Taking a bit of getting used to. Looking down and thinking where the other half of the tire has gone. Give it a day or two. Rolls nicely and I have no excuse for not keeping with gravel friends now. I was tempted by the 50mm version.

With the 43mm Panaracer Gravelking SK plus..

Just installed some Panaracer Gravelking SK plus 43mm on my Chisel 5 minutes ago. They accelerate up nice and fast. Planning to do most of the festive 500 on this bike. Also tyres for 200 Dirty Reiver in April. I usually run S-works fasttraks in 2.2.

Fatmax, sounds like a good set-up. New tyres showing up tomorrow. 43mms on a MTB, still unsure but we will see lol. Will post a pic.

Dickydutch, I’ve had two emails. The auto-generated payslip, then another saying I was in. Today they sent a circular about the event and the build up to it.

Yeh Jon, 3 screws for front bottle cage. Can shift it up one if I need to. Then one on the seat tube. Quite a bit of space. Although I may stick a triangular frame bag in that space for th Reiver and run a camelback hip style bag. Don’t fancy running my full on camelback!

Ordered some panaracer Gravelking SK+ TLC in 43mm which should be here tomorrow. Definitely keen to go a few rides soon with you guys. I’ll be doing the festive 500 this year (weather permitting, as I see snow storm is set to arrive). Planning to do it on the Chisel mostly.

As for bars, I’m going to buy some bull bars and stick them inboard. Tape the centres of my bars up along with the bulls. May drop the front end by the final two spacers, so it’s slammed. Will play around over the next few months.

Oh and the Sid raceday SL is 1300g with lockout. Very light. Will ride most of it locked out, perhaps letting it off on some of the descents.

Loving the wit 🙂 changing down to a smaller ring. Was trialling a 38t but need another easier gear for climbing.

I sold my gravel bike a few months back. Wanted to build that chisel as I wanted to reduce the number of bikes I had. It turns out it’s lighter, similar reach and riding position.I almost always rode on my hoods on the gravel bike too. Kielder is actually local to me (1.25 hrs drive) , spend many weekends up there. Got s-work fasttracks on the bike at the moment – they are light (500g and fast), but going to stick on a fast rolling skinny gravelstyle tyre for the 200km. Thinking 45-50mm.

Got a small triangular frame bag I will use, back pockets, two water bottles . Don’t fancy a camelback for 10 hrs.

Here’s the chisel. I’ll be doing it on this. Sid SL locks out. Full bike 9.5kg. Going to stick some 50mm (2.0) panaracers on it.

Should work now. Changed host.

I’d have it out with them in a polite but concise email. State their own statements as per their website. Can argue it’s somewhat misleading. If that doesn’t succeed, take it to Twitter. No company likes public limelight. Failing that, plenty of tailors and small shops that for zip repairs. They will take the whole zipper unit off and fit a new one. Although you have to go out of your way. I’ve never been attracted to Rab, will be staying away based on this story.

If you can stretch to 975 I have one for sale in classified. Norco Search XR A1 with GRX and wtb tubeless wheels.

Will do mate. It’s likely going to take a month or two to build as I’m slowly buying pricey components on the side of living. The frame is being dispatched today. Wheels have been ordered. Bitex 211 with DT Swiss XR391 28 hole rims and cx-ray spokes. Frame is 1400g. Wheels coming in at 1600g, not bad for alloy and 590gbp. Having my friend build them as he’s an excellent wheel builder. I am toying with electronic dropper and rear mech at the moment. Eagle variant.

Prefer Awk over sed or grep to be honest.

Ah dear. I’ve opened a can of worms here lol. Awaiting one meaningful reply. Somebody, somewhere?

Seems exactly like the Fuel Ex was in 2018. My 2018 Fuel Ex 9.8 is lighter than the top fuel 9.8. 🙄 minimal changes, stupid prices. Welcome to the bike market, 2021.

Joined the Strava club a few days back, so count me in. Will be good to have this motivation. So far mtbing, cycling, runs, walks,home workouts, yoga.

Goodyear connectors. 54 a pop last time I checked. Pricey but a very good compromise between road/gravel and trails. Tried and tested. Grippy as pig shit to a carpet.

Wow, this thread blew up. Thanks for all the comments and feedback. Much appreciated.

I pulled the pin and bought the Norco Search XR A1 this morning. Was out for five hours this afternoon. So much gravel, old railways and paths to link up (NE). Ended up doing an 85km loop with a friend and finished off at the pub. Pretty Chilled with a few stops for photos and food. Spent about all of five minutes on roads. So nice not to have aggressive drivers and traffic constantly up your rear end.

I’ve now come to the conclusion that I don’t need a dropper on the gravel bike. I rode some rather rough trails at the start and that was harsh compared to my Fuel Ex 9.8. no surprises there! The bike really shines on the gravel, bridal ways, the paths, floaty fast woodland dirt trails. Big grin on my face a few times. It’s a bike that makes tame MTB trails really fun. It also accelerates really well up forest banks. Really relaxed geometry, comfortable and the 38s really grip hard when you want to pin corners. I don’t think I’d want wider tyres as the compromise between speed and comfort seems spot on at the moment.

I think this bike will be ridden more than my MTB and road bike during autumn and winter. As a gravel bike, for exploring and a winter road bike!

Not wanting a hardtail. Have had before. Also have a very light trail bike. Wanting drops and rigid for something different.

Apple-cored my inner thigh when I was about 14 years old. Through the layer of fat and muscle. Could see the layers. Thankfully no blood, clear core. Wound was about 3/4 inch deep.3 stitches. Doctor said an inch higher and I’d have hit the artery. Thankful to this day. I still don’t know if it was bar end or brake lever.

Fox Launch Enduro kneepads. Light,comfy,stay up nicely. Can’t stand hard shells or anything clunky.

No type of nutrition is going to make up for much needed rest, but a combination of, certainly will. If you find yourself taking longer to recover, maybe it’s time for a week out before you smash into the over-training category. After all, the changes happen during recovery and rest. If you aren’t giving your body that time to recover, then it’s going to just get worse. I’m sure you’re well aware anyhow.

I know the feeling. Some times you just want to ride more and harder but I’ve found when my training is up and my life is stressy, it can take longer to recover. Enjoy the rest, your body will thank you, especially given that there is a lack of racing this year. Enjoy a few big meals and a beer or two as well without worrying about calories etc. Training can become addictive at times and it’s good to break the cycle when you feel stagnant. I felt similar a few weeks back. Decided to take a week off road and MTB. Concentrated on other things and felt amazing afterwards.

Good luck. The bikes will be around when you have a rest 😊

Adding into the discussion. I’ve recently just had tightness in hip flexors and piriformis/ glutes. Went to Phsyio for 3 sessions then started yoga as Phsyio was average. 4 days of yoga on my lower back, hips and hamstrings and my pain has gone.

Often the large muscles aren’t firing and the piriformis and hip flexors start taking the brunt. Now I’m more educated on why we cyclists should really be stretching or doing some yoga once or twice a week. I’ll also be building my glutes up with bridges, squats, clams.

Chameleon

Yeh 29er 😀

Ride it occassionally. Yesterday it was dry enough. A few weeks ago I came home and didn’t even clean the bike. Just avoid the moorland and maybe up the crag after a big wet. We live in the UK, accept it’s gonna be wet at times (having moved back from Aus after 6 years 🤣😝)