How about following kcr’s initial suggestions in post above, then skip the Lecht climb and go east towards Alford, then cross the Cabbrach and down into Dufftown- should be re-named whiskytown. Then maybe Keith, up to Tomintoul, Grantown on Spey (some very gentle off-road on the Speyside Way old rail lines about here), Aviemore, gentle back roads to Kingussie, Newtonmore, Laggan, (option of very easy off road past Loch Pattack and Ben Alder estate), back to the rail line at Dalwhinnie. Train south or carry on, using Sustrans to Blair Atholl, Pitlochry and so on.

2.35 Minion is definitely slightly smaller than a 2.25 Advantage, so you should be ok. Just.

I’ve only had good experiences with Hope- oldest set are a very hard used pair of original Minis from 2002, currently on my commuter hardtail that does over 3k miles a year in all weathers and terrains. They’ve had so much use and so many pads that the second front disc is now getting quite thin. 2004 M4s are still going great on my big bike; just like the above, have been back to Hope twice over for a re-build and came home like new.
Avids- have had horrid experience with three sets of Juicys that just sieze up in winter. Shimano are good for a while, although less beefy than any of those Hopes. Deore and 2 different pairs of SLX have been functional if uninspiring but the worst has been a single XT that leaked at just over a year old and as I now know, is not serviceable. I hate throwing away a lump of theoretically repairable kit, so won’t buy Shimano any more on principle. The next new brake (Sh..! Don’t tell the Mrs, it’s for her) is a front Hope Race X2, for which I have high hopes as it will be looking after an 8 stone rider in the Alps this June.

Er, yes, been to Yorkshire and ridden there too. Not as much as a local lad would but aye, I have. There’s a bit of a difference in scale here.. Yorks is bonny and has a great many really sharp little climbs but it just can’t match up to the scale of the challenge that a snow roads tour in the eastern Highlands would be. I’m certain that the planners will come up with a stonking route both for the riders and spectators but if you want to showcase the best riding that the UK has to offer, surely it would be better to come to somewhere with some big hills and some wilderness to cross.
And I don’t think anyone would try to compare Leeds with Edinburgh!

Leeds..?
I’m sure Yorkshire can and will put on a great day. However:

Edinburgh Depart and out into the Borders. Followed by a stage going 200km from Perth around the eastern Highlands, taking in Cairn o Mount then Deeside and Glenshee and back again. Or start it in Perth and go via Glenshee to the Lecht and on to a hilltop finish at Cairngorm.
Proper stages and a much better tourism showcase fro the UK than the relatively gentle and polite terrain we will now see.
Pity; it’s a missed opportunity.

The Hope Pro2 is now available in 28H. I’ve just got a rear one for my On-one 29er when set up for road use, reasonably priced too from Winstanleys.

Had an original 4.5″ one from 2004 to 2007, then broke it halfway down the seat tube. Great bike fitted with Pikes, did everything, including munros. Yes, a bit heavy, but seemed very strong until that tube gave way. Crash replaced it with a new one, similar to the current model. That broke in spring 2012, at the end of the Annat descent in Torridon. This time it was the top tube, just beside the seat tube weld. That has been crash replaced, this time with a G-Spot; most of the kit, including the coil Lyrics (was I asking too much..?) transferred over. After one Hustler, two frames and three forks, I’d still recommend it as a do-it-all bike with wide bars, a short stem and reasonably strong wheels. They/it had an awful lot of use over those 8 years and have been some interesting places, mostly upland Scotland but with a bit of Lakes, about ten trips to Spain, a couple of Alps weeks.. I’m sure you get the idea.
Size wise, I’m also 5’11” and was happy with the 17.5″. I’m long legged though and like a long seat post; the new G is the same 17.5 size, maybe half an inch shorter top tube and is also fine so I wasn’t cramped on that Hustler.

Up here in the north I rate the 2.4 as a front tyre for most use except the muddiest conditions; out in proper mountains with plenty of rock, it’s great. Hopeless on the back though, as the sidewalls disintegrate from scuffing around on granite and not pinch proof enough. Better than a Nobby Nic though, which is certain death…
I know several folk who rate the 2.25 on both ends for lighter use, especially by smaller riders looking for a lightweight tyre.

Set one of my DX experience lasted 3 full years of both regular two-three times a week muddy hill commutes, plus a regular night ride. The clicky button finally stuck and refused to free up, so I binned it. Units two and three followed (I now being We), 2 now being a year old and 3 just a few weeks. The output has gone up with each set and the battery life seems similar throughout. No problems with batteries, chargers etc, equalling Exposure in my experience and bettering Hope.
2 claims 800 lumen and floods out a 400 lumen Hope Vision 2 on the bike next door to the extent that you can’t even see if it’s switched on.
3 is noticeably brighter again.
We’ve run the tandem with both of them a couple of times and at full whack, they disintegrate cars at 100 paces.. Ok, I made that bit up but you get the idea.
Like others have reported, I’ve several friends running DX or Magicshine lights, all with positive experiences. My only modification is to wrap some tape around the bars to make them thicker and the rubber fastening band therefore tighter. Doesn’t budge.

So, we’ve been running these for 4 years without any issues that I can report and the total spend is still under £100.
Why on earth would anyone pay £300-500?

Photographic evidence, please.
Otherwise, it’s just a story…

HMRC don’t make the rules; they only enforce (with limited resources and much reduced staff) those that the current Government make for them.
The type of arrangement that Wiggo is accused of is artificial, not a ‘real’ set of transactions. The purpose of his participation and the purpose of the transactions in question is artificial and that’s where the morality issue arises. The scheme has been created to follow a series of legal steps but in a way not intended bu those who wrote the original legislation. That is tax avoidance in a nutshell. Legal, but where planned like this, wrong.

The UK needs a general ‘Anti-Avoidance’ provision in our tax law, to effectively say that if you set up a transaction or series of transactions in an artificial manner, this is wrong and fails.
Wiggo is a fool if he thinks that any deliberate tax avoidance is acceptable; he will be tainted by this very special form of cheating. And we don’t like cheats on bikes.

Brig Highland Beef at bridge of Earn has gone a bit mainstream recently but still does incredibly good hairy highlander beef. Try calling them and see if they’ll do you a deal on a part beast.
In my humble view, Highlander is the best beef you can get, with that same slow growing, exceptionally tasty result.

+1 for Husqvarna. Mine is now 32 years old (!) and still going very strong, gets serviced occasionally but only does maybe a dozen hours a year now, much more when it & I were younger.
A small semi-pro model, big engine/small bar, would probably cost about £400 nowadays. Lessons are vital, as is safety gear. Artificial feet are not cheap and would require you to learn a whole new pedalling technique.
Personally, I usually drop small trees with the bow saw, having started the cuts with the Husky.

Any commuters man enough to ride through that…?
It’s only a bit of ‘salty spume’ and goretex works, right?

No special privileges for the tandem crew, except perhaps car traffic does give us a bit more space than they do for a single bike, so that’s no bad thing. After last night’s return leg experience, I can also confirm that it is definitely more stable in strong cross winds, you definitely feel more connected with the road. No Goretex required. Just get wet and ride harder; we’re still just using light wind jackets so far.

Us..! – Tandem commute crew. New earlier this year and haven’t had to ride it in a proper strong cross wind yet, so the return leg may be a bit more of a challenge than the morning was. Bit windy coming in but nowt special; the heavy rain is due to arrive in Dundee later on. So far, it feels pretty planted on normal roads and easy tracks.

The WHW race begins at 0100 in late June, to give the most runners the best of the long daylight. You can cope with limited light early on like that and get the darkness out of the way while fresh.
Teacake is right, for biking an 0300 start in summer would be ideal and the descents will also generally work better S-N.

Keen is a good option, with straightforward navigation. Means a further short climb back NW out of Glen Tannar though, if you want to reduce the road miles.
A tougher option for consideration if you’re travelling light is to climb out of Clova to Bachnagairn, then Broad Cairn, Cairn Bannoch, Saggart Mor, Callater and Braemar. This require good weather and better nav skills plus confident riding, as the descent is a step up from the north side of Mt Keen.
Both are good. Haven’t been west out of the top of Arkaig but strongly suspect it’s a ball ache.

From one with a lot of experience of this ground, Well Done.
Sound advice too, especially on planning, motivation and kit.
There will always be both faster and slower riders out there but your own experience of any such epic is unique.

I’ll need some focus this weekend while riding to and from Lossiemouth again, for another of the Ultramarathons that I medic at (Speyside Way race this time).

Probably not a good idea, unless you enjoy pulling out and replacing pivot and linkage bearings. Cargo or child trailers place a lot of side load on linkages in a way that they were never designed for; I’d suggest only towing with something rigid at the back end. I use a steel hardtail for trailer towing expeditions.

Just acquired a Dawes Double Edge and now with a few hundred miles on it after a couple of weeks, have the following comments that I hope help.
Great bike now that it has a decent handlebar and stem on, 710 dh bars and chunky stem make a huge difference to handling. So far, we’ve only used it for light trails, commuting and a tour with trailer, which it hauls absolutely fine. The slightly slow gear shifting requires a bit of communication to ‘back off’ the power, especially on up shifts.
I’m very happy with the original 2x cable discs and I’d be cagey about heat build up on long descents with hydraulics; more so on tours with the trailer. Tandemwarriors knows better than I do on this though.
The stock wheels are heavy but strong, which is the main thing. I know of a couple of these that have had big forks with 20mm maxles added and these ride really well on moderate singletrack where ground clearance hasn’t become an issue.
There’s a good margin on Dawes, so you may be able to secure a bit of discount on one, although supply of new ones is a bit erratic.

A great way to do Lochnagar as a full day out is to start and finish in Braemar; the following route is well over 90% rideable, even when you’re high on the mountain. Ride east down the main road and onto the south riverside forest tracks at the Invercauld bridge, then after a few miles swing south onto the track up the glen near the Gelder Shiel. Then on up to the pass, join the Muick-Lochnagar walkers path briefly, then head SW on the contour trail to pick up the Glas Allt trail by the footbridge. Ride up the trail towards the summit. My favourite descent is then to go west off the summit, past White Mounth and over to Carn an t’Saggart Mor. Either carry up and summit that among the wreckage or work around the trail on the SW side to meet the Callater descent; challenging, but in a really fun way. Once at Loch Callater lodge, you have the choice of heading straight back down the glen track or adding in the short climb west to get you to Glen Cluny and the A93. There’s a sweet wee bit of singletrack on the way. Finally, and if you have the energy, climb the Morrone track for the rocky descent back down. The only weak point in the route is the Lochnagar contour trail, where wet weather turns it into a bit of a bog but it doesn’t last long and you’ll still ride most of it.

Marty, thanks for that, I’ll pass that on as an ‘unconfirmed’ for now until I can get some more detail. That quick is pretty impressive, especially as the first third of the distance from the south is going to mean a lot of gates and some lumpy bike hauling. But that said, most sectors of the route have fun sections.

Ally, Jez’ modern course record of 15.44 has stood for several years. We’re hoping we might see both Jez and Terry back next year for a head to head, although naturally it’ll depend on other competition dates.
Terry finishing in a new record in appalling weather on a weekend with a 31% DNF rate bodes well for the future.

Another vote for Smidge.
Also recommend Skin so Soft, a close 2nd place.

For proper mountain kit, try Braemar Mountain Sports or Facewest; also Cotswold Outdoor (English) or Telemark Pyrenees (French, but English speaking staff and again, good website) for largest ranges. No issues posting pretty much anywhere as far as I can see and a big range of stuff in stock. I’ve used all of them on a number of occasions and can recommend. The last two have decent prices when compared to the high street or the likes of Snow & Rock, Brighams etc.

Even if it doesn’t pull your frame apart, hauling a loaded trailer on a suspension bike puts a lot of sodeways loads on all of your pivot bearings, again in ways that it was never intended to cope with. much better behind a good, strong long travel hardtail, where you’ll be amazed how tough the terrain is that you’ll manage.

3 is good, I reckon you should stick with it. Mine-
Dialled Alpine with 140 U-turn Pikes, double & bash; great out on proper hills and trails.
Inbred with 100 Bombers, set up quite xc and often getting the last few miles out of old tyres from the one above; a great local hill commuter and mellow singletrack tool.
Inbred 29er, rigid carbon fork, discs and long gearing- used as a road bike with skinny slicks, as a tourer with trailer or do mild off-raod duties with CX tyres.
Yes, there’s a bit of overlap there but most days it’s very easy to choose what to take out.

Plenty of our ‘family’ run the Way in small groups or solo with back up, outside of the event. However, it’s having the safety back up during the event that allows the runners to really concentrate on what they’re doing, rather than worrying so much about where they’re next meeting the crew, who’s going to patch them up, etc. Don’t underestimate the route, it has kicked the asses of some very good runners indeed. Sound advice might be to gradually build up to the event through qualifying Ultras, do it and do well with the back up of the event around you, then come back and have a go solo with minimal support another time.
The original race in 1985 was one on one. Both finished, but only because they helped each other.

On-one 29er-
In summer trim, mine has 28mm road slicks on the original ReeTard rims, discs both ends, old skool flat bars and bar ends. It’s geared, with an 11-26 cassette and a deore 48-36-26 chainset. These give a good spread of close ratios.
I’ve done huge road miles in a day on CX semi-slicks, then gone off road the next day with the same tyres at half the psi.
Worth considering.

Bump-
Torch is due to be dragged around Ft Bill town at around 1330, thereafter trucked to Spean Bridge, right past the gate at Nevis Range. Get on site early if you can.
Why is the torch not visiting the WC venue, anyway..?
The disrespect is appalling!
And they’d get a guaranteed crowd, too. Would be funny if Ft Bill town is empty coz everyone is along the road..!

To the OP- I’m heavily involved in organising the West Highland Way race each year (June 23-24 this time- as close to the solstice as we can get it, for daylight reasons) and I know a number of hardy mountain bikers who have crossed over and succeeded. This event is more about the achievement than the final position in the race; a few big names from around the world have appeared and come slightly unstuck over the years. Every finisher receives an engraved crystal goblet to mark their achievement and to welcome them into the family. Applicants require a suitable background history or a list of verifiable achievements. Having finished a couple of Scottish ultras is a good enough start. There will be around 188 runners on the start line in two weeks’ time… Check out westhighlandwayrace.org and on facethingy.

Chris Hoy

Doug, is it possible to fit a front mech to a G-spot and if so how? is it an e-type BB fit? The pictures of frames that I’ve seen look like there’s little or no room on the seat tube. I might be tempted to go in that direction instead of getting an Orange 5 or Alpine 160; most of my hustler build will happily go across onto an older G.

Pezzers, it’s a simple, slightly jagged circular break the whole way around the top tube, in some places just touching the seat tube weld and in others about half an inch forward of it. The frame was creaking slightly the last time it was out, back in March (Invercauld, Sluggain and StrathGairn by Ben Avon, for Scots trail afficionados).

Polisher- thanks for that. I’ll see what happens when the retailer has spoken with Silverfish. At the end of the day, normal consumer law has to apply, the goods must be ‘fit for purpose’ and last for a reasonable time; I’d argue that use on average 6-10 times a year for four years is not reasonable. I checked my seat post overlap into the seat tube; there’s enough length in the 400mm RF XY that it easily passes the lowest part of the weld at full height, so it shouldn’t be leverage causing the problem. Simply put and hearing comments above, it looks like the lack of a gusset or brace pipe here is a weakness in the design of the Hustler. Funnily enough, the G-spot has one. In every other way, it’s been a great bike, ideally suited to big days out in proper hills. I’m too old for the big air and mega thrashing that younger and better riders might dish out.
This newly broken frame is already a replacement. Back in 2004 when the Hustler first appeared, I got hold of a 4″ travel pre-production frame, which snapped its seat tube at the weld where the rocker bearing mount is attached. That one was confirmed as a manufacturing defect where over-zealous welding had almost cut through the seat tube, so persevered with a second frame. Maybe I should just buy a Kona or an Orange.

Unless conditions change dramatically, you should be ok with the traditional route out over the Gaick to Tromie. There is a lot of snow high above you on the plateau but that shouldn’t be a problem as the outlook is for conditions to stay cold enough to keep it up there. The sudden thaw on Sunday past from rain and mild wind has long since run away to the sea and new snow is gathering again above 750m.
The descent at the end of your ride, down into the Tilt gorge is probably the technical highlight of the whole tour, so doing the route anti-clock would lose you this best section.
Pushing on as far as Glenmore campsite makes your first afternoon and evening a brute and your second, to Tomintoul, quite short. Surely dropping out of Tromie at Kingussie/Kincraig would make a better first day, then back into the woods at Feshiebridge next morning, to ride the Bothy Trail, Cairngorm Club bridge, Glenmore etc.
The singletrack on the west side of the loch at the Gaick Pass is sublime, don’t miss it. You can avoid a double crossing of the burn there to get to it, by bog-trotting the ridge at the top of the riverbank. Mucky, but quicker than crossing the burn twice.

If following Dewydd’s advice and crossing Loch Linnhe at Corran, you can cross back again to Ft Bill town at Camusnagaul in a wee (passenger only) ferry boat, which lands you at the Crannog seafood restaurant. It does carry bikes but only runs a few times a day though.
I was brought up living alongside the A82 and have ridden many parts of it; but I’d not want to do any significant section after 10.00am in tourist season. You are placing your life in other folks’ hands and a lot of people die on that road every year. That said, and as others have alluded to, a ‘pack’ of riders can be very visible here in the Highlands and can own a piece of road.

Good piece of kit, girlfriend is very happy with hers 5 months in. It’s letting her run a 140mm coil fork on her Kona 120 without upsetting the handling, has simply made the bike a bit more stable when out in big hills.

There seems to be evidence to suggest that as soon as you can stand vibration, motion and load bearing, each of these will rapidly increase the rate of the healing process in most fractures. Ties in with the increasing practice in professional sport of using special ultrasound machines to stimulate fracture regeneration, ‘star trek’ style. Ok, it isn’t going to be that fast but it helps.
I guess knowing when you can start exercise is pretty important and only a well informed physio will be able to tell you. If your local major football or rugby club has a physio who also has an outside practice, you’ll get sensible advice there.

Should have gone last night.
We did, in the Sidlaws near Dundee. Great night, four riders, two trailers, one fire, enough food and a wee drop of something fiery.
Cold right enough and plenty of stars.
Heading into town this morning, it’s amazing how much extra space a trailer gets you in traffic.

Ride it more often, you’ll get used to it. Eventually..
Did the first hard ride of the year in rocky terrain on mine a week back and my spine was pretty beat up for a couple of days.