I’ve been using WTB Resolutes (700c x 42mm in tan wall) for a while now which get decent reviews and which I really like. Run them tubeless though.

If you’re in England check out the information here: Shelter – Rents and rent increases for assured and assured shorthold tenancies

I’ve just replaced a Lezyne Road Drive with a Topeak Race Rocket HP. The Lezyne routinely unscrewed valve cores and then finally unscrewed itself, separating into two parts and couldn’t reattach.

Given Ineos still have a full team I’ve been wondering if they could pull something off for G over these next couple of days in the mountains – next you’ve a flat stage and then hope he can hold his own in the TT. However even with their depleted teams, Vingegaard and Pogacar still look a step above.

He also seems to have this Wolf Jerky business on the go, though as with Rich Energy good luck getting hold of the stuff: Wolf Jerky

Another vote for somewhere near Briancon – we stayed just over the French-Italian border from Briancon in Bardonecchia a few years ago to watch the tour and did a few days cycling.

From Bardonnechia we did: a day up to the Izoard via Briancon (watched the tour at the top of the Izoard); Mont Cenis; train from Bardonnechia to Modane then rode Telegraphe, Galibier, and Montgenevre; then you can also do Sestriere another day and if you fly into Turin or Milan and have a car you can always head over to Colle de Nivolet on you way to/from Bardonnechia which is supposed to be pretty incredible.

Wragg is really putting him through it

When I was down for work I popped in to Peveril Of The Peak for a few which was fairly pleasant and looks to be pretty close to Deansgate. Another vote for Bundobust too

Did Edinburgh – Carlisle – Edinburgh at the weekend for the Ride to the Sun (well, down as far as Longtown) – just under 300km with about 3,200m of climbing. I ride reasonably regularly but that was over double my longest ride of the year so far.

The key for me was a cadence sensor and a HRM. As has been mentioned previously you want to keep you cadence to average high 80’s/low 90’s rpm and HR for me about 130. That meant I could average 22km/hr and feel ok, even with the first 140km being into a headwind. The cadence sensor and HRM were great as it’s so easy to get ahead of yourself up, especially up short sharp hills – those were the ones where I’d just shift up to the lowest gear and just spin away.

The other thing is to have easy-to-eat snacks on hand to graze on frequently. I’d not arranged my food as well as I could have done which was a bit of a pain but after a reshuffle it was much easier.

Just back from staying at Premier Inn – Southwark Station. Great location, loads to see and do within walking distance and great travel connections if you’re needing to get around.

Yeah that was decent, did the double too, well most of it, rather than head all the way into Carlisle I just turned off and joined the route at Longtown.

Headed down from Edinburgh via Inners, Ettrick, Eskdalemuir and Langholm. 140km into a headwind wasn’t the most fun I’ve had on a bike, but was dry enough and pretty sunny at times. The RttS route was good, forked lightning in the north whilst riding up the Devil’s Beef Tub was entertaining. Broughton to Loanhead was indeed ‘character building’, even on 32mm tyres. Good turnout though, great to see so many at Moffat and along the route

If you have a John Lewis near you, you should be able to try the Sonys there. I tried some recently and was v impressed, much lower profile than the CAs too.

I’d definitely do train. Even if the tube is on strike there are other options, e.g bus / Uber. Driving would be mental. I recently flew Edinburgh – Milan, Bologna – Heathrow, Gatwick – Edinburgh, all with just hand luggage so no waiting on baggage handlers.

First leg with Ryanair, the security queues were longer than I’ve ever seen at Edinburgh, though this was 6am and by all accounts they died down a bit later. The flight was fine, departure delayed by half an hour but made up almost all the time en route. Partner flew out a few days later, again long queues, flight delayed by 2/3hrs.

Bologna – Heathrow with BA. This was originally supposed to be Milan – Gatwick but flight was cancelled. This was fine for us though as we were in Bologna anyway but hadn’t originally booked to fly back from there as it was ridiculously expensive – cheaper to train to Milan and fly from there, BA were great though and transferred flights. Departure was an hour late due to incoming flight being delayed as a result of no fly/airspace restrictions for the jubilee flyover. No queues though.

Gatwick – Edinburgh with Easyjet. Flight delayed by an hour, no idea why. No queues but was hearing of some issues elsewhere in the airport.

Anyone picked up a Moon Swatch yet? I keep looking on the website but they’re still not on there.

I had a look at them when I was walking along Princes Street the other day in Edinburgh, they look ok, not a fan of the straps at all though.

Been having a look through this thread and it’s really interesting. I can appreciate that chronographs are nice watches, but I think I prefer a slightly less busy watch. It’s all personal taste though which is what matters, and if there’s a nice story behind it, all the better.

Which leads me to mine. I got this as a present for my 21st, 15yrs ago. I was a bit of an idiot at times back then but I’d chosen this with my parents and it’s a nice reminder that amongst all the questionable decisions you may make when you’re younger, you can make some good ones too.

Tag Carrera.

That frame and fork look identical to the dodgy Superstrata one on Indiegogo, both made by Arevo apparently: https://road.cc/content/tech-news/superstrata-3d-printed-bike-many-backers-disappointed-281301

Otherwise there’s a few km of gravel getting out of Dunkeld that’s OK in the dry but not fun on a road bike if it’s wet.

Not any more I don’t think, they’ve resurfaced the route alongside the Tay between Dunkeld and Tay Crossing so you can then join the B898

There’s a food truck here in Edinburgh who have about 3 or so Ooni Kodas hooked up and knock out some decent pizza. Can’t remember what size though.

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.

Ortlieb front/back roller classics. I’ve had a pair of the back rollers for about 10 years now, used daily/weekly for commuting and they’re still working perfectly. Great, simple design that just works.

Krystle Warren’s cover of Nick Drake’s Time has Told Me.

And don’t know if it counts as a cover as he sang on the original, but Liam Bailey’s acoustic version of Blind Faith:

Think I’m leaning more towards the Aether 9. Looks like the 9C won’t be available for the foreseeable future, but I can spec better components on the 9A with the cost saving. Should be able to get a Pike Ultimate, Super Deluxe Ultimate and Hope/DT XM481 wheels for my budget

I got an Aether 9 last year and absolutely love it. The ability to spec it how I wanted (though obvious constraints around availability) was great. It’s a burlier build than you indicate, I’ve ended up with Lyrik Ultimate, Deluxe Ultimate, Deore 4pots, a mix of SLX/XT groupset, DT Swiss M1900 and some chunky Maxxis rubber (Minion/Dissector)for under £3,400. Pedals really really well, and with some lighter tyres would make for a great all-day natural trail bike.

Bird were also excellent to deal with when I had any queries or requested to make changes to the spec.

I know he’s a bit marmite, but my partner’s been following the Joe Wicks plan and she’s found it brilliant.

You get a load of meal plans and workouts. The food has been genuinely delicious and you never feel like you’re starving yourself. Yes, it takes more prep and you are weighing out portions etc, but that’s been really helpful to see how easy it is to over-eat and also that previously our balance of meals wasn’t great. You can also make yourself snacks for the day which include chocolatey trail bars or pancakes which means you don’t have to go cold turkey on the treats.

The workouts are v good too, mainly HIIT ones which vary from 20mins to 40 or so which means she’s finding it much easier to fit into her day, morning, lunch or after work.

Lanshan 2 but buy a couple of lightweight tent poles rather than using walking poles? Decent size for 1 person, packs down small and 2 layer. https://3fulgear.com/product/ultralight-tent/lanshan2-classic/

Great stuff, and timely too, am off to Mull on Friday, can’t wait! Staying at Fidden Farm which is supposed to be pretty pleasant. Hoping the weather holds out

I’ve got the Sea to Summit collapsible silicone drip filter, not used it loads but seems to be alright, works best with a coarser grind – https://www.seatosummit.co.uk/products/camp-kitchen/x-brew-coffee-dripper/

I’ve got the Coleman FyreStorm PCS stove so was going to see if something like the Alpkit Brukit coffee press would fit into it which would be good.

I’ve got two wheelsets for mine, one with 42mm Resolutes on and the other with 32mm Gravelking slicks. The gravelkings have held up pretty well over winter which has included single track farm roads, so pretty gravel-ly. Comfortable tyres on the road and reckon they’d hold up pretty well on dry forest roads.

2x here too, same as Scotroutes – 50/34 and 11-40, great range for hilly, laden bike packing. Also means I can just switch wheelset for when I head out on road rides and still have a 2x up front.

Its huge fork offset

If you’re taking questions I’d like to know what this huge fork offset is too?

Yeah this is a bit odd. It’s in the context of the ‘regular’ 141, however on the Privateer site the fork is a 150mm Pike Ultimate with a 42mm offset – https://www.privateerbikes.com/collections/141/products/privateer-141-enduro-trail-complete-bike-sram-gx?variant=33135259484263. The Ohlins one is only marginally greater at 44mm. Neither seem particularly huge.

What’s your current 130mm 29er full sus? Would have thought something like that would be perfect for a do it all.

The facebook post from Warwickshire Rural Crime Team is even better: https://www.facebook.com/WarwickshireRuralCrimeTeam/

We recently attended an incident in the Alcester area whilst covering a reactive policing shift.
Following a report of assault, we were surprised when we arrived at the scene and saw what looked like our victim running away from our colleagues. Owing to our athleticism and not at all because our runner turned into a garden fence face first, we managed to apprehend the gentlemen and start figuring out what on earth had gone on…
So… Our apparent victim, turned out to be our suspect who didn’t want to hang around. Having taken his dog for a walk, and being challenged by a member of public for not picking up his dogs mess, our suspect decided to throw some nasty words and a few punches rather than apologise and do the right thing.
Having had his punches expertly dodged this should have given our suspect an indication that he had chosen the wrong course of action, however, undeterred, he sought help from a nearby plank of wood, followed by a loose paving slab.
Our actual victim, who, we shall call Neo, thankfully came out of the incident unscathed, but understandably bored of dodging and repeatedly disarming his attacker, he used reasonable force to restrain our suspect on the floor whilst he waited for police to arrive.
It is unfortunate for the suspect on this occasion that his victim happened to have an extensive military background and a rather impressive skill set. It is also unfortunate that the coordinates of where the suspect was restrained on the floor just so happened to correspond with the exact location of his animals prior bowel evacuation.
This gentleman was able to reflect on this altogether unfortunate incident in a police cell after a hot shower and will no doubt continue to reflect until he attends court for assault and offences under the dog (fouling of land) act.
P.s. Warwickshire RCT reserve the right to refuse to answer all questions relating to how a suspect managed to go from being detained by a member of public, to making a run for it in the presence of police officers. Any cake fines related to this incident will have been honoured by the time of this anecdote going to print

You may have done it already but I definitely recommend having a look on Ride with GPS, you can stick in distances and elevation too to narrow down routes to something that suits.

A bit over budget but there’s the Restrap top tube bag – the strap is set pretty far back from the stem so should work with the tubes: https://restrap.com/collections/the-carryeverything-range/products/top-tube-bag

6ft and on a large Aether 9 here too (up in Edinburgh if you’re ever near here). Absolutely love it. I’ve got a 200mm dropper with 20mm under the collar. Went with 150mm Lyrik Ultimates and it flies.

After 6/6:30pm weekdays works best for me too

Another vote for Revolut, so easy to use. I always withdraw some cash too when abroad as not everywhere takes cards as easily as here in the UK

I got the Alpkit filoment down gilet in their sale a while back, it’s been brilliant: https://alpkit.com/products/filoment-vest-mens

Yep, keen

Also, any recommendations for the best fitting mudguard for these – unlike the Fox I’ve been running there are no threaded holes for an RRP

I’ve got an RRP Proguard max on mine, works really well, doesn’t move at all – used some old innertube and heli-tape so it doesn’t rub where you cable tie it.

La Sportiva Tx4 GTX – I’ve got the mid version and they’ve been excellent.

The Formentor ride is stunning, I remember just having a massive shit eating grin for most of the way round. On the way back we also nipped up from the coll de la Creueta car park to the top of the Talaia d’Albercutx which was quite cool.

Inland can also be relatively flat (and still really pleasant), so if you’re thinking of a big day out and worried about ebike range, then you can plan accordingly – for example from PP to PdS you could always go out via the northern road via Lluc, then back via the Col de Soller then Selva, Campanet.

There are loads of bike hire shops there too, some of which may do shop rides that you can tag on to as well.