Hollow Leg’s Bikes (Mason Resolution, Dolan Tarck Bikes, Brompton, Local Framebuilder Specials; Fixed & Gravel)

I’m still not sure if PBP was enjoyable or not. I’m not even sure if it was Type Two Fun. It was an experience for sure. Thankfully we got around in time.

Gabi and I slept maybe 4 hours over the 90 hour time limit. The longest sleep we had was two hours at a control. The rest was disco naps at the side of the road/on benches/in canteens.

I think we lost considerable time due to the heat and not being efficient enough at controls. PBP is worlds apart from any UK audax we have done and maybe we were a bit naive to think that because we could get around a Scottish 600 with four hours to spare we could do the same in France. The food at the controls was not-exactly vegan friendly, so we lost a bit of time going to supermarkets.

Having said that, the atmosphere was electric throughout. No matter where we were along the route there were literally 100’s of riders around, either riding on the road or napping next to it. The French were incredible. They set up water and food stations everywhere and when you felt at your lowest, there was always someone on the roadside to cheer you on. I took some Scottish Borders Randonneurs patches to exchange with other riders but I ended up handing them out to kids in exchange for a high-five.

If I was to do it again I would definitely take gears; the descents are long and sometimes fast, and spinning at max RPM becomes really tiresome after a while.

It was great to meet some people ‘on here;’ @ElGonzo @WhitleyJay and Amy (sorry don’t know your username!).

I got fed up of taking photos after 700km and ditched my camera in my saddle bag.

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Some more.

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And some more (night time theme).

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Gabi and I had more tiffs, disagreements and flat-out arguments (mainly over how much sleep we’d be having and how long we could spend eating) during PBP than we’ve had in our entire relationship 😂

(We got engaged shortly after so it obviously didn’t do our relationship any harm.)

Mazel Tov!!!

Great pics, lovely words (I'm STILL trying to process) and storybook ending!!!

I'd be dead on the side of the road somewhere around Carhaix if I'd put my other half through this 😅

<3

Ha, this is great! Many congrats!

Congrats! On the ride and the engagement.

I was loving the instagram content, almost made me miss audax!

Awesome! Great pictures,I especially like the one of the guy napping with a entire band playing behind him haha

Congratulations

@Daithetooth @kjlem @pastry_bot @Ottomanotter @Hulsroy @ElGonzo Thanks for the kind words all.

Just waiting on a chainring and cog for Old Terry and then it’s finished.

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Old and young.

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White bike looks gorgeaus with the moustache bars!

Gad damn - old Terry is giving me new feelings! Great work.

Huge congrats on PBP and more importantly, putting a rang on Gabi's fanger!

Boring question that's probs been asked a million times before? Sure... what camera are you using in those PBP shots?

Lovely

Both bangers.

Thanks!

Not boring at all - it’s a six year old Lumix LX-100. It’s been bashed around in a frame bag or over my shoulder while riding for most of that time and it’s performed pretty much flawlessly. I fear it’s on its last legs though and I’ll be sad if I need to replace it.

I picked up an old Specialized Rockhopper yesterday - partly on a whim, partly because my Brompton isn’t best suited for Scottish winter commuting (the cycle paths in Edinburgh get really manky with detritus and mud, and the Brompton is a PITA to keep clean).

I know absolutely nothing about 90’s (?) MTB’s, but this seems to be in good condition with Ritchey dropouts and ok components.

General plan will be to ride it as is after adding mudguards and maybe going 1x as it currently has grip-shift shifters. I may also pick up another cheap 26 inch wheelset to fit winter spiked tyres to for when it gets really cold. And possibly a rack for general hauling.

What’s the best way to shift the rear mech if I take off the grip- shifts? It’s 7 speed so would any current Shimano flat bar shifter work?

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Looks in great nick and I love the colour!
Any 7-speed shifter should work.

8 speed shifter would also work (maybe more options than 7spd), just use limits to block the last click. Also, great whim - 26ers with mudguards are just the bollocks

Looks great,
personally would just go through winter with fenders and gripshifts and rebuild in spring.
If looking for a new wheelset, 8-10/11? speed wheelsets are the same, so could be used in the 1x conversion. 7speedfreehub body is narrower (35 vs 40mm), 7sp cassette can be used on 8-10sp freehub body with a spacer, not the other way round.
Shifter gear ratio for the RD is the same for any Shimano MTB mechs 7-9sp and Shimano road 7-10sp except 4700, so even drops would work. Anything might be easier than finding good quality 3x7 shifters to combine with Vs, it is thumbies almost exclusively, so the 8sp suggestion is great.
-sorry if any is obvious.

I’m still not sure if PBP was enjoyable or not. I’m not even sure if it was Type Two Fun.

This part reminds me of how a local guy felt after setting the fixed gear Tour Divide race record. He said absolutely never again.

Many props to you for seeing it through.

@MisterMikkel @Oaks @mt62 Thanks for the reply’s, good to know. I’ve never played around with any older mtb stuff so this is all new to me.

I’ve been very busy with work so I haven’t had much of a chance to look at the Rockhopper - in fact, I’ve not even ridden it yet! But tomorrow evening looks free so first thing I would like to sort is mudguards.

It looks like I’ll need some sort of extender at the fork crown to bridge the gap between the guard and the crown. Problem Solvers make a flute thing that looks good. And then I’ll need to install a rivnut on the bridge hole as, for some reason even though there are guard mounting points everywhere else, it’s not threaded.

As much as I’d love to fit some fancy VO guards, I’d also like to keep the cost down so I’ll look at fitting the largest SKS guards the frame will take.