…. having said that just looking at that http://cycle.travel/map link @cleetonator – looks good!

Seems to do everything that Komoot does but easier to use …

I’ve found Komoot useful – need to switch on the “Mountain Biking (Alpine)” option in the route planner. I wouldn’t trust it entirely to plan a route but it’s good for highlighting alternatives.

I like the Madison Flux ones – good pad and the mesh material on the legs make them really comfy and breathable.

However, the mesh bits does mean these are definitely under-shorts :-)

Happy with the WTB Riddler 37C that came with my Sonder. Lasted pretty well, roll quite nicely on road, enough grip off-road. Easy to set up tubeless with the help of an Airshot.

Tread is pretty thin now on the back and both front and back have a few big cuts in the tread so I’m replacing them now – done at least 1500 km (maybe closer to 1800km?) on them so that seems pretty reasonable.

I’ve gone for the Resolute as a replacement – simply because I’ll end up doing more off road in the summer.

Love my Sonder Camino for commuting and weekend road rides – riding position and 38c tubeless tyres just make those unseen potholes and poor road surfaces much more manageable and opens up off road options too.

Previous bike was a carbon planet-x which was great on a nice day on good surfaces but the Camino is just way more comfortable and fun and only marginally slower for the type of rides I do.

Peakdistrictmtb published an all weather white peak loop – rode it a few weekends back and had a great ride – could easily link it with trail up on Curbar and Frogatt for a longer ride …

https://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=lfkpiweyptyyebqo

Muc Off Dry Ceramic most of the time then Purple Extreme if it looks like it’s going to be really wet.

Both seem to clean off well using a bit of that Fenwicks Foaming chain cleaner.

The ‘nice roads’ (quiet, narrow, grass up the middle type roads) round our way aren’t that pleasant on a road bike but with something more forgiving (fatter tyres and slacker angles) they’re great fun. Add in a few bits of fire road or easy-ish bridleway and it really opens up options for riding from the door.

All that makes a gravel bike great for commuting too – particularly with poor lighting, potholes, leaf mulch and unsurfaced bridleway. Just way more confidence than on a road bike a quicker than the mountain bike.

I don’t notice it being that much slower (at the speeds I ride!) than a road bike (maybe 1 or 2 km/h in 30?) – obviously no use if you’re racing but for general riding it’s fine. Still considerably quicker than the mountain bike too.

I really like the shape of the Analog bars – they’ve got a bit more backsweep that others I’ve used which I find more comfy on the wrists.

The grippy finish on the centre section saves messing around with carbon paste too.

Got to love the logo too although you need a stem with a cut-out in it :-)

Yep – getting fed up with them.

Just had an order of brake pads and spare chain links split across 3 deliveries and none of the dispatched when they said they would be.

Bought some reduced Ion clothing very recently – great price and very speedy delivery.

In terms of the published rides near there you’ve got a few options …

+1 for the Five Dales Circuit or any of the rides out of Rowsley – there’s the new-ish riverside trail up to Rowsley that you can use to avoid the road.

You’ve also got the Bonsall Moor circuit that you can start from Cromford – fairly easy going but a nice ride out nonetheless

There’s the trails round Ashover – a bit of riding on the road required to link up to them but worth a visit albeit quite a short ride (just do the fun bits twice!)

I’m looking at going tubeless too. Just out of interest what sort of pressures are folks running with a 40c (ish) tyre?

Shame – best way for us to watch any of the world cup action and on a proper screen.

Internet connection isn’t up to streaming Red Bull TV so unfortunately that’s not a sensible option …

Quick search on Science Direct came up with these – any use to you?

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877705813018833

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261306914002295

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128035818021895

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261306909005901

Some more general stuff here:

http://www.open.ac.uk/library/digital-archive/featured/82

http://www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2016/august/engineering-bikes.html

Bar Fly Hopper is a reasonable alternative to the Backcountry Research straps – sigmasport had some in stock

There’s a review of both the Longitude and Ramin on the Bearbones website …

http://bearbonesbikepacking.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=ramin#!/2017/01/ramin-3-review.html

http://bearbonesbikepacking.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=ramin#!/2015/10/2016-genesis-longitude-review.html

One of these perhaps …

Sonder Frontier

Looks like they cover various schemes too …

https://www.alpkit.com/support/stickies/cycle-to-work-schemes

Lovely looking bike with sensible geometry :-) – good length top tube for us short-legged / long-bodied types.

Like the 160mm front / 140mm rear travel combo too.

Does look pretty expensive but full builds seem to be roughly similar to Santa Cruz (give or take a bit).

YTs look like amazing value but they never seem to hold stock – I guess that helps keep the price down.

Love it – really nicely written :-)

Generally HR2 with an EXO casing front and rear for me – 3C compound up front. Also been trying an aggressor at the back with a double-down casing.

There doesn’t seem to be much difference between the 2.4 and 2.3 HR2 either in width or tread pattern when you look at them side by side.

Tried all sorts of combinations in the past – to me a couple of PSI pressure either way seems to make more difference to grip and rolling rather than HR2 vs. Minion …

Done! Good luck getting your project off the ground – look forward to seeing what you come up with.

From my perspective, all the following are important to me but if I had to put them in order:
– Primarily whether it is going to do the anticipated job it needs to do
(does it wick, is it waterproof, etc.)
– Secondly fit – enough room but without flapping bits, correct length sleeves, enough adjustment e.g. waist band of baggy shorts, etc.
– Style – whether I like it or not and whether I’m going to enjoy wearing it
– Then whether it will last when considered against the price – covers materials and manufacture
– Features – all the right stuff without superfluous features

For me tagging something as ‘premium’ rings alarm bells and generally translates as ‘over-priced’ – the cynic is me asks “what are you trying to hide?” :-)

I like my Palos which has a bladder – however I know some don’t get on with them

A bit of a discussion here http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/camelbak-palos-or-other-hip-pack-real-world-experiences

…. meant to add that tightening the cinch straps up (internal straps that I think are intended to stabilise the bladder) seemed to make it slip more … not sure whether you noticed this too nairnster?

Used mine a fair bit over the last few months – really like it. Nice to get some air to your back and forces you to travel light. I think it’s the latter that helps if you’ve got a dodgy back – there’s less than 5 litres of storage.

May be stating the obvious but try and avoid over-filling it – the bag still needs to wrap round your waist to keep it stable. I off-load a tube to under the saddle to help and can stuff a wind-proof a Fabric tool holder on the cage mounts.

Took a bit of practice to get the bite valve back in it’s magnetic catch but soon got the hang of that.

It does slip a bit – although that reduces as you empty the bladder. The adjusters could do with a bit more ‘bite’ to grip the straps (slightly ‘toothier’ or put a tighter bend into the strap perhaps?)

However, anything over a couple of hours or where you need to carry a proper waterproof/spare layer/camera then it’s back to a normal pack.

Pleased with my Maxxis Ramblers – use them for a commute on mixed surfaces – surprising amount of grip even in mud and they roll pretty well on tarmac.

Struggled to set them up tubeless though so running tubes at the moment

Pleased with my Maxxis Ramblers – use them for a commute on mixed surfaces – surprising amount of grip even in mud and they roll pretty well on tarmac.

Struggled to set them up tubeless though so running tubes at the moment

Seen the Alpkit ones? Impressive weight for the spec

Welsh Ride Thing (May Day bank holiday weekend) always fun (sometimes in an after-the-event-on-reflection fun way!)

Also entered for the South Lakes Ride for Jenn this year

I quite like the SiEntries website as an easy way to see what’s around https://www.sientries.co.uk/index.php

Thanks for organising Rich :-)

Looking forward to it.

Thanks @martinhutch :-)

The camera is a little Fuji XQ2 – really under-rated IMHO so they’re pretty reasonnbly priced. Compact too so they fit nocely on a shoulder strap but you can still use the controls with gloves on.

Here’s one from a couple of weekends ago – descending into Edale from Mam Nick

2016-11-19_10-40-23 by Simon Read[/url], on Flickr

Here’s a few from our long weekend in the Lakes ?

2016-11-25_10-39-21 by Simon Read[/url], on Flickr

2016-11-25_11-29-02 by Simon Read[/url], on Flickr

2016-11-28_10-37-46 by Simon Read[/url], on Flickr

2016-11-28_10-38-11 by Simon Read[/url], on Flickr

Used the older Shimano ones for years and they were pretty good – bit of a faff to get into though. Also not much room around the toes.

Been using the Northwave Arctics through last winter – they’re much warmer, easier to get into and adjust and there’s more toe wriggle room. However, soles don’t offer much grip and they take ages to get dry after a soaking.

Tried the Specialized ones in a shop – couldn’t get my fat feet into them without sizing up to clown-shoe sizes :-)

On balance I’d still go for the Northwaves.

Here’s one we did earlier this year in the Derbyshire Dales – links below show the route. Did an overnight stop at the YHA in Eyam rather than stopping at Bamford so Day #1 got a bit longer.

Day 1: http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=cdiojiismpwaabmj
Day 2: http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=ayovtpoijstqzrop

That’s a good reminder … been meaning to take some bits to these folks for a while now .. https://www.lifecycleuk.org.uk/derby

I’ve got the MT500 jersey – it’s fine but I find the arms quite sweaty (they’re a thinner, less fleecy, more windproof than the main body)

Used a Patagonia R1 jersey through most of last winter – works really well and very flexible in combination with a gilet, windproof and waterproof. On balance I’d go for this over the Endura.

Great write up.

Sounds like you’re pleased with your purchase :-)

Very pleased with mine – very comfy and no problems so far. Mine are probably the later version.

Length-wise the sizing seemed about right – however needed to go for the HV version to get the width right.

I ordered a selection of sizes and fits then made the most of a free returns deal :-)

Great thread – some nice photos there.

Had a superb BIG day out in the Peak on Saturday – perfect weather for it :-)

BIG day out in The Peak by Simon Read[/url], on Flickr

BIG day out in The Peak by Simon Read[/url], on Flickr

http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=ifkqukzdpvfljjmj