Here’s mine, love a tan wall!

I placed an order with Lordgun (previously ordered from them in Jan and was fine – in fact quicker than expected!) over the weekend for an XX1 52t Eagle cassette as it was virtually impossible to find one in the UK (one site said stock expected Feb 2023!). It was at least £100 cheaper than RRP even with shipping, but I know that I’ll have to pay at least £60/£70 to DHL for import duties. Hopefully it will arrive in one piece and will actually be the right cassette as I should think returns are a nightmare! Another wonderful Brexit bonus!

I’ve used the same Hope headset for the last 10+ years across two different bikes, no issues whatsoever. I think they are a worthy investment.

I love the idea of retiring early but sadly not even being a homeowner in my forties means that’s highly unlikely!

If I could, I think I’d spend my time riding, walking the dog and finding something enriching that helps others – possibly even riding related. Think I’d go crazy sitting still for too long!

Thanks @painey good shout and yes, there is barely anything for the first half.

There are also the Cadence Cycling Hubs at Upwaltham (a few miles before Amberley) and Litlington (a hill or so from the end!). Upwaltham is closed at the moment but reopens for summer soon. They do excellent coffee and sandwiches, have some basic tools and toilets. They did have a hub at the top of Truleigh Hill last year too, but has been shut for a few months and sadly looks unlikely to reopen.

@v7fmp – that’s exactly my problem too. Think I better spend the next couple of months trying to address my eating habits on rides!

@smallspinsized – not that I have an alternative option, but I’m going carbon 29er full sus (140mm fr/134mm r), hoping I benefit from the comfort and extra speed on the descents. My bike is slow and steady on the climbs, but that’s fine and have ridden most of the SDW in sections before so hoping it will be OK for an all dayer. Going to try to minimise the amount of stuff I carry on myself and distribute around the bike and hopefully sort some lighter (whilst still being strong and fast rolling!) tyres.

@weeksy – loved the old 5.5, but climbing was definitely an extra challenge!

Impressed you managed it on a Status @v7fmp great bike, but I’d imagine an all dayer being seriously tough on that!!

As well as tyre choice, I’ll definitely be working on getting the food and drink balance right – I am definitely struggling with the eating at the moment!

Thanks, some really great tips here.

I’ve never carried more than a few clif bars before and rarely eat more than one on a 4+ hour ride, so I think I need to practice consuming more food on a ride!

Did a 40 mile loop on the Downs yesterday and found one of the water points (Housedean), that definitely helps with my concerns about how much water I have to carry on me! Must admit in all my years of riding on the Downs, I’ve never noticed them before.

Was toying with ditching my dropper post to save some weight and to have one less thing to go wrong, but you can make a lot of time up on the descents, the dropper certainly aids that and makes it more enjoyable! Plus it’s pretty handy with the amount of gates you have to open…

Any tips on fuelling would be welcome too, I’ve done half of the SDW before but the whole thing in a day and in warm weather is a different ball game. I’ve never known the best food to eat (I am still researching for this ride), I generally stick to Clif/protein bars, caffeine and water, but for 12 to 15 hours in the saddle I’ll definitely need more than that!

Thanks @painey great advice, will look them up.

The flint and chalk is my main concern, I tore a hole in a Maxxis Ardent EXO sidewall a couple of summers ago and managed to destroy a new Nobby Nic Super Ground last summer on the Downs, both of which I thought would stand up to the job!!

I was up there too last weekend, was amazing and so dry!

Yep, I’m on day 10 of being Covid-19 positive now, started with flu like symptoms with high temp, that cleared in a couple of days, now can’t shift the horrible cough, phlegm and blocked nose – just like a cold TBH. The 3 rides I did in the last week, weirdly didn’t seem to help either :)

Personally I’d avoid boot mounted (unless using a tow bar solution). I had a pretty decent one but found no matter what car (tried a 106, Golf, Leon and Passat) I use they would move about quite a bit and the straps would lose tension easily. One 4 hour trip back from Wales was terrifying and we’d end up stopping regularly to check the tension as they were sliding all over the place. Also with longer wheelbases now, they stick out quiet a bit on the back unless you have a massive SUV!

I’ve used roof bars and a Thule ProRide for years, quick, easy and really secure. Yes, not ideal for MPG or trying to hide that you have a nice bike, but it works well.

Aeropress Go everyday for me. Grind up some beans and take a mini thermos of hot water. I like black coffee though, so no extra stuff to carry about.

Tried coffee bags, great concept, just a shame it doesn’t do the job for me, it doesn’t taste like actual coffee!

Also, love the surprise of finding a decent local coffee shop on a ride :)

I’ve used both the ProRide 591 and now the 598 with my carbon Process 134 29er in XL. My bike wheelbase is only a little shorter than yours at 1255mm which is just outside the Thule max size. Both have worked fine for me on several long motorway journeys and feels perfectly sturdy. I haven’t modified the base as the tyres just about squeeze in! Max wheelbase on the 591 is 1182 and 1235 on the 598. The 598 does feel much sturdier as the design is a little better.

Looks like a great van, glad to hear it’s been recovered :)

Africa by Toto…. frankly anyone that can get Kilimanjaro into some lyrics deserves a medal (also see Down Under by Men at Work for ‘Vegemite sandwich’)

Dry Robes…. when clearly just popping to the shop when it’s dry, even worse when paired with Crocs (and socks)

Amy Winehouse – it was a bit of gamble on the tickets as we thought she just wouldn’t show up. She was nearly an hour late and clearly a bit wasted, but my god that voice was something else, just incredible

I also saw James Brown in Hyde Park in 2004, awesome band and backing singers, who spent more time saying his name that he actually performed, poor guy was definitely not in his prime!

Some of the most disappointing were:
MGMT – bad at Glastonbury, even worse at Bestival
Air – they were just dreadful, says something when people start walking out
Travis (not my choice, they filled in for Morrissey when he chose not to play at the Isle of Wight!) – he was out of tune and couldn’t even remember the words to his god awful songs, neither could the crowd

Saw Van Halen, in the Hagar years, mid-nineties at Wembley – they sounded epic TBH

Finally
got
Covid

I averaged 5,500 metres over 250 miles per month in Jan and in Feb, on track for a little more in March, which should hopefully be doable with improved weather in the coming weeks! That’s based on a night ride midweek and longer ride on the weekends mostly South Downs and some Surrey Hills

I set my old Pro2 (non-Evo) up for 142x12mm with the Hope adapters and it worked with no issues for over 6 years. However, when I moved to a bike with Boost I was told you’d need Pro2 Evo or above for a conversion to Boost sizes. Hope do make an adapter that works on both the Pro2 Evo (135mm or 142mm) and Pro4 non-boost, I was given part number HUB493. May be worth selling the old wheels TBH, especially if the rims aren’t right for your tyre preference as well.

Not angry (although I’ve had plenty of the bell related abuse too, despite using a bloody bell!), but made me smile!

I was spinning away up a hill on the South Downs and a group on ebikes sped past me barely breaking a sweat. Shortly afterwards these lads held open the gate at the top of the hill and said ‘at least you’ll have earned that beer when you get home’!!

On my second winter with a pair of these now. Yes, they’re not the toughest and are looking pretty tatty now, but keep my hands relatively warm and dry, whilst not hindering riding performance, succeeding where quite a few others have failed!! I’ll be buying another pair for next Winter, for the money I think they do exactly what I need them to do!

Getting fired twice
Leaking sensitive information
Breaking education system
Williamson gets knighthood

I see Trailbreak do an organised SDW 100 miler in July, has anyone tried that before or have you all done it independently? As I’ll be going solo, it really appeals to have some support, but obvs less flexibility should the weather be rubbish or if I can’t keep up with the required pace!

Thanks @v7fmp that’s good to know, I’m pretty fit and will get fitter by the summer so really keen to give it a go

I’ve been wanting to do this for a long time too. Over the years I’ve ridden nearly all of the SDW (over many different rides) except the stretch from Lewes to Eastbourne. Was keen to do it solo this summer, my only real concern was whether I’d be completely mad to do it on a 140mm travel trail bike (Carbon, 29er).

I finally bit the bullet and moved from my 10 year old 26in bike last summer to a 29in low, slack and long geo full sus. I wasn’t convinced with all the hype before the move, but had limited choices and being 6ft 3 I figured 29in was the way to go. It’s made such a difference, it rolls so much faster and that modern geo has that great balance between nimble/agile descending but efficient climbing aided by the 1×12 drivetrain. Definitely think if you’re tall rider a 29er is perfect and for once it also doesn’t look and feel like I am riding a farm gate, the design of 26in XL bikes felt like an afterthought by many brands!!

My £350 quote was just for the rear pads and discs, the indi sounds like the best bet

This was not even an advisory on the MOT, just their own advice based on the visual health check they do at VW and it’s good they flag it TBH. As it’s a 2016 with £48k mileage I’m happy to get the general servicing done with a main dealer for the service history benefit, but it always feel likes they try extra hard to push loads of extra work every time I go. I used to do a min 15k miles a year, but new hybrid WFH means 8k/9k will likely be max mileage per annum.

Thanks all, I must admit saw the red and it gave me the fear – it’s a good sales tactic. It’s still good enough to pass the MOT brake test, which they didn’t mention on their email or video. I’ll definitely take it to the local independent VW specialist in a few months/few thousand miles, the labour costs will be much more reasonable and they still use genuine parts.

Passed the brake test on the MOT, so it’s just a recommendation flagged by the VW dealer as ‘red’ on their visual health check videos

Epic ride out last night (down South), got up to 29 mph on the flat on a 140mm full sus, thanks to that tailwind!! Luckily it was on the way home, ride out wasn’t as easy :)

Osprey Savu 5 – you can carry two 750ml bottles comfortably, all your essentials inc. a packable jacket. I’ve used all year round, cinched up it super comfortable and there’s no movement, it’s so good you barely notice it! I used a Dakine MTB back pack for many years with a hydration pack, but always carried too much crap and it gave me killer lower back pain. The Osprey hip pack stopped all of that.

I’ve been running some Pirelli Scorpion Trail S tyres (29×2.4) for a few months now, as I got a great deal on them from PBK. The S is for softer ground and whilst I was initially quite sceptical, they been superb in the winter slop, performing significantly better than the latest generation Nobby Nics they replaced. Traction in mud or the sandy soil of the Surrey Hills has been brilliant. The sidewalls appear to be tough and the grip on rocks and roots has proven to be far better than I expected. I bought them for winter riding, but I’m going to leave them on and see how they perform in spring/summer

Never thought I’d be this person…… but I’ve had to double up as I was so sick of nobody bloody hearing me, despite the loud hub noise. Have a Timber Bell Mk4 and Oi Luxe (I got it with 40% off) on the other. Yep, it’s a bit overkill, but on the trails the Timber Bell is brilliant and can be heard quite a distance away and most folk appreciate it. However once on the flat, the Timber Bell is completely useless and that’s when the Oi Luxe comes in, it’s too quiet for the trails but fine on flat pathways!

Indeed, in reality he’s just ‘Minister for Tax Havens’ and head death eater

@bonni I have a custom built 2021 Kona Process 134 CR 29 in XL. I ride mostly XC/trail, a min 50/60 miles a week, it tackles both climbs and descents with ease. I was worried it wouldn’t be as nimble with 29in wheels, but it’s quite the opposite and just wants to be ridden flat out. I managed to get 25% off the retail price and there are still some good deals to be found, although probably only a handful left in the country.

I have the Halfords one (Bikehut Universal Bike Stand) got it for £15 with the £5 voucher for subscribing. Does the job perfectly for cleaning and some servicing tasks then folds up easily to store away.