The mint Crux

Beautiful bike!
Slightly OT, which brand is the seat pack you are using?

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Cheers! It's from Bikepack.pl - pretty nice and at great value.

Nice pics and sounds like a great tour. Headwind for all those kms sounds brutal though!

Hi guys.

HP and I are planning the next summer trip and UK is on the agenda. Had a brief look at bikepacking.com, but other than that all we know is that it's happening in July and I'm guessing we're spending around 10 days. Airports that work well to fly in and out off are London, Manchester and Edinburgh, but adding a train ride could also be done if starting of finishing further north or south is essential.

We realize we can't avoid rain, but we wouldn't mind less headwind than last year. Any tips to a route and places to visit would be cool.

Happy days. If you come to London I can offer a place to stay and some spirited local rides and campouts.

In terms of places to go, a nice itinerary would probably be London to Bristol along the Thames and Kennet and Avon rivers/canals, then Bristol into Wales, up through the Black Mountains into Hay on Wye and onwards to Machynlleth and Anglesey. That should take you about 6-8 days, gravel bike friendly, and you can get the train back at the end.

Do it in reverse and there’s a significant reduction in the chances of riding into a headwind.

Yeah, fair enough, I don’t really know the prevailing winds around there.
However in July it’ll be a lot less windy doing that than going to Scottish coast, which is the only way to escape the Scottish summer midges!

Agree, at that time of year Scotland can be unbearable, even on the coast.

This sounds like a hell of a trip.

LFGSS <3<3

We might just do that. Looks like a great route.

I'd suggest turning platypus's excellent route into a giant loop by going from Bristol into Wales, across the Brecon Beacons to Fishguard, then ferry to Rosslare and over the Wicklow mountains to Dublin, then ferry to Anglesey and down through Snowdonia, Machynlleth, Elan valley, Black mountains (inc gospel pass) and back to Bristol. So much stunning scenery in Wales!

That’s got to be a fair bit longer, and more ferries. Also if the weather turns grim rural Wales can be a tough place to find shelter!

And this way you can warm up and get into it on nice flat fast easy paths with bike and food shops nearby in case of problems, etc

the ferries are i think only a few hours but agree with the potential for grim weather in mid wales! though elan valley area is some of the most beautiful in all of wales (on a sunny day!)

my experience of the kennet avon canal path was very frustrating. so many kissing gates and little bridges and mini detours.

How's the crux holding up??

It was pretty much put in the corner and robbed of its saddle after I built my Stribe Juno a year ago, so haven't ridden it since.

My plan for the Crux is to set it up with the old tubular race wheels and take it for a spin on the odd days when I want a zippy bike for shorter rides. I've even bought a new saddle for it. I'll probably keep it forever so I can point at it when I'm 80 and lie about my race results.

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Insane bike.

Verdict on the Receptor tyres?

Sweet bike obviously

This is a filthy piece of bike

Excellent work.

Is that a Kalloy Uno? If so, that stem deserves a lifetime achievement award.

Cheers! I'm very happy with it. And kudos to @Tijmen for the Wit Slingers bags.

@Hulsroy - I put 2500k on them and I like them. Rolls well enough and that little side thread gives a bit of confidence on gravel bends.

Well spotted :) Contrary to popular belief, there are quite a few budget options on this build. I like to save where I can and splash where it matters.

My only issue with the Uno is that there is no option for an out-front computer mount.

I am debating whether to get these, Pirelli Cinturato Gravel H or Conti Terra Speed

good lord

Haven't got any experience with those. They look like nice tyres too.