Varun's Bikes, Stayer, Cotic, that singlespeed Rockhopper....

I'm a (european) size smaller than regular with Birks - and if you choose a leather version there is a breaking in period (worth doing with socks on!)
My only gripe is that I can't find a place that repairs/resoles them around here.

Oh really, that’s not ideal (though I was surprised by my local Timpson’s cobbler who could resole Dr Martens…..). If only I’d thought of wearing socks in the past as most of my childhood was spent with horrendous chafed ankles from breaking in faux-leather sandals

A bit annoyed about the long axles on the BLB hubs, though - they’re ostensibly meant for 135mm spacing or BMX pegs, but as a result stick out a lot, especially at the front. Suggestions are welcome

Hacksaw them flush with the ends of the wheel nuts.

Yeah.. I think I'll call another couple of local cobblers up to see what they say.
I had to get over the whole socks+sandals thing, but it is a life changer - so comfortable!

Utterly terrifying suggestion but I trust you!! I started to have at it with my little junior hack today and think it’ll take forever, will pop a new blade on my proper hacksaw and go again next Sunday.

Today’s humid AF ride through very bumpy trails was surprisingly bearable on my cheap decathlons - maybe I’m just getting used to them? Been a decade or so but I grew playing footy barefoot on concrete/dry Middle Eastern playgrounds, so……

I am tempted - very tempted - to ride part of my upcoming Wales trip with sandals if I can manage it, and especially if it’s wet (I’ll wear shoes as well, and maybe a dry bag to stow them away).

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Have you had a look at the Restrap/Quoc sandles? I've not used them myself but they're designed specifically for bikepacking so might work for you. (Probably worth reading a few reviews first, I've no idea if they're any good).

They're good campsite sandals, but your can't ride in them. They're soft soles and will got torn apart on pedals (pending pedals of course).

You'd want something stronger, like hiking sandals or something. I've got some Teva ones that are quite nice to ride in, relatively firm soles.

I'd love to take them for riding in, but I have a fear of toes coming off, which is probably not rational and somewhat unlikely.

Glad to hear those opinions about the Restrap sandals, if only to confirm my biases - I did think the straps in particular seemed a bit flimsy when I saw them in person. It seems they’re a great thing IF you happen to run restrap saddlebags as they can be strapped around them, but my decathlons are great portable sandals already, so that base is covered.

@RonnieOatmilk The Tevas are on my radar, I might get a pair from Vinted and if they are not ideal I can always resell. In my experience it’s not so much toes that are vulnerable, but the toe section of the sandals themselves - especially if the straps are as flimsy as on my Decathlons, your feet slip forward or backward so much I end up either catching the toes of my sandals on the chain (pretty sketchy!) or dragging on the ground (pretty destructive!). So something with a more rigid sole will be ideal.

Might rename this thread to include #sandalfluencing too…

You know what doesn't slip forward...bedrocks...

Ah got you! I misunderstood their intended purpose.

Very good!! The lack of Vinted availability is putting me off, though…..

Fair. They aren’t cheap, but do last. And they will resole and repair them to save you buying a new pair.

I know, I am being (probably unnecessarily) cheap. The repairability and longevity are very attractive though - my Dr Martens are just pushing 6 years of walking around school buildings on their original soles which seems like a good (if somewhat high?) yardstick?

Fitted the Cotic out in bikepacking kit ready for a crack at the North Wales 300 route this bank holiday weekend. It’s the most stuff I’ve carried on a trip and tbh, is starting to feel like too much. Tempted to lose the two fork bags and just run a small bar bag to manage the Welsh hills somewhat. I am super pleased with the ‘wedge’ frame bag, which is in fact a full frame bag for a much smaller framed Karate Monkey. Works a treat with the two big 1L bottles!

Anyway, it’s cool to see how the bike looks loaded up. Some last-minute edits via a new bar choice (👀) and minor variations in equipment will come soon.

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Wales: completed it mate. I ended up with a slightly lighter setup than above, which was probably wise as the hills and terrain kicked my butt, especially on Friday and Saturday when the last remnants of storm Lillian were blowing over Eryri.
Bike-wise, a few things that worked, few that didn’t:

• Wedge frame bag and two 1L bottles were amazing; I never ran out of water and didn’t need to use my filter even when traversing remote bits of the mountains.
  
• rear rack was amazing on its first real rocky mountainous trip, super solid and stable.
  

• The knock off Jones bars (On One Geoffs) were excellent - can’t remember if it was a forum user who suggested it initially but the choice of hand positions, upright posture and the rain jacket lashing point on the loop were great.

• I had a musette bag for lunches, which was super handy, but it kept swinging forward and bouncing on my hips on any off-road bits, which wasn’t.

• My tent poles shook loose a couple times and lost one voile strap, sob (user error rather than equipment fail).

• rear tire is low on tread and therefore low on grip, leading to some skids on the gravel descents.

And that’s it. Looking forward to an autumn and winter now of finding little things to fiddle with it.

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Coincidentally, I rode the Traws Eryri route at almost this exact time last year, so maybe it’s contagious. This time, on day 1, I started out loosely joining the North Wales 300 ride from Wrexham, with the rough intention of making it to Betws-y-Coed on the first day and seeing how I felt.

Generally how I felt was: ow! My knee! Wow! That scenery! Phew! The wind! After battling a block headwind borne from Storm Lillian all day, I decided around 100k in to cut the route short and beeline to Betws, officially ending my NW300 ride.

But that’s okay, because Wales never fails, and this was but an excuse to experience the rugged majesty of North Wales and go as far as my little long legs would take me. Turns out that was up two flights of stairs to a hostel room, where I was very grateful to spend a cosy night re-planning the rest of my weekend.

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I woke on Saturday morning in high spirits; I’d managed hours of Welsh hillage the day before, my knee had sucked but not exploded and I’d had a lovely sleep (and complimentary coffee!) at my hostel. I had planned to camp by Llyn Trawsfynnd anyway, so I routed an ‘easy’ 50km there following the Traws Eryri route in reverse.

Of course, that stretch of the Traws Eryri IS pretty hilly, so this easy route quickly turned into a 300m climb in the first 5k, and within three hours of never-ending forest gravel later I was cooked. Knowing that a road climb awaited me out of Penmachno, I made a welcome lunch stop there, making the climb surprisingly bearable. A surprisingly short time later, I had rolled into Trawsfynnd via a welcome pub detour with a fellow bikepacker I met along the way.

This was a welcome day to step back and appreciate the privilege of being here, being present in this dramatic place. It hurt, and sometimes it sucked, but I was there, I was alive and I was lucky. Much more than some have the fortune for.

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It seems that I always get rained on leaving Wales, and voila! The storms that had blown past me all weekend finally caught up with me, after a short sunny false start climbing out of Trawsfynnd. But no bother - the emotional resilience borne from the previous two days’ efforts carried me on, with my rain jacket hooded against the showers, up and over towards Dolgellau.

After a brief, joyous reacquaintance with the (blue) trails in Coed y Brenin, I rolled into Dolgellau at 09:28, precisely two minutes before the first tea room I encountered opened. The bemused owner was happy to take my money in exchange for a veggie full English, pushing me up and over the high mountain pass on the NCN8 cycle route to Machynlleth, my chosen finish point.

And so this adventure ended as, it seems, a few of my Welsh adventures have lately, rolling into the familiar stage of Machynlleth’s high street, soaking wet, aching, a bit cold, but thoroughly exhilarated at my long weekend’s adventures. And what adventures too - reminders to not take anything for granted, to stop and soak it all in and be prepared to sacrifice accomplishment on the altar of enjoyment (most of the time).

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This looks and sounds superb

It was a beautiful beast! Always wonder I keep coming back to the area and then this reminds me why.

It’s that time again! Went back in to school a couple times to get set up for the new academic year, which means the Stayer is returning back to fast commuting duties. My commute is c. 20k each way and through country lanes and dark byways so a dynamo-d up rando bike is actually pretty fitting.

I bought this little widget from Drust cycles after meeting them at Bespoked a little while ago - it’s an adapter for SON/Supernova lights to be mounted on an M5 bolt, say the mudguard or rack bolts. Pluses and minuses. The snarl of wrapped cables on my top tube and around the front of my bike is gone, but the light itself is kind of in an awkward spot. Between the mudguard stays and rear mech cable it sits a bit awkwardly. I’ll see how I get on with it at any rate.

I also bought this neat little bar bag off Gapped CC, mainly for the 🍉🍉 #freepalestine colours but was pleasantly surprised to realise that it is, in fact, a WizWo little presto. Access on the fly is slightly blocked by the GPS, but it looks great and is perfect for coffee stuff.

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Excellent photos from the Wales trip and the rear light bracket is a nifty little thing!

It’s caused me no end of faff, seeing as I can essentially rotate it through 180 degrees and have the light the right way up or down. But that’s gadgets for you.

After some initial resistance, I finally popped ‘guards on my Raleigh ready for the autumn. I don’t know why I didn’t before, tbh - 35mm Bluemels basically weigh nothing and in this silver, they blend in beautifully with the rest of the bike IMO. Bonus points for finally finding a spot for an old Cold Dark North sticker.

I will die on this hill regarding VO/Honjo/Berthoud guards being harder to fit than these - especially the front guard, with all the gaps under the fork crown, the five independent adjustment points and the tendency of the guards to twist meant I spent half an hour or so eliminating rub. They also run a tad high for my liking so I’ll be cutting myself some flaps too.

Annoyingly the RRA has no bolt hole on the chainstay bridge and I am NOT drilling it, so advice regarding pipe clamps/similar hacks to get an M5 bolt in there would be welcome.

The last step for autumn riding will be a dynamo. The budget doesn’t stretch to a SON/SP hub dynamo (and Shimano would be criminally heavy) so I’ll be considering a bottle dynamo. Suitable suggestions are welcome; I know they aren’t the most consistent but it’ll light the road and that’s all I need.

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