Gutted I won't be earning one of those fancy T-Shirts this year. Best of luck to all the gladiators taking up the challenge, at least the trails will be dry...!

Single Speed George wrote:http://www.core77.com/posts/40730/Parod ... ple-Videos

video made me think of this

That Hipster Firewood video is inspired - love it!

Having done minimal research on the TMB Route, other than downloading some free Open Source Mapping tile (which turned out to be worthwhile, if not up to Ordnance Survey quality), I set off from a Sun Drenched Chamonix with Slugwash and three other adventurers. We used the last lift of the season th...

An interesting article exposing the threat to trail / bridleway access if e-bikes are categorised as push bikes rather than the motorcycles that they are. It will be difficult to back-track once the equestrian & ramblers lobby get all bikes banned from our trails. http://www.bikerumor.com/2015/0...

Love that setup on the Rob English bike - he really knows what he is doing.

I have used BMC insurance (global policy with all the activities) for years, and whilst I am somewhat vexed by the rate at which the premium has gone up in the last decade (about 500%), they did sort me out when I broke my back in Canada and needed surgery, Aero-med flight, etc. Somewhat concerning ...

Fair one about protecting bothies from nobbers, but they would have to be very well motivated nobbers to drive to many of the remote Highland bothies. I'm not a fan of secret cliques, and was dissapointed that some people discussing the HTR route last year wanted to keep some bothy locations secret,...

Would love to, especially with some mates from the UK already committed to riding in 2016, but work commitments (lack of winter training then new job in June) are conspiring against me. If it's not tenable then perhaps CTR will work.

+1 for PHD socks; make my ultra light bag tolerable all year round, and I have rubbish circulation to my feet.

Having only one bike to maintain would be bliss, but, ultimately, just a crazy idea...

Salsa Spearfish.

SRAM and Shimano cassettes are interchangeable (shifters & deraileurs are not). The indexing always needs some tweaking when swapping over, especially if they are different size cassettes, but with such a big difference you might benefit from a spacer on the hub to get the chain line sorted.

...There is some useful info on FA kits here:

http://www.bikepacking.com/plan/bikepac ... t-aid-kit/

I remember the ribbing I got from my GP mate (with plenty of field trauma experience) for packing a first aid kit into my daysack when we where skiing. "You don't need any of that sub standard, plenty of stuff to improvise from" followed by a cheeky wink and pointing to his head, "it'...

Had a similar story with an Alfine 11 (hasn't everyone?), but at least JRA refunded after a few unsuccessful attempts at repair. Hope my Travers / Rohloff / Jones builds up as nicely as your Genesis, but having snags with the PITA anti-torque mounting faff...!

Started with the Alpkit large and even with a bungee added to create tension between the rear of the bag and the seat post, it was still super-floppy and fairly useless. Topeak next, was OK but the zip puller came off on the first outing. Finally spent the money on a Revelate and whilst much pricier...

+1 on Camo Gtx Trs cut-down into shorts. Difficult to get hold of now as the new style have side zips which don't covert to shorts easily.

Hypothermia would be preferable to the shame of wearing rainlegs!

I can't imagine Kamleka shorts lasting any time on the bike hen mixed with mud spray and saddle friction; the material is so delicate. The seem taping also came off first time I washed my old pair - may have used the wrong wash!

Sounds like an interesting route, George. Did your rear bag survive the trip? It looks very close to the tyre in some of those pics; I used to get a lot of rub on descents on my Ti hardtail, even though there was a decent but of clearance when static.

Many thanks Gairy, I'll give this a go when I get home in a few days. Maybe see you in Cham in Sept (doing the trip with Slugwash)?

Another for Mt Zoom, although I don't think they will work with XX1, which wear out very quickly.

That gutter looks like an April Fool joke - have you tried it?

It is a problem I have every time it rains, which usually results in ditching glasses and squinting on the descents hoping I don't get mud in my eye. Not a strategy I would recommend...!

That French site looks really useful, except I haven't got a clue what I was doing, not speaking any French! When I tried to download a route (part of the TMB) it then re-directed me to another site, mapsgalaxy, that wants to install some software on my computer - is this normal? Bit concerned about...

Same problem with text cut-off on the macbook, which was just a bit irritating. Shame, as the concept is good; clean and stylish.

Greg, how have you got on with the plus-fish? Have you had any problems with mud clearance? I am running normal 29" wheels with Ikons (2.35F, 2.2R) on my new SF, and had some issues with thick mud having to be manually cleared from both frame and fork the other day. It was pretty nasty claggy m...

Is anybody aware of a good (preferably free) online resource or app for route planning outside of the UK? Something like Bike Hike would be ideal; my main area of interest is the Alps, but would be good to know what is available for trips further afield as well.