More bikes than rides

I'm not too fussed about mud. These tyres are for when I want to go far, slow, and in comfort. Basicaly a 29+"gravel".

My new favorite bike.

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That looks fantastic.

Looks tons of fun :)

The result of MTB cull:

Salsa got 4 pot Hope brakes, 11 speed XT groupset, 11-50 Sunrace cassette, Surly Sunrise bars, Salsa Firestarter forks, Works Components +1 degree angleset, and fast rolling Vittoria Mezcals. From neo-retro mtb to a capable bikepacking rig.

Took it out for a short overnighter to see how it handles under load. Set out at 08:00AM on Friday and head towards Eastbourn. Linking rideable, or so I thought, parts of Wealdway and Vanguard way. Soon I have realized what a grave mistake that was! It's not the stiles and narrow gates, or even the occasional stairs that were the problem. The paths have not been used for years and most of them were completely overgrown.

At about 2PM I've decided that It's time to cut it short. Instead of pushing through the nettles towards Eastbourn I took a much more pleasant route towards Alfriston.

After getting to the top of the first climb of SDW I was hit with a relentless headwind. The goal for the day was to reach Ambereley. It was 3PM and I had 40 miles of to go.

At about 9PM I got as far as Washington. I was out of water and completely spent. Hills, wind, humidity, and 25 degrees Celsius were a perfect setup for failure. Decided to load up on water and look for a spot to camp.

Got up at 5AM on Saturday soaked and shivering. Turns out that I failed to crawl into my bivy and spent the night only under my sleeping bag. Had to wait till 8AM for the wind and sun to dry out my kit. My smartphone, which I left in the grass, stopped working and I couldn't take any pics.
Past Amberely the trail was packed with runners and walkers. Race to the King was taking place. I have never seen so many angry MTBers in one place. I really wanted to ride all the way to Winchester, but the route was way too crowded for cycling. I cut it short at Petersfield. It was an OKish 200km. I don't think I'll ever do this route again.

The bike and the bikepacking kit were fine. I need a bigger bladder so I can ditch the under the frame bottle. It got covered in all sorts of shit and was useless most of the time. I started heavy loaded at the front. Won't do that again. Makes the bike twitchy. The stem cells can >>>>. How do people climb out of the saddle without constantly hitting them with their knees? Won't be using again.

Also found a way to completely silence my Hope freehub. Packed it with tons of thick grease. Now I have to get a bell.

looks fun, do you have the route?
I dont like having too much front loading off road either, but I do have two bottle cages on my forks which works well.

https://www.komoot.com/tour/t74561109?ref=atd
It's a bit boring between Ashdown Forest and Alfriston. The first water tap is in Blackboys. If you're riding just to Eastbourne link via cuckoo trail. It's not as nice as the downs link, but it's better than roads around there.

This is one of my favorite forum bikes! So nice! Glad it gets used properly too

strong work

My Litespeed is for sale again. Due to elbow tendonitis I've been out of work since January and it doesn't seem that I'll be able to return to work in the next 3 months. Bills need paying. I took advantage of no fees ebay promo and it's listed there currently. I'll be more than happy to take it down and sell it here with a forum discount.

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Did the Norfolk Coast and Peddars way today. Took the first train to Cromer and road from there to Brandon. Was going to camp and ride back home to London tomorrow morning. But my garmin decided to fuck itself up with a software upgrade. It's been dodgy the whole day. First couldn't find satellites, then wouldn't record, then got stuck on a recalculation. To finally not comeback from a auto sleep. I've just missed a train to Cambridge too. Bad day for cycling.
Anyway. The coast footpath isn't suitable for bikes, but there are miles and miles of nice gravel further inland. Really enjoyed it.
Peddars way is a bit boring. Either tarmac or overgrown paths.

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What's the casing width of the 2.6" Mezcals ( also internal rim width ) please?

Exactly 2.6. I31. Had them on I50 for couple of weeks but the profile was horrendous and affected handling. Wouldn't run them on anything wider than I35.
11 front, 14 rear psi seems to be the sweet spot for me. Like fat nanos, but with grip.

Excellent, thanks! I've ordered some 2.6" Barzos to go onto i30 rims, and presume they should be close to that :-)

Did you go for the reinforced sidewall? Mine feel like I could ride them with no air.

Yep, the grey ones. I used the 2.35 version for Mayhem last weekend, and gradually ran them lower & lower. I think those would work better on i25 than i30 though, as the cornering knobs could come out a tiny bit more.

Yep I have the 2.35 Mezcals on i23 and they are perfect. Did SDW way last week and was running the rear one at 17 psi.

Just need to move the drivetrain from salsa, and wait for the rear axle to arrive. The only new thing is the frame from a German bargain basement clearout.

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Well that didn't go as planned. Stupid cheap cube frame not made to spec has to go back to zee Germans. Now I have no mtb to ride.

And the bin men have collected the box it came in. Dumb dumb dumb.

m8 just buy a uk steel hard tail like the rest of us

preach

Steel is dead.