I’ve built up a few wheels with Halo rims. Nothing fancy but a good weight and strong. Probably a good starting point at £500 for a wheelset. Plenty of money left in the budget for hubs and good quality spokes. They do a 35 or 50mm Vapour rim in 650 iirc. The wheels on my Krampus were Vapour 50’s Ti...

I’ve no experience of the places in South America but have cycled through those mentioned in Asia. Admittedly hot at the wrong time of day throughout a lot of the year. I did spend most of my time in the Taklamakan and Tibet either freezing my balls off or boiling hot depending on whether it was dar...

Zanskar, Ladakh, Baltistan, the Altiplano, Salar de Uyuni, Tibet, the Taklamakan... all areas of high altitude desert worth an explore by bike. I’m quite excited just writing down the names.

Bearbonesnorm wrote: ↑Wed Jun 02, 2021 6:53 pm Get some Tiger Balm slapped on

No way hippie.... what you need is Ralgex

Any trip longer than 3 nights and I wash my shorts every evening in water using whatever soap I’m carrying for me. Longer (week+) trips I’ll have two pairs of shorts and alternate them each day. The undercarriage gets washed with soap and water every day as far as is possible. No problems with sores...

Nice. I’d recommend giving it a wash with soap or TechWash then treating it with TX Direct before using it. Thanks, will do. Does the same advice apply if it looks clean and water still beads on the fabric? The seller claims he's only used it a couple of times. Probably not if it’s beading well. It...

rain x can be used to make the water run off glasses better [noticeable change but dont expect miracles and pricey IME] or a cycling cap to stop the rain getting on them. For me Rain X definitely helps extend the period before things get too foggy. I agree with Lazarus - it’s no miracle cure, more ...

Nice. I’d recommend giving it a wash with soap or TechWash then treating it with TX Direct before using it.

Does anyone know of a list of Welsh mountain summits served by bridleways? I know Snowdon and Cader Idris are but are there others. I fancy some high riding/carrying this summer. I’m very familiar with/have done the English options and I don’t have time to get to Scotland. I googled the question but...

I have one of these universal ones from Joe's shop in my toolkit for emergencies: https://www.weirdosonbikes.com/product/emergency-mech-hanger/ Reminds me I need to try it and see if it works on each of my bikes, just in case - better to find out in advance. Not particularly universal if it only wo...

Not mountains per se but Exmoor and the North Devon coast fit the bill. Road bike or mountain bike doesn’t really matter.

Or there’s Madeira. Green list country with some great MTB trails and plenty sea to swim in.

Sure, but I’m hoping that the never ending sunshine of summer will delay that somewhat

FWIW I usually have used a Paramo Parameta T-shirt under my Velez and have had great results. The T-shirt is, like other Paramo stuff, relatively thick. It’s supposed to be reversible with different performance characteristics depending on which way around it is. In use I can’t tell any difference b...

Timely post.
Last night our wildlife camera filmed a family of ‘hogs eating the slugs that are eating my turnips.

I’m 6’2” 12 stone 40 chest. I’m in the medium Velez Adventure Light.
It’s not a tailored fit. Arms are an adequate length for cycling.

There is a UK company that produces synthetic quilts - name escapes me at present but I'll do some thinking. EDIT: Ooh that was quick. Sometimes I surprise myself. They do 2, a classic quilt and an over quilt both use Apex for insulation which is about as good as synthetic gets. Classic: https://va...

No direct experience of Alfine but I do run a Rohloff on a 29+ bike. For loaded riding in steep hill country my advice would be to fit just about the lowest gear you can - whatever that is with Alfine. I know with a Rohloff there is little difference in lowest gear you can produce with the different...

From the Alpkit website photos it looks like the roof of the inner is mesh, is that correct? This puts me off it as it would mean condensation dripping through the mesh onto sleeping bag etc.. It also seems an odd choice given that mesh is generally heavier than normal inner tent fabric. I can thin...

Difficult for UK to adopt the moral high ground, given our history. I reckon likely impossible for UK to be wholly self sufficient without standard of living dropping below what electorate would stomach. I’m a supporter of globalisation, how about UK tries to lead by example - cut arms sales/manufa...

Heresy.
Everyone knows cycle tourists just have panniers for show. All they’re interested in is telling you how far they’ve ridden and sleeping in YHA’s

Shaf’s pictures are a very poor reflection of the actual weather. To say it was somewhat wet is very much an understatement

Great pics Shaf. Except you weren’t supposed to include the one of me pretending to warm my hands by the fire ring that we didn’t make or camp by....
Had a great time.

Sounds like a similar product to Elete Electolyte add-in which works out way cheaper per litre. I’ve used it for a few years and have found similar advantages as to the PH users.

https://eletewater.co.uk/

Sitting in my bivi after a ghastly day on Dartmoor. Rain, rain and more rain. My Paramo base layer is just about perfectly dry under my Paramo Velez Light smock

Hardly ever use a bivi in a Gatewood but am trying a Tyvek bivi this weekend and with the amount of rain coming down in Devon right now I think I have made a good choice