I’ve been using WTB Ranger tyres (29 x 2.4) for the last couple of years and they have been very good.

Not much drag on tarmac but still grippy enough on dry and damp trails.

They have survived Cwmcarn, The South Downs Way and numerous xc rides and bikepacking weekends with nothing more than normal wear and tear.

I actually think you’re better off with the charger not being able to talk to the car because that way you just Configure a default charging schedule in the ohme app to add 100% every time you plug the car in, and io will give you loads of slots outside the usual off peak hours so your house gets cheap elec for longer. If you can, just set a charging limit in the car to 80%.

Yeah, I think I’ll give that a go. It’s frustrating as I had 3 different charging schedules set up in the app depending on what trips I had coming up but I have started stressing that I’ll get in the car one morning and find it hasn’t charged at all.

People who aren’t American and say “ass”.

The word is “arse”, you arseholes!

I hope you have better luck with the Ohme app than I have, DrP.

I have a Kia EV6 (77.4kWh battery) and the Home Home Pro. Worked great for about 3 weeks but then the app kept failing to recognise the car when I plugged it in and assumed the battery was at 0%. Contacted Ohme and they sent me a ‘fix’:

“I would advise refreshing the API connection between Ohme and Kia.

You can do this by following these steps:

1. Make sure the charger is unplugged. This is always important when making any changes in the app.
2. Log out of your Kia app and log back in. Avoid using biometric login such as facial or finger recognition and manually type in your credentials to confirm they are correct.
3. In the Ohme app go to the ‘Manage My EV’ section and tap ‘Switch Car’.
4. Select a different make and model to your own car. Plug the charger into the car for about 30 seconds to save this change.
5. Unplug the charger and go back into the Ohme app, ‘Manage My EV section’.
6. Tap ‘Switch Car’ and this time select Kia again and when prompted to, log in with your Kia account credentials.
7. Once you have successfully changed the car, you should be returned to the ‘Manage my EV’ section with the battery status showing on the right side of the car image.”

That worked for a month or so until an Ohme app update about 3 weeks ago. Now if I try the ‘fix’ the app things I have a Kia EV9, which has a 100kWh battery.

Contacted Home again and their response this time was:

“Unfortunately, we are still experiencing some issues with the API connection for Kia.

Our Product team is currently investigating this issue and will look to resolve this as soon as possible.

As an Ohme Labs feature, communication directly through your vehicle (via API) is still in development. As a result, it may not work as intended from time to time.

For the moment you would need to disconnect the API link (by clicking Continue Without Account after selecting your car make) and then adjust your charge schedule slightly to ‘add’ a certain amount of charge rather than meeting a ‘target’.

We’re sorry for the inconvenience this may cause.”

I read that as meaning they haven’t got a clue why the app has screwed up.

It worked absolutely fine when I got the car last September but subsequent updates have screwed it up.

It’s not all bad though. The app can still tell the time and I get the Intelligent Octopus Go 7.5p/kWh tariff overnight.

@rocco

Not so stealthy ad: I’m selling my 2016 Trance, size M if that’s of any interest.

I’m in Newport. DM me for details.

No and no.

Get a Tailfin one. They are class. Well made and very secure. Can be fitted using the rubber straps or bolted on via pre-made holes in the base of the bag.

@bonni

Not a problem. Drop me a DM if you want to pop down. :-)

This one shows everything I used for a 3-day ride across the South Downs Way.

Podsac seat pack with cooker, change of clothes and light jacket (Probably ¾ full). Blackburn Outpost HB Roll with tent, sleeping mat and quilt. Restrap top tube bag with tools, spare tube, spare hanger and power bank. Restrap stem bag with snacks.

Replace the HB Roll with a small bar bag or frame bag and should easily fit everything you need for your trip.

Sonder Broken Road with a smattering of blue Hope goodness.

I have bike packed with a variety of set ups: seat pack, panniers and Tailfin Aeropack (the best but expensive) on the rear and bar bag and fork bags at the rear.

For the trip you are proposing I’d opt for a saddle pack, bar bag, fuel cell and maybe a small or medium frame bag. That set up will allow you to spread the load nicely and have easy access to everything.

As @scaled say above the Podsac bags from Planet X are good quality and great value for money.

Where are you based, @bonni? If you are anywhere near Newport you’re welcome to come and have a look and trial of the bags I have.

Lezyne and Topeak make bottle cages with attached tool storage.

Inner tube can be strapped/taped under your saddle.

It taught me from an early age to know your enemy. I absolutely ****ing despise the Tory party and everything those ****s represent with every single fibre of my being

Very much this.

Scargill didn’t do the miners any favours but Thatcher was out to destroy the unions in any way she could. She effectively weaponised the Police against the strikers and didn’t give a sh*t about families or communities. She was pure evil.

I have been using an Alpkit Soloist for the last 4 years. As a first tent for bikepacking it has been excellent. It’s light, packs small and is easy to erect, but has its drawbacks:

The standard model is quite short. I’m 6’ tall and only just fit in it. 

The front entrance door is a terrible design. Too low and hangs inside the tent when opening. Not good when it’s raining.

I have now ‘upgraded’ to the Alpkit Jaran 2. It’s not much heavier than the Soloist (800g extra) but has much more room, a taller ‘ceiling’ and 2 side entrances. 

I got it for £130 in a sale at the start of 2023. At the time the rrp was £180. Unfortunately it looks like they have hiked the price quite a lot and it’s now £250!

Try this:

Press the Power (wake/sleep) and the Home button at the same time.
Keep pressing both buttons for at least 10-15 seconds.
Let go of them when the Apple logo appears on the screen.

Ah, but the 12 Days of Christmas are still going at New Year.

Where are you based, @preseli?

If you are anywhere near Newport/Cardiff you’re welcome to come and see if the Giant mudguards I have will fit your Revolt.

I don’t know if they have changed, but I have a 2019 Revolt Advanced and the Giant mudguards for it were shockingly bad. A pain to fit and rubbed the paint on the fork.

I now use clip one but if you want ‘proper’ fitted ones I’d look at offerings from SKS. They make loads of different types and hopefully something will suit.

I have an iPad Pro with the Magic Keyboard. It’s a very good combination but is essentially the same as using a laptop.

It’s about £1,300 for an 11” iPad Pro & Magic Keyboard, £1,750 for the 12.9” & Magic kb and £1,150 for the 13” M2 MBA (all 256GB). The MBA also has better battery life than the iPad Pros.

When the time comes to replace them I will get a MacBook Air.

My parents always had boiled egg with a curry when I was a young un but no one else I knew ever did.

Fast forward to my mid-40’s and I discovered egg curry as a breakfast dish in an Indian street food place in Cardiff. Absobloominglutely lovely.

Our local Indian takeaway does a few curries that have hard boiled egg in them.

So, to answer the OP’s question, no, you are not in a minority of one. :-)

Diablo on the bars and a helmet-mounted Joystick is a pretty good minimum combination for easier, less tech trails. However, battery life becomes a problem if you run them on high settings.

As above, get the biggest bugger you can afford for the bars.

I had the same fault on my Flashcharger a couple of years ago.

Bontrager/Trek were useless in trying to get a replacement rubber cup thingy. They just didn’t want to know and didn’t care that an expensive pump was made useless for the sake of a part that would probably cost pennies.

Drivers who fail to stop before the solid white line at traffic lights but drive a metre over it before stopping.

Mucky Nutz MugGuard.

Shimano XT SPD’s and Shimano XC5 shoes.

FaceBook and Twitter would implode due to the amount of fuckwittery that would be posted and the aliens would have a little look around before declaring the planet a lost cause and flying off again.

Yes.

He had obviously not long got the bike, taken it out of the box, bolted on the bars without thinking about it and gone riding.

I had this with a set of RS Yari forks I bought from Bird a few years ago. They were ex-display forks. Trailhead threw up the error message when I entered the etched serial number.

I e-mailed SRAM/RS with the number and a couple of photos and they confirmed they were legit forks but the CSU had been replaced, maybe due to damage to a stanchion.

Aeropress is extremely easy to use and simple to clean.

I have a coffeee subscription and the supplier grinds the coffee to suit Aeropress. No problems so far.

The regular Aeropress can make enough for two people. The hardest part is pouring the coffee from one cup in to the other without spilling any.

The Aeropress Go is great for Bikepacking (or use in the office) but only makes enough for one cup.

I have never used my Aeropress to make an espresso though. I always top up the cup with boiled water to make a ‘long’ coffee.

I have 29 x 2.4 WTB Ranger tyres on my hard tail. They came fitted to the bike from new and have been good. Whack the pressure up for road and gravel and drop it for trails and xc.

Not very good for muddy conditions but a good all-rounder otherwise. I’ve ridden the SDW, Cwmcarn, The Gap, lots of canal tow paths and plenty of xc and road miles on them.

I have a 2019 Revolt Advanced and it has been great. I am 183cm (6ft) tall and have a ML. The L was too long and I felt too stretched on it.

Head angle is 71deg and hasn’t really been a problem except on very steep stuff. The newer models have 72deg head angle.

The press fit bb was never really a problem but did creak every now and again. When it finally died at about 2,500 miles I replaced it with a screw-together Wheels Manufacturing bb that has been faultless (now on just under 5,000 miles).

As mentioned above the Giant wheels aren’t great but are perfectly useable. The lock nut on the rear hub bearing came loose a few times but a bit of thread lock seems to have solved that. I use the original wheels most of the time but also have a set of 650b wheels with chunkier 47mm tyres that I use for longer off-road rides.

I’ve done 100+ mile road rides and 40+ mile gravel rides without any problems. The bike is comfy enough (after changing the saddle) both on- and off-road and I’d get another if I was looking to change it.

Oh, yes!

That is very nice.

In true recommend-what-you-have style, have a look at the Sonder Frontier. I built a frame up last year and it’s a cracking budget build. I have run it rigid and with Reba forks and been happy with both set ups.

Not the lightest frame at 1.9kg in Large but well thought out with rack mounts and dropper routing.

Ellie Fant

Jack Doors

Going to the Newport event on 19th October.

I like the Restart range of frame and top tube bags. The wider main straps hold the bags more securely for less flappage. They are designed as well so the straps on the frame bag don’t interfere with the straps on the top tube bag.

Try Elephant. It’s an Admiral offshoot and has been good for both my children.

Son is now 22 and pays under £500 for a 1.2 Suzuki Swift.

Daughter is 18 and this year’s premium was £1,150 for a 1.2 Skoda Fabia.

I bought one of the Restrap Bumper Bars for my gravel bike but found the (quite sharp) ends of it snagged the brake hoses and gear cables. Lovely bit of kit but I took it off as I didn’t fancy getting holes worn in the hoses.

It works! :-)

I have Tailfin cages that I use with their 5l cage packs. Expensive, yes, but well made, strong and not too bulky.

Sonder are great with regards to customising a build.
When I bought my Broken Road they happily fitted Shimano and Hope kit to it for me. Some parts I supplied and the rest they sourced.

You should be alright with the Dial or the Frontier.
Check the geo on both and see which best suits your needs.