I think the problem with the fixed Verderers final descent is that it’s so much quicker and jumpy-er than the rest of the trail that Blue riders get taken by surprise. It is great fun, but I’m not surprised people get caught out by a skills shortage!

As with all ‘gravel’ stuff, I just treat it as XC and use my old Giro Xar. I don’t find the small peak gets in the way on the drops and don’t own a roadie lid. Only break out the cycling cap when the sun is really low, or for heavy rain, and don’t care about the odd ‘peak plus cap’ look!

Same thing happened here in the summer (although no police involved) Link
To be fair they only took out the dirt jumps that had grown lasty year and there’s still plenty of unofficial tracks around, but still upset plenty of people

its 66 degrees. I think the above statment nicely demonstrates that bike snobbery is something to avoid

To be fair the 2021 is a decent update, the old one was quite dated.

Sonder Cortex SX, if you can stretch to £1,600?
Local brand, short travel FS, reasonable geometry without being too “LLS”.
I’d budget for a better rear mech when it gives up shifting though, or ask Neil to upgrade it when it’s built

Tongue caps? sounds painful!

I agree that a fork designed to take them is a PITA when the hubs don’t have them fitted – until recently I thought it was just incompetence that was making it so awkward putting the front wheel into my Whyte!

+1 Gumleaf. Super comfortable and warm (neoprene lined). Never found a pair of dunlop/decathlon etc. that fitted right.
They do look like the price has gone up since I got mine a few years back, but hopefully the Vibram sole works better in snow/ice than the sole on mine, which is the only downside I’ve found.

I’ve gone from a 7 to 12 mini, and it’s been great! Upgrade in photo quality is the main benefit (especially at night), but I like that it’s slightly smaller, and I was constantly hitting the storage limit on the old phone.

Face ID is much better than I was expecting, works well from a variety of angles and distances, and either with or without glasses on. Mask thing is annoying, but hopefully that’s a relatively short term problem.

I did make the mistake of not putting a screen protector on straight away, and now have a scratch on it; apparently their new glass is more shatter resistant but softer!

I’m amazed none of them drop the chain given how much movement there is in the rear mechs. Narrow-wide chainrings must be doing their thing!
It also looks like some chain slap the ground, never thought that was a thing!

Steve Davis or Nicholas Lyndhurst…

In mannerisms perhaps, but either of them would have to spend some serious time in the gym to match the description of Carrot!

Evol sounds overkill for trail centre blues and reds, Cortex would probably be more appropriate. Saying that I’m in a similar situation having ridden hardtails for 20 years, and swaying towards Vitus Escarpe (if they ever come into stock!)

I had a disappointing time with the Superior 2.0, but haven’t tried newer ones. I liked the wide toe box, but the wide heel and flared out sole made it more likely to clip an edge on rough ground and roll an ankle. I’m not sure if newer ones have fixed the heel issue. The outsole rubber was also too hard a compund, so grip on damp limestone or roots is very poor.

Whyte 901? Hefty with the plus tyres and SX groupset, but mine’s been great. Probably not ideal for longer XC stuff mind you, more “winch & plummet” style.
Sonder Transmitter or Signal might be worth a look too.

When I was running ultras a few years back, I found that changing into skins recovery compression tights afterwards and keeping them on overnight (which feels weird!) helped with immediate soreness. A gentle 30 min turbo spin a couple of days later normally cleared any lingering DOMS

I’ve found Hunt 4 season gravel (700c) to be faultless so far

If it’s a factor, also worth noting that some places (like Cotswold Water Park) don’t allow inflatable canoes/kayaks

Cheers all, will keep an eye out on Facebook. Already have decathlon ski suit & thermals, so ok if it’s not too extreme.

@howsyourdad1, thanks but postage from Sweden to UK might be a pain.

@natrix, we hired a pulk when we took him to Norway a couple of years ago, so might do that again for a few days, plus tag team and day care.