Thanks @robcolliver, inspiring / terrifying in equal amounts!

Thanks postie:

Look what just dropped through the letterbox… #gdmbr #TourDivide #2016 #bikepacking #adventureahoy #eek #forjenn by Jim Barrow[/url], on Flickr

New maps, yippee!

Sweet, I can’t wait! I’ve got a mid november delivery date….

What’s it like with a Rohloff? I’ve never used one. I’m going 2 x 10 to start off with, but may consider one when all that wears out

Hopefully it isn’t, my Travers Rudy Fat will be here soon!

Just read the news on the front page, so sad. I first met Jenn when she worked at my LBS Quest Adventure and we have caught up at many races since. It was so nice to see her earlier in the year when I was a spare rider for the Singletrack Alfriston route photos. She had inspired me to ride the Tour Divide and very kindly gave me her maps when we did that ride. I’m buying my flight tickets very soon and will be going next June. Rest in peace Jenn, I’ll be doing one very long #jennride next June…..

My sympathies to all her family and friends and everyone at STW.

Just sold three of mine and I’m getting a Travers Rudy Fat.

I’d really like a Salsa Deadwood though….

I just sold my Hummer, albeit a 2009, XTR, revelations, easton carbon bars and seatpost for £700

Cove Hummer by Jim Barrow[/url], on Flickr

One from our monthly ride in worthing today….

Hi from everyone at Quest Adventure

Quest Adventure mixed monthly MTB ride #jennride #forjenn by Jim Barrow[/url], on Flickr

I bought an Altura Night Vision Evo from Evans, it’s waterproof, but it’s about as breathable as a bin bag. It’s crap, I tried to take it back but they wouldn’t have it. That was £90 wasted!

I had an Endura Venturi before which was way more breathable, I like the look of that MT500.

I use the Sixpack / Diablo combo, more than enough for anything!

I’ve also got the Revo dynamo light too, which is great if you’re on your own, but needs something like a diablo on your head for group rides as it’s not super bright.

Dusty #downland #singletrack by Jim Barrow[/url], on Flickr

Tubeless on everything except the race BMX

I started with spyres on my tripster and then swapped to HyRds, I much prefer the feel of them and they seem to work consistently even on a long downhill.

Another thankyou from me, we rode the coast to coast last weekend. Went in Biketreks saturday morning to pick up some supplies on the way through, they let us dump our bikes in the workshop while we went for a coffee and food. Thanks :-)

Unlike Andy’s description though it turned out it wasn’t all rideable, though that could be just because we’re a bunch of southern softies ;-)

Morvelo here too, super comfy pad

LOL sorry choppersquad

It doesn’t feel like five minutes since he was the size of yours!

16072005(008) by Jim Barrow[/url], on Flickr

tom backflip by Jim Barrow[/url], on Flickr

Here’s my offspring, he’s getting too good, but to be fair he’s been way better than me for years ;-)

Looking forward to this, should be fun now it’s “moistened up” a bit….

You know Rich too Soma Rich?

@susie, sorry not been on here for a few days. The bar bag is great, I use it for map, phone and other gubbins in need regularly, however it’s not totally waterproof so I tend to put stuff in a small dry bag.

You just need to make sure that it’s adjusted as high up as you can so that it doesn’t rub on the tyre, like mine did on that trip!

Tripster ATR by Jim Barrow[/url], on Flickr

Just been to Paris and back on mine, my first long trip.

Bloggage Here[/url] if anyone is interested….

First time I’ve used my @kinesisbikes_uk Tripster ATR for #bikepacking, it coped well as it got taken on some gnarly bits of trail! The @apidura bags are great too, switch between bikes easily too. by Jim Barrow[/url], on Flickr

Early morning flatulence chorus causes #bivvy hilarity #surreyhills #microadventure #summer #sunrise by Jim Barrow[/url], on Flickr

Having only last week got a sleeping bag small enough to fit between the drops this weekend I took mine on it’s first bivvy trip in and around the surrey hills. Did lots of the usual MTB trails fully loaded too, abba zabba, blind terror, barry’s, summer madness, it’s a capable fun bike for sure!

DSC03265 by Jim Barrow[/url], on Flickr

It’s gotta be the Tubus Airy Ti Cloudnine

DSC03787 by Jim Barrow[/url], on Flickr

As you can see it’s no fun for riding about on at all flowmtbguy ;-)

Ha ha, not sure what that makes me then Fast Eddie as you were way quicker than me!

Did enjoy having a good chat with you on the transitions though, even if Chiefgrooveguru did end up taking me for 17 seconds :-(

Next time, next time…..

Alex leant me his for a demo ride, I wrote about it here:

Stache 9 report[/url]

Really enjoyed it, a very fun bike to ride :-)

Yep, in sport for the enduro, on a borrowed bike! Hopefully it’ll be OK, I want to beat Chiefgrooveguru……

Very wet and slippy between storrington and the Adur tonight

Hey Ronnie, I know I don’t get over that often anymore but for what it’s worth I think you lot do a great job of keeping it all together. I think the idea suggested above with dropping ‘markers’ off could work really well. But also I reckon if you have that many people splitting the group into two at the beginning and still using that system would also work well. Just make sure that you still get a good mix of riders in each group or the fast will always ride together and the slower riders will always get lumped together. I think one of the best features of your rides is the mixed ability and it does give people the chance to improve their skills by riding with better riders.

The other thing I do now is not to have the same person backmarking all the time. Change that person every twenty minutes and make it a condition of coming along so that EVERYONE gets to have a go at it.

Bung me an email if you want to discuss it further….

The fork was pretty good, previously I had a Manitou Tower, which I sold because it felt too flexy and I didn’t feel the damping kept it under control when the going got tough. This fork has the clearance for a plus size tyre (and plenty of it), is 34mm. It feels quite a lot stiffer and the damping seemed to keep everything better controlled than the Tower. I took it down some pretty rough stuff and got PR’s on it, so it must have done OK!

In reality I don’t think the chainstay clearance is any worse than my Sync probably, but you could always run something a bit thinner in the winter. After riding this I need to get proper 3″ tyres onto my Genesis Longitude ASAP, it was so much fun!

Trek Stache 9 29+ by South Downs MTB Skills[/url], on Flickr

Trek Stache 9 29+ by South Downs MTB Skills[/url], on Flickr

Trek Stache 9 29+ by South Downs MTB Skills[/url], on Flickr

Trek Stache 9 29+ by South Downs MTB Skills[/url], on Flickr

Trek Stache 9 29+ by South Downs MTB Skills[/url], on Flickr

Trek Stache 9 29+ by South Downs MTB Skills[/url], on Flickr

Trek Stache 9 29+ by South Downs MTB Skills[/url], on Flickr

Ha ha, that was me Futon, and that pic above is one from yesterday morning. Great bike, really enjoyed riding it. Ace on the fast flowy stuff and also steep techy stuff, required a little more effort in the tight singletrack of Stanmer Park. But the bars were 750mm, which is about 20mm wider than you can safely get through Stanmer at speed.

I loved it, but for me it would be even better if it had a double on the front, I’m not a single front ring lover for the sort of riding I do. That aside I thought it was great.

Thanks for the lend South Downs Bikes :-)

I’ve had both, I prefer HyRd, I use them to commute off road all weather

Kinesis Tripster ATR by South Downs MTB Skills[/url], on Flickr

+1 for alastair humphries books, they are great

Pivot Mach 5.7 by South Downs MTB Skills[/url], on Flickr

Here’s my 150 / 150 Pivot Mach 5.7, with it’s unfashionable 3 x 10 drivetrain, great fun to ride but total overkill for around here, usually I ride a fully rigid 29er. Will be bringing it out of hibernation soon though as the QECP enduro is next month….

I got so fed up with mine, bought a Praxis BB, that still didn’t help. In the end I bought the cheap SRAM plastic converter cups and fitted new Shimano cranks and a HTII BB, no noise since!

Kinesis Tripster ATR by South Downs MTB Skills[/url], on Flickr

I’ve got HyRd’s on mine, they work really well. Better (for me anyway) than BB7 or Spyres

If you’re riding there in the evening you can’t park in the main car park as the gates get locked, the one just down the hill on the amberley road is usable but unfortunately prone to unpleasant activities so be careful if on your own.

Let me know when you’re about and I’ll try to get over and show you round there….

If you’re on strava do a segment search at houghton forest and you’ll find all the singletrack…..