I have a Fortitude Race and tried to shoehorn the rear wheel from a Longtitude (not sure what model year, but the frame was dark matt green) onto it.  It was non-boost 27.5 x 2.8″.

It fitted and ran fine through all of the gears in the work stand, BUT it had absolutely no clearance (about 1mm). I reckon it would rub the chain stays seriously when actually ridden.

I run 2.4″ Conti X Kings on my Fortitude and they are as big as I would go on the rear…

http://www.owayo.co.uk

Good quality and you set up your own design…

Bear bones Bikepacking use them and the end result is good.

Colin Lewis Cycles in Paignton.

Top notch service. Don’t be put off by the predominant display of road bikes…

It was a good day with a good route. As you say, quite different to previous years. I took my Croix De Fer with 35c Rapid Rob knobblies and had a great time.

My only criticism would be that with over 400 riders this year, there was a monster bottleneck 10 minutes in when we left road to go off road onto some narrow double track. We were stationary for about 20 minutes waiting for riders ahead to clear the section. Apart from that, another enjoyable event.

If you want some hammock expertise, your offices are literally only 4 doors away from the author of the splendid hammocking blog: http://www.hammocker.co.uk

My son writes it and he lives in Dale Street too… Small world.

I am 5’5″ and have a 50cm 2015 custom build Croix De Fer. I run 34c knobbly cross tyres and use 165mm cranks to minimise toe overlap. I have size 42 Shimano MTB 41 shoes.

I get a tiny amount of “rub” rather than full overlap and I don’t use mudguards.

Hope that helps…

Si

Officialiphone unlock are a bunch of money grabbing shysters regardless of the provenance of the iPhone in question…

Robbers, plain and simple. Despite repeated attempts to get money returned, I ended up out of pocket with a phone purchased from a good friend that I know works and is not “lost/stolen/blacklisted” as my daughter popped a sim in it and is using quite happily.

Avoid them like the plague, and the payment service “nochex” that they use.

Grrr

Sainsburys have Jura Superstition for £26 at the moment. It’s a nice drop.

Fell in love with Dufftown Singleton 15 yr old whilst on holiday in Scotland this Summer. Not sure how easy it is to get hold of down here though…

It’s all very subjective…

Singer 911 or Paris Dakar 959…

Genesis alt bars are £25 from any Madison/Genesis affiliated dealer. They are the bars that came on the 2015 Longitude and Caribou.

They are 710/720mm-ish wide and have a 20 degree sweep.

I have a pair on my Fortitude and think they are great. Like you, I didn’t want to splash out on Jones loops only to find I didn’t like them.

Had my Fortitude Race just over two years. Only change from stock is the 2.4 front tyre, ergon grips and Genesis Alt bars (from 2015 Longitude).

I love it as much now as when I first got it. It’s comfortable and ace.

Only very occasionally do I think that some bounce would be nice…

I had considered a 2015 Longitude, but missed that boat. Disappointed with the 2016 Longitude though. Won’t be looking into that any further, though I confess I do like the paint job on the frame set.

May look into trying some 650 wheels and 3″ tyres on the Fortitude. The trick is trying it out for clearance before spending any money on the idea…

31st April – 1st May 1994. To prevent the deaths of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna.

Not sure how I would achieve it, but that is what I would want to do.

They do fit…

It works fine. That is what I have on my 2015 Croix de Fer frame custom build…

Had to do this last week… Electric jig saw across the bottom of the door with a steady hand. Rested 3 doors on the B&Q workbench…

Already had the saw and bench, so cost me nothing…

My Croix weighs 23lb 3oz with pedals (Shimano M520 SPD).

Mavic Aksium disc wheels
SRAM Force shifters
Avid BB7 road cable disc brakes
SRAM Rival 50/34 crankset
Tiagra 12/30 cassette
Challenge 33c Cyclocross tyres
Madison Flux saddle
Condor carbon seatpost
3T stem and 44cm wide flat top drop handlebars

Had my Croix De Fer frame set custom build for getting on a week now and have to say I love it. Very comfy and lots of fun. Same frame as PP’s but with the carbon legged forks.

Nicely made and brings a smile to my face. What more do you want or need from a bike?

Si

Spent last week in the Zillertal. Hintertux valley. Lovely, but steep riding there too…

Yes the Heidelbergerhutte route is quite a slog. I rode up from Ischgl to the mid chairlift station, then to the Heidelbergerhutte, had an ice cream, then back to the middle station, then rode up to the Alpenhaus cafe at the top. Very hard steep hill. Still, racked up 5708 feet of ascent in just over 23 miles…

Am here now. Apartments are relatively cheap as it’s low season. Some awesome trails above Ischgl. If you stay in accommodation, you get an ” All Inclusive” card which gives free bus and chairlift travel, including bikes! Bike rental starts at 24€/day for a basic hard tail, up to 49€ for a dh bike. Weather has been a bit of mixed bag this week though… It is very much geared up for biking though.

7hrs 59mins for the Grande…

Damned hot and hard going. Not to mention borrowing a road bike as I haven’t got one of my own…

Water sprays and super soakers were a God send.

Probably do it again, though I said not at the time!

Boggy mess….

And the weather is horrible too. Rain, wind, sun, hail, even snow on the tops.

It would be a memorable ride…

I have a Gransfors Small Forest Axe and got their small splitting axe for Christmas… Incredible difference.

SFA is ace at what it is designed for, such as limbing felled trees etc, but the SSA is brilliant at splitting… I have now got through my entire woodpile since Christmas going through stuff that the SFA got stuck in really easily…

Dementia is a vile disease. There seems no rhyme or reason for it, or who it chooses to affect. My 75 Mum was diagnosed shortly after Dad died in early 2011. It became pretty clear soon after he died that he had been the “brains” of the operation. She would drive whilst he gave continuous instruction and directions. My brother and I went out with Mum in the car to see how she was managing and were frankly scared witless. We raised it with her GP who gave a full Mental Health assessment and diagnosed dementia and recommended that she not drive anymore. Obviously she forgot this almost immediately and we ended up disabling the car by disconnecting the battery. This worked for a while until “helpful” neighbours reconnected it for her!

Anyway, to cut a long and sometimes difficult story short, the MOT was up so I removed the car to take it the the garage, and it never came back. (As I have LPA, I sold it for her).

Many difficult and horrible arguments have happened since, but she accepts it now.

I am not saying it ever gets better, as the disease robs you of the person you have loved all of your life, but they will forget awkward issues like this in time. I have even managed to be able to have a laugh about Mum’s driving with her since…

Si

Is this what you mean?

http://respro.com/store/product/sticker-kits

I am 5’6″ and ride a 17.5″ Genesis Fortitude no problem… Try one out…

I run X king 2.4 on mine…No problem. Rode in the BearBones 200 which was sloppy and wet and had no lack of grip problems…

Genesis Fortitude Race…

Now with orange ESI chunky grips and Hope seatpost clamp as I couldn’t stop the supplied quick release from moving…

Felt

You’ll need a loan just for the repair bills, especially with the 2.5 engine. Steer clear if I were you… Lovely looking vans and practical too, just very poor engine design on the 2.5. High miler like you describe is asking for trouble.

Not as cool, but a good old Ford Transit would be cheaper to buy, and maintain. You just won’t look coolll

🙂

2.2 Conti Mountain Kings on the 26″ and 2.2 Conti X Kings on the 29″

Both bikes run fine and have only had one puncture in 1000’s miles.

That includes riding in the Devon Dirt and Welsh Ride Thing events…

Si

Hilux… Simple answer…

I think this is what I have had since taking part in the Welsh Ride Thing on the last May Bank Holiday…

Had a severe burning/stinging pain in my thigh, which continually came and went for the next week and since then, my outer thigh has had a numb patch…

Weird…

Oh… A couple more thoughts…

The Race is 1×10 and cannot be changed to more rings up front, as you cannot fit a front mech, there is no room.

I am 5′ 6″ and the 17.5″ frame is fine for me…

Si

Picked up my Fortitude Race last week. Covered 96 miles so far, on and off road. I come from an alloy 26″ hardtail running Kona P2 rigid steel forks so I am used to having no suspension. Reynolds 725 frame is more forgiving off-road. Coupled with the bigger wheels, it all seems to ride faster and smoother over rough ground.

The more I ride it, the more I love it.

A purely subjective reply I know…

Try one. I asked my LBS to get one on for me to try, and one ride was enough for me to decide to buy one. Having said that, as mentioned above by tthew, a High Latitude will allow front suspension, should you want it…

Si

I am 5′ 6″ with a 29″ inside leg.

Have ridden a 17.5″ 26″ wheel Felt hardtail for the last 3 years. Great fit.

Just ordered 17.5″ Genesis Fortitude Race 29″ wheel. Felt brilliant on my test ride.

Top tube height only slightly taller than my Felt. Does look a lot bigger than the 26″ though. Optical illusion I guess…

I am 5’6″ and have always ridden 26″ wheels. Currently, I ride a fully rigid 17.5″ framed bike.

I tried out a 17.5″ framed Genesis Fortitude last week and loved it. Seriously considering buying it too.

My decision will be based on if I can afford it and if I liked it or not. I don’t think I will consider wheel size as a factor.

Wow! I pay over £100 pcm direct debit…

South West Water, or Dick Turpin as I like to think of them…

Even by their own web site wizard, we should save about £500/year…

Will be changing to a meter…

Born Stroud
Grew up in Bournemouth, then Malvern
Now live in Torbay

Grab an external HD and drag the contents of the pictures, music, movies, downloads folders within your users folder to it. Should do the trick if you don’t get too many permissions errors… That will only back up data, not applications though…

I would go for a Western Digital Black series. Go for the 7200RPM version and you should be OK…

http://www.ebuyer.com/252715-wd-750gb-black-mobile-drive-wd7500bpkt

Cheers,

Si