janheine.wordpress.com/2012/05/02/aerodynamics-of-real-world-bicycles/ All before t...

FWIW my advice is before you start with the technicalities of dynamo, charger, usb outputs, lights etc, you need to take a step back and consider the type of riding you do. It boils down to how fast the front hub is spinning, not necessarily average speed. ... I have a spare couple of dynamos on th...

Another vote for Roger Musson's book. My first wheel built was a 700C rim onto an SP-PV8 dynohub and that lasted right until I had to replace the hub (worn bearings) after about 16,000km (road). The replacement dropped straight in and tensioned up in no time with the same rim and spokes and it's sti...

I spectated on the Devils Staircase when the Milk Race went up, it was the one and only time I've seen pros off the bike pushing, it was back in the days of 39/54 chainsets though. On a road bike, traction is more of an issue than gradient, the surface is,or was, crap. Isn't there a forestry track ...

Moder-dye wrote:Sportives are not bimbling!

Bimbling involves cafes, cakes and photos instead of paying silly money to be in a non-racing race.

Audax?

I was doing Strathpuffer in a team back in my uni days. I was riding my rigid singlespeed with v brakes coz I couldn't afford to ruin my blingy race bike - and this was my cheap tu run winter hack. There's Mica in the soil. When I started the ride, I had a ding in the rim that I managed from crashi...