Sloping tt of course, but I find that my 2015 Vaya rides in a very similar way to my MK1 Peregrine. I’ve never seen one in the wild, but Pelago Stavenger?

All City Space Horse looks like it’d be pretty close too.

Bontrager do a purple tape.

I’ve got it on my Vaya, (and very comfortable it is too).

Probably a bit pale for Hope purple tho’ …

I’ll overlook the ‘modern’ bit of the thread for this one:

’92 Kona:

Mk1 Gryphon:

2013 Kona:

That one ^ was bought as a cheap winter knockabout, but with a bit of a rebuild and new bars & saddle to taste … has turned out to be a really great bike for mashing about on.

Friday – South Devon lanes, in the rain.

Sunday – Southern Dartmoor lanes, in the rain.

I think they really suit fat 650’s (hmm, whilst running mine on 700’s).

Mine was built from a [2014/15] frameset with a mix of XT770 and XT780 & Dura-Ace 7700 (3×9) / BB7’s / Mavic A719’s on XT (r) and SON28 (f) / SKS ‘guards /Supernova lights / Wald 1372 on a Racktime front-rack (which is great).

Currently set up with Challenge gravel grinders (700 x 38) in the 120tpi versions and they are great.

Not the lightest bike ever, but it’s *very* comfy and very capable over distance.

Looking out of the window at the south & south eastern edge of Dartmoor right now …

Looks like a nice day for it up there, sunny, no snow (at all, at least note anywhere I can see).

It snowed very gently for a few minutes in Ivybridge / South Brent yesterday afternoon I was coming through, but not enough to come to anything. Didn’t even need the wipers.

There’ll be localised icy bits here and there, but my instinct (!) is that the main roads into the moor will be ok.

I was walking on the southern moor on Sunday and the tops were more-or-less frozen, not to any depth of course, so you could still poke holes into freezing cold water, but it made a nice enough change.

The windchill was ‘bracing’.

I’m with Scud on this (both in practice and in the broad understanding of why what helps, helps).

I always start my winter rides and run with a light buff up over my face, even if it’s only for the first few KM until I get going.

You may well hit a volume issue under exertion, but maybe try breathing through your nose when it happens, given that warming / moistening the air is something that noses do pretty well.

Without the buff it feels like the task is taking way more effort than it should be given the pace / effort (especially as I like to start off nice and slow) – it feels how I imagine not getting *quite* enough oxygen out of the air would feel. I’m not short-of-breath as such, it’s just what I’m getting isn’t quite enough to supply the demand.

joebristol[…] Could another option be some secondhand Kona project 2 forks – theybalways used to be raved about but I think you get different lengths so need to get suspension adjusted ones.

I’ve kinda not ever worried about that on a MTB frame …
:wink:

I’ve had a set of 29er PII’s on my (1992) 26″ Fire Mountain for ages, and really like the way it rides with them on (much more so than with a set of 440mm rigid PII’s).

I’ve now swapped out a set of Surly ECR forks on my (1 x 9) 2010 Genesis Altitude (swapped for some Manitou Shermans for the lolz), but that too rode really well with the ECR forks on.

Maybe gives you extra options?

(Both the ECR and 29er PII forks are 470mm A-C).

Do the Hotpogs sit ok on bars that have [45º] backsweep?
I’m thinking it might put the cuff at a bit of an odd angle?

Ah, and … what about thumbies – is there room for them in there too?

Friday:
Lovely ride through South Devon to pick up the bits I needed to fix the electrics on my truck.

Saturday:
Ran (& walked) the Salcombe Coastal Marathon.
Some of the time it rained …

… & some of the time it didn’t:

Got gusts of 118 km/h (& I actually saw, (but didn’t photograph) 122 km/h):

Sunday:
I wasn’t sure that 10 hilly miles on a single speed bike was the best-ever recovery idea after Saturdays marathon, but … nevertheless, took my Unit out for 10 hilly, muddy miles in the countryside.

That stream crossing adventure ^ looks great fun (probably didn’t feel quite like that at the time tho’)

:-)

Is there a stop under the BB shell?
I’m sure that’s where it is on my (Mk1) Swift.

Mrs OCB’s last bike had no f-mech fittings / stops, but that was very satisfactorily resolved by using (zip-ties for the cable run, and) one of those band-on stops scotroutes liked to ^ at SJS.

On her bike at least, you wouldn’t know it was there.

(That’s in use with an FD-M781 XT mech & M780 XT cranks)

My Peregrine is currently wearing Schwalbe Smart Sam’s in 29 x 1.75 (47-622).

Wired only in that size, not super light, and not slicks, but I’ve grown to rather like them for general JRA duties (what would have been thought of as ‘mountain biking’ back in the day).

MkI Swift (from 2011).
Tends to get used for crossing the moors rather than anything else, given that most of my photos of this bike are from up on the moors (in this case, the middle of August this year):

I built it to occupy a fairly specific niche, so it’s had very little done to it since building it (other than fitting a slightly shorter stem with a bit of rise). I am now debating adding a set of dynamo hub’d 650b+ wheels for it (as well), in which case I’ll put it back to a 100mm OLN front end, but that’s far from certain.

@ rocky mountain:

whats the difference between the J and H, riser?

Yeah, that’s it as far as I can tell (on the Titec versions).

I have been known to shout a friendly word of advice to commuters riding in the dark, with no lights, and wearing nothing to reflect any other lights, but helmets, nah – up to them.

The only time the helmet thing slightly bristles is when I see adults without helmets, riding with kids who are wearing a helmet. I absolutely get the free choice thing, but wonder what kinda example it sets when you are out with the kids? Still don’t say anything tho’, I just tut under my breath in a very understated English kinda way and ride on (often whilst not wearing my helmet).

Recommend what you own I ‘spose, but for helmet mounted lights: I’m using a Infini Lava, and Mrs OCB’s is using Moon Ring.

The Moon uses it’s normal tube fitting clip, but with the pads removed and then zip-tied on, (a fitting exercise that took longer to type than to actually do :wink: ).

The Moon’s also come with a clip for fitting to a bag / strap.

The Infini comes with a bag / strap clip – again, mine is just zip-tied into place.

I use the Titec H bars, not the J’s, :roll: but … and assuming they are similar enough proportions – this is how I’ve set mine up.

For completeness, that’s a set of XT (cable) brake levers & Dura Ace bar-end shifters on SJS/Jtek converters on the hooks. The grips are ‘small’ Ergon GP1 BioKork.

Best advice I can give is to enjoy it!
So, every so often, stop.
Turn all of your lights off and let your eyes adjust for a bit.
If you are away from town lights, (lucky enough to be away from town lights), and it’s a clear night, just look up …

Night time is magical to be out.

Add the ECR fork to your shortlist maybe?

I had them on my 26″ Genesis for a bit and found they suited that bike pretty well (The bike is back to doing more MTB-like duties now, so it’s back on it’s suspension forks – otherwise the ECRs would still be on it).

I use MDPE inserts for this job. I find them pretty robust, but still ‘soft’ enough not to mash things. Cheap, come in a range of sizes and are easily available from your local plumbers merchant / farm suppliers.

We rode all day yesterday in & around West Devon.
The weather was right old mix – hot / cold / rain / windy / still / humid / sunny / fresh ? … Usually several things at the same time.
Still a great ride tho’ :P

(Torrential rain today).

ajf
I think the principle of steady miles is that it will still improve your baseline but not make your body break down so much. Have a look at MAF training. Its running specific but I imagine the principles being the same.

I’m a big fan of the MAF idea and train (for running) using this way of thinking. Build, then maintain a big wide base fitness without adding training stress / increasing the risk of injury / inflammation / being ill, then pick up on race specifics near the time if you have something coming up.

I find it’s a great way to get back to peak pretty quickly if you’ve slackened off a bit too.

I train purely to HR, and don’t worry about anything else, and yeah, it’s weird at first, the whole going-slow-to-speed-up thing is counter-intuitive, but when I focus in properly on pre-race training, it’s worked a treat every time.

Rest isn’t doing nothing either, it’s doing something at an easy, safe pace. I’m also big on decent, regular sleep.

I was running 1 * 9 with friction-shifting for a bit, (before going single-speed on that bike) in a challenge to modernity.

I’ve also not long overcome the lack of front-mech provision on my friends bike by using a very subtle clamp-on cable stop, so even when a manufacturer isn’t keen, there was a way around it.

I like subversion.
:D

Ok, I’m in (albeit only following tradition by recommending what I own). Dunno if this fits your requirement for a couple of bags, but…

Wald 1372 on Racktime Topit f-rack is my set up of choice for most of my rides, not too big, not too small. The basket will take a full 13ltr Alpkit drybag comfortably, plus you can trap any odds and bits (like a waterproof or a map) under a cargo net. I use the same rack on 700c and 29’s (and it’s been on my chubby 26er, albeit with 29er forks).

*However* it’ll be expecting 100mm OLN on the front tho’ – so if you are boosted in some sense it might not spread far enough – a couple of mm is neither here nor there, but I wouldn’t go much further than that). (I’ve got one of these racks mounted on 135mm OLN forks, but on the ‘inside’ set of eyelets, there’s no way it’d go to 135mm).

I don’t recall every seeing a rack for boosted front ends, from what what I’ve seen, people seem to adapt a rear …

Anyway, assuming your forks aren’t boosted, (and my shonky photos aside), but maybe these’ll give you a hint:

The rack mounts on mid fork eyelets, and has a stabilising section back to the fork crown. Basket can be pedal-strapped on (or fitted properly :wink: ) to suit. I do sometimes just strap a drybag directly on the rack, so my basket isn’t fixed permanently.

I have a Nitto M18 on another bike, and a Wald will sit on that ok (but that size of rack is better suited to a rando bag imo).

For more ideas, the Blue Lug flickr ‘stream[/url] often has front racked bikes (& specs).

Pretty poor picture it must be said, [but] this is how my Vaya currently looks. Set up on more road-orientated tires and ‘guards for long days out on rough back-country roads, rather than on fat CX tyres for dirt).

(The other bike is a 2016 Genesis Borough, with a significant upgrade on transmission / brakes).

In the hailstorm that followed us down off the moors a couple of weeks ago.

Hot, hilly 100K on / around eastern & mid Dartmoor.

Recommend what you run
:roll:

but … I’ve not long put a set of [folding/tubed] Challenge Gravel Grinders (700 x 38, 120tpi, not-skinwalls) on my Vaya (for the ‘summer’) and I’m really rather liking them so far. They replaced a set of Conti Crossrides (700 x 42) as an alternative to Nano’s – they are / were fine too (if a bit nubby on dry roads).

(Mavic A719 ‘trekking’ rim).

This is a silver powdercoat base with a yellow/green layer on over the top rather than a single colour.

It’s always some kinda bright green, but quite how much, and exactly what kinda colour of bright green … does vary with the frequency / intensity / angle of the light.

Gunmetal n’ orange you say?

(Pedals, one headset spacer, ‘bar tape(ish), frame & tire decals, water bottle bolts).

@bikesian65

Ah, neither.
I was out on my Osprey …
:D

Was (or appeared to be) working fine (for me) a couple o’ days ago (Win10/Firefox) when I last used it.

That said, I’ve just checked to see how the package delivery on the backend is going, and I can’t connect to it, so maybe there’s a capacity issue? I seem to think it said there was a 6.4 day lead-in time, this time, which is about as long as I’ve seen. The website now states the backend has 0 requests / ~0 days in the queue, suggesting a problem perhaps.

Hope it’s ok, it’s a great resource!

Ha, not intentionally – I did seem to criss-cross it quite a bit tho’ now I’ve looked at the route. I had been seeing little CTC signs everywhere, but assumed they were just left over from something that’d been at gone. I might well have ridden it had I realised it was on, (but being organised enough in advance isn’t a strong point for me).
:wink:

Today – South Devon / East Dartmoor.

Nice in the sun, but a chilly wind up on the top of the moor.

Ah, so that’s why I passed so many [numbered] bikes grinding that last bit up to Manaton today (as I was on my way down it).

You’re right, the weather was great!

Heresy to suggest comparisons perhaps, but what’d make for a good supple 700 x 35/38’ish tyre in lieu of the Compass (Compass’s?). My Vaya has been wearing Conti CX tyres over the winter, but what with the sun being out n’all now, I fancy something a bit more road, and a bit less country.

South Devon back lanes (on a road bike (with a basket)).
:wink:

Maybe there’s something in the air?

My long-suffering Genesis had flat bars and my old Sherman’s shoved back on last weekend, and I hate suspension!

(I know about the cables / hoses / stem / grips, this one normally runs Titec H Bars & ECR forks, and the lengths of everything are based on that as I dunno how long the novelty of bouncing will last :wink: ).

Blimey! Perhaps I should give my Peregrine a few taps on the tubes later (although he felt perfectly happy out in the lanes over the weekend).

(Waves at all the other Peregrines on the forum).

I’ve got a 2015 Vaya, and it’s not enormously different to ride [than the Peregrine], the Vaya is a bit stiffer overall, but you’d kinda expect that given the bigger tubes and more direct fork.

If you are thinking Vaya, check the rear dropouts for the rear rack, I’ve got a half remembered idea about what racks you can / can’t use.

The Wolverine does look tempting, but options on the list could include the Rawland Ulv, or a Pelago Stavanger (if you can’t get them as a frameset (or at all)).

I wonder if the Marrakesh might perhaps not be a little too stiff unless it’s loaded?