Ya big puff 😉

Glad you had a nice time then 😉

Ian you didn’t by chance leave the flat one behind in the mountains did you? … he’s being very quiet.

Looks a nice spot fellas, however I’m not too sorry I missed the wind/rain.

Slightly puzzled by the ‘leaving no trace’ picture as the third pic down obviously shows flatfish enjoying a ‘wild one’ 😯

If they’re in good condition then I don’t see why not … you won’t regret going with an air bed.

I dread to think what it is … my mind’s running riot 😉

Nope don’t bother in our house … I’d rather buy her something because I want to not because I’m told I should but perhaps I’m just a grumpy git.

Enjoy fellas … I’m jelous even though I’ll be spending the next 2 days riding, jumping and rolling around in the mud as the outer limits of cornering grip are explained and explored 😉

Have you got any kind of tarp/shelter in that lot Ian?

Pete ask me for a go on my Carver sometime, I reckon you’ll like it, I do but I obviously rejoice in looking like a proper tool.

You’ll be able to make a valid decision then Pete, based on experience and a greater understanding rather than misconception and speculation 😉

EDIT 29er rear wheel no fit

I look forward to seeing it draped in all manner of bivvy goodness 😉

I’m calmer today so can better explain my MBUK rage. What got me was the fact they’d ‘missed the point’. Bikepacking should be a journey, afterall that’s the point of having kit which is light and small … it enables you to travel and be self sufficient. Leaving a pile of gear somewhere obviusly ties you to that spot. As Valley Daddy says, you might as well go for a ride then camp, it’s as though there was no tie between riding and staying out, they were 2 seperate events.

@Mark … ‘dirtbag’ can stove should be on the blog sometime next week. I’ve been instructing all week so haven’t had time yet.

As said above, don’t underesitmate how important correct foot placement is. It’s not just about dropping heels but about where your foot is on the pedal.

I’ve got one somewhere from a trip last March I think.

I suppose for me (and this might just be me) the most important areas are bags, bivvy, sleeping and carrying. That’s where I’d spend the decent money, oh and tea bags!

What flatfish has 😀

Ok, we’ll hide loads of stuff in the woods (cider, a leg of lamb, a massive cooking pot, etc, etc). Then we’ll swan off for a bit of a ride carrying ‘all’ our gear ❓ in 25l packs. This gear includes 4 season bags, inflating mats, spares, tools, clothes, tarp (in a 25l pack yea right).

Then we’ll come back to camp, rig our tarp up, cook a curry, bake bread and drink cider … because we’re proper adventerous we are.

That kind of sums it up really, £4.25 saved 😉

It made me weep 😀

Seeing as we were talking about not spending vast sums of money, this might be of interest.

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/myog_3mm_plastic_tarps.html

I would just like to say … if anyone wants to try their hand at this bikepacking/bivvy lark then, please, please for the love of little baby Jesus do not use the article in this months MBUK as inspiration. Golden opportunity well and truly missed. 🙄

Thank you.

Aidan is that Wales 😉

I reckon you’re right Tiger … sub £100 kit is certainly possible. I’ll continue the theme on the blog in the next week or so, at present I recall we’d taken care of a tarp and bivvy bag and still had £50 something left to spend. So, still left to buy … sleeping bag, sleeping mat, something to cook on and something to cook with, if there’s any change we’ll buy some dry bags 😉

Well, between us I think we summed that up quite well 😉

Good god man where have you been 😉 Welsh Ride Thing – A 3 day, 2 night self sufficient ride/event in sunny mid Wales at the end of May.

A month before the start you’ll be given a list of grid references, you then have a month to work out your own route that’ll pass through them. Around noon on May 28th you’ll set off into the hills and mountains. If we’re lucky you’ll return sometime in the afternoon of May 30th with tales of high adventure and wet feet or possibly pub lock ins and wendy houses.

You’ll have spent months looking at different types of sleeping bag, stoves, down jackets, dry bags and all manner of ultralight bikepacking tackle. Throughout May you spend every waking moment trying to figure out the best possible route to take, you’ll end up on here asking if anyone knows what the track between such and such and such and such is like. You’ll dream about contour lines and your eye sight will deminish as you squint at the little black dots through forests on your new collection of OS maps.

BUT you will have a fantastic time and want to do it every year. You can find more ramblings here http://welshridething.blogspot.com/

Nice job Mark 😀

Futon, if you want to give it a whirl there’s no better introduction than the WRT :wink:. Drop me an email and I’ll send you over an entry form. £15 to enter which goes to charity and you’ll even get a very exclusive WRT T shirt.

stuart@forestfreeride.co.uk

Nice job … plenty of room for mother in laws cake 😉

I’m just putting together an Inbred 29er, at the moment I tend to use a 26″ Inbred for off road touring / bivvy trip duties. I was buying a Fargo but really wanted either slot/sliding dropouts or an EBB, so slot dropout Inbred it was.

Depends what you’re into but there’s always the Welsh Ride Thing at the end of May

http://welshridething.blogspot.com/

Chimp that tarp article’s really good, ta.

Ooh yea fixed … proper silly. The other weekends enforced fixed gear experiment was more than enough, thank you.

I had a look but it seemed a touch expensive for what it was. It didn’t offer me anything that loads of other hardtails do for less money.

Looks alright that does, sorta stealthy. Gear ratio looks a touch ‘manly’ for round here though 😯

Lovely folk … they’re donating some prizes for the WRT and even coming riding it 😉

Ah well, just that I sent them some details about this years WRT. I (stupidly) thought that seeing as they were doing an article on bivvying, they might want to mention the only bike/bivvy event the UK has … obviously not.

Ta, think it might just be subs copies that are out … shops on Wednesday I think.

Apart from SS stuff I haven’t really got any ‘events’ penciled in, perhaps the Brecon Beast … however as I’m sorting out the grid references for the Welsh Ride Thing I’ve got loads of great day and multiday rides to look forward to 😉

Can anyone tell me if the new MBUK with the bivvy article mentions the WRT. I sent them some details and pointed out that it might be something they’d perhaps like to mention.

Thanks in advance.

As long as you don’t mind lifting it over the odd gate/fence, etc you’ll be fine.

I love solo night rides through the Hyddgen valley. 8 miles or so from the nearest proper road and the site of two battles. Mountains on either side of you, you’re very unlikely to meet someone over there in daylight even in the height of summer … so at night, in winter you’ll have it to yourself, having said that, it oddly never feels like you’re alone 😉 You also get to ride past the ‘Hill of graves’ as it translates from Welsh!

Ok, I’ll do it … how about a Superstar one?

Chain isn’t a touch too tight is it Matt?

I’d just be sticking a 32t ring on to the middle ring position, rather than the outer (I think that’s what you mean). If you take a look somewhere like CRC most chain rings will just say “4 bolt, 104pcd, that’s all you need. I got a nice Azonic one from there last week at the right price but there’s obviously loads of others, Renthal, e13, Surly, Salsa, On One, Velo Solo, etc.

Something like this

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=40426

Or this

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=201