I have the Draper station from Amazon for guitar work including pedals. Just got another after the first one died (after about 2 years). I nearly replaced it with a Weller as I hate uneccessary landfill/wastage, but on reflection it worked fine and did a lot of graft for about 1/6th of the price.

Hate to say it…RTFM. The new style front mechs have a little indicator on for setting the correct cable tension, it doesn’t take much and too much tension will stop it from working properly.

Unsure of ETA but there’s a Tailfin-esque axle mount for the Ortlieb quickracks coming soon, along with 2 new rack sizes:

https://youtu.be/em6ecHlcm0c?feature=shared&t=329 (from 5min30)

After the first attempted delivery he had told me he needed a refund as he’d just purchased new bars as he couldn’t wait for mine to turn up.

Did he tell you this over eBay? If so point this out to eBay as they will be able to see the conversation. As long as you posted them within the timeframe on the listing by the service specified this isn’t a valid reason to request a refund.

Yeah you need an underquilt, otherwise any insulation underneath you just gets compressed. I like hammocking in warmer climes but staying warm in the UK generally doesn’t make it worthwhile

Again though, comes back to the fact she originally planned to ride in SE Asia but then decided to add some zigzags in Europe instead, and specifcally chose to go up to NL for the flat. I’m still not entirely sure how the W coast of the US is within the rules either.

Obviously geopolitics are inescapable and out of anyone’s control, but there’s a distinct lack of humility in announcing you are going to beat the record by such a large chunk of time when you are so clearly using those circumstances to your advantage.

Oh and what’s a diagonal on a sphere?

I think the random zigzag up to Amsterdam would probably come close. Lael herself admits she chose to do more miles in W Europe then fly to Aus because it would be quicker than riding in SE Asia. Then announcing she is going to try and beat JG’s time by 2 weeks when JG rode through Russia, Mongolia and China is a bit cheeky.

Yes flying is inevitable but JG’s and MB’s (both) routes were all fairly consistent in their horizontal progress, with flights generally from/to the edges of land masses.

I don’t imagine anyone would doubt the impressiveness of cycling 160mi a day for 4 months unsupported. However doing diagonals to make up milage for the record, then skipping big rideable chunks on a plane isn’t really ‘riding around the world’ in my book. And that claim is absolutely valid for scrutiny even from the confines of my keyboard given that is what is being pushed by/for sponsors and publicity.

Yeah she talks about it in the podcast, her original plan was a flight to Thailand to skip some countries that a solo American female would understandably want to avoid. However doing more diagonal milage in Western Europe and North America instead seems a very artificial way to chase the record.

Impressive yes, but the RTW rules followed to the letter (km?) for record-breaking purposes probably wouldn’t constitute most people’s idea of ‘cycling around the world’

EDIT: Or is Lael’s route map missing a leg in Asia?

Spoke calculators – any recommendations for one over another and why?

The new version of the Roger Musson book gives you access to his spoke calculator. I haven’t built a wheel for a while but I used to use the ‘old’ version and will probably upgrade when I next need it:

https://www.wheelpro.co.uk/support/spoke-length-calculators/

Rim measurements – flat area, tape measure and blocks, measured 3 or 4x across the ID then averaged – likely to be accurate enough?

I think making some ERD sticks is the way to go here, using the nipple/washer combo you’ll build with:

Nationwide is now Aviva as well

How do the ION tees fit? I’m an awkward between M and L depending on the make

I have some, they are OK – wouldn’t pay £50 for them (I’m sure I got them from Sport Pursuit for half that). I’d say go for a small

Pretty sure mine is on my home insurance (Aviva), but with the ambiguous ‘covered’ clause as above

Not familiar with those brakes but the Shimano equivalent would be to remove the bleed screw on the lever (rotate the bike/bars first to keep this level to the ground) then push the pistons with something plastic (tyre lever). You don’t need to remove loads of fluid, it will probably just well up around the bleed screw when you re-insert.

Little mini Voile straps instead of the velcro ones can help as long as its not too top heavy

I have both, but not ridden the G1800s yet so only have ‘first impressions’

I’m not a fan of the 20Five rim, they are relatively narrow (19mm) by today’s standards and have a deep well in the middle that makes them difficult to tape (you also need a funny size tape, 23/24mm). One of mine corroded around the valve hole within about a year and Hope weren’t interested. However as with any Hope wheels, worst case if you have rim problems you’re still left with a nice pair of hubs to sell on or build onto something else.

G1800s are noticably wider (24mm) and come taped. The low spoke count is a bit offputting (24 IIRC), I’m sure plenty of people have battered them around without issue but they are not the lightest wheels so I don’t think a few more spokes would have made much difference. The hubs are probably absolutely fine they just won’t hold much value by themselves.

Thanks all, there’s definitely plenty of heart over head options but not this time unfortunately

I use anything that will export to a GPX track (cycle.travel is my favourite for road), plug the Etrex into laptop via USB and select ‘mass storage’ then just copy and paste the GPX file across. I wish more GPS units worked like this than faffing around with syncing.

Might need pics for this one

There’s a step by step guide for installing maps here:

How to Use Your Garmin eTrex GPS for Bikepacking

Probably worth trying a few, the screen is quite small/basic so you want just the right amount of detail. I have used VeloMap (https://openmtbmap.org/velomaporg/) for touring before as it shows cycle routes clearly. I’ve also been meaning to try this one:

https://github.com/citizenfish/bikepackmaps/releases

I think you’ve got the right mount, they just don’t work with a lot of (most?) frames for the reason you have found. I had this problem and ended up just buying a flat mount caliper :(

Have a morning bump as well, because I have the same question

Surprisingly difficult to find these days in the usual shops, Scarpa used to make a non-goretex version of their Delta boot but that’s now been discontinued. Altberg make some shorter boots but chances of finding anywhere to try them on are slim.

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/p/dhb-trail-mens-long-sleeve-drirelease-jersey?color=ocean-depths

Just received one of these, I paid £18 and am happy at that price (now £10). Nice soft material, looks and feels almost like cotton. Good fit as well, slightly longer in the body for cycling.

If you sign up for Discovery+ you get a fun game as an extra: try and find literally anything else on there you’d want to watch. Ghosthunting with Paul Chuckle? Vinnie Jones in the country?

I swear by cycle.travel – it will always route to favour quiet roads and lanes based on traffic data, and has a gravel mode. It’s free but for £2 a month you can get also get an OS map layer to check/adjust your route.

My personal preference would be a dry bag strapped to the top of a rack with most stuff in. There will be bit of a weight penalty, but no sway – also the added simplicity of just grabbing one bag from the bike when you reach your stop. A dual ended dry bag (like the Alpkit one) is good for keeping jackets, food etc easily accessible at one end. Voile straps or similar are worth the investment for lashing.

I’m not a fan of big bar bags as they get in the way of hand positions (or worse, shifting) on drops. Something like the Alpkit Toploader / Straightcut bagel bag is about right for snacks, camera etc though.

Finally a small partial framebag is good for anything heavy (tools usually) but you might need to switch to side loading bottle cages

Hopefully some food for thought, but there’s no right or wrong way really. Alpkit stuff is all perfectly good IME

EV1 is very easy and relaxed cycling, it does get a bit repetitive though as the southern portion is nearly all cycle track through pine forests. You are always close to the sea but usually on the wrong side of the (massive) dunes! I had envisioned taking a dip whenever I fancied, but it was actually a bit of an undertaking and involved leaving the bike a long way from the beach.

I ended up cutting inland on the ‘Velo Francette’ for a change of scenery and got a ferry back from Caen. Not trying to put you off EV1 but I think France is easy and pleasant enough for cycle touring that you shouldn’t restrict yourself.

https://cycle.travel/map does a great job at showing the EV and non-EV cycle routes clearly to see how you could link them up

I’ve toured on a GRX 46-30 chainset + 10sp 11-40 MTB cassette using a Tiagra 4700 mech with a <£10 Sunrace extender. Things might have moved on (the Shimano Cues stuff), but that was about as big as I could get at the time using brifters without having to bodge anything.

I have big feet (12), no problems with hitting my gravel panniers. They’re small enough that you can shift them on your rack a little bit to keep them out of the way.

I’ve done some 2 week road/gravel summer tours with just them and a small handlebar bag – capacity-wise I reckon that was about the same as a bikepacking set up, but much simpler to pack/unpack. No problems with durability of the lighter material either.

As above only real downside is that they won’t expand  if you need to stock up on food or whatnot. Also in the grand scheme of things they’re not *that* much lighter than the full-fat 20L Ortlieb back rollers which offer a lot more flexibility space-wise

The Abisko Lite’s are pretty slim

Ah I’ve mentioned it on a few threads but I’ve used ‘Effetto Mariposa Caffelatex Tubeless Plus 20-25 mm Strip 2 Units With Valve’

Might give this a whirl, £25 a pair including valves isn’t bad

My 216 (fairly old model) with 2x drives is pretty noisy, so you’re not alone. As above I couldn’t work out why it wasn’t sleeping the drives, but apparently it is better – and they are designed – to run 24/7.

Easier to say with 2 drives but I’ll just replace with SSDs when one dies (or they come down in price enough).

Between St Malo and Cherbourg I don’t really think it matters, certainly not enough to inconvenience yourself! I did it anticlockwise and didn’t know there was a preferred direction. Best day was between Carentan and Cherbourg so if anything I’d prefer to finish with that.

Definitely a case of Shimano doing the right thing for once and saving people from chucking away otherwise working shifters. Nice one!

Also kudos to SJS Cycles for stocking these little bits and bobs, saved me many times.

I did Roscoff to Cherbourg about this time last year, it was ace. First 2-3 days were quite hilly as it hugs the coast but it mellowed out after that. Getting past/through St Malo was a bit manic.

Yep I run an 11-40 Deore MTB cassette with 4700 shifters and mech, can’t speak for an 11-46 but it works fine in terms of pull and spacing. I use a cheapo extender:

https://www.merlincycles.com/sunrace-rear-derailleur-extender-link-134836.html

Not tried them yet but I have a set waiting to go on. Read nothing but good things including about the puncture protection. Also Mike Hall used a set for the Tour Divide which is good enough for me :)