3 barks and you’re out

Ortovox alpine traverse 40. Really like it, decent storage, can compress down pretty well if not full, and in addition to the normal opening at the top there’s a zip that opens the front so you don’t have to pull everything out to get to stuff at the bottom.

Nice, am heading there for tomorrow’s gig

Another vote for Round Tower, that was really good, as mentioned they have some interesting exhibitions on too which are worth a visit.

Bars/food – get a ferry over to Refshaleøen, there there’s a street food place and a Mikkeller bar (Mikkeller Baghaven).

Up towards Nørrebro is a place called Brus – great microbrewery and tasty food.

Around the meatpacking district is good: Mother does decent, reasonably priced pizza, Bodega 54 is a punk rock bar with a strong St Pauli theme, and opposite is a bar called Fermentoren which is good too. Mikkeller Bar Viktoriagade as also a good shout.

Torvehallerne is a covered market place with nice food stalls (some great Smørrebrød)

I found Christiania pretty weird to be honest. As amusing and novel as it was to see copious amounts of weed and hash being sold in the open, I felt a definite seedy undercurrent there.

So was Matthews disqualified?

Relegated but not disqualified from what I can see. So no podium for him

Looks like you’ve already ordered something but these would also work: Shimano TL-FC37 Bottom Bracket tool for Ultegra SM-BBR60

https://www.cyclestore.co.uk/shimano_tlfc37_hollowtech_ii_bbr60_bottom_bracket_socket-ID_86542?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw5ImwBhBtEiwAFHDZx8EQGGuBxUHgPgptmQkfqe0p5wyR8oqMTwOygmQEgv7nkpL_yn075hoCOrwQAvD_BwE

https://www.merlincycles.com/shimano-tl-fc37-hollowtech-ii-bbr60-bottom-bracket-socket-85886.html?utm_source=PHG&source=PHG&utm_medium=Affiliates&utm_campaign=genieshopping

I had a stubborn bb on my steel road frame and this did the job perfectly.

The other plastic adapter I had was absolutely crap and failed at the first attempt.

Depends how strong the wind and how steep the descent is. If it’s a long gradual descent and the headwind is strong enough that you have to pedal downhill into it, then I’d be climbing into the wind. Pedalling downhill into a headwind I find incredibly depressing, at least with a climb you know you’re going to be having to put a load of effort.

Have you seen this?

 https://www.vriendenopdefiets.nl/

Got a double ninja one and it’s great. Makes excellent jerk chicken

Some great pubs in Oxford. The Bear serves up a decent pint. Haven’t been for quite a while but Pierre Victoire was nice for a bite to eat.

The in-laws live just outside Norwich so I often take the bike down and do some exploring when we visit. Some really nice routes, great rolling countryside and above all some excellent pubs to stop in.

Weavers Way, Marriott’s Way, Peddars Way and Bure Valley Railway path all worth exploring.

Did you notice if it had the bottle cage adapter? I got one with mine that shifts the bottle cage further down (albeit I don’t have a piggyback shock but I think with that you should be able to fit a normal bottle – especially if you use a side loading cage like a Specialized Zee)

Update: I asked for some advice from Bird and they have advised their Aether A9 would be a good option fitted with a 150mm Lyric, as I dont do park or uplift and so techy climbs are part of every ride.

The Aether does look nice (esp with £500 discount right now!), and I could also add 4-pot SLX/Hope brakes. I’m just a bit concerned I would regret it when I inevitably pull up next to something burlier and get glamoured by the long/slack and extra travel on the downs, despite getting the benefits of something a bit more agile.

Has anyone got any experience or opinion about using long vs mid-travel around the uncurated mud and rocks of West Yorks?

I’ve got an Aether 9 set up with 150mm Lyrik Ultimates and just went with some Deore 4pots as I’ve found them to be reliable and powerful enough and it helped keep the price down. Ride generally all over the Tweed Valley so a mix of everything you describe and I absolutely love it. Never found travel to be a limiter.

If you flip the wheel round is it still the same (i.e. not a dishing issue)?

Absolutely love a thick slice of gala pie with a dollop of Stokes sticky pickle

The Guilty (Danish – Den skyldige) (not the Jake Gyllenhall version)

One-man show, claustrophobically confined to a single location – a drab office where deskbound cop Asger (Jakob Cedergren) responds to an emergency call.

I liked Hero (Mandarin).

Not seen it yet but Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Thai) gets a good write up

Sad times. Still got my old 2001 Strange E Six in the loft. Easton ultralite frame, original Hope Minis, Raceface turbines, Hope XCs, and Shimano XT. Was a great bike

I know on the Bambino you can hold the single/double shot button and it manually overrides the fixed volume so you can choose

Do this! Once you’re ready to go (with everything measured/weighed so you know what you’re dealing with), push and hold the double shot button for  7 – 8 seconds (this keeps the machine pushing through the puck at ~5bar), then release it and should go up to the full 9bar. Press the button again to end the shot once you’re at the required amount, which should be around 25-30seconds for a double.

For some of the machines you can customise the shots in the menu so they do this automatically rather than having to press-hold-release-press each time. 

Have got the barista pro and have managed to get pretty consistent coffee out of it. I bought some scales as I don’t fill the hopper up – sometimes have caff, sometimes have decaff, and sometimes half and half, so just measure out what i need each time and set the grinder to the max time setting. That way you’ll have removed one of the variables, and can just change the grind setting. Plus I sometimes found that when I just filled the hopper full, I was getting slightly different volumes even for the same grind time.

Train to Strasbourg, down the French side of the Rhine to Basel, then back up the German side. Beautiful villages, great wine country and really pleasant cycling. Point to point it’s not a massive distance each day but there are great options to make the days longer by heading further away from the Rhine – e.g. we spent a couple of nights in Mulhouse and spent that day cycling up into the Vosges and up the Grand Ballon.

I’ve had a Secan now for a few years and absolutely love it. Currently set up with 32mm tyres on Parcours Strade wheels, mudguards, mechanical ultegra and not massively fancy finishing kit but still under 10kg. Have also got a pair of hunt gravel x wides with a wider cassette and 42mm WTB resolutes. Just had a look on the website and they’ve got a Secan full build with 2x GRX di2 for just under £4k

How do people work the logistics?

Am fortunate enough to live about 4 miles from the finish in north Edinburgh, so a couple of years ago I did RTTS and rode down from Edinburgh, setting off late morning on Saturday, via Innerleithen and  Eskdalemuir, then picked up the return route about half 7ish just north of Carlisle.

An absolutely fantastic event, definitely on the to do list this year, thunder and lightning storm a bit further north when heading up the Devil’s Beef Tub made for spectacular views, and just the amazing sense of collective belonging with the other cyclists of all ages and abilities kept you going at all hours. Highly recommended!

Slow cooked lamb shank massaman curry, rice and roti, Chiang Mai, 2009. Sublime. 

Nice large côte de boeuf with all the trimmings for main

Panettone bread and butter pudding for dessert

Bellfield Brewery – Fire Island IPA https://www.bellfieldbrewery.com/collections/gluten-free-beer/products/gluten-free-beer-fire-island-ipa

Schneider Weiss – Alkoholfrei

Also second the recommendations for Guinness 0 and Free Damm

Yep, that turn off was closed when I went past a couple of weeks ago

Hangover and regret, with a hint of ‘the fear’, but as Kelvin says, that sense of promise and nervy anticipation (also goes well with a curry)

Pizza Pilgrims frying pan pizza. It works really well https://www.pizzapilgrims.co.uk/2017/06/frying-pan-pizza/

If it’s anything as good as the Thermos tumbler I’ve got it’ll be ace. The lid seals really well and it stays hot for an eternity. Lid needs a good frequent clean though otherwise it gets funky.

The wheels aren’t made by the same people who made ZZYZX forks about 25 years ago are they?

No, don’t think so, those were made by Bullet Bros. Turns out Zzyzx is a town in California, founded in the ’40s by some snake oil grifter. Maybe slightly ironic given the massive discount on this supposed £7k bike

“You’re gonna need a bigger boat”

A point per minute, this has been amazing

Another vote for pragmasis, it’s an absolute unit

Anyone used the Minirig ones?

Pizza – either 1926 in Dalry or if you’re in Leith then Razzo. In fact, do best of both – head to the Newbarns taproom then get Razzo pizza delivered there.

Thought this was going to be about Waitrose:

Budget, reviews, and what I’ll be using it for. What the pros ride has absolutely zero bearing on my choice.

MTB 1 – Bird Aether 9, absolutely love it and was able to build up a great spec within budget thanks to their flexibility.

MTB 2 – Surly Krampus 29+, bought frame then built up using combo of spares box, 2nd hand parts and a couple of new bits. This was before I got the Bird and I wanted a low maintenance MTB. Haven’t ridden this in an age as just use the Bird, esp as most of my riding is Tweed Valley and am enjoying a bit more squish rather than the rigid.

Road/Gravel – Fairlight Secan – bought frame then transferred old groupset and components onto it and have treated myself to 3 sets of wheels for it – Mason X Hunt 4 season, Hunt Gravel x wide, Parcours Strade. Again, absolutely love this bike, fits like a glove and super comfortable to ride.

I got some Easton/Raceface ARC 40s built up on Hope Pro 4. Been running these with WTB Ranger 3″ tyres on my Krampus and they’ve been great.