As other people say, it’s the baggage handlers which throw your bike off/on the plane not Easyjet, Ryanair, BA etc.

Recently I had a rear wheel destroyed on a flight from Alicante to the UK. They had obviously stacked a hundred and fifty people’s 20kg suitcases on top of my bike box. That said, part of the Terms of Service is that the carrier accepts “custody” for your luggage from the point you drop it off to the point you collect it.

However good luck trying to get money back if they damage it. This can’t be avoided when flying a bicycle so ensure you pack the bike well or ‘invest’ in a hardcase (not very practical). Sometimes I just bag my bike and in theory this means they cannot stack things on top of it and so the theory goes treat it with a little more respect as it is obviously a bicycle not just another cardboard box…

I find it breaths extremely well and the pit vents are very effective. Coupled with a lightweight long-sleeve baselayer I find it a very good combination for most scenarios, at least for British weather anyway.

Under a hundred quid? Any waterproof I bought for less than a hundred quid seemed to only last a season to two. If you can stretch another fifty quid I highly recommend a RAB Firewall which is on the heavy side but it’s 3 layer and easily the most sold breathable waterproof I’ve owned. It has pit-vents which span the entire underarm and looks pretty good too. Definitely recommend. It’s been on several multi-week bikepacking trips and after a good wash looks new.

A free unicorn once we leave the EU.

I prefer putting the pillow directly into the hood of the sleeping bag. You can buy pillows designed for such.

… Sorry if this has been mentioned already – but does anyone think you’d get a 650b+ in there? Say a 2.8″? Looks like a great bike. I did the GDMBR and a lot of off-pavement touring in Spain with a the Longitude 2017 which runs 2.8″ tires. Plus tires are overkill for gravel riding but great on the rough stuff. Would be very interested in a Vagabond for my up coming trip to South Africa as it’s mostly gravel/service roads….

+1 for Genesis bikes. They are good value and you can get really good deals on last year models. I had about 1500 quid budget and found an out of year Longitude for £660 and spend the rest of the money on bikepacking equipment and flights to Banff, Canada. 8)

You don’t say when or where you’re from? Scotland and Wales have an abundance of single-lane, quiet paved roads. Wales might not be the Rockies but some of the hills are bloody steep! Scotland is better for ‘get away from it all’ as the highlands are very sparsely populated and you have the ‘right to roam’ which as far as I know means you can camp anywhere so long as you leave the following morning. Only advisory about Wales/Scotland is the weather, May is probably the best for Scotland and Wales can get nice weather anytime (but can be cold/wet anytime too).

Tomorrow I’m taking my 27.5+ bike to the Sierra Nevada and then I’m cycled north via the National Parks. Judging from my research spain has an absolute abundance of cycle-friendly quiet paved/unpaved/single tracks which network the entire country. The routes are called the ‘GR’ i.e. the GR274 which runs through a Parque National. See HERE[/url] for a 30 day off-pavement route but maybe it’s tougher than you’d like. Beyond that have a look at EuroVelo routes – a mix of low-traffic or greenways throughout Europe! The Rhine cycle sounds nice as it’s nearly all dedicated cyclepaths.

Interesting thanks – is there much difference in how they ‘feel’? I’m assuming the Saints are smaller? I mostly do cross-country ‘bikepacking’ so nothing too white-knuckle.

Great, I’ll try again tomorrow. Thanks for all the advice!

Damn! Thanks for helping me out though.

… so when I get some tubeless tape should I remove that red one first?

There are a few points where it looks like this:-

There’s a couple of scratches but they don’t look like that they are holes too.

I’m not sure it is – I just assumed it would be given it was stated as tubeless “ready”…. is there a telltale way to determine if the tape is proper tubeless rim tape or not?

Hi guys,

Yeah it came with the tape already in place. I ran these tubed for a few trips already. I haven’t put any sealant in yet… would that fix the leak or is something seriously wrong?

I bought a Longitude by Genesis. Really happy with it as all owners I’ve spoken to are.

I ended up buying a new 2016 for £670. I’ll replace the bars with Velo Orange Crazies and maybe thinking about a front rack. So far the bike is really fun to ride and handles great. I’m gonna take it to Wales for a shakedown soon =)

By the way, does anyone know if the Surly 8/24 Racks fit the Longitude? And if anyone could recommend a handlebar bag too, that would be appreciated!

Steezysix, thats a fine setup! Any advice on sizing? I’m 5’10 with 31 leg, thinking the medium but many people seem to go large with mountainbikes?

Thanks all! Seems that either way I’ll end up with a bike that’ll do me well – I’m headed over to try the GDMBT this year.

Just a couple of questions forsomeone unfamilar with bicycle mech. What’s the difference bewtween a tapered and straight headset?

And also would either bike be okay for a straight out swap with Jones bars withoutchanging shifters etc?