Ahhhh … memories..

Hang on … There’s lots of riders in that vid without helmets on!!!

SHAME ON YOU ALL!!!

Little people… on bikes… inside my computer…. it’s witchcraft I tell thee.

The HyRd are really very impressive. I put them on my cross bike after struggling to brake and still retain grip and control of the bars, on technical descents… glen tress and the like. I appreciate this isn’t really what a cross bike is for, but it’s fun.

They gave me great control and one finger braking.

On road, they are almost too powerful. If you’ve got big commuter tyres, they’re fine, but if you’re running skinny road tyres (25s ish) then you’ll possibly lock up a bit easier than you’d like.

Not tried the Spyre but heard they are very good… a touch better than BB7s, which I have on my tourer, and like a lot.

My shand will ‘just’ fit a 2″ tyre but not with guards… however, they will make you a Stoater FT (Fat Tyre) if you’re needing that.

Otherwise, I used to have a Singular Gryphon, before the stoater, which definitely will and I was mighty impressed with the Salsa Fargo after seeing it in action this weekend. I’d rate that higher than the Gryphon in terms of functionality as a tourer – additional mounts etc.

@aracer
A nice collection of ‘pictures of people taking pictures’ there.
😀

A wee photo journal for you, of my fave photots, that I took.

Touring weekend photo blog

Fantastic couple of days… that totally justified my Shand Stoater.

Have uploaded all my pics to this dropbox folder: pics are here

Will attempt to get them on flickr too.

Great company, some wonderful 2 wheeled (and one wheeled) machines, and some fantastic places to ride bikes….

#RedCAR

I’ve got a bit of work to do, before I head down from Inners tomorrow… I’m aiming to leave in time for either the DB, or the KT ride… though, I was favouring KT. Can’t guarantee I’ll be there though, but if you see a red skoda octavia estate with a singular swift and possibly my Green Shand Stoater on the roof, then say hi!

@Junkyard … I should be good for meeting for KT on Friday. If you want tyres for the road bike, I’ve got a pair of specialized armadillo you can have… Think they’re 25s, though they might be 28s. Better than what you’ve got just now anyway!

I’ll probably be heading over Friday morning, to get a ride in on Friday afternoon… Up for riding with others.

In my opinion, KT is the best in the area… Mabie is second for me. Dalbeatie in third… Is good, very bumpy, and very pedally.

This is getting close now! Excited face 😀

I’ll be bringing my charge filter as a spare bike, and offer still stands if anyone needs anything more rough road ready. It’s a sm/med … I’m 5’8″

Stuart AT biggestjourney.com

I’ve got the 42 and they are 42 at the hoods…. the flare really feels like it happens after the bend, so the levers tilt out a bit more, but they don’t twist inwards really, like offroad style bars (ragly or on-one)

I have them on my Shand Stoater… absolutely lovely shaped bars. considering them on my crosser and would put them on my road bike if I didn’t have FSA carbon compacts on there, which do tune out road buzz a bit

Hi all.. I’ll be ridin my disc Shand stoater with marathon racer tyres… But could bring either, or both, of the following spare bikes for people who want something a bit more rugged than a std road bike

Both size med.
Singular swift, fully rigid, flat bars, 10sp.
Charge filter cross bike, discs, file tread cross tyres but could put something narrower on. Actually, this is a small… But feels like a med. Could easily run a smaller stem for someone shorter.

I’m 5’8″

Email stuartATbiggestjourney.com

It would almost get you my 27.5 wheeled Scott Genius… check classifieds. Couple of wee spec changes and I could get it down to £1250.

Great minds … Kev

What I want, and what would surely work really well for OS, is the ability to purchase OS Map tiles/data and plug it in to any mapping/tracking app/platform that I use. So you could have an API that Strave or MapMyRide or whatever could connect to, so I could view my data in those platforms and overlay it on top of my OS Map tiles. I would also want to be able to download those maps for offline use, so like make up a route on MapMyRide and ‘send to phone’ so I could track the route on my phone and view the OS Maps when I need to.

This would be perfect… OS focus on what they’re good at; mapping. They expose their product to the widest audience and let that audience choose whatever platform suits them. The other app developers aren’t competition for OS, they are partners. The user licenses the OS map data and they should be able to choose what they can do with it.

You can count me in!

YGM Ton.

Option 3

We’ve got the limited edition offer one from last Jan… can’t remember which power rating.

75 is ok, and it’ll do 80 just feels a little strained when you hit a hill. Probably more to do with the gearing than the engine TBH. Bearing in mind I’m used to the 150bhp 2.0 diesel in the Octavia, or the old yeti.

We’re on our second roomster … we had a yeti in between.

Yeti was slightly more comfy on long drives and felt stronger and more stable at speed….

However
The roomster is just better value and easily as practical in almost everyway, with the exception of driving on Forrest road etc, missing the 4×4 and ride height of the yeti.

Both cars have the removable, foldable seats, giving you loads of options.
With one or more seats out, you can put a bike in the back, upright, with just the front wheel removed. You don’t need the bike rack thing if you’re careful with your packing.

Take out the middle seat and you can o away as a family of four, and you can take your bike down the middle.

Take out two seats and you can go away with two biking mates and three bikes in there, with a bit of effort.

Ive been away with all the seats out, mtb and road bike in the back, and slept along side them.

Currently have the 1.2 petrol and its a great wee engine. Not very good at high speed on the motorway, but it’ll cruise at 70 no bother. Fantastic in town or on country roads. Handles really well, as wheels are in the corners and, despite the high roof, your weight is really low.

My wife uses this as her every day car and I drive an on Octavia estate 4×4 up and down the M6. Rooster is still the car of choice for bike trips though.

I heading along with a big bag of stuff to flog. Inc chariot codger kids trailer and possibly my scot genius and perhaps a charge filter cx bike.

I’m tempted… Must be something wrong with me.

Sounds cool! Let me check with the missus, but count me in as a provisional yes. Will email confirmation later.

I’d be looking at Friday and Saturday night, and home Sunday evening, after a Sunday ride.

I could be tempted… Sounds like what could be a fun social weekend.

D&G or the North options work well for me.

the rims will be strong enough, but it’s likely that the spokes won’t take the weight of any loaded tourging… it’ll not be overly comfy either, which counts for a lot on long days in the saddle.

@iolo

Shand frames are hand built to an exceptionally high standard. The tubes are mitred by hand, to join perfectly, before being precision welded. The pain and finish is absolutely stunning. This bike is, for me, perfect. Most off the peg bikes are perfectly acceptable , but not perfect. You can always find little flaws in them. Nothing serious, just wee things. if you can’t understand the difference between a mass production frame, and a piece of artisan craftsmanship, then you are not the target market.

This bike, for me. Is simply perfect. Built for me, to the exact specification I asked for, to the very highest standard.

What’s the difference between a M&S suit and a saville row bespoke tailored suit… Its simply a matter of quality, attention to detail, and care.

First ride thoughts…

Went for a chilly 70km yesterday and, despite being wowfully underdressed, I thoroughly enjoyed the stoater.

I’m really happy with my spec list and the bike fit me perfectly, as one would hope.

My first experience with a Rohloff, and I was really impressed, it never missed a beat. I’m riding 50:19 ratio, which gives me a similar gear range as having a traditional 9sp mountain bike tripple on there. I found myself in gears 9 and 10 most of the time on the flat, doing around 25km/h. Gear 7 is the strange feeling one, where lots of planetary cogs kick in to play, but you soon learn to ignore the odd noise. Climbing under load seemed absolutely fine and my concernes over the belt drive have gone. The whole thing felt very positive and reliable… exactly what I was after. I love the fact that I can go grab the bike from the garage without worrying about what state the chain and drive train is in… similarly, I can put it back at the end of the ride, when my hands and feet feel like their falling off, wihtout worrying about having to clean and lube everything for fear of it rusting to bits or ceasing up.

The position on the Cowbell bars and the feel of the Brooks Cambrium saddle were perfect. I also like the feel of the TRP leaverrs and breaking wiht hte BB7s seemed adequate. I may still try my set of HrRd calipers on there.

Mostly, I was very impressed with the handling and ride quality of the Stoater frame… it feels a little vague at low speed, compared to race geometry, but that soon turns into incredible stability when you speed up, or when you get tired. The feel through the BB is fantastic and there’s no worrying flex when honking out the saddle in a big gear, yet the rear triangle just seems to soften nasty road surfaces beautifully. I’d have no concerns taking it along farm roads if I stuck some fatter rubber on there.

You could say, I’m very happy wiht my purchase. Thanks Shand

Answers to questions:
Trail-Rat… yep, that’ll be me. You must know Graham at Blyth & Blyth then?

Velosam… Steven Shand says I should be able to get a 45mm in there, with no guards, I’m currently running 30mm Marathon Racer, which suit the distance-at-speed-in-comfort brief that I had.

Gotama… Bencooper… yes, there is enough slack there, and it’s also super easy to detach cables as they fix to the frame with bolt on cable guides. It’s spec’ed with full front-rear cable hosing, to keep it a mostly sealed unit.

On that note… I’ve gone with cable discs as I don’t need to ultimate stopping power of Hydro and I want something that’s easy to repair in the middle of nowhere. I can replace a cable easy enough, but a damaged hose means a trip to a suitable mechanic. I may, however, give the TRP HyRd calipers, that are on my cross bike, a go.

The saddle is positioned in a way that puts me in the perfect spot over the bottom bracket. If I were to want an inline post, then I’d need to have the seat tube tilted back a bit, which would mean extending the chainstays, to keep the clearance the same.

The top tube is the perfect length to put my hands in the right place with those bars and a 100mm stem, which gives me the exact handling and feel that I like.

I actually quite like the Thomson seatposts… more than anything though, they’re sturdy and the finish doesn’t diminish over time, so the bike should always look shiny.

It’s not to everyone’s tastes, but then it doesn’t need to be… this is my bike, built for me, exactly the way I wanted and should last me a lifetime 🙂

The geometry is pretty much their standard Small, which fits me perfectly. I like a layback post and the stem length gives me the handling I like.

Fraser, at Shand, put frame protection tape on any area where the paint was vulnerable. I’m likely to trim the Rohloff cables down though. There was a wee challenge when I collected it and had forgotten to tell him that I ran front brake on the left so he swapped everything around for me, but it left the cables a little less tidy that they started. easy fix.

I’ve no plans to ride muddy off road with this, at worst, I’m going gravel road touring. Steven Shand has been running his belt drive single speed for the last year, including last winter, through some pretty grim conditions and on some pretty rough roads and has not had to touch a thing on the bike. Sounds good to me. but, we’ll see. I am willing to switch back to chain drive in future if I don’t get on with belt.. but I had to give it a try. Love the idea.

That’s a great wee book… was put together by Rickie Feather (of Feather Cycles) and Matthew Sowter, who built my other road bike, an Enigma steel frame, based on the Ethos… before he left Enigma and started his on company: Saffron Frameworks. (who make really rather lovely stuff too)

I’ll build up a wee album of pics… but I’d like some of them to be outside in beautiful scenery, once I’ve ridden it (fingers crossed for a nice forecast on Friday, my next day off)

Just awaiting delivery of a Rohloff Shand Stoater… Which might become my only road bike.

Pulls op a chair

A zip?
Where are you putting the zip? Why are you adding a zip?

I have to admit, cold as it was, it was a thoroughly lovely and calming experience.

Steezysix… That sounds genius! Must warm your blood on the way down, yes?

I definitely want to get a few trips in next year… Including some big ones. I just put my name down for the cairngorm loop next May.

I had everything covered with my back pack and seat pack last night, but don’t really want to ride with much in my back for really long days in the saddle.

Any opinions on the alpkit harness. Vs the wildcat one?

Super cool.

Are drones the new helmet-cam?

Second the Fred whitton route… It’s a proper brutal ride though.

Alternatively, almost any minor road route in Scottish borders… Great scenery, quiet roads, challenging terrain.

Just about to head back to Scotland after a brilliant day… Have to agree with all the other comments… Brilliantly organised, fantastic atmosphere, great day all round.