...and brought me a stem from the very kind Phil. Bear fed and stem swapped. Position tweaks 3 days before a 300km audax? What could go wrong?

I've been known to hoover my packraft too It's really quite difficult to get sand out from the under the tubes, and sand is not the friend of the TiZip.

.... with very impressive next-day delivery of two pairs of Showa Temres 281 gloves. Previous pair now being used to do the washing up by someone in the Yorkshire Dales.

https://mstore.co.uk/products/view/ ... 0QAvD_BwE

Need size XL/12 so can fit silk liners in 'em for winter.

Absolutely sold on these now. They're a 'technical' version of Stu's Marigolds. Not had any sweaty hands issues even under hard biking. Windproof so keep warmth in. Have tried every other type of 'waterproof' gloves - Se@lsk1nz, etc etc - and they're a waste of time.

With a replacement Brynje T-shirt for the one tumble dried by Lady Frog.

... and delivered a small box containing the bits and bobs required to finish building up the Scandal. If I like the saddle, then I'll get another one for the gravel bike, if not it'll be up on here shortly...


Another one turned up an dropped of a Pro-Build Chosen Hub / Alex Volar Trail Wheel from Merlin. I also bought some QR skewers, as the description stated "Does not include skewer or maxles.", so obviously I found a lone skewer in box with the wheel; so the extra skewers will be getting sent back...


Just need to buy a bottom bracket and chain, then we're good to get building.

A few Dividend pay outs from a Well known Bradford loans & credit company, usually bashed as a loan shark and much discussed by Rab C Nesbit

"quick we're not in!
its the man from the P.... I!

Guess who they are?

Not for me but for my daughter Holly. The sender knows who they are and she was utterly made up. Hanx!

Imagine the excitement when this arrived for me at work today not remembering what I'd ordered.....



Imagine the anti climax when I opened it to find this as the only thing in it...

Funny way to have firewood delivered John
A set of bearings for yon hope rear hub arrived - from a place called Trailvision. They claim to have waterproof grease in them although this isn't necessarily a good thing. None stainless too but this might mean they last longer than SS ones which tend to wear out in a year or so. Anyway for £15 I figured they were worth a punt, even if they wear out in 6 months that's still cheaper than Hope ones. I bunged a set of enduro bearings in the fat bikes rear hub recently so watch out for a bearing shoot out next year sometime

I recently chucked some Enduro bearings in the (DT Swiss) front hub of my Fatbike. I'll report back.

....with a new camera. After much procrastination I went with the Olympus tough. I nearly ended up with a mirrorless but eventually realised I'm too crap to make the best of it and too clumsy for it to last more than a couple of rides so figured the Olympus was the best bet. I suspect it will be on auto mode for much of the time but at least I can drop it in a puddle (or large river / loch crossing) without breaking it. Look forward to lots of mediocre pics as usual....

Two deliveries this week, both to tweak my new (to me) stooge dirtbomb... Bulldozer 29*3.25 front tyre, and a lovely beerbabe bag which also matches the one on my boingy bike. Dirtbomb is now lovely and, as such, there will soon be a fat bike, a hardtail and a fair few bits up for sale on here!

Postie has been very busy this week, a veritable bounty of goodies! And a huge bunch of flowers from my work mates, for my birthday.
I'm really pleased with how well I've managed to train folk to give me bikepacking related pressies these days...
Highlights include an alpkit padded jacket, a small padlock to put on the brake disc, thank you BB forum for that idea, and a copy of Lost Lanes Wales. Looks a great book that.
Only thing that struck me was, lots of beautiful photos of beautiful people, but a distinct absence of helmets, is it just me??

fatbikephil wrote: ↑Thu May 26, 2022 12:49 pm ....with a new camera. After much procrastination I went with the Olympus tough. I nearly ended up with a mirrorless but eventually realised I'm too crap to make the best of it and too clumsy for it to last more than a couple of rides so figured the Olympus was the best bet. I suspect it will be on auto mode for much of the time but at least I can drop it in a puddle (or large river / loch crossing) without breaking it. Look forward to lots of mediocre pics as usual....

Have considered one of those in the past for biking duties. Keen to see how you get on.

thenorthwind wrote: ↑Fri May 27, 2022 9:45 am

fatbikephil wrote: ↑Thu May 26, 2022 12:49 pm ....with a new camera. After much procrastination I went with the Olympus tough. I nearly ended up with a mirrorless but eventually realised I'm too crap to make the best of it and too clumsy for it to last more than a couple of rides so figured the Olympus was the best bet. I suspect it will be on auto mode for much of the time but at least I can drop it in a puddle (or large river / loch crossing) without breaking it. Look forward to lots of mediocre pics as usual....

Have considered one of those in the past for biking duties. Keen to see how you get on.

Initial impressions are that it's a bit of a lump but still pocket sized. Menus are a bit bewildering but most of it I won't use. I took a fine pic of a rainbow (and my kitchen) yesterday by adopting the 'point and press' approach so a good start. You also get access to a rather complicated photo processing app which I've always lacked.

Verena wrote: ↑Fri May 27, 2022 7:55 am ... a distinct absence of helmets, is it just me??

I think it's a perfectly acceptable thing for the Lost Lanes way of riding. Gentle pace, quiet routes.

Bearlegged wrote: ↑Fri May 27, 2022 10:19 am

Verena wrote: ↑Fri May 27, 2022 7:55 am ... a distinct absence of helmets, is it just me??

I think it's a perfectly acceptable thing for the Lost Lanes way of riding. Gentle pace, quiet routes.

Fair enough.

Looks beautiful, looking forward to trying a few of these...

And delivered some new stays for the Salsa minimal rack I bought on here, hand crafted in Bearbones towers by Stu. They are just the job and fit perfectly … thanks Stu

They are just the job and fit perfectly … thanks Stu

Lovely. I'd forgotten about them already

Some "stop being soft" stickers from Stu. I thought I had some, but couldn't find them, so Stu had a rummage. Bike's now fully prepared for Tour Divide duties.

slarge wrote: ↑Mon May 30, 2022 6:54 am Some "stop being soft" stickers from Stu. I thought I had some, but couldn't find them, so Stu had a rummage. Bike's now fully prepared for Tour Divide duties.

You should find some on route ...

Dave Barter wrote: ↑Mon May 30, 2022 9:06 am

slarge wrote: ↑Mon May 30, 2022 6:54 am Some "stop being soft" stickers from Stu. I thought I had some, but couldn't find them, so Stu had a rummage. Bike's now fully prepared for Tour Divide duties.

You should find some on route ...

Received a carbon pole for my tarp from Stuart so a bit more playing around.

Dervla Murphy's Full Tilt, ashamed to say I'd not heard of her until her passing. Looking forward to reading it.

Postman brought Daytoner's new album Monday and today there was Pandamonium in the shape of a WRT tee.
Thanks Stu, Dee and everyone, I can feel like I've contributed a little this year.

Great design!

Cheers Rob