great ride, did it in 3 1/2 days on my own carrying bivvi gear. the books a real help, the maps just about good enough to not need maps, but the maps in the guide pack here aren’t as good so probably worth getting additional OS maps for with those (i’ve seen them in waterstone’s in newcastle).

compass and computer are worthwhile taking as the route directions are all in N/S/E/W etc bearings with distances to next junction. a mixture of wild/legal camping/bothy’ing across the whole route is possible too. lakes is the hardest in terms of technicality/steepness, rest is bit easier going but still challenging on the legs :)

gf’s brother has a corratec, seems a good spec and he’s chuffed as his first modern mtb. tbh the frame is nothing special tho, the welding is not the best and the paint finish is pretty rough round the edges. i think it’s one around the £400-500 mark

voodoo wanga – bargain on C2W too

cyclocross bikes too, i’ve avoided anything of the sort for years but loving my cross check with knobblies now

hadrians wall is also good, not sure how you could do it with a bike mind as its mostly footpath. we walked/bivvied it over 3 days in march with sub zero nights – canny cold! also maybe check out the border reivers route – that goes up via newcastleton/kielder so you could knock a few trail centres off as well! i think much of it is on road mind

i did tim woodcock's route (st bees-robin hoods bay) a few months ago. some of it in the lakes was a bit boggy but there are diversions if its wet. i got the book from amazon but i think its out of stock at the moment (you have to drop on one as its out of print, the newer version does not have maps btw)

i did it on my own with reasonably leightweight bivvi gear, but you can easily do it by stopping in youth hostels if you prefer. i did it in 3 1/2 days but aiming to do it in 6/7 would be better in a group/allowing for stops/easier mileage per day etc

tree section at 3:40 is ridiculous

that was one of my favourite sections when i was in whistler. mint :D

stuff up the second part of the park makes all that look like the blue at glentress though… 8O

you need tim wainwrights coast to coast ride (wheelwrights mtb guide) link here for amazon although its out of stock. i used this and it was perfect :-)

anyone know anyone who's lost a trek fuel x6 then? the guy who was selling the nicked yeti has that for sale as well…

link

EDIT: obviously assuming everything he sells is nicked of course!

a friend made something similar with an old pram out of a skip and a few luggage straps!!! good way of getting to the beach with the bike tho :-)

too long. unless you are a bike shop offering a warranty… :wink:

i was going to say alpkit too – mines been great for general camping/night walking/running, maybe bodge a P7 led into it?! :D

in super tacky guise they're a good all round tyre for DH/alps but wouldnt use them for trail bashing, too draggy and you wont get the real benefits of them if you get the single ply/harder compounds

much cheaper alternatives to pocket rocket available
The pocket rocket is hardly earth shatteringly expensive though is it at £21 ?

http://www.gaynors.co.uk/products-MSR-Pocket-Rocket_140602410012.htm

the one in my link is £7.50 so nearly 1/3 the price so yes, much cheaper especially for people on a limited budget… :wink:

much cheaper alternatives to pocket rocket available
like this

i used one for coast to coast ride at the weekend, worked perfectly with no problems but if you're worried about weight its approx 20g heavier than a pocket rocket…

voodoo wanga – new as a whole bike only but could get a 2nd hand frame

my first dh bike (well not exactly it, dont have a pic of it)

would have it back in a second, awesome little bike

rocky mountain boroughs looks good on evans. i had a genesis day one (flat bar version converted to drops, it was black not orange) and that was great, only just changed to a surly cross check so i can run gears in the future as looking to move somewhere with more hills on the way to work… if you want versatility i'd say cross check is a good bet, much nicer build quality and smoother ride than the genesis but both great bikes

DavidB mailed you back cheers :-)

MidlandTrailquestsGraham – need to add the shifter and fitting kit to your list (£35/£10 on their own!)

got an excellent condition alfine wheel with all the fitting kit/shifter/cog etc in classifieds if you're interested? i've also got a 160mm shimano rotor that will fit it too. had it on my chameleon too funnily enough… email in profile if you're interested

finished 25th in solos with 6 laps, was going to try 7 but decided there was no way i'd make it round in time before the cut off (had too long a stop for lunch!)

saw the guy on the cross bike twice and both times he was carrying it! wouldn't be fun on some of those steep muddy chutes in the drops 8O

we sometimes get logs/branches put across the trails we ride on. cant always tell if purposely put there or just fallen tbh so best thing is not to get wound up and if it's un-ridable just move it (preferably as far away as possible out of view so if angry types have tried to block the trail they can't just roll it back). alternatively if it's too big trim the smaller branches off an build ramps up to it to turn it into a jump! :D

doing solo as my team mate pulled out (the git!). don't mind as fancied doing it solo anyway. if the rain continues it'll probably get pretty cut up in the non-trail centre off-piste sections but imagine rest of it should be ok :-)

usually the following but i tend to carry stuff on a rack so probably quite obese amounts/choices by weight weenie standards…

dinner/eve – freezer bag of pre-mixed cous cous with crumbled stock cube, pre-fried sultanas and thyme OR a few packets of pasta and sauce and a nip of whisky left over from xmas

breakfast – pre-mixed porridge (freezer bag of oats mixed with dried milk and sugar)

in between – dried apricots, tunnocks chocolate wafers, cereal bars, apples and maybe a pub lunch (if lucky enough to come across one!)

don't need planning for a container as it's a temporary/movable structure – my uncles getting one to use as a garage after the council rejected his previous submission :|

dug a few out of our garden last year, pretty straight forward – cutting through the roots (say 0.5-1m around the edge of the stump but it'll be quite obvious which ones you'll have to cut when you do it!) and then prizing out with a long bar (i use a garden fork) would be best tactic. those small fold up saws that look like a big penknife are useful to cut through awkward to reach roots – i got one from wilko, great for trail maintenance too :-)

highclimber – would defo be interested in the gpx. do you miss black sail by head east from wasdale head over the langdale fell then down the valley to rejoin the normal route? how does it compare? cheers

muffin-man, just discovered the need for that yesterday – double flat on a rocky descent in northumberland about a mile from my car (whilst trying to get back for match – wish i didn't bother!). should be ok with bike only, bit worried about the pannier

edit: just remembered i have an ortleib rucksack attachment – bonus!!! :P

thanks for the replies and danny thanks for the map, you're a gent :D

as for carrying gear trailer looks unlikely then, but think i'll probably try the camping/bivvi route with minimal pannier and yha when/if i need to to keep costs down

cheers, really looking forward to it :D

my old stab and stab primos were 30.0mm so yes :-)

flat pedals on a road bike, whatever next? backflips? :wink:

the nuts i got from edinburgh bikes to fit my ebc trailer thread on fine if its those you're getting? maybe different if they're bob ones tho. dont know any more details mind they dont come with any info

edit: just realised extra wheel are a brand, maybe ebc can help if they know the thread detail for their nuts?

yes same as deore, got a few new (in packaging) pairs of superstar kevlar pads from a reduntant brakeset if you're interested? they're their 'S2' shape if you want to compare on their website. email in profile if so :)

go for it. if you do it in one stint stop off every 2 or 3 service stations for a caffeine top up of one euro espressos, they're the only things that got us there! :) cost is a bit more than flights mind but you have the pleasure of taking whatever biking parafanalia you like with you without worrying about being stung for excess, bonus if you have a monster bike and a 456 piece toolset! :)

hunting with dogs will be fair game soon 8O

pretty much the same maybe a tad slower in the dark on rocky/really steep stuff for me but that's a concious decision to avoid braking myself as opposed to not being able to. always feels faster in the dark though, something to do with the tunnel vision :)

i dont know much about wheel building or material properties but my old dh wheel did exactly the same thing, straight gauge spokes with ex729 built by crc. lost tension on its first outing at an uplfit day at inners, but i got it retensioned and no problems afterwards for a few years. maybe its to do with the spokes stretching? wouldn't use straight gauge again now mind as it seems the cost incurred from getting that wheel sorted out negated the cheaper spokes…

yep – sintered been great for last year or so (had issues with some from the first batch they got in but all good now)

i've been swung to hope's for qr's so no idea on those…

shotover as above, used to ride there all the time when i lived in oxford. from memory head up the road to the car park and keep to the right side of the hill, used to be a little jumps spot over the far side as well. otherwise chilterns, maybe get an old mbr routecard for the area or route off the web

grilled bacon and poached eggs, none of that frying business. only on weekends though, midweek whatever's within grabbing distance that can be consumed within 2minutes before riding to work is game… :roll: