last time I was in Sucre, Bolvia, there was a coup d’etat. Cannot recommend.

On closer inspection I have realised the good people at DT Swiss have printed the specs onto the rim. it says minimum of 47mm, so  2.1 is well within the range. Think I will go with that and see how I get on, can always go wider later.

God I love the woods Cyclery

Yeah I’ve done a few at thruxton over the years, as well as Castle Combe and goodwood

They are great events for some high intensity work. What I like about them is 1) no getting wet, 2) safe and traffic free and 3) the range of abilities. I’m not an athlete and always get overtaken by everyone on a TT bike in a GB skinsuit, but there’s plenty of more casual participants that gives it a really inclusive feel.

You can’t really go wrong tbh and then it’s just a question of being efficient in transitions. Ultimately it doesn’t really matter does it, and I wouldn’t go and spend a load of money on it, but my set up is:

– tri belt for race number (this is the only thing I would say is a must have because you’re meant to have it behind you on the bike and in front of you on the run)

– Velcro cycling shoes

– laceless running shoes (I use ON clouds which have their own system, but you can also buy tri laces that you can put into your normal running shoes)

Make sure your helmet strap is easy to clip in and out. Sounds stupid but cold / shakey hands from the run make it harder.

I’ve never done a draft legal one, but the sprint distance this year is draft legal, which adds an interesting dynamic. Usually drafting is a DQE crime.

They do on the face of it appear to be in breach of their own T&Cs. As usual with these sort of companies the drafting of their T&Cs is awful, but there is at the least an implication of a right to request a replacement:

“Faulty goods. If you find the goods that have been delivered do not materially conform with their previously given description in the Order Confirmations, are incomplete or damaged or are faulty and we cannot remedy the issue or fault to your reasonable satisfaction then these goods can be returned without prejudice to other rights granted to you by applicable law. We invite you to carefully read our Warranty and Returns Policies for more information about returning the faulty goods or those purchased items which do not correspond to those described in the Order Confirmations and confirmed in the Shipment Confirmation

Returns and new shipping costs inside the Eurozone will be covered by us. Exchanges are available for items of the same price, in their original condition and packaging, within 45 days of the initial purchase.”

This drafting invites you to find more info in their Returns Policy. I read that too and that policy just refers you back to the T&Cs so doesn’t help. Again, standard half arsed nonsense. I do wonder who these companies get to draft this stuff for them. It’s always rubbish.

Often in these scenarios the hardest thing is to actually find someone to have a convo with, as per your point about nobody calling you back. To the extent you have the energy and it’s worth your time, I would ask them why they have not acted in accordance with their own T&Cs and point them to the wording I’ve cut and paste above.

There is a reference to elsewhere to custom goods not being returnable but it cannot be the intention of the drafting that this is applicable in the case if damaged goods, so in my view the right to ask for a replacement prevails.

They invite you to use dispute resolution services if you feel your complaint is unresolved by them, via the below link, but it’s unfathomable so doesn’t really help

https://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/main/index.cfm?event=main.adr.show

I’m a big fan of the Hardtail as a gravel bike approach. I have a Scott scale 925 that I paid £1500 for. It’s absolutely awesome for metric century gravel rides. Running 50mm cinturato Ms. I lock out the fork 90% of the time but it’s great to have it when I need it for the rooty descents. It’s about 2kmp/h slower over 100km ride than my Open Up but I feel far fresher when I get home. I’d go for it. If I had to choose to keep only one of those bikes it would be an agonising choice even though the Open is itself awesome and 3x the cost of the scale

and I say this as an early adopter of drop-bar off-road bikes – my first gravel bike was a surly cross check with rim brakes and bar end shifters.

I wouldn’t buy a bike now that doesn’t comfortably clear 28mm. Personally I could never make tubeless work below that width.

Interesting, I hadn’t come across the crane creek / EE-silk solution. Would be very interested to hear how they compare in terms of ease of set up and effectiveness. The EE is more expensive – but that’s ok if it’s better vfm…

25 front, 28 back on 700 x 50. Just got back from a 3 day bikepacking tour of Dorset on my scale and must have ridden most types of “gravel” the UK has to offer. Even with the bike loaded those pressures were perfect.

Do you think if I offered to professionally redraft this for them so it makes sense they’d send me a free Whippet in return? Nah me either.

Anyway it’s total nonsense and not compatible with statutory consumer rights.

If you are returning stuff because you just don’t want it anymore, you get 28 days. After that period it’s a gamble. That’s the only bit that makes any degree of sense.

I’ve been wondering about this too. Same thoughts about 650b but I have a spare pair of zipp 303s I could stick on it.

It has a dropper and 30mm if I’m not wrong? The canyon grizl equivalent is £3.2k including postage. I could get the Substance for £2.1k with my loyalty discount. Is the canyon £1k+ more of bike?

I live in Winchester which means the first 50km and the last 50km of the KAW are my regular playground. It’s rare a weekend goes by when I don’t ride one of the two to sone extent at least.

Over the years I’ve experimented with loads of different bike and tyre combos, just for the fun of it. I’ve settled on the combination of 50mm (700c / 29) gravel tyres and 100mm front suspension as being my favourite balance of control, fun and speed. I really do think it’s the best bike for those sections all things considered.

I run 50mm cinturato Ms on my Scott scale and love them. I have the 40 Hs on my gravel bike and they don’t feel any slower tbh.

Hungry Bear in Brading good for dinner and Sunday lunch

Adgestone vineyard is a nice chilled light lunch spot, especially to sample the blue sparking wine

For brunch Fin’s Beach Cafe on Sandown esplanade

As I understand it, the ownership changed, it went rapidly downhill and now it’s permanently closed down. I tried to get hold of them to claim on the Zipp accidental damage replacement scheme but no joy.

Down in these parts we call it the sandbanks ferry tbh. It’s a different ferry to the one that goes to the IoW though.

Route through the Purbecks looks good and is beautiful.

If you want to reduce miles cut out the NF northerly detour and go through Highcliffe and Milton on Sea to Barton on sea. Ride along the beach to keyhaven and then take the coastal path into lymington.

Iow Route looks spot on.

I’m running 50mm Pirelli Cinturato Ms on my Scale. Bloodily awesome. They come up a little bit wider than advertised, which is no bad thing.

I think I’ve got my (South to north) route nailed down except for some confusion as to whether to turn west out of killin and up to stronuich (the way you came down @didnthurt) or east , along the road and then up past lochan na lainge. Any thoughts?

Guess I got a booking it early discount?

Enterprise. Renault kangoo “or similar” :-)

Sigh, that guy again. Is there anything he’s reviewed that isn’t, apparently, a lethal example of negligent manufacturing?

Can’t speak for the carbon but my trail dog alloys have had three consecutive winters of single speed abuse and are as good as new. 10/10, would recommend

Doing this the second weekend of June. South to north, stopping overnight in B&Bs in Killin and Laggan (slightly off route but who would do the badger without stopping off at the laggan mtb trails??).

Hired a van one way to drive back to Glasgow for £90, thus avoiding the train anxiety.

Have decided to use the hardtail with 50mm gravel tyres for the win.

The tips on here have been very useful for planning purposes and much appreciated.

I’ve just got a 2022 Scott scale 925 which I found on eBay brand new for about £1k off rrp. Did 100km / 1500m at the weekend along the first part of the KAW and then down through the new forest and back up to Winchester: real mix of surfaces and gradients. Absolutely loved it. No more effort than riding my drop bar gravel bike but much more fun on the downs. That fork is awesome and the ability to lock it out half way is really useful. Previously had a two stroke and a 901 and this is the hard tail I want to ride every weekend rather than 3 times a year. Spent this week so far dreaming about another 100km whilst the country is (hopefully) busy watching the telly on Saturday.

Sort of. I did the Cingles on my road bike and then ran up and down the forest road afterwards. It was 2017 so memory a little hazy but from what I can remember it was rough and rocky in places. I do a lot of gravel riding but wouldn’t want to ride it on 32s. Although that’s probably because I’m fully subscribed to the wider is better trend of the last few years and my perceptions have been skewed. Might be ok going up and you could descend back on down the road i guess.

Rode about half of the route on Saturday. It’s absolutely stunning.

I rode cinturato H 40s and my mate was on SKs in 38s. Both were decent choices, neither of us felt like we needed anything wider.

I’ve just last week gone from a bling T5 to a swb tourneo connect and have to say I absolutely love it. The T5 was awesome but worked much better for driving from Hampshire to Scotland (so twice a year max) than it did for the school run. The connect is the best of both worlds. Feels far more car like than the T5. Been d1cking about and can easily get four bikes in the rear space.
Seats are super easy to fold up and / or completely remove.

Well this is topical

Anyone want a brand new Scott scale 925? I have one coming that I probably don’t need

I also have a hangover

Having spent an hour on the Classifieds page trying to give the hive mind first refusal on my 2014 T5 Sportline 2.0L, I have given up attempting to post it. It’s therefore on FB Marketplace. Not sure if am I allowed to post a link but should be easy to find with a search. It is marketed to the general public at £22k, but the STW price is £20k. There is no VAT on it.

Interesting. If I get round to putting it up on here it will be at mates rates.

I’ve got a 14 plate SWB, 73k on the clock

It’s one of these so the spec is ace: https://www.whatvan.co.uk/news/vw-launches-flagship-sportline-to-mark-transporter’s-60th-anniversary

Spent a load of money on it (I’m the second owner) with a better sound system, satnav etc. just don’t need the space anymore.

Might stick my T5 Kombi sportline in the classifieds on the basis of this thread. Really cba to sell it but then it doesn’t really suit my needs anymore and maybe one of you lot will give it a better home.

Must have walked straight pass you earlier on my way down to the 10km start

It was tactically exactly the right thing to do. Buttkicker has been lights out all post season other than that one FG that hit the post. He was never going to miss. You don’t give the ball back to Hurts in that situation.

Our offence has been far better without Hill. It allowed us to bring in 3 WRs on the trade market, all of whom have contributed at clutch points in the season.

CEH is a bust but we don’t need him with Pacheco emerging as one of the best 7th round rookies I’ve ever seen. Hardman was playing superbly before his injury so that was a loss but McKinnon stepped up.

I had zero expectations for this season but I made it to KC for a game, saw a Mahomes-Kelce touchdown and we won the Super Bowl. Amazing times really.

Interesting. Been tracking it and not seen the price below £1k before.

£999 one day only. Should I get one?

Yeah the P*rtsmouth side of the island is all a bit faded seaside glamour sadly. Some nice spots in amongst that though.

West and south is better – Ventnor is alright.

Loads of great coffee shops, cool places to visit and most importantly it’s a very nice place to ride a bike

Gentle 20km on the stormchaser this morning to get it finished. Amazing how muddy you can get in an hour.

380km outdoors and 120km inside. Meh that’ll do.

Managed to get a few short rides in today so only 16km needed in the morning and I can call it (sort of*) done.

* Sort of cheated a bit by jumping on Zwift for about 100km of it. Having to get rescued from the South Downs cos of a massive side wall gash sort of stole my momentum outside

Well done sir, very well played. 👏

Well played Daffy (didn’t you buy my tripster off me a few years back?!). Kudos for getting out. I took one look at the weather and thought, nah. Did a couple of hours on the turbo instead so I’ve DQd myself. New target is 450km outdoors.

I run 38/17 on my salsa stormchaser. Bloody love it!