Took my little stihl out to clear some fallen trees a month back. Took less time to cut the trees than it did to fix the puncture on the way there

Fair enough @didnthurt I have a ME switch jerkin that I use when cold, and the ME switch jacket is made the same way. It’s the previous iteration of Alpha so the fibres are contained within the garment and behind a windproof front with the sides and back being made from ‘technopile’
https://www.outdooraction.co.uk/mountain-equipment-switch-jacket-p19948

Specialized do their own as well https://www.specialized.com/gb/en/mens-prime-alpha-jacket/p/1000087918?color=1000093819-1000087918

Great kit. I have many of their road items. Tights, jerseys, skinsuits and gloves. As well as Stolen Goat they also made kit for Morvelo, and a lot of national teams. From memory the quality of the kit was aimed at lasting 5 wears a week for 1 year or 1 wear a week for 5 years. I’d back that up. For a couple of years they made our road club kit. @didnthurt I haven’t seen the specific jersey you mention but the Tempest kit is aimed at shoulder season riding.

@Scienceofficer agreed on the facing. I went through ca.£140 of bearings, not bottom bracket assemblies, bearings with my Trek Crockett due to the bb shell being 1.5mm out on the NDS. The fault would have been spotted sooner but due to the great plague the shop couldn’t get hold of a T47* facing and chasing tool for some months. Trek immediately replaced the whole Frameset.

As many of my bikes as possible now, I fit square taper to. I’m done with being a contributor to waste through external bb’s.

*T47, because of course we need yet another standard.

Have tried both. Would not bother with either. Nor would I use latex tubes. Just good butyl tubes and spend the money on the tyres. Vittoria Corsa’s are my go to. Yes they can eat tread fast (compared to some hosepipe tyres) but life is too short for shitty tyres.

I’m running a 12 speed chain on my singlespeed so nerr.
10/11sp chains are interchangeable with 10/11 speed gear components. 12 speed chains will work fine with 10 & 11 speed gears but don’t always play nice with narrow wide chainrings for the 1x crowd.

Another for the vittoria terreno dry here. I am a serial tyre buyer and changer and frankly they are very good tyres. Good enough to get me into the top 10 in the Welsh cyclocross Championship at a very mixed conditions course. Good on the road and better than you think they should be off it.
In comparison other than the Gravel King semi slick I’ve been disappointed with all the GK variants.
Currently been switching between Challenge Getaway and Bruce Gordon Rock n Road.

@BadlyWiredDog gritty slurry, no. Sleety slush, salted roads and heavy rain yes. The mudguards help somewhat but not 100%. The difference between a tool and a toy I suppose?

Just popping in with e-cargo bike info as the motors and batteries don’t care what frame they are in. Our Tern is 4 1/2 years and over 8,000 miles old, in daily use and still with original battery and motor. And still using 10 speed gears. Parts will be available for many years to come for the much wider use than just fun I.e. e-mtbs. I expect easily a decade or longer for ours. The bearings and running gear will be the replacement parts, as they currently are.

If you want to see a good example of what’s possible that absolutely is not ‘sanitising’ aka making routes accessible for all, then have a look at the unclassified road and byway that runs up from Tintern across Chapel Hill. Plenty of green infrastructure in place to assist in NFM whilst keeping the route open and usable.

Want to buy my Ortliebs? https://flic.kr/p/2nW6sMf

Front Roller City in black. They work fine as smaller rear panniers. I’ve gone to Arkels.

OP you’re not alone. I tried to dinglespeed my pinklespeed with an alfine tensioner and single cog rear with two chainrings like @ajantom but the alfine tensioner chainline didn’t marry up with the crankset I’m using so I binned it for now. The idea was for a flat gear of around 72” and a climbing gear of around 50”.

Well said @IdleJon Accept responsibility for your actions. If your actions are throwing cups of piss then expect an unpleasant response.

Mudguards. Love them. With several of the lanes I ride looking like this

I don’t really want shite all over my face, eyes, arse or drinks bottle. Had a great 4 hour rough stuff ride yesterday with a mate; he on his ht and me on the mudguarded vagabond. He had a gooch full of slurry after the first 3 miles along the towpath. I was a dry and comfy little camper.

Out of curiosity I tried some of the ride now tpu tubes on the singlespeed. The ‘gravel’ ones that are supposed to be for 700×28-47c. Absolutely fine with challlenge 36mm gravel grinders but both failed when seating the beads on 45c challenge getaways. One had 7 tiny punctures in, the other only 3. All of them along the rim bed. Both rims are tubeless taped and cleaned before I fitted the change of tyres. I can only presume from the pattern of punctures that the tpu tubes deformed slightly into the spoke holes under the tape and that was enough to cause small ruptures. I couldn’t tell any difference between tubeless and tpu.

Climate change. Suck it up buttercups and amend your lifestyle to deal with it. After a wet start today had one of the most enjoyable 5 hour rides of the year. Good company, interesting terrain and plenty of laughs. @ton very well said.

Definitely not a cm. Even on the ends of the whisky Winston’s they might give 3-5mm. They’re the widest I have. 3t drops don’t move more than a mm. Zipp 80s the same. Bontrager carbons 2-3mm

Obvious answer is singlespeed.
As others have touched on, there’s still plenty of places to find 7-11 speed kit even if you need to look at Microshift, Miche and the like.

@jj55 @chiefgrooveguru I rode the Lost Lanes Central #26 on my 65” geared singlespeed last week. Bloody hell the wind nearly broke me. I added another 10 miles on due to riding to and from the start.

The wold-esque hills aren’t like the south wales valleys I’m used to.

@chiefgrooveguru I’m 185cm. Longer legs than torso. I checked geometry figures for the wheelbase and the canyon was 1029mm and the inbred 1089. So 60mm difference. Probably more visual difference due to the factory 110mm stem on the canyon and the 50mm stem I fitted to the inbred. I don’t like dropper posts; I’ve tried them and they’re not for me. I don’t think I’d want the additional mental processing of operating one during a cyclocross race either. I realise the OP was talking about gravel but no one has mentioned suspension in any detail yet. I ended up racing for a local shop team on a Trek Boone with the front and rear isospeed pivots. It helps a little to smooth things under seated pedalling at the back, but the front didn’t do much noticeable. Trek have dropped it now. I also tried Lauf forks on my spare bike; Trek Crockett, but whilst they were useful on straight and fast sections, they allowed the front wheel to straighten up almost gyroscopically in the tighter turns of a cyclocross course and I hated that.

Do it. I bought a lovely 996 carrera 2 10 years ago for £9k unseen over eBay. It was a beauty and I enjoyed driving a thousand miles a month for three months before an oil spill on a damp day saw me slide into a lamppost on a dual carriageway and need cutting out of the car. On longer trips the most economical speed was 92 mph which returned 32.5mpg. I used to carry my road bike inside with the wheels off and in the froot. The insurance pay out was higher than purchase price due to the rise in vehicle values and it paid for part of my wedding.
FWIW the then fiancé had no idea what I was doing with an envelope full of fifties and thought it was shady drug deals. When I returned later that Saturday with a 911 she was not amused. She hated that car and the angriest I’ve ever seen her was when she had to drive cross country to get me out of hospital.
Was it quick? Yes if you kept your foot in.
Was it engaging? Very much so. On paper the now-wife’s m240i is more powerful and faster and yet the 911 was a much, much better place to get going and feel what was happening.
Would I do it again? Yes probably. Buy the car, drive it and if it’s not for you then sell it on. If you lose a bit of money then it’s probably no more than you would have lost in interest on a pcp over the same time.

I should also add that I’d have very fast motorbikes previously and whilst the 911 was fast, it wasn’t that fast.

@chiefgrooveguru One just shifts body weight backwards, to unweight the front wheel slightly. Same as a mountain bike.
Reminded me of a couple of photos from the same obstacle at a cyclocross race where my spare bike was my mtb. Body positioning is pretty similar, but being further back you can see the arm/torso lean is less on the flat bar.

There were some hoof prints under this.

And a lane under this

And I still don’t know how to embed Flickr images here. The bars are Whisky Winston before anyone asks. Not drops. Not flats.
Not my usual riding area: I was out of wales and around Melton way.

@jameso winning the internet with that tip. 🫡

@cookeaa I went full niche. The jerkin was knitted by a lovely local lady. The shirt is a comfy and slim Rab number and the bike is singlespeed, and for bonus points I was on an Audax. https://flic.kr/p/2o4d7nY

Well today wasn’t as crisp as yesterday. https://flic.kr/p/2pjmQxZ

https://flic.kr/p/2pjmQxD

https://flic.kr/p/2pjmQxD

Schwalbe G-one all rounds have very limited grip on wet leaves and mud 😄

And my Flickr won’t work either but hey. https://flic.kr/p/2pjmNbb

https://flic.kr/p/2pjjuca

https://flic.kr/p/2pjjucq

https://flic.kr/p/2pjmNbg

I have bought a 10 speed cues 11-39t cassette out of curiosity. Here are visual comparisons with an HG 11-36 https://www.instagram.com/p/Cy2sbAeMWiuvm7zEBkAf-oiaHHvobttrRGthGg0/?igshid=ZWI2YzEzYmMxYg==

I suspect no issues with using with standard 10 speed chain and shifters.

Current genesis vagabond fork sounds like it would suit. So many mounts and 12mm bolt through.

@Kramer if you decide to go for another shifter I have a pair of force 1x hyd on eBay currently that were on a cx bike and so are cheap (for hydraulic shifters)

Thanks for the Hotpogs info. We’ve been using some other ones for the last couple of years on the tern gsd but they’re very much dying now. 

Only started riding with a club in 2010, after a gap of 15 years but things I remember from 25 years ago were dubious lycra shorts and a sponge chamois because proper chamois skin chamois were way too expensive. Down tube shifters and 2×5 gears. When I started again in 2010 one didn’t go on a club ride until one was able to ride 50 miles. Self sufficiency was vital, groups woulds be small generally and etiquette was drilled in regarding keeping a wheel, maintaining a steady pace, not half-wheeling and calling out road hazards. In the club, time trials were Tuesday evenings, then if you wanted to go out with the racers you went out Thursday evening for a chaingang, Saturday afternoon was the fast group ride with no stops, and Sunday was the steadier social ride with a cafe stop. Equipment was varied but generally the Saturday rides and chaingangs would see 53/39 chainsets and 11-25 cassettes. A compact cassette was a novel sighting. Sunday club rides were slightly more mixed but the old boys leading used to know all the lanes and it wasn’t unknown to be in the middle of what you thought was nowwhere and then popping out to cross a main road that you recognised. Lumpy rides would normally include Gospel Pass or up into the Black Mountains from the south and west. I have fond memories of watching the old boys grind up stony lanes with each of them berating the other for the choice of route. I also remember proudly when they asked me to take over the routing and ride leading. The general group make up was of a benevolent dictator as ride captain and then as the group changed up whilst riding, normally with a shout of ‘change horses’, the front riders would pull to the side and the group come through the middle. This changed eventually to the lead right rider pulling out to the right and dropping back, in a through and off movement. @IdleJon will recall also the cyclocross scene was much different back then, with smaller fields of riders, and all mixed in together. Also soup, especially chowder ;-)

I have a large vagabond but it’s the 725 iteration and I have a vague recollection that stays and forks were wider than on earlier versions? I have the 65mm bluemels https://fawkes-cycles.co.uk/sks-bluemels-style-27-5-29-mudguard-set-p30839/s64484?utm_medium=ppc&utm_term=sks-bluemels-style-27-5-quot-29-quot-mudguard-set-65mm-wide-m-si-size-m-skmbs2965&utm_campaign=froogle&cid=GBP&glCurrency=GBP&glCountry=GB&pk_cid=1&pk_keyword=64484&pk_medium=multifeeds&pk_campaign=Google&pk_source=Google&pk_content=SportingGoodsOutdoorRecreationCycling&utm_source=Google&gclid=CjwKCAjw7oeqBhBwEiwALyHLM2V83H4MLwYdlOQaiKTds_kT_mdPNpd0kq6-tSc1QhGQ1dt3DOFQGhoCAysQAvD_BwE

and they fit snugly but with plenty of tyre clearance. I adapted a trek 1120 rack for the rear but wasn’t particularly enamoured with it so bought and fitted a bontrager forward front pannier rack which is excellent. https://flic.kr/p/2onYpDo

https://flic.kr/p/2pd2yp7

i bought an alloy front rack from brick lane bikes and despite being under laden it failed at the fork crown and pitched me over the bars. Which was shit. OP I’ve got a pair of the 3l podsac bags and they don’t hold a massive amount. I prefer the Blackburn outpost fork cages and a dry bag.Or a 2.5L flagon of cider.
https://flic.kr/p/2nNa743

I notice. But pressure makes more of a difference most of the time than tread off road and less of a difference on road. I prefer less tread.

@ton I’ve got some enormous Funn G-wides that are too wide for me. I’ll go have a measure if you’re interested as I’m sure they are over 600mm at drops, which is going to put the tops around the 500mm you’re after?

Another for vittoria rubino pro tlr. Great tyres for miles and miles

Only issues I’ve had with the flat top on 1x is with narrow wide chain rings in cx races with exactly what you describe. They just clog with grassy mud around the nw chainring teeth and don’t want to sit. Fine on plain steel chainrings.

@Alex great work on the shuttling by bike. As I love cider and Perry and orchards I really enjoy both the harvest time and blossom time trials. Although I got rather carried away with the enjoyment on Saturday. This meant I wasn’t quite at my best to race on Sunday but I still had a go and finished 19th. https://flic.kr/p/2p9skqZ
And please will someone point me to how to post images from Flickr here?!?

Having used the rapha brevet winter tights they are good but not hugely wind or water resistant. For those days when the wind is cutting and there’s spray or rain I’d recommend the Bioracer tempest protect tights https://shop.bioracer.com/product/spitfire-tempest-full-protect-pixel-bibtights/ 
They are a snug and accurate size and for reference I’m a large at 6’1”, 41” chest and 34” waist. They are very comfortable and warm. You may find similar at Stolen Goat as Bioracer make all their kit. And with no chamois and less wind proofing https://shop.bioracer.com/product/spitfire-tempest-pixel-bibtights-no-pad/