Weekend away in the Black Mountains, fairly wet but very enjoyable trails, thanks for the tips from Welshfarmer!

The Blackburn outpost uses a version of Rixen and Kaul fitting, but I had one ages ago and it rattled off road and isn’t very adjustable, so not a direct alternative in reality. Looks incredibly well engineered and is very expensive, but will be worth it for some.

I like both of those; flat bar bike is more of an ATB/town bike to me, the drop bar has nice lines. Great that it’s UK made, and all power to them for that. But inevitably for something UK made, the spec of the build is functional and durable rather than decent value for money. Yep, they have to make some money somewhere, but for someone like me it’s not something I could bring myself to drop £2k on sadly (or even with a C2W discount). It’s the kind of bike i’d fashion from a 2nd hand frame and spare parts, but well done to them for expanding the range beyond the traditional/nostalgic one they normally occupy.

This discussion is interesting to me because it’s based on a misperception of the landscape and how it should be used, and much of it has been covered off in this discussion already. But I will reinforce the point that the Scottish highlands are ecologically deprived, and that so-called ‘wild’ places across the entire UK are venerated for their current natural beauty. But this is just a surface appreciation, which fosters the idea of ‘shifting baseline syndrome’ applied to nature, see this from Monbiot and co.: https://oceana.org/blog/daniel-pauly-and-george-monbiot-conversation-about-shifting-baselines-syndrome/

Or: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/dec/20/selective-blindness-lethal-natural-world-open-eyes-environment-ecosystem

The Lakes, Peaks, Wales’ ’empty’ mountain areas and countless other places, are seen as beautiful and in many cases are venerated and preserved as such by historical land use, or by national park status. But this view that we need to ‘protect’ these areas and keep them in their current state, is driven by a visual nostalgia, and ignores the ecological poverty of these areas. It’s a whole other discussion about what should happen, and it quickly ignores the whole host of subtleties on the spectrum of possibilities and goes straight into ‘humans excluded, introduce bison’ or some such. I cannot recommend enough this book, which should be the bible for anyone interested in how landscapes become what they are, and illuminates the millenia of human intervention, particularly on these isles (Yes, it’s English in the title, but equally applicable to the UK): W.G. Hoskins, The Making of the English Landscape.

Masts and pylons are totemic in terms of visual intrusion to a landscape, but the overgrazing from Deer in Scotland keeps the hills treeless and ecologically homogenous on a vast scale. What’s the priority to address and what truly is the balance of impact?

I’ve got a Titus el Viajero which is my main/XC/bikepacking bike. Got it second hand as a frame only, and it rides really nicely, and takes 100-120mm forks (or rigid). Doesn’t have many mounts but that doesn’t matter much. For TT bag, tailfin ones have rubberised plastic feet and are as secure as a bolt on one. For a rear rack you can use an ortlieb quick rack with seatstay brackets, or the newer one that is due to come out that mounts to a special axle with studs. The frame has a decent triangle for a bag though, and if 68.5 HA is too steep for you then you could use a angle adjust headset…i’ve not felt the need. PX to C2W options, though not sure what the standard builds are like. EDIT – also has tons of tyre clearance, up to 2.6

Here’s mine rigid:

What are those smooth country roads you speak of? :-)

Cheap gravel forks from banana industries with 3 pack mounts. £130 405mm a/c, 45mm offset, so not too far off what you need, it’s got a 15mm axle though but you can get a converter sleeve easily enough:

https://www.bananaindustries.co.uk/collections/wheels/products/olsen-fork

Cheap: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Yosoo-Health-Gear-Bicycle-Adapter/dp/B08Y6D85NM

More expensive: https://www.spacycles.co.uk/m20b0s119p4688/HALO-15mm-to-12mm-Thru-Axle-Adapter

Tons of cheap converters on ebay and amazon.

Also some great insight into the true cost of a posh ebike, and the frankly insane maintenance liability with motor reconditioning etc. (even if it’s for precaution only). Have also noticed crazy asking prices on ebay for stuff, and they never seem to get reduced despite I assume zero interest and listing being there for months…

Have a bunch of bits to offload including possibly a Gen5 Soul frame, but prices are almost too rubbish for the effort involved. Luckily it’s just that I have too much in the shed and thinning things out. Must resist looking for bargains though!

You managed to talk about the fixplus straps without once mentioning ‘Voile’, ‘copy’, or ‘bandwagon’, nice going!

Have owned a V3 Camino for 4.5 years now. Pretty happy with it, and as said it’s at the mtb end of gravel bikes. It’s not that swift on road even with semi-slicks, and the V4 (current version) is slacker and longer than mine, so bear that in mind – it’s a very different bike to the Topstone above. It’s very versatile though, and tough. Sizing, their guide is about right. I’m 185cms and went for an XL as that’s my preference for road/gravel bikes, as I wouldn’t want to size down on this kind of bike. Think with that HA there’s little worry of toe overlap too.

Yep, have this issue. Disconnecting and connecting are really stiff, and water still spills out a little. Don’t know why it does it either. I need it as my wingnut pack isn’t the easiest to get the bladder in and out so it kinda needs de-coupling each time.

Still, I’ve never really lost the love for hydration packs, and they’ll come back again I think. Never been interested in muddy waterbottles for the majority of the year that mud gets kicked up. Even if you have a lid to keep dirt away.

I’ve spent the last 4-5 years going round the houses with gravel bike in many guises, and XC bike in various trim and rigid/HT. All for riding mixed terrain on varying degrees of difficulty.  I basically got bored of the gravel bike compromises in the end, and prefer the compromises from a rigid or HT 29er, built up fairly light. I prefer mixed terrain rides to have a decent amount of off road, and the XC HT (or rigid) covers that so well. My gravel bike is now for mainly road based / lower proportion of off road and it’s good for that.

Your Scott is the ideal machine already, just change tyres to more XC speed, maybe not semi-slicks like thunder Burts though. Mezcals/XR2’s always a good shout for speed yet comfort and decent enough capability. Alt-bars with some decent sweep and inner bar end all a good shout. Whatever you do, don’t gravel-ify your xc bike, as you’ll just make the XC bike inherit the shortcomings you already identified on your Topstone. Don’t get narrow flat bars, don’t get skinnier tires and pump them up hard. The trade off will be less tarmac speed, but more enjoyment of the off road sections, and more comfort overall. Rigid mtb fork is a good shout, but if you’ve already got a 100mm fork with lockout for instance, then nothing wrong with just using that?

In short, yes.

But things change, and they could be unsettled from routine even if they know the place. They’re still young enough to react differently to the same thing. Just try and stay calm and don’t ‘pick up the rope’ for a tug of war when things get shouty.

I’ve a 4 and 6 year old, and I get double screamy crying when they argue who will open the door first some mornings. It’s infuriating but you’ll find a way.

boxes of toot mostly by the looks…some of the tools might be ok…(no issue with Superstar, just that colourful stuff is fairly horrible)

I’ve got a pair of ragley trig forks I bought in the wiggle fire sale, which i’m not going to use now. Could give you a good price on them, PM me if interested…

I wouldn’t say that steel=more comfort to be honest. As with bike frames, any material can be made to feel comfortable or uncomfortable. I’ve used steel forks on a few rigid mtb over the past few years (Surly Krampus fork, Kona Unit/P2 fork, both straight steerers), and i’ve found those examples to be less forgiving and less comfortable than the carbon fork I have. This will all depend on the fork though, and the headline fork weight tends to be an incentive. I have an exotic monocoque 29er fork, and it’s not that light at all (about 800g), but it is markedly more comfortable because it does flex noticeably (in the right way), and combined with the vibration damping quality of carbon, it’s a nice comfortable fork. Obviously front tyre size/pressure needs to complement this.

There are quite a few manufacturers who are branding open mould carbon forks as their own, and I think it’s the same with Brother cycles. As mentioned above, there are a fair few identical forks at various price points, and £350 seems quite a bit to be honest. If you go down the generic route, then at least get one at a decent price like these from Banana Industries (Olsen badged open mould jobbie): https://www.bananaindustries.co.uk/products/fugazzi-mountain-klone-carbon-boost-fork-15mm-axle?_pos=3&_sid=63d2fa6f3&_ss=r

^^that sentiment comes out a fair bit (see thread about new Boardman)

It’s only true on a surface level though: geometry, wheel/tyre size, improved componentry tech, are the main and significant differences. If it was just a cynical re-hash of a 90’s bike it’d be a fair comment, but it’s a long way from that. Having an All Terrain Bike developed in a considered way that covers many bases, is a good trend to be coming through.

The other difference is that 90’s mtbs were an all rounder by default, they were marketed as ‘mountain’ bikes and that’s where their development ultimately went over the following decades. These are being marketed for exactly what they look to be good for, and the more the better.

I’d still like a Doggler or Dualist too – especially if it was on C2W.

+5 for Terreno Dry! Got some in 40c as a speedier tyre for less gnarly trails, and they’re great. Much grippier than they look, went tubeless easily, slightly larger than billed, good on road. Can easily see these being a 3 season tyre, and they’re supposed to last well due to the graphene compound apparently…

Saw this tent in my local Go Outdoors and it seems pretty decent, but the inner groundsheet is very thin and a fairly low hydrostatic head. I’d be getting the footprint for it to prevent damage to this bit, if you haven’t already.

As with many UL tents, this is one of the compromises, and also an added cost/weight consideration. Still, excellent value though.

“30 years later we’ve almost come full circle”

Only on the surface. This comment comes up every time a bike like this is announced. I get the sentiment, and it has some truth in it, but there’s more to it. The 90s mountain bike was meant for mtbing, whilst this is a flashy hybrid (which isn’t a bad thing at all!). The geometry of the modern bike is going to be different in a good way, all the componentry improvements (discs, 1x, etc.) will make it better, the suspension (all 40mm of it) will be leagues ahead of the 90s bike. Ultimately it’s a better bike built for a slightly different – and probably more appropriate – purpose, but proudly wearing some of its DNA. It’s good that it has echoes of the 90s mtb, but it is just that, an echo.

The other issue is about how it is at the mtb end of the ‘gravel’ spectrum, so you may as well get a xc mtb. I’d certainly prefer a light 29er as it’ll be more capable as well as more versatile. Still, it’s a good looking, good value bike that’ll no doubt do a good job too..

Yep, very much to be expected. Could be they need to drop a nap in the day, but could also be a developmental leap phase, which always screws things up. Stay consistent with keeping it to bedtime mood with darkness and no play, and don’t make a rod for your own back by trying to get them asleep in your bed no matter how tired you are. The hard yards now do pay off later when they have the right kind of sleep habits. Keep trying to get them back to sleep as you are and it will pass.

Sadly, latest poll shows she’ll lose to Trump by a smaller margin than Biden…so, much work to do, as positive as it is to see KH probably get the ticket. I have concerns that it might just be false hope on the Democrats side, and that creosote chimp is heading to victory regardless.

True on the flared drops – I use Ritchey Corralitos and love them, and I think the other issue is the ergonomics of drop levers off road don’t work as well as flat bar levers/shifters off road. I’ve found that even mild alt-bars help for longer distance comfort and changing hand position. I just feel there’s a useful enough step change/benefit going from alt-drops to alt-flats to favour alt-flats.

I’m a fellow jameso 29er ATB evangelist! Rigid 29er xc kind of bike is very good for exploring/ adventure/ bikepacking /riding all surface types well enough. I use a ti 29er for this purpose, and it’s good off road, comfortable, and actually not bad on the road (with Mezcals). It weighs the same as my (fairly heavy) gravel bike.

I always like the look and idea of drop bar 29ers, but having tried it out, it doesn’t work for me, and is indeed a mis-match of tyre and handlebar…

Football

In the end I fitted a spare Slate caliper and just gravity bled it, and it’s fine…didn’t have time to be wrangling with small torx heads and syringes…

That’s the things with linguistic pedantry, oftentimes what seems ‘incorrect’ is actually perfectly fine. Because everyone knows exactly what’s being referred to, so the word performs its function as signifier.

I know a person (from Australia, which might explain things), that finds the English use of the word ‘hosepipe’ very bizarre. To them it is just a hose, and the pipe bit of the word is some antiquarian oddity. Which is true when you look at it, but at the same time, we have no doubts about the thing it refers to.

https://bikeinsights.com/cyclopedia/trail

Depending on your local terrain, change of approach and routes taken. Like above, living in the south on chalk/clay, there are areas I just avoid completely as it’s no fun in the mud, as there’s zero grip and it’s sticky, plus i’m not a fan of contributing to trail erosion unnecessarily. A reasonable amount was off limits this winter because it was under flowing water!

Keep going on the trails less impacted by horrible mud, and front and rear mudhuggers  plus a crud catcher keeps the worst at bay. Rigid fork works best for me, I found a sus fork on a hardtail added nothing in slow sloppy conditions. Keep the drivetrain clean-ish and if you’re going to hammer it then put a cheaper 1x transmission on. Just try and wash and re-lube without leaving it too long/to rust. Also, decent trousers and long waterproof socks also work for me. Winter usually involves a higher percentage of road riding (on the gravel bike with full guards of course), which on claggy back lanes with little beaches of run-off soil/stones, feels close to off-roading anyway.

Interested to hear this as I need to bleed my slates, and the caliper I couldn’t budge the bleed screw on, developed a leak where the two parts of the caliper meet, so is probably going to be junked.

New legislation should be about reform of the whole system and the way performance is achieved and managed, and the industry regulated. But there are obvious limits to clamping down on the current model as it is, due to the whole investment/return question. Public ownership, or the threat of it, achieves nothing in and of itself. The same could be said of any industry. It doesn’t suddenly make businesses work perfectly and everything delivered well and effectively. I’m not against public ownership of key industries, but not for their own sake and not without an understanding of what it would take. Government and civil service would have to get bigger again, a great deal of expertise would need to be brought in to avoid the same failures under a different ownership model.

Worth noting that all dividends are, and have been, fully sanctioned by the regulator Ofwat. The fact they happen is down to the model of monopolised privatisation. They have to simultaneously hold companies to account for spending and delivery, whilst also making them investible for private equity, and thus capable of giving payback on investment. I’ll make it clear I don’t in any way agree with it, but that is the way it currently works.

It’s not just water companies being evil and stealing money, it is heavily regulated, and these headline dividends are part of the regulatory operating conditions of the entire industry. Quite often, profits have been made on money borrowed/loaned against an asset base that increases in value. What does not happen though, is water bills customers pay going direct to bosses or investors. Regulated cash is off limits, and investment that can be recovered from customer bills is strictly controlled by Ofwat. There are huge, complex performance commitments the companies report on each year, and will be penalised/rewarded by Ofwat for failure/achievement of a whole raft of performance metrics.

“I think it’s because they’re dominated by the same people regurgitating the same arguments over and over again, and they’re dull.”

Yep. Plus the rolling discussions concerning or policing the ontology of the discussion thread itself. Going from prisons and water companies to bickering.

Water companies; not easy to resolve, and way, way more complex than the media portray. Letting them go bust, nationalisation, whatever – solves nothing but ownership status. It doesn’t address the facts around large scale investment and delivery. The system of regulated monopolies is the main point of failure, but on a nationwide basis, there is no appetite from any government to suddenly take ownership of the hundreds of billions of £s of assets, and tens of billions of yearly operational costs. When compared with other more pressing issues on the Sue Gray risk register, that particular iteration of a solution is a non-starter. The only realistic options are reforms that will take time and seem imperfect to most people, but such is the face of pragmatic compromise.

Seems a poor decision. But if the train units are owned by RM then I can see why, big capital expenditure to replace compared with a bunch of lorries. Assuming leasing rolling stock/loco would be as expensive, and as it’s a specialist unit then probably nothing similar to replace it (it’s basically an emptied out electric passenger train though). I did immediately think of Public Service Broadcasting, as I love that track. Also still have a Hornby royal mail pickup carriage in the loft somewhere.

Velo orange metal mudguards. Loads of sizes, widths, finishes. Great quality, excellent fittings, drillable/customisable, single stay design works well, great coverage. Pretty darn quiet when on too, and not that heavy. Fairly expensive, but good value for what you end up with, and they are durable too. Also, as a general point I look for round profile guards as they fit frames and forks better than square edges, and give you more room to play with clearance.

e.g. https://freshtripe.co.uk/velo-orange-700c-x-52mm-zeppelin-mudguards/

EDIT – Oh, and they look really nice too!

The alloy Topstone’s look pretty decent to me, and the Topstone 1 is GRX and about £1500

Probably a good call, nowt wrong with the old Rebas and you should be able to pick up some QR ones pretty cheaply I’d imagine.

I was looking at the Fox 32’s on Merlins as I run a rigid 29er (for a long time), but 1900g isn’t great. Nearly as much as the old 35mm 120mm revelations I have on another bike. I’m most tempted by a Reba, as it’s basically the Sid 32mm chassis with cheaper internals, but still respectable weight at 1600g or so. Lots more available 2nd had cheaply. If you don’t mind more basic damping then it’s a good alternative. Merlin have the 100mm versions for £350.

Other mid-range (price-wise) is the DT Swiss F232, which this 100mm version is going cheaper on biketart, and meant to be 1480g…https://www.biketart.com/products/dt-swiss-f-232-one-forks?variant=42485010596019

EDIT: as others have mentioned in other threads, i’m suspicious of SID reliability, which isn’t ideal for an expensive fork.