ultra roadie

Really enjoying your ride pics. Nice bike too by the way.

Ah the trip looks very lush - pictures are calming, how was the bike?

nice photos Sam.

How was it? I’m going to add the route to my list, looks really nice.

Great fun, all in.
That being said, there are huge section on the first day which are completely unrideable.
And expect constant getting off the bike to open a gate and close it, then riding across a small field and then repeating. And then doing that for 2 hours straight.
Once you get through that section it's pretty good.
There is a section where you need to cross stepping stones through a river which is very very hard with a fully loaded bike. Actually quite sketchy..
Some seriously amazing scenery and a decent amount of food and drink stops along the way.
Oh, and it's insanely hilly so bring the low gearing.

Was good for the most part!
Slashed the front Thunder Burt a few days before I left so knicked a tyre from Decathalon so ended up with a 47mm (really measures like 45mm) but never much noticed apart from on some rock garden esque terrain.
I have ideas for a new flat bar bike but that will have to wait I suppose...

Just nearing 7000km on the Canyon so far this year.
It works well, with my only annoyance being the difficulty in getting the brakes to feel exactly how I want them to.
The callipers and levers are both second hand so this may be the source of some issues. Once I’ve gotten through these pads I’ll put fancier rotors on and go back to resin pads which give a nicer feel.

I’d also like to try some boutique tyres. Rene Herse or Challenge in 32mm. With latex tubes it should ride perfectly smooth. Now that I run my saddle slammed all the way forward on the rails I do notice a bit more harshness coming up through the bike.
For a few weeks I went back to riding SPD-SLs but I do honestly just prefer MTB pedals and these XTRs are about as good as that gets. Maybe sometime in the future I’ll try Speedplay but it’s a heavy investment for something I might not like all too much.

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I've somehow amassed about 5 sets of speedplays if you wanted some cheap ones to try. New cleats are expensive though

That saddle position is pushing you dangerously towards Tri bike territory

It's only a tri bike if you pee on it

Challenge tyres are nice but an absolute nightmare to fit. An upgrade to a Corsa Pro or similar would be similar and less hateful to fit IMO.

speedplays are not worth it unless you "need" the float (I currently ride speedplays)

anyone in sarf got a disc compatible bike box I can borrow for 15-19th of July and a few days before and after?

Did some riding in France.
Makes you wonder how much nicer life could be if I didn't live in the UK...
Some lovely climbing too. Good for the soul I think.

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Makes you wonder how much nicer life could be if I didn't live in the UK...

ah boy does this thought plague my life daily.

Looks lovely out there. Hope you had as nice a time as it looks!

eight fiddy tree

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Seattube size of an XS but headtube size of an S..
Hopefully it fits..

140mm -17 degree stem and it'll fit fine

Think of all that lovely flexy cushy exposed seatpost.

All to be negated by the use of a Thomson post 😅

Oofff nice!!

Bang bang bang!

Oooh, what’s the plan? Is this to replace or complement your canyon?

I suppose it depends on how much I like riding it. Hopefully my enjoyment of steel bikes hasn't been ruined by modern, high-end carbon.
Probably keeping both for a while; It's useful having a spare when something stops working on one of them. And anyone who knows how I ride my bikes knows how often that happens!

If anyone has a Thomson stem in 110mm, black of course, please get in touch :)
And maybe a Hope 44mm headset also in black.

Sounds good; I also have a carbon disky but am constantly fighting the urge to build a more classic road rim brake frame. Interested to see how you get on with both.