180 quid shaf.... Does it also pedal your bike for you?!

Thanks for the podsacs offer Faustus - I've had some bad experiences with the saddle straps tearing off a couple of their smaller offerings, but I'll have a proper look at it in a bit.

And thanks Lazarus - defo interested.

Afternoon all. I'm after a medium sized (9-11 litre) all-in-one waterproof seat pack, of the alpkit deluge/ortlieb/altura vortex type. I've got a couple of the harness/tapered dry bag type, but just fancy an all in one for Paris Brest Paris. Needs to be big enough for a regular neoair, small alpkit ...

Me and pip left it very late again and managed to squeeze one in on the 30th. Not much to write home about - a flat, clear spot in the middle of friston forest, more rain than the rest of may and June put together, an annoying midnight pee and a glow worm. 6/6 for me and the boy https://i.imgur.com/...

+1 for the neoair. I was sceptical about how much difference a well insulated mat would make (Vs eg alpkit numo), but having used my neoair down to about -5, it really is amazing - might be psychosomatic, but I swear I can feel the warmth reflecting back.

PM sent re Apidura handlebar bag

Finished my 400k at 4.30pm today and have just paid the balance for PBP. It's happening! Congrats yourself and the others :-bd Sounds painful but exciting all at the same time. Out of interest, and same question for the others planning on the PBP: what saddle are you lot riding (on the bike/bikes y...

Finished my 400k at 4.30pm today and have just paid the balance for PBP. It's happening! Top job! I'd entered the Pendle 600 as a backup incase the BCM 600 didn't go to plan. After BCM I wasn't keen on riding another 600, but time is a great healer. Pendle 600 this weekend.... :shock: Blimey, fair ...

BBB do a decent expander bar end plug in black. Seem to stay in ok and not too pricey.

Finished my 400k at 4.30pm today and have just paid the balance for PBP. It's happening!

Me and the boy left it late again. Neither of us were feeling particularly up for it, despite the glorious weather, and pip's mood wasn't improved by an impromptu face plant into a stand of nettles. Anyway, we plodded along 30k of the south downs way and stopped just East of ditching beacon, near Bl...

Nice one! Email incoming....

No, must have been another lost soul. There were a few of us about!

Sorry to hijack, but did you sell your bars in the end Drew? Tried sending you a pm, but don't think it went through.

And congrats on completing the qualifiers! Hopefully I'll join you in a couple of weeks

That's almost exactly the same time I passed through there (2.20am)! I had a 4hr stop at aberdyfi and left there just before 1am. Was v pleasantly warm by the sea, under a starry sky, but got bloody freezing the further inland I went. There weren't many about - you're not the chap I bumped into by t...

Just finished the Bryan Chapman Memorial, which was every bit as glorious as I'd hoped it would be, so just the 400k to go

Great idea! I'll give that a bash.

Sounds great, but nobody's going to be averaging 30kph or only charging a 1600mAh battery, when they are bikepacking. Fair point on the speed, but I'm not sure how linear the relationship is between speed and output. I'm doing a long audax this weekend and anticipate a moving average of 22-24kph - ...

Questions seem to pop up here quite regularly regarding how effective dynamo and usb charger combos are at recharging bits and bobs, so my inner nerd thought it might be useful to compare our own 'in the field' tests. I was really impressed with what my own combo put out on my commute this morning. ...

Thanks very much for the offer, but I've just built it up with the new forks. I love the frame and glad to hear of others out there still going strong.

Hi shaf and thanks for the very generous offer, but I decided to go with the Darwin forks in the end. Just crossing my fingers they arrive before Thursday as I'm supposed to be doing the Bryan Chapman audax at the weekend - 600k and 8500m of climbing is probably ill advised on a set of broken forks!

Thanks James, that's reassuring to hear. And btw, the frame itself is amazing - possibly my favourite bike ever.

Thanks all. I've pressed the button on the light blue Darwin ones I linked to earlier - clearance for 29x2.25, 300mm 1 1/8 steerer, 420mm a-c, mudguard eyes and triple cage bosses. And just over 100 quid from sjs. Hopefully they're not made of cheese or cast iron!

That's interesting - presumably that meant you still had 'vertical' clearance for a decent size 700c tyre?

Thanks all. Looks like the MTB forks are a no go. And thanks Phil - those forks look lovely, but a bit out of my price range. Found these, which look like they might fit the bill https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/forks/the-l ... mm-offset/