I have a Brother Mehteh. 700c with 44mm WTB Raddlers for longer rides, 650B with 2.1” Maxxis Ikons for “XC lite” rides.

If I had to chose I’d keep the 650B no question.

Edit: vital to have the same hubs on each set for the faff-reduction reasons other contributors have mentioned.

I’m also using the OneUp / Revgrips combo. Would’ve been cheaper to buy some suspension forks TBH!

Revgrips are excellent and would recommend, but only one ride on the OneUp so far (but even if they make no difference they look the business).

Alfoxton is the least worst climb out of Holford I reckons.

All of them yeah?

Yes. Absolute zero tolerance for dogs on the trail or their smug entitled owners.

Here’s an alternative route from Mach to Rhayader via Nant yr Arian so you don’t have to retrace yourself…

LINK

I swapped from a Sora 50/46 to a GRX 48/31. FWIW the Sora front mech worked fine. I replaced with a GRX mech when I got hold of one. The shifting is a bit better but probably wasn’t worth the expense TBH.

I’ve run GRX 810 levers with ancient XT M775 calipers for 18 months and I’m still alive.

@Molgrips is right about the local context here in North Cardiff. On my weekend gravel ride we could only find 2 proper gravel sectuers of just 35km and 30km.

I rode over Pico del Veleta (3,400m) in the Sierra Nevadas. I thought I was dying at the summit.

How much distance of this kind of nonsense?

We cheated and got a ferry from Rowardennan accross the Loch and rode the main road on the opposite shore to avoid all that.

I’ve been using a 11 speed Utlegra mech in the absolute slop for 12 months with no problems.

Not a very helpful comment I realise now I’ve typed it.

“The Hard Way”. Oh dear.

@pdw I stand corrected, sir (or madam).

You’re almost certainly better off buying that and flogging the FM ones as the cost of bolts + connectors quickly adds up.

Hard disagree. All you need are a couple of the M9 bolts for £6 each. Good luck recouping that flogging 2nd hand calipers plus there’s the ballache of selling them to factor in. No way, Jose.

I’m using GRX with some antique XT M775 calipers and it works great.

We may scoff but … this type of article will eventually bring on the … revolution some of us have been waiting a long time for.

I am certainly looking forward to the revolution so bourgeois scum like this journalist are sent to the reeducation camps.

Around Cardiff trails are quite rocky mostly, so much as I’d like a gravel bike it’s a non-starter because I like going fast.

This is a reflection on your riding, not the trails around Cardiff.

Excellent cream tea opportunities:

https://ridewithgps.com/trips/44837873

A mate has been riding in army-surplus Gore-Tex camo trousers. Cheap as chips (>£30 iirc). He’s extremely please with their performance but they do make him look like someone you wouldn’t want near your kids.

Your “trail dog” isn’t cool, it’s a menace.

I replaced a Dirt Wizard with a DHF and I have not been disappointed.

But living in Cardiff you will have to accept it’s the worse place to live in Wales for cycling.

This is a nonsensical thing to post on a mountain bike forum.

For all those who keep on about it needing a chair lift – can you imagine sitting on one in sweaty riding gear in the middle of a Welsh winter? The place would be empty.

I’m sure there are chairlifts operating during Alpine winters. Might be wrong.

b) Day 2 – ride W2 at race pace aiming for as close to 4h as I can get.

Four hours?! That’s party pace!

The answer is, without doubt, Mid-Wales. I did a ride starting and ending from Merthyr station earlier in the year. Loads of lovely gravel.

Merthyr – Llanwrytd Wells – Strata Florida – Rhayader – Brecon – Merthyr.

Train from Paddington to Merthyr via Cardiff and you’re golden.

I had no problem riding my Trek Slash from Cardiff to Dreathen Woods yesterday if that’s of any help. Good few laps an all.

TBH anything’s going to go faster than a Patriot. And I speak from experience.

Like!

They can catch a train from Pentrebach* to Cardiff. V regular trains but they can’t start boozing until the train get past Ponty.

*Or Merthyr but Pentrebach’s the nearest gorsaf.

https://youtu.be/GG-V0-Wg1UE

I’ve had a pair of trail wide 29ers for 6 months. A bit like you, I bought them after being really happy with a pair of their gravel wheels.

I’d wholeheartedly recommend. I did have a problem with the free hub early on but one phone call and 48 hours later I had new one no questions asked. Great value wheels and excellent customer service.

Six Feet Under, Afan

With MTB bars become side wide a pair of cross top lever would make sense for road sections.

Strong disagree.

Probably:

this

The routes were quite well signposted originally but – unless they’ve been refreshed since the last time I was there (July) – you’d be hard-pressed to follow them now!

I ordered a bike in July – apparently in stock – only to be phoned and told that in fact the bike would not be in stock until November. Would I like some other piece of crap bike they could get their hands on instead?

TBF was refunded immediately.

I get the impression you’re not interested but climbing the Veleta was the one of the grimmest experiences I have ever had on a mountain bike. Avoid.

Hybrid for sure.

If you have cash to splash, buy a Slash.

I’ve done nearly 3,000km mostly off-road on a Sora groupset and I haven’t even had to twiddle a barrel adjuster. It works flawlessly.

My beloved Scapin frame as a 26 rear/27.5+ front singlespeed.  It was previously a 69er.

That looks like the sort of bike that would be ideal for riding the trails north of Cardiff. Perhaps on a Wednesday night.

The solution is to buy a bike with the desired geometry in the first place.