I’ve built prototypes for both companies, including all the bikes in that Outdoors Magic article. I know which of the 2 I would buy a bike from were I in the market, which I’m not. Paradoxically 7 of my bikes have frames sourced from one of these 2 but none bear any resemblance to a current model on their website. There’s no love lost between the 2 of them for various reasons.

One of the main reasons shops don’t reuse spokes on hub swaps is that they will cut the old hub out with bolt cutters rather than unscrew possibly seized nipples, it takes about a minute vs possibly 20 mins buggering about, time is money. Also used spokes have had the stresses of riding and are more difficult to tension quickly.

Madrid is an inferno in the summer and freezing in the winter, we have friends from Sheffield who live there and were very surprised with the harsh climate. We live in Southern Cataluña near Tortosa and have a near perfect climate.
Casa Tomillo

Watched La Vuelta on tdp this year and listening to the commentary talking about the CCC team (pronounced th th th ) reminded me of Paul Whitehouse’s newsreader on the Paula Fisch sketch.

Call in if you’re passing along the coast road through Cataluña we’re 2 hours south of Barcelona in a great biking spot.
Our Finca b&b

<str

ong>@molgrim
We too pay Spanish taxes and being in Cataluña, we get Catsalut medical cover. MrsPB had a mountainbike otb on a remote trail and broke her collarbone, her friend phoned the ambulance and due to her position up a goat track, the Bombers arrived with a 4×4 and stretchered her to that then on to the ambulance to hospital. Several x rays, pain relief, etc etc, total cost nowt.

Diluted IPA or a dedicated panel wipe,
I’m sure I could find a better use for Indian Pale Ale 🤤

Warning, shameless plug content.
Our little Finca
We’ll be staying here for most of the year 😏

Our place

@Halifaxpete,
I’ve pm’ed you, might be able to help with accommodation, I live 40 min south of Salou.

Everything will be ok until you get arrested by the grammar police for using the word less when it should have been fewer.

That’s what I just said!

The thing that used to boil my piss was if you’d booked a return with a duration over 2 days, you were forced to pay for early check in on the return as it was impossible to check in just for the outbound flight. This seems to have changed as Mrs PB flew Alicante to Newquay in June and she checked in for both flights with no charge. Btw, where in Spain are you going, we live here and run a little B&B in Cataluña.

Drove down to the coast this afternoon at 5pm, ambient temperature readout on the car showed 27° on the way back at about 8.30 still at 23° September-October here are lovely. Southern Catluña btw.

Felt sorry for Marc Soler, clearly under orders to give up his lead to pace other Movistar GC contenders, wouldn’t have been surprised if he was told to not help Quintana and hold back for Valverde such is the state of team politics. He looked mightily pissed off when crossing the line.

@matt etc. Afaik, no dodgy apps loaded, I’ve got wikiloc, komoot,ign maps, garmin connect,google earth, whatsapp, google translate, imgur, and iplayer. I don’t visit dodgy sites and rarely watch youtube. Not sure which media player is loaded basically it’s what came with the phone which is an AGM A8. Perhaps I need a better brand.

Slight hijack but do all andriod phones get infected with annoying pop ups the minute you get either 4g or wifi connection. Mine’s so beset with them that getting rid of them often stops me answering calls before the caller hangs up. Is there a fix for this short of throwing it in the sea?

Will be at the side of the road on stages 5 and 6 as they’re not far from home. The climb to the observatory on Javalambre is new and spectacular. Stage 7’s finish is absolutely brutal, 3km of ropey concrete road with ramps of 20-25%, watched there 2 years ago when Froome was mugged by Quintana, only time I’ve seen pros off and walking.

Aside from them being our friends and in-laws, we lease a car from her sister

Is her sister’s name Ling Valentine by any chance?

You’re welcome to ask anything. We’ve been here nearly 4 years and our only regret is that we didn’t do it years ago. It’s a great area for all outdoor activities, has a mild climate and property isn’t expensive. I race mountainbikes and do quite a bit of bikepacking, MrsPB is into running and triathlon. We can do all this virtually from the door and the biggest plus for us is the area doesn’t suffer from the Brits abroad tag.PM me and I’ll send you my contact details.

That 44teeth video was filmed around my local hills, I live 20km from Tortosa and ride road and gravel trails that go for miles. When you buy it, book yourself in for a few days in it’s natural environment Our b&b in Cataluna might have bought one myself by then!

Sorry for the slight hijack but I bought a very similar phone to the Blackview that’s being recommended, an AGM A8.For the first month or so it was fine but then I started being bombarded with pop-up ads every time I switched it on. It sometimes takes a minute of fiddling with the tiny x’s to get rid of them, most of the time I’m redirected to a facebook link. It takes so long that I’m unable to answer incoming calls in time. The ads are fairly innocent, showing babies or girls in bikinis but it’s driving me mad. Can anyone advise, preferrably in words of 1 syllable, how I can rid myself of this?

Just packing up the camper van to drive to Guchen, the village at the bottom of the last climb on Thursday. Saturday involves a 50km ride to the top of the Tourmalet which is a stage finish this year. Will be happy if the rankings are similar to last year when they went up from the other side.

If you don’t it’s nicely poised with all the main contenders within a minute.

Apart from Nibbles who lost 5 minutes today, came in with an EF rider doing a cutthroat gesture.

Our place ticks all your boxes. It’s certainly quiet, near the mediterranean with lovely coves and beaches, weather in October is 20+degrees and dry, easy and cheap to get to by flying to Barcelona or Reus/Tarragona in 2 hours, local hill walking, we can rent bikes or guide on local rides. We’d recommend hiring a car if you want to do your own thing.
This is us Casa Tomillo

Three weeks is plenty of time, most get round in 5-6 hours, you could do it on all fours in three weeks. (May have got the wrong end of the stick)

Try telling Chris Froome that runways are flat. The one at Peyragudes in the Pyrenees was a stage finish on the 2017 TdF, it has a gradient of 20% for about 600m and he was mobbed, running out of steam about 200m from the line.

Campsite booked in Guchen in the Pyrenees as per last year, planning to see stages 12 and 14. The last climb of 12 starts opposite the campsite and 14 is a mountain top finish on the Tourmalet. Managed to get some decent shots there last year.

€1.70 for 330ml is £2.50 a pint, paid double that when I was last back in the UK

Glass of nice red wine, 250ml, €1.80, 330ml of draught Estrella €1.70 life is good in rural Cataluña.

Pinion
Intense
Specialized
Tomac
Orange
Norco
Brodie
Raleigh
Overburys
Kinesis
Ellsworth

Simples…..

I’ve been using the Absolute Black 30/46 combo on a 105 4 arm chainset which is the same setup as the Ultegra 8000 and it works fine. Survived the Turin Nice Rally no problem and I was glad of the lower gearing fully laden on the Col d’Assietta. Works with a standard front mech and has the added benefit of being oval so smoothing the pedal stroke and knee issues.

Julbo Zebra photochromic with prescription inserts, best I’ve had and I’ve had ’em all. Oakley, Rudy Project, Uvex, Dual Eyewear etc etc.

Watch Icarus, then have a good think. Possibly a new experience for you.

I was up there for the 2017 Vuelta, rode it the day before, bloody hard!
On the day of the race, we were sat outside our camper van right by the stage, 7km from the top when a UCI official drove down and asked us if we’d be willing to take our van to the top as one of their medical control vans had broken down en-route. We agreed and there followed a terrifying 30 minute drive up the steepest and narrowest section of the climb dodging thousands angry spectators and bikes crawing up. We parked in the corner of the carpark and were treated to VIP hospitality and given 2 rucksacks full of goodies. Saw Contadors win and Froomes clinching of his Grand Tour slam, after the prizegiving Froome was taken into our van to provide his test and when he emerged, he stopped for a photo and chat with me.

You’ve just missed the Cabin Fever 600, literally last weekend. There’s a thread and writeup pending on Bearbones Bikepacking as someone from there did it. Seems it was a good do.

We live 90 mins south of Barcelona so go from time to time. The Sagrada Familia is breathtaking but you need to pre- book tickets. Personally I like the Port Nou looking at the superyachts. The Montjuic park is lovely and the evening fountain display is spectacular. The Olympic park is looking a bit care worn but worth a walk to the diving pool to see the iconic view for those of a certain age. Theres a cylindrical building on the Placa Espana which has an external lift that gives good view and only costs €1. Eating and drinking for 4 can be expensive but there are lots of restaurants off the Rambla that do a menu del dia for around €10-12. First thing I’d do is a bus tour to get your bearings then go back to bits you like on foot. Apart from the Sagrada Familia which is a no brainer.

If your current chainset is 4 arm 105 you can replace the standard 34/50 with an Absolute Black 30/46 oval set. I did and they work well. Swap the cassette for an 11/40 and you can climb walls.

That looks a good route, I’ve ridden the bit from Llanca to Sadurnes and some routes in the volcano region of the Garrotxa. I also put together a 5 day trip from Reus to Girona that used the tracks around Rupit but we had to bail early as it was last August and mid 40 degrees. I did see a guy riding fixed on the Pirinexus, I was riding with Steve Heading and we caught and passed him at halfway on the return crossing of the Pyrenees near la Jonquera just before the heavens opened and flooded the roads.

Or €69.95 if you forget to cancel the annual pass that was €20 for the first year, bunch of shysters!

This guyhas posted a lot of stuff in the Pyrenees, I used his trail to ride from Llanca to Irun, 1,000km in 11 days. There are some rough sections but nothing silly, I was on a fully laden rigid 29er and coped ok.