Spent a couple of days in Slovenia last year. Big storms in August ruined any bike plans I had but Postojna caves were amazing, definitely worth a day trip.

If you like beer head to Zalec where they grow the hops. There are beer fountains in the middle of the town where you can sample 6 local beers from different breweries.

Same bike bought a month back came with an AXS box that contained charger/cable/instructions etc.
It also came with warranty cards and tubeless valves for the wheels. Spare mech hanger, spare covers for the cable ports into the frame for 0, 2 & 3 cables. Reflectors, bell, multi tool etc etc.

Mines here too.

Minus- My mech had a red cover installed which I guess protects the connections, this was held in place by the clip, then the battery, charging dock and cable all were in a separate red axs box.

My large straight out of the box weighed 25.7Lb/11.6Kg.

All sizes back up to £3600 today. Very glad I hit buy at £2250 with the extra 10% at the weekend.

As above, Richards Down is quite tame, the top is flat and rooty. The bottom quarter was alright though.
Trail to nowhere was my favourite followed by THR into christ almighty.

Happy to help with any planning you do.
As others have said. It sounds like a great plan but I’d take parts of that Komoot route and mix it up with local knowledge from people on here.
I’d agree with podgeskeeper, I’ve been up and down the whole of the Staffordshire sections recently and I’d absolutely miss out the Great Haywood to Stone section.
Get off the canal at the grounds of Shugborough Hall and head through there to Milford (bike shop, pub and Wimpey all within 50m).
From there I’d use a mix of cycle paths, the Staffs & Worcs canal and a few roads to get to the north of Stafford. NCR5 to Aston by Stone and you’ll rejoin the canal where the good surface begins once again, this lasts all the way into Stoke.
Once in Stoke I’d then be looking at completely changing the Komoot route, I’d do a short stretch on the Caldon Canal and get off at Abbey Hulton Football Club. This is where the Biddulph Valley Way starts, it’s approx 10 miles of good surfaces all the way to rejoin the canal on the edge of Congleton.
Good luck with the planning, drop me a message if you need route files etc.

Have a look on the official webpage and there are a couple of maps on there.
Tickets get you into the main start/finish area. The free to view spectator points are colour coded, possibly 5/6 different areas iirc. It’s a small course with hardly any elevation so you’ll easily get to see all the different available parts of the track if you wanted.

The map is very out of date.
It starts by Shotton view on the map, and ends at sign 79.
Following the blue will be the easiest way to get to it. If you really want to do the black sections first then keep your eyes peeled where the trails join and Offas Dyke Path crosses, there’s a longer fireroad climb back up to the Michelin or a steeper/muddy push/ride up.

It’s nowhere near W72.

Great bikes, the shock and fork definitely sound like the standard spec but I don’t remember them ever coming with hope/shimano/reverb (I could be wrong though). I’d take the 4/5 rides with a pinch of salt.

I’ve got a ‘16 in large too.
A touch over 14kgs.
140mm DVO diamonds, carbon bars, tubeless on Halo vapour wheels, 11 speed.

Never had any issues with climbing, like others have said the later version was built burlier.
Boost rear end and a bit more clearance and it would be perfect.

My request would an accessory mount that makes use of the extra bottle cage bosses that are becoming popular on new frames. Something like a Wolftooth b-rad plate that also has clips that’ll hold 2x25g co2’s.

32T fits fine, I have one on my 2016 Smuggler. I bought it direct from the works components workshop, at the time the owner had a Smuggler himself and if I remember correctly he said 34t won’t fit.

Don’t know any resources but I’ve rode the Staffs & Worcester from the Llangollen junction to Gnosall, that was 27 miles. A quick google says Llangollen canal is 46 miles.
You’re looking at 73 miles plus Stourport to Gnosall on top.

I did Birmingham > Tamworth > Stafford a couple of years ago at a similar time of year. The stretch around Whittington/Hopwas was the worst part of the route, very muddy and lumpy from what I remember.
Interested to hear how it goes too as I’ve considered riding back to Stafford from relatives in London and having an overnight stop on the way.

https://ibb.co/jwx66zX

Can’t remember how to embed.

Nothing is standard anymore apart from the cranks.
140mm Dvo sapphires.
Cane creek shock.
Halo wheels.
Oneup dropper.
Saint brakes.
Great all round bike, a little heavy but you get used to it.

She Strokes

32/52 is very similar to 22/36.

I noticed an alloy on the car had been scraped so I called her outside, the mark went from about 11-2 using a clock face.
Upon looking at the damage she admitted hitting a kerb but then said “I thought the damage was lower down”

Kinetic Bike Bearings.
Local company to me with a good reputation.

It’ll be interesting to hear what it’s like if you do it, I’ve considered the full loop in the past but only done as far as The NIA in brum to Stafford going the same way as takisawa said.
It was done this time of year and by far the worse part was around Hopwas to Whittington, there were a few other bits around Kingsbury and Fradley but I’d say 75% was fine.

I’ve got a guard that came with my DVO sapphires, it rubbed on a Specialized 2.6” tyre and I had a RRP guard already so it’s sat in the cupboard not needed since.

Edit, just noticed Ned’s post, the DVO wouldn’t fit your CC anyway

150mm fork on the original 115mm rear Smuggler will unbalance it too much, that was the advice I was given by the guys at J-Tech.
I’m running a 140mm DVO Sapphire 34, Cane Creek DB in-line air on the rear and it’s completely transformed the bike compared to the original setup.

What time? I went across the bridge about 6.15 and don’t recall seeing anything on or off the road.

Sorry for the hijack, does anyone have a spare bar clamp for a oneup lever that they’re willing to sell or even swap for a Shimano ispec II mount?
I messed up and ordered the wrong one.

I am, only just changed wheels to 30mm ID but after 3 rides it’s feeling good.
I’ll try and get a photo later if nobody else is running the same.

Bookmarked, I’m going here for the first time in the summer.

@lb77 our apartment is the next street along from CK Browar looking on the map so that’ll be my first call for a drink.

Not much help for the boot situation I doubt but a guy I used to work with is going to The Gambia next week. He’s attempting to be the first person to walk the river from source to sea. He tends to pack light and carry as little as possible so there’s a slim chance he could help.
Search “The Wildest Journey” on the usual social media places.
I’m sure plenty on here would enjoy following his journeys.
https://instagram.com/thewildestjourney?utm_source=ig_profile_share&igshid=l2yqxdl2i8r3

Works components.
2500+ miles on mine and it’s still got a bit more life in it.

A warning to anyone entering the ‘40 country miles’ marathon. It’s actually 30-31 miles depending exactly where you start/finish your Garmin, Strava etc.

They got a lot of stick about this last year yet they’re still advertising it as the same length. It really was treated as an afterthought on the day, no mentions during the prize giving, there was even a roots and rain page set up for the results and that never even got updated!

Now it looks like they’re going to charge non racers to enter the site. You’d be better off paying the £10 or whatever they’re going to charge and follow the marathon arrows 10 mins after the main bunch set off and have them as a target to chase down.

Cycle republic also have icons to show what is available through the scheme, as do tredz like posted above.

@dangeourbrain yes you’re almost right, in 2014 first thing on Saturday there was the ‘all mountain challenge’, which was a mass group start timed race of the full enduro loop. Practice went out straight after the challenge then the full enduro race on Sunday.

They did put on a marathon event up there in the past but I think it was a stand alone event on a different weekend to the enduro.

A friend helped out massively at my wedding last year and we used http://www.marksanderson.artfor a custom piece of work as a thank you. I met him at the cycle show a few months earlier, top bloke and amazing work.

@ndthornton are to sure you meant stage 3 was dangerous? After stage 1 then stage 3 was by far the easiest.

Stages 2 & 6 were the most technical IMO. After a few crashes during practice my hopes of a steady mid pack finish changed to make it round safe and clean on race day. I just about managed that as the trails had dried out quite a bit overnight, I still had a few moments but it was a really good challenge to try and hit some of the technical sections at speed.

Having to do the same push up 3 times during the loop was a bit annoying but the pre event description did say expect steep push ups so no complaints there.

All in I thought it was a good weekend, well organised and big thanks to all the marshalls and people who give up their time to make events like this work smoothly.

Just checked the BHF site for the first time since the cancellation and it now says ….

Complimentary water and snacks – including a limited amount of TORQ energy products (gels, bars & powders)

A friend and I are doing it tomorrow.

The impression I got was the feed stations are more like water top up points, but there are a few options to stop and buy food on the way round.

I’m possibly a fraction taller at 179/180cm and the large I had a demo on felt spot on.

E) hire one from a shop for a few £s

Did this a few years ago from Blazing Bikes in Shropshire when I turned up without a helmet, i wouldn’t ride without one so buying a new one was an option until I found out I could hire one.

Orbea are at it too with their latest Rallon.

Order was placed Thursday evening, parcel turned up Tuesday morning. Same as aazlad above I got and extra mini lube and sachet or chamois cream.

I had a demo ride back to back on both bikes in the summer. The Hightower was set up 27.5+ so it wasn’t a completely fair comparison but I much preferred the Stage 5 out of the two.
I’m not in the market for a longer travel bike at the moment but if I was the Orange would be top of my list.