On SRAM AXS and mullet cassette. Perfect shifting

Retired at 55, now 62. I understand the issues with pension pot. But something more important and you can have an affect over is your fitness and health.
All the money means nothing if you don’t have the fitness and good health to enjoy it. Get fit and stay fit. It will pay huge dividends in retirement.

Got the Lauf True Grit. The forks aren’t suspension. What they do is let your front wheel track the ground better. Think better steering, grip, cornering all round better confidence over bumps etc. On a gravel or CX it’s your tyre Width and pressures that provide suspension. Tubeless low pressures work just like MTB.
Would use forks on a MTB more capable for what I’d use a MTB for. Gravel CX Lauf is great.

I put my light on the outside (to the traffic) seat stay. That way I’ve found it avoids nearly all the water and hasn’t needed changing. On the seat tube rear lights didn’t last long.

One of my fans is set up at head/shoulder hight. It’s a lot more effective than my floor mounted one. I’m thinking of ditching the floor one and going for another controllable head/body hight fan. Also have a window in the roof. Without some form of external air the humidity would be a killer.

If it’s itunes you get a full receipt via email. Have you got some new pay for apps? That would come up as iTunes

https://www.whitemead.co.uk/

Stack of local trails near by as well.

With new tyres both mtb and road I unpack them maybe a week before I want to fit them. So they regain there shape on the floor of the garage. Compressor no fluid bang done. Seated. Valve out fluid in.

I pump my tyres up before I leave home not at the trail 😂

Bought a screw fix £90 electric air compressor years ago. Seats tyres instantly 😊 I have a Giant brand track pump which must be 15 years old. Still going strong and accurate when I checked with digital pressure gauge. Buy a compressor. Tubeless is here to stay. All the workarounds aren’t as good IM HO and cost a lot aren’t as reliable. 150psi instant inflation awaits!

I went from v1 Bronson to v3 5010. It’s longer and slacker! Im impressed. It’s actually better than my v1 Bronson. I’m not noticing any lack of travel with 140mm up front and it’s a dream in tight corners. It’s certainly a more engaging ride than the Bronson imho. I was seriously tempted to get a v3 Bronson I think the new linkage will give a seriously plush ride

Water only here don’t see cramps. It’s mainly I think down to fitness and exercise levels. Get fitter. 2 hour point is approximately where the adaptation takes place. I’d suggest rides at lower efforts like zone 2 beyond the 2 hour point.

Most riders don’t train hard enough or recover hard enough. Mix up training distance and effort.

Zwift training racing free ride groups solo it’s all up to you your not forced to do anything. I’m now Neo 2. Like night and day difference over mag turbo.

Note buying a turbo won’t improve your fitness. It’s what you do on it that makes a difference. If your not motivated to use it, save your money.

I sadly look forward to the winter now as I spend more time on the turbo. With a good setup it’s great fun. Large screen fans etc. Mines permanent setup. I never race normally but on Zwift I do. Probably the hardest workout I do.

Smart turbo has made the largest increase in my fitness. Better a good turbo session in the dry than a crap ride

Best reviews of turbos is here https://www.dcrainmaker.com/product-reviews/trainers

Plus one smart trainer direct drive and Zwift

I find taking them out of the packet and leaving them on the garage floor for a few days helps them regain their shape. Also you can get them on without tyre leavers – use your boot once you’ve got them on to the last tight bit.

Option 2 is open and you can have coffee in Tintern. I’m local. Main road to Chepstow is closed for the foreseeable future

2.3 DHF DHR – when did they become the small tyres :-) I do understand the advantages of bigger wider. Just their enough for me-balance between weight grip. One thing that happened with my Bronson is I went for wide 30mm rims etc and then used the trail wide tyres 2.4- 2.5. Big advantage? Not sure. I slowed down a lot especially in the winter. On flowy trails I was slower. I guess in Morocco or Spain they would be a comfort where its really rocky. New Zealand, no its all flow there. Canada mmm not sure. Plenty of trails but tend to flow more. I’m not sure why the Peaks beast for example would phase any average rider. Its rocky but you flow over it and its short. Bike Parks – Val Nord, BPW, Queenstown etc all really flow so I cant see why pedal strikes would ever be an issue.

What did it for me was v3 5010 was lighter, slacker and longer than my v1 Bronson. Which is a great bike I’ve ridden for 5 years. So I couldn’t really go wrong. As I said the new Bronson has become a bit porky and more Nomad. Which had in turn become more of a DH bike – my opinion. Get the bike you enjoy riding and don’t listen to opinions. Reserve wheels are OMG great :-)

5010 V3 is 12mm lower than Bronson. Didn’t have pedal strikes. When I demo the Bronson, coming from a Zesty 714 4 bar what I noticed is how different VPP is. Bronson and 5010 really come alive when the speed picks up and really suck you into the trail. I’d suggest pedal strikes maybe more due to technique. I’m 68kg. 29s ride well. The ‘dad’ bike :-)

Your thoughts Bronson or 5010 certainly is something a lot of us have thought about. 5010 rides very much like a Bronson. Your talking about 10mm difference in travel and 20mm on the rear. Will you really notice? I haven’t.

Oh and it would eat the trails like Beast etc I’ve done them on the Bronson. I’d suggest try a demo before you part with your money. It will be money well spent. I’d avoid mates views based on zero experience and make my own mind up. I thought I’d like the S.C. HT. Demo at stiff I went for 5010. Rides much like the Bronson

Came from a Mk1 Bronson, it’s longer slacker and as capable. Check the geo. I did go for 140mm. Having a lot of fun on the v3. I could have got the new Bronson but I think it’s gone a little more Nomad. Excellent bike just think v3 is actually better, lively, quick. Depends on what where you ride. Depends on rider and skill.

Skulcandy BT 12 hours battery. The gym ones and are water and sweat proof. Use them on the bike in all weathers. Simple easy controls

If you have all the answers asking us who run TL seems a bit pointless. Why don’t you just try what you want and then experiment with different tyre pressures liquid, no liquid to see what the difference is in the real world. We have experience you have web sites.

When I first inflate new tyres on my wheels they go up fine dry. Wheels are Reynolds Carbon x41. I then deflate and remove valve and inject liquid.

One of the benefits of TL is running lower pressures getting a better tyre profile and lower rolling resistance. Why run 90psi? 68kg plus load I run 55 front 60 rear on 28mm. And that’s not excessively low. From what I can see your losing all the benefits of TL.

Just done 6500km @ 4000 miles using 28 Continental TL on Europe trip. Had a couple punctures that I saw all sealed themselves. No repairs, pumped up and just kept rolling. One on the front from a metal staple still had the staple bits in it when I put new tyres on. Been rolling on 25 Continental TL for the last 2000km. Again faultless. But I use latex solution. Being able to roll for three months and 7500km without stopping for a puncture? Priceless. I’ll stick with latex fluid in my tyres thanks it works

I’d guess also if you did puncture without sealant the tyre would totally deflate very quickly. Not desirable.

No but maybe they won’t stay up. I use same tyres and with sealant their brilliant. I don’t even carry a tube.

I don’t cramp except in my feet. Odd I know but it seems to be brought on by long hard endurance rides. I even cramp sometimes during rest or sleep after rides. I don’t think anything’s wrong. Like you the whole hydration diet thing seems to be debunked. Although the lack of either may make you more prone to cramp.

My only suggestion would be to be active on the bike. Change position regularly, stand, sit. Take a quick off the bike moment to walk. This might offset the cramp. I’d try different things and see if any helps. I’m not sure if your prone to cramp you will entirely be free of it

Additional:
I stop for coffee lunch and afternoon ice cream if I can ha ha Stops are handy. Relaxes you. Refuel water bottle. Only carry one. There’s plenty of places to top up. Don’t carry the extra weight lessens fatigue.

Well for example before I did Liege-Bastogne-Liege I took the day off. Other times ferry crossing meant short days. I’ve cycled every day from Barcelona in the heat wave, Pyrenees and up to St Malo. I get into the hotel about 16:00 shower, eat and bed. Up at 07:00 normally on the road by 09;00. For rest I plan short days like to day 70k. Spent the morning in Lorient Navy museum. Cycled just the afternoon. I saw the Giro at various stages and stayed in Verona to see the finish. Day off there :-) Make you days off coincide with things you want to see or do. Short day into Rome, went on the hop on off bus see the sites.

You need to plan your route. In the mountains halve the distance because of the climb. Be well organised and carry little as possible. My bag is 2kg. Phone GPS money etc 1kg. Only have rear saddle bag. You must stay aero. I plan mine over the winter. I find I can do 100-140km a day non stop any climb. Vary your distances.

Food is really important. Continental breakfast just isn’t enough. Bread and juice coffee! Sleep, in bed by 21:00.

Be well organised good admin
Maintain your bike – plan when you need a chain or pad change. After 6500k I changed tyres to.

Fatigue has set in for me after Spain and France heatwaves. Tomorrow is 120km then all day on ferry. Night in Portsmouth and then 210km to home

Typically you need twice the recovery as you get older. You should also help recovery with a good diet. Older people must take on more protein after exercise to aid muscle repair.

Better a good session on Zwift. Mines permanently set up in the spare room. Big computer screen. It’s ideal. Concept 2 rower as well. I find having it all set up means I use it more often. Fans, drinks. I don’t train in the wet anymore. No need to. Zwift is great fun. I don’t race on road but I do on Zwift. Probably one of the hardest workouts I do!

One of the reasons I buy online is I can get what I want in the size colour I want. And even try them on and send them both back for free and get my money back if I’m not completely satisfied.

I just order two pair small and medium online then send back the pair that don’t fit. It’s free returns.

It’s really easy. The free returns label is in the box they come in for wiggle etc. Just drop off at your local collect plus collection point.

(people don’t train hard enough nor rest easily enough” )

Like it, that encapsulates my entire view on zones

One other area that affects you is staying in the ‘training zone’. How many times have you looked at someone’s Strava and they say zone 1 – 2 recovery and to look and it’s mostly zone 3. It’s really hard to stay in the training zone. For me zones 4-5 are mostly turbo where you can safely do intervals

Well I’m nearly 61 the getting out the door problem we’ve all experienced. From my experience and anecdotal evidence if you make training enjoyable you will train and gain more. I put a lot of training in. It’s not a problem. If I’m out on a ride and it’s not going well I’m not afraid to listen to my body and cut it short and or add another coffee stop. Conversely if it’s going well I step it up.

It’s keeping it enjoyable that’s important. That can and should include hard sessions. Cross training to. I quite like indoor rowing. Helps to provide a whole body workout.

Type A people? I wonder sometimes if they actually like themselves:-D I know a few. Boom and bust and tend to be injury prone.