Earlier this month I saw a small bright white spider perched in the garden, like some malevolent ninja. No web, just.....perched. Turns out it's a crab spider, and they just grab anything passing. https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1754/42003858704_8e86cfe452_c.jpg Then yesterday, about 3 feet from wher...

I've used the Ortlieb coffee filter. It was a sub-optimal experience, mainly as it only has a tiny little hole at tone end of the lower section, and it's not big enough for water to flow through more than a tiny bit. In practice what happens is you get a mind numbingly slow drip of coffee that stops...

Sounds like you're looking at getting something fairly standard-ish then - though at the start of the post you were wanting....I dunno......something a bit more than standard. So why not build it yourself? You'll get a huge amount from the experience, you'll enjoy riding it so much more than an off-...

Ok - more tips on finding a leak. Spread sheet of plastic out on the lawn, big enough to lay your mat on with some to spare. Make up a mixture of fairy liquid and cold water, but with looooaaaads of fairy in it. Eco washing up liquids are available but they're crap for bubbles, so dont bother with t...

Look up aquasure. You can spread it very thinly and it will seal nicely. An alternative would be Black Witch, but that's not going to look so nice. Both are flexible, the former a urethane, the latter a latex. Both not entirely lovely solutions, but a fix before deciding on the bin. So long as you c...

Pm sent on the seat-pack. Maybe interested in the frame bag also, let me measure up.

Blackhound wrote: they wanted to attract people with sense of adventure not just pure mountain bikers.

So, those with a feeling and an awareness of adventure, without actually wanting to actually have any?

This is a bit of an aside, but there was a young lass used to work for us, always turned up singing the most god-awful pop ditties. Apparently there was a market stall close by to her bus stop that played this garbage at full volume and whatever it was would get stuck in her head. After a while we w...

NorwayCalling wrote:No sorry, even in Norway they make no sense.

No that is a cuss if ever there was one.

They're Norwegian, and they probably make sense if you have to ride a bike in Norway.
Baring in mind their bikes are usually made of pig-iron I can't see these detracting from the ride quality all that much.

To be filed in the 'appropriate for some' corner I think.

depends on your own size to a large degree I think. I have some 44s that I'm selling and waiting on some 48s. I forget now if they're measured brake clamp to brake clamp or centre of the 1st curve accross the tops.
FYI my shoulders measure 44cm and feel the 44s are a tad on the small side for me.

There was that time when I had a blow out from what I thought was a snake-bite puncture. Fixed the tube, re-inflate, blows again, as what I actually had was a v-brake block badly fitted that had worn through the tyre over an inch or so. This time the tyre was totally shredded, and the only one I had...

They don't seem so wide in the flesh...erm.....metal. 44 is to the very front of the hook, where you'd put the brakes, they're only 36 across the tops.
I'm selling them as they're too narrow for me. I'm waiting for some 48cm ones.

I have some Genetic Digest Bars available in 44cm if they're of any use? Unbuilt, still header-carded and box-fresh. £30 posted.

I like that there's a uniquely large pedal-trap area, something we ought to see more of in the other brands. I'm sure it'll catch on.

I hear what your saying with this Stu, and I wince at cyclists here in London in a similar way on an almost daily basis. Not for riding 3 abreast, but the wobbling starts across junctions from the lights, in front of not only the trucks and busses, but the peloton of other cyclists all competing to ...

What sort of bikepackers? The dipped in glue and rolled around millets kind, or the TLS ascetic kind? Assuming the latter... I like deviation as a term (and lifestyle), but nice alternatives might be a discrepancy of..... or even A hereticism of...... which fits nicely with the overtones of ascetisi...

didn't even know there WERE any rules? and i was That made up i won something that any plans of giving it back or donating wasn't even in my head :???: and only made my mind up to sell it to fund something else later .... but thanks for making me feel like the biggest c*** on the plane tho :-bd Stu...

Throwing my hat in the ring here as an interested party. My experience on the WRT was that my 26b wasnt quite + enough for my liking. Having a max tyre size of 2.2" meant I was climbing well, but left for dust on many of the downhill sections, and finding it tough going on grassy sections so I'...

SE Chilterns? SE Soho maybe.

I was told that pandas liked to be shown the sights, and introduced to new experiences and especially making friends so with this in mind I took a little panda for a ride. She approved of our 1st bivi spot, one a few may recognise... https://farm1.staticflickr.com/949/41080060475_c8c1cf652c_c.jpg .....

A pair of water-proof socks! Just in time for the WRT. I was hoping it was a good omen when they didn't arrive in time....it was.

Words almost fail me....(yeah right)....but that was one of the best weekends I've had in bloody ages! Huge thanks to Stu and Dee for....just for..... you know....things. Everything. Also thanks to all involved in organising and riding the LHCs, top folks all. I've gone from bikepacking resistant to...

Full tent, quilt and cooking ready meals here, bike and kit hovering around 55lb, wondering about bringing a camera but don't want to add even more weight, nor carry it on my back. Maybe there's a way. One more evening of faff to go!

Seeing as I started this, and some part of me cares about it, I thought I'd post a short update: Vista Outdoor have announced their intention to sell off their cycle brands, Giro, Bell and Blackburn citing a reduced profit in 2017, in part a result of a general slow-done in the global cycle-trade, b...