Sign me up, Duncan!

At this time of the year I do wonder how bikepacking ever got any traction in the UK...!

Read all about it - gravel bike wins XC MTB race (on buff trails):

https://www.velonews.com/2018/11/news/t ... ike_481072

Not strictly about gearing, although it is mentioned.

Love my Open U.P.

Interesting article on Cyclingtips: https://cyclingtips.com/2018/11/last-good-country-left-hemingways-spain-by-bike/ Stu will appreciate the camp fire on day 5 bivi, but far less vegan beard wax, etc than you might expect. Sadly it does lack detail on the specifics of the route, substituting pseudo-...

My MLD Bivi bag came with a bit of removable 'garden wire' that supposedly provides some structure to keep the bag off the face, combined with a tie that holds it all up (if under a bivi or suitable trees). Never used it as it looked a bit crap! Maybe this pole would work, but I think 1 metre would ...

I guess I am missing the point but the high cost and low mileages quoted for the high end 1x systems makes me think that Rohloff looks like good value for money. In the long run, it might be, but it is so heavy and draggy and the delicate shifting (my experience)... much prefer my Eagle set-up, eve...

Sram Force 1x with a 10-42 Cassette. Either 36 or 38 oval chainring, depending on the ride / load, wheels / tyres / etc. I'm riding the rougher end of the gravel spectrum, and I'm not bothered about going super fast on tarmac. I reckon 40/11 top gear letsme pedal up to about 30mph (downhill, with a ...

Sounds like you need a Lauf, but not sure you'd pick up a second-hand one for £200, unless it was abused! Like yourself, I can't be arsed with the discomfort of long day off-road on rigid, with anything less than 2.8" tyres. Did the TNR on my rigid road+ / gravel bike (apparently there is a differen...

Top Down manufacturers Arcteryx and PHD don't use hydrophobic down.

I can't remember the full explanation, but I think some of it was based upon a lack of evidence of long term durability.

Chicken Legs wrote:I rode it last year and it was a fantastic route

Based on the 2018 route, what bike / tyres would you recommend?
I've heard a hardtail with fast rolling rubber is a good option... But I suppose in April the weather could be quite 'dynamic', which might dictate tyres.

I am tempted, for similar reasons (pizza & gelato, high on my priorities!), but unsure what the 2019 route is. Website doesn't have a map up yet, previous years have started in Rome, but the route description mentions Naples, clearly a long way further south, so maybe an extended route this time?

Just checked - my routes are private by default, so I deliberately changed that so it could be accessed. Don't know why it is not working! Quite a big change when going from 'bike tour' to 'mtb' auto-routing; like the idea of mixing up road with off-road sections, but as I was planning on taking the...

Anybody have a crack at this recently? Really tempted to do it next year, maybe with the Grand Depart in June; long days, and good weather almost guaranteed... Plotted a route on Komoot, and it came out as 1,131km, with 17,000m vertical, mostly on minor roads, I think! Komoot refuses to let my route...

This might prove useful or perhaps just vaguely interesting:

http://whatbars.com/

Interesting evolution of the suspension fork. https://singletrackworld.com/2018/10/reinventing-suspension-we-ride-the-new-trust-performance-message-fork/ I suspect it will be of little interest to the BP crowd, and even the Enduro lot may be put off by the huge cost combined with equally large mass....

It's very interesting to me how they dropped Sky and are now supported an underdog team and are going after an audience not bothered by shiny big budget road racing. I heard that Sky ditched Expensive hipster brand after they supplied 300 tubs of beard wax instead of chamois cream... :lol: To be cl...

Why buy outdoor gear from experienced experts like PHD, Rab, ME, etc, when you can buy it from a fashion brand and get some stripes that match your jersey? Might take a look if they turn up in the 'archive clubhouse' (Raphy-speak for outlet store) for half-price, but for now I'll stick with companie...

Not too late to head south instead - looking bright down here at the weekend!

Unfinished business on the 400 after last year's light failure forcing an early retirement... Audax rules / points system / etc appear to be the most complicated thing in cycling, so I'm not even going to pretend I understood anything on the web page. I suppose endurance cycling is not a very cerebr...

That Ram thing looks ridiculous - could not put anything so clunky on my bike!

Fortunately no need as the standard Garmin Etrex mount works fine, although i much prefer the twist mounts on the Edge series devices.

Agreed; lightweight suspension is good for longer off-road tours (which basically means Lauf), but dropper - negative! If that’s needed then it is MTB terrain.

Good news on the licence. Starting a new job in January, so not sure how the holiday situation is going to work yet. Definitely keen for some more Iberian adventure!

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly - great name fo ran epic BP trip.

Got a date pencilled in for next years C2C yet?

Route map?

“The biggest advantage they have over most/all BP racers is they don't also have jobs so can train full time.“ To some extent, but the real differences are genetics; physiology and psychology. Many of the big name racers are already living cycling lifestyles. I expect this is not going to see pros d...

Yes, but they will only work with Gen 1 Zeros.

Not sure how to tell the difference precisely, but if you send me a phot of your pedals I can see if they look more like the old or new version!