Is it ok to leave a full canister attached so not to mis place the top or better to keep it separate?

Has anyone tried wearing a hip pack for longer rides?

Had my Eagle 18 months. Serviced just once. Zero issues at all.

Took the Dakine 5L out again, didn’t fill it up as much. For the most part of the ride kind of forgot it was there!

Also took out the Bonty again. Not convinced on the bottle in the middle. Almost felt it digging in more than the weight of the Dakine!

Let me know if you deceide to sell the Jo Burt flowers one.

Might try the Louri – how many colour options!!!

Will have a look at the DHB Aeron 2019 and maybe go to Decathlon and check out the pads in their ones.

So many bib shorts out there if I went that route. DHB ones seems reasonable price.

Got plenty of time to find the perfect ones but worth starting now!!

Will have a look at the above mentioned ones!

Énergie Madison – Non bib shorts.

These worth a look?

5ft 11 on an 18.5 Trek Fuel 29er. No issues with stand over (31″ inside leg)

You might be right! Think I have been reading the guides and the advice on the website too much! They give some massive plan about training, weights, marking all these things in your diary etc!

I do need to ride more anyway – this will just give me the motivation to crack on!

I’m beginning to think I am mad for entering, never been 20 miles, let alone 70 lol

Need to put together a 12 week plan and get my ass in gear!

I am thinking:

2-3 evenings per week – due to time constraints concentrate on hill work (I am based at the bottom of the south downs so already start on a hill!) – should get around 6-10 mile rides in each night depending on time.

Weekends – go for a much longer ride – try utilise some of the flatter areas of the south downs? Start at 15miles then work my way up by say 5 miles per week.

Any other training tips?

Bit of a toss up between taking the FS for rear end comfort or getting a HT and go light as poss. Think the Trek comes is at 14.2 KG ish.

Maybe a bit lighter since I went tubeless.

Will definitely look at the tyres mentioned above!

I have 2.3 ardent and high roller on at the moment. What 29er tyres should I be looking out for?

I have comfy baggies and prefer undershorts to bibs.

Will have a look at the single track liner.

Are the 900 decathlon ones any good?

I think I will just stick to my current FS anyway – its by far the most comfortable bike I have ridden fit wise and its got lock out front and rear.

I do need a new saddle so Im going to try some this week so I can find a long distance comfy one way before the event!

Will probably play it safe and take some water in a bladder and not fill it right up and a bottle on the bike. If I feel the bottle is enough between stops I can just empty the bladder.

Will see how my Dakine Hip Pack feels on a long ride and decide whether to use that or go back to my evoc stage pack for this one.

And yes i need better undershorts – my ones are the basic Endura ones and the padding is pretty thin – do Endura do a better version?

So food, bum cream and training – sorted!

I dont want to carry a massive pack if I dont have too!!

So what we talking Fluid wise? 2L bladder and a bottle on the bike to get between stops?

Plus lots of easy to pack food!

Mate is juct checking diary then we will book in as still spaces left. It will give me a kick up the arse to get myself in gear anyway!

Gives me time to get longer rides in and find a comftable way to carry everything as my Hip Pack might not quite be enough I guess so be back on to a pack.

Thanks for all the tips! Guess make sure I can carry all I need comfortably in a pack.

Looking at the stops on route I shouldnt need to carry a full bladder of water? I don’t want to overload myself, but then again, want to make sure I have enough!

So what kind of training programmes would people recommend?

Obviuosly need to up my mileage, but think I need to go for some longer flatter rides as I am just mainly going up and down hills where I ride so not covereing huge miles!

How many times a week would you recommend bwtween now and the event? I am not super fit and carrying a few extra pounds so this will help with that too.

Is it worth considering a HT too? I have wanted to get a cheap 2nd hand one for a bit of a laugh, so maybe this coudl be the excuse to get one as sometimes the FS does feel a bit of a drag (but thats probably my fitness over anything else).

Might be just a case of getting some faster rollong not quite so wide tyres on there. I’m sure theer are better 29″ tyres out there for longer rides!

So will I feel my FS will be more of a burden than helpful! Might be worth putting on some faster rolling tyres i guess or give em some more air.

I don’t have any other bikes but I guess it’s a good excuse to add a HT to the family lol.

Thanks all, so be more saddle sore than anything else. Sounds like my FS might be overkill then and thats all I have got!

I tend to drink a fair bit of water. That might be a bit of a habit though and because the tube from the packs was just there I think I just got in to a habit of drinking it!

Will be taking the Bonty and 2 bottle out for a much longer ride at the weekend and se how it pans out!

I do like the way you tighten the bonty from the sides and not the front clasp though.

So many possibles. Will do one bit at a time and hopefully track it down!

Its Sram GX Eagle – Eagle Cranks too.

Going to have a play later and see if I can find it!

Yep it QR – will have a look at that too!

Yeah its FS – nothing canged recently from what I can remember – its had a recent service so all shoudl be running ok! Guess i will just grease everything bit by bit!

LBS has the Bontrager and the Dakine 2L available to try. Will also have a look at the one above from evans!

Never used the winged ones. I did try GA1’s and just couldnt get on with the shape.

Used GA2’s for a season, but the fat grips just feel so much better. Seem to be holding up pretty damn well too!

Ergon GA2 fat grips for me. Not actually that fat at all, but stopped my sore wrists and can happily ride with gloves and without.

Thanks! Actually having read reviews of the Bontrager rapid I think that’s actually a good option too with the bottle in the middle.

Just wondering if the Dakine 2L might feel a bit one sided with a bottle in, but also interested to see how stable the Camelbak one is as can’t find any reviews!

I obviously drink too much then. Have done for past 3 years on the MTB and I’m not dead yet!!

I don’t get how some people drink so little! Maybe you have e-bikes or are just super fit.

The average fat bastard like me needs fluid as we sweat like pigs.

Lots of very interesting and differeing opinions!

I always drink a lot but as mentioned – maybe its habit, but for the most part its because I feel a little dry mouthed – not thirsty as such.

I need to try out maybe a 750 bottle rather than the 610 one. Not a huge difference I know. Maybe thinking of a clearer bottle too as I do like the ‘sleek’ look of a black bottle but maybe a clear bottle will make me manage my fluids better as you can see how much is there!

Then again, I have been comfortable drinking as much as I do for a while, so maybe its just how I am!

Just shy of 5ft 11 on an 18.5 Fuel and I like it a lot. I used to ride a 19.5 but prefer the shorter 18.5. Not a lot in it really.

Going to drink a bottle before I ride this morning and try be more economical with my drinking from the pack and see how much I go through!

Yeah will give it a try, trouble is when I’m riding at 830 in the morning it’s not always easy to get a huge amount of pre ride fluid in without forcing it down!

So out of interest the biking sites such as SIS, British cycling etc say you should intake 500ml per hour? Where do they base these kind of findings as if that was true we would all need massive packs!!

Are they making people drink more than they should?

I am overweight so that probably does not help!