I was a DNS and have been in other years past. I was working (and riding in-between) on the Isle of Skye at short notice, and I emailed Stu a week in advance once I was there and certain the job was going ahead. My work is so fluid I have no idea whether I'll be deployed away on the event dates when...

Sounds pretty tight clearances for an allroad bike; my 'pure' road bike Mason Definition clears 700x32 and mudguards with plenty of room.

Maybe try a roadie-lemgth stem (110-130mm) if you're going full winter road setup and it feels a bit compact?

Anyone got an old but functional decent sus fork for 26" and QR languishing in the back of their shed? I think my son is suffering from "that's the bike you want not I want Dad" having built him a rigid XS Inbred a couple of years ago with the old matching white steel girder forks. Hi...

yourguitarhero wrote: ↑Sat Nov 11, 2023 11:52 am Wiggle... seems a bit shamboliic over there

A couple of days ago they discounted the Shimano MW702 winter boots by about £50 but I knew they were sold out in all sizes before that already. Somewhere between shambolic and sharp practice.

Plenty of random crap starting to be sold cheap for Black Friday, but I spotted my go-to allrounder 650 WTB Resolute tyres are cheap on wiggle/CRC: https://www.wiggle.com/p/wtb-resolute-tcs-light-fast-rolling-tyre If anyone spots Shimano MW702 or Lake MX146 winter boots on a hefty discount let me kn...

How long did the waterproofing last John?

I'm keeping an eye on MW5 prices for black Friday but might go for MW7s if the 5s don't last long.

Thinking about a Mt Zoom thru axle to save another 35g upfront. 35g lost, £25 spent. Seems reasonable. Wasn't there a rule about no more than £1 spent per gram lost? I have some Mt Zoom stuff, including the carbon post and alloy stem on the Highball and a 12mm thru axle in my Mason road bike. All w...

Watching with interest as I have the same frame (in XL and a better colour :wink: ) bought specifically to create a "UK gravel bike" ie rigid, Jones bars, 2.2 Ikons to cope with the majority of UK trails. I tried it down some of the techy local stuff once and did not get far! It was not th...

If firestarter doesn't take it, can I get dibs on the dropper post and lever please? Ta Hi Dyffers. Sorry, but the lever isn't included. I upgraded to a Bonty you see and will be keeping it. Previous/original lever was sold to yhe buyer of my previous/worn dropper. Soz :-bd If that's still ok then ...

If firestarter doesn't take it, can I get dibs on the dropper post and lever please? Ta

MuddyPete wrote: ↑Tue Oct 10, 2023 1:48 pm ...Turner's Puddle, near Throop, Dorset...

Part of my commute if I'm not on the road bike.

Another happy Garmin 530 user here, didn't want the touch screen but do use a Garmin remote so I have a 'return to map' button at my thumb at all times. Works with the old OS maps SD card file. Just done 84 hours of Paris Brest with it, charged it a couple of times for maybe 20 minutes each time, on...

15oz added to your bike for £92! I usually add 400g of much more useful peanut M&Ms for a lot less money, but YPMV (Your Pyramid of requirements May Vary).

Won't be using a seatpack.. Unless this is for lack of space between your saddle and rear tyre, fit your seatpack as a mudguard and put your bivvy bag and quilt in it (but leave the mat at home). Or stuff your bag and quilt into a 3 litre drybag and strap it tight to your bars; you're not going to ...

Not wireless, but I've had Di2 on my road bikes for about 5 years and XT Di2 1x11 on my rigid XC MTB (ie in less danger of smashing the mech on a rock) for about 2 1/2 years and I'm in the 'never go back' category.

Wet wipes for a camp clean up. Then shower when you can with you kit on, stripping off in the shower and stamping the soap into your clothes in the tray before wringing out.

Extra bonus cred points for hanging your damp (bib)shorts off your saddlebag whilst riding to dry in the breeze.

Option two is a [second hand] SRAM bar end shifter - both of these are £30 ish fixes but its not a brifter. I reckon I might have a pair of SRAM 11spd bar end shifters in the parts maturation facility if you want to go down this route and your hydraulic brake still works in the current shifter Zane.

faustus wrote: ↑Thu Aug 24, 2023 7:16 pm And Matt Page? His Instagram shows he finished, no idea how he did?

Someone told me he had packed, for what reason I don't know.

Opposite to John, I wanted to get a lot more sleep than previous rides and managed nearly 12 hours without sleeping in a ditch once (although that might have been better than the 'job lot of well used roll up mats' at Mortagne last night). The French reception was the highlight as always. I wouldn't...

Currently trying to relax at our camp 2 miles away before heading over to the start about 4.30pm. Based on the forecast my mates have been removing most warm clothes from their kit. Forecast is no lower than 15-18°C overnight and scorchio for a Brit 30°C during the day, but better than wind and rain...

PXL_20230813_060932304-01.jpeg Final shakedown ride done this morning. The big 'ole seatpack of random crap will solve the storage capacity problem I had last time when it warmed up and I ended up with arm warmers and gilet permanently stashed in my jersey pockets. My 85 year old friend and chairma...

No sleeping kit; there's plenty of other places to sleep than controls, and I know by Monday night I'll be struggling to stay awake not sleep. And it's summer so it'll be dry. :wink: ChrisN and I did the 5am start in 2011 and slept at Loudeac which worked well enough. It was just the lack of occasio...

That's right, slept at Brest and Fougeres, for shorter than I'd have liked. On the way back I always lose interest and up lounging in controls and haemorrhaging time / av speed; I'd hoped to get to Villaines before sleeping.

It's four years exactly since I did a ride this long! It'll be fine...

Rough plan is ride 600km to Brest and sleep for a bit Monday night, then do whatever the body will allow to get back to Rambouillet for Wednesday night. Ideally in about 72hours but I won't be upset if it takes longer Screenshot_20230812-162622.png I had the same plan in 2019 starting at 1630, but ...

K120 on the tracking page, 1830 start. Came in around 78 hours on my last two rides; not expecting to go faster this year.