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I just measured the three dimensional distances between the three points of contact on each side and folded/welded some 1mm steel into the appropriate shape. Absolutely rock solid.
The standard mounting gear for the front rack is very average.

Final massive price drop: £1600 if it sells before Friday this week. On Saturday it goes on eBay

These are actually all just phone photos

Price drop to £2,000

I was out sailing in the Irish sea last night, which meant we had incredibly dark skies and the borealis were very vibrant, even with the naked eye. However it's difficult to take a long exposure photo, handheld, on a moving boat (also, I can't tell from the thumbnails on my phone whether I'm selecting the sharper or blurrier versions)

Just a couple more photos while I'm here. This batch are all from the same trip through the middle of nowhere, Morocco. Even if you don't buy this bike, I still endorse going on epic, life-changing bike rides on whatever bike you do have!

More photos, as promised with price drop.

-Tyre clearance with 47mm WTB byways fitted

-bike fully loaded with Caradice Super C panniers (before re-spray, and different saddle & tyres, otherwise same spec)

-this bike is built for ultimate reliability in the harshest environments. It will take you as far as you can pedal in whatever direction you choose to go, and get you home again!

-its crossed mountain ranges in the middle of winter, expanses of uninhabited desert, snowy goat tracks through heavily forested hills for days on end, and now you can do the same!

-buy this bike and go on life changing adventures! That's what it was built for!

(I should do a separate write up/ photo post of the adventures this bike has been on...)

Price drop: £2150.

Will post some more photos when I have better phone reception.

Yes, want to make the seat about 2 inches taller, and haven't done anything like this before. Do you have any advice on the best kind of foam to use/ techniques for stretching the vinyl?
Would appreciate any advice, thanks.

Just picked up an f650 as a do it all bike. A little bit scruffy, but nothing a bit of paint won't sort out. Low mileage and everything works as it should. Going to put some a bigger screen on it, and some hand guards. Does anyone have experience re-covering vinyl seats?

Will update on the boat(s) soon.

In the meantime, the Straggler is up for sale here:

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/396116/#comment17377884

FINAL MASSIVE PRICE DROP: £1600 until Friday. On Saturday it goes on eBay.

The time has come to sell my Straggler. It's hands-down the best bike I've ever owned, and has taken me on some amazing solo adventures. Unfortunately I'm unlikely to be doing any cycle touring in the foreseeable future, and it's far too much bike for riding to the local shops. I'd really like it to go to someone who will take it on the adventures it was built for.

I would like £2200 £1600 if you by it this week.

Bike is located in Suffolk, but I could either arrange to meet a buyer at Ipswich train station, or deliver the bike to Liverpool Street. Alternatively, a courier could be organised at the buyers expense.

Spec as follows:

-56cm Surly Straggler frame and fork
-Chris King headset
-Phil Wood bottom bracket (new bearings)
-Thomson stem, seatpost and seat collar
-White industries MI6 hubs
-Reynolds black label Bernard Kerr rims
-Sapim db spokes
-XTR brakes levers to XT callipers
-Ice-tech rotors 160mm r / 180mm f
-Dura Ace 7410 cranks (170mm, polished)
-Narrow/wide 42t chainring
-11 speed XT shifter/derailleur
-11-42 cassette (brand new)
-KMC chain (brand new)
-On-One OG handlebars (polished)
-Specialized Phenom saddle (143mm)
-Blackburn Outpost racks
-Gilles Berthoud mudguards
-Elwood Terrene front tyre
-Schwalbe Marathon cross rear tyre
-Also a pair of almost new WTB Byway tyres included
-allen key skewers

The frame and forks have just been re-sprayed in Sage Green, satin finish. I took the opportunity to remove the unused down tube shifter braze-on, and faired the welds using a marine epoxy fairing compound. This gives a similar look to a fillet brazed frame. I used the highest quality paints, over the existing powder coat. The result is a very high quality, tough finish.
After the re-spray, the bike was fully rebuilt with many new components, and everything is virtually as good as new. The bike has always been well looked after, but has ridden tens of thousands of kilometres, largely off-road, so there are some signs of wear, such as minor cosmetic scuffs on the derailleur and brake levers etc.
The wheels on this bike are incredible. So light and strong! The carbon rims are from Reynolds top-of-the-range Downhill wheels (RRP £2150!), and are laved to the incredibly robust White Industries hubs. There is a cosmetic chip, which was repaired on the front rim. This damage was from before I built the wheels on to these hubs, for this bike, and they have endured fully-loaded off road touring on some very rough terrain without any showing any signs of weakness. They are really bomb proof!

The racks were modified slightly to accept Caradice Super-C panniers, and show some.signs of wear, where the panniers mount. They have been repainted black, but I expect the paint will wear off (as the original powder coat did) at the points where the panniers contact them.
I fabricated custom mounting hardware for the front rack, which means it is absolutely rock solid, and in the perfect position for carrying weight on the forks.

The mudguards are mounted with custom stainless hardware, and are also fastened to the racks, which result in very firm mounting and no rattles whatsoever!

The chain and cassette are brand new, and the chainring is probably only a thousand miles old. I can't remember the brand, but it was the best I could find to fit the 7410 cranks, and coupled with the clutch-mech, I have never dropped a chain.

The grips and bar-ends are brand new too. The saddle shows a bit of wear, but I expect the new owner will probably want to fit their own preferred saddle. For the same reason, I am not including pedals.

I have ridden with various tyres combinations and prefer 650x47 for off road. Clearance on the chain stays is approx 5mm, and although not noticeable while riding, there was some evidence of paint being rubbed on the chain stays. For this reason, I have been running a 42mm tyre in the rear recently, and the mudguards are currently set up for this.
However it would be easy to reinstall the 47mm tyres (included in sale) and adjust the mudguards to suit.

Also included are a Phil Wood BB tool, 2 spare sets of brake pads, a spare set of BB bearings (I ordered 2 pairs instead of 2 bearings), a new set of tubeless valves (currently tubes are fitted, but everything is tubeless ready) and a set of clear frame protector stickers, if the new owner wants to fit them to cable rub patches.

Edit: some more info on the history of the bike in this thread:

https://www.lfgss.com/conversations/309762/?offset=125

I might do a full write up on the trips the bike has been on at some point. There are lots of photos!

Yeah, both Morocco. I've taken a photo of the map from that trip, with the route marked on it. Hopefully it's visible.
I didn't plan the route, I just had a rough idea of the way I wanted to go, and tried to find the most insignificant roads heading that general direction. A lot of the roads I took through the mountains aren't shown on this map, but I drew them in, approximately. You can see there are a few occasions that I had to double back on myself due to the snow.
This map was the only navigational aid I had for the whole trip. I'd spread it out on the ground every time I stopped to eat, and try to work out where I was. I'd mark a point on it, in pen, then draw the route in the evening, before going to sleep

Pursuing different adventures. I've unfortuantely been ill and had to have some minor surgery, which has made long-distance cycling less comfortable. I spend a lot more time going on sailing adventures than cycling adventures now, including lots of coastal dinghy cruising and camping, as well as blue water yacht cruising.
I have recently purchased an adventure touring motrobike, and as much as I love cycling, this seems to be the more likely future of my two-wheeled adventures.

Thanks.
The boat is still an ongoing project. It was a much bigger project than i first anticipated, and it's been on the backburner while I've had other things on the go. Still chipping away at it, and it's getting close to going afloat...
I've ended up doing things a little differently, and it's become a very comprehensive rebuild. Decided to go engineless too, have removed the prop aperture in the back of the keel, and faired the rudder into a socket on the trailing edge. We are actually removing the engine tomorrow.
She's near completion, and the intention is still to go blue water cruising when She's afloat.

Thanks all.

Yes, but fortunately the field is directly opposite my house.

After 6 years of use, and tens of thousands of miles, I don't see myself going on any more bike adventures of this kind any time soon.
Sadly, the bike has only been used for commuting and riding to the local shops, in the past couple of years. It's far too nice for that, and for this reason, so I've decided to rebuild and recondition it, to pass it on to a new owner, who will take it on more adventures. It will be apperaing in LFGSS Classifieds shortly.

I have removed the surplus downtube shifter braze-on, which has always annoyed me, and re-sprayed the frame and forks in a satin-finish sage green. I used a high build epoxy primer, and a 2k colour and clearcoat. This is over the original powder coating, so a very tough finish. I also tool the opportunity to fair the frame welds, using a marine epoxy fairing compound. This give a very smooth look to the frame, akin to a fillet brazed frame.

I made custom mounting hardware for the racks and mudguards, and took the opportunityy to colour-match them when I resprayed the frame and forks. The result of these custom mounts is the bike having zero rattles. If you pick it up, a few inches off the ground, and let it drop onto it's tyres, it almost sounds like a basketball bouncing.

Because allt he components selected for this build were of the very highest quality, and the bike has been well maintained, almost nothing has been replaced since the original build (except drivetrain componenets). in this most recent rebuild I replaced the bearings in the Phil Wood BB, and replaced the pawl-springs in the rear hub White Industries hub. The hub bearings are all still flawless, which is really impressive considering how much time theyve spent in horrible, gritty environments.

I also polished the Dura Ace 7410 cranks, to a mirror finish, as they'd suffered a bit of shoe-rub over the years. Otherwise theyre perfect, and now look better than new (minus the dura ace logo)

Long time, no post.
I've had this bike a while now, and it's served me well. I really dislike the overuse of "epic", but I think this bike has take me on some truly epic adventures. I'm limited to 5 image attachments per post, so here are a small selection from solo trips through europe and North Africa....

This little boat, which I built the winter before last, has been nominated for a 'Classic Boat Award'!
She's in the spirit of tradition category, up against some of the most beautiful boats being built in the world, today. Some of the other nominees are nearly ten times her length, and she is the only boat in this class, which is not a luxury yacht.
They are undeniably all spectacular craft, but built for the super wealthy! This boat is at the other end of the spectrum, being designed to be affordable, accesible, and low maintenance, with the option of buying a complete boat, a bare hull- for DIY fit-out, or any stage in-between!

Voting is now open online, so please take 2 minutes to look through the nominees and cast your vote! You don't have to vote in every category if you don't want to, but there are lots of beautiful boats and inspiring people, so I'd recommend having a look!

https://awards.classicboat.co.uk/spirit-of-tradition/

Here's a little more about the boat:
She's called Longshore, and is the first grp hull made from a mould, which I took from 'Atlas', a barge boat built in 1949.
She was designed to maintain the elegance of a traditional clinker dinghy, but to be much lower maintenance, lightweight (making her easy to launch and recover on a slipway, and tow behind a modest car), and easy to sail.
Based on the beautiful lines of the original hull, I designed the rest from scratch, and built her on a shoestring budget.
The layout maximises the space available, and incorporates lots of built-in buoyancy, plus 4 large stowage lockers. A dagger board was chosen, so there is no centreboard case to hinder ease of movement across the boat, when tacking.
The ultra-light, glass-sheathed, hollow wooden mast is recycled from and old gaff-rigfed yacht's topmast, the yard and boom are made from carbon fibre windsurfer masts, the foils are carbon fibre. Combined with the battened, balanced lug sail which I designed in collaboration with Suffolk Sails, she has surprising turn of speed, and we've managed to squeeze 11kts out of her!
We sail her whenever we have the opportunity, and her hull form means she is comfortable sailing with 4 adults.
She has been on some big trips, carrying two of us and all our camping gear & provisions, for a week at a time; cruising 120 nautical miles along the East coast, exploring the creeks and rivers.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and thanks again if you decide to vote for Longshore!

Does anyone want to buy my brat?
Only recent photo I can find, of it looking grubby. Will photograph it properly in due course. I was thinking of putting it up for £7k, but would take £6k for a quick sale if anyone is, or knows someone who is interested.

Sold

If you know trials bikes, you know this things a real gem, and you'll also know there aren't going to be many left in this condition. As much as this is close to my perfect setup, and I will never be able to replace it, I just don't ride it enough to justify hanging on to it. Spec as follows:

Frame: Ashton Justice Mk1 (late model. not a single dent or crack in the frame. All original decals, lacquer is peeling a bit in places though. No saddle)

Fork: Inspired (virtuallty brand new), also includes original Ashton fork, but disc mount is damaged.

Headset: Hope (original style, to match hubs. some cable rub on bottom cup, slightly rough bearings, but you cant feel it when you're riding the bike)

Handlebar: Renthal FatBar Carbon 35. High rise(40mm), 760mm wide (in gold, these are only available to sponsored riders, as new condition)

Stem: Race Face Aeffect 35mm clamp, 90mm reach (as new condition)

Grips: Inspired

Front wheel: 32h Hope XC on mavic F219 (axle tapped to M6, with trialtech washers and black titanium bolts)

Rear wheel: 36h Hope XC on RhynoLIte welded rim. (New pawls and springs. has had one light grind from new, will do a fresh grind at the buyers request. Blue hope qr skewer)

Cranks; Middleburn RS7 (or RS8, maybe?) black, Isis. With 22t Middleburn Pro trials Bashguard and chainring.

Pedals: Echo, blue (nice and smooth, all the pins are intact)

Front brake: Avid BB7 with 203mm roundagon rotor and SD7 lever with Jagwire anti compression outer and cable.

Rear brake: Magura HS33 (old style) with trialtech clear hose and splitter. Water bled. Tr1als black pads. (TPA doesnt work)

Bottom Bracket: Unknown Isis (have never had it out the frame, does creak a bit, but nothing too alarming)

Chain: KMC Z610 HX, 3/32

Cassette: surly wide base 16t and 18t (chain length means either ratio can be selected and tensioner adjusted accordingly)

Chain tensioner: Gusset Bachelor

Rear tyre: Continental Mountain King II 2.4"

Front tyre: Continental Vertical 2.3"

I think that covers everything. I'd like £400, but if that's way off the mark, make me an offer.
Not online very often, so text me on 07756015100 if you're interested. Happy to organise postage with the buyer, or collection from Woodbridge area, Suffolk.

Thanks,
Sam

Or, if someone really wants it, I can deliver to London this weekend for a discounted price, for a quick sale.

Following on from my post on previous page: The dinghy is getting there now. Starting to get some base coats of paint on the interior. Glass sheathed, hollow, wooden mast and tapered carbon fibre boom and yard have been made. My sailmaker friend is busy making a 120 sq ft balanced lug sail, of my design, at the momebt. Made a laminated tiller and rudder stock too, which I just received a set of fancy bronze pintles and gudgeons for, so that can be finished now too.
Hoping to have the hull completed by the end of the week; painted and woodwork finished, ready to varnish. It looks kind of weird at the moment, in two tone grey, without all the iroko trims fitted. Was planning on finishing her by the end of the month, but i never have beem very good with time constraints. Will post finished pics soon.

In related news: I've been speaking to a factory that make fibreglass lorry fairings. The quality if their work is excellent, and they are going to laminate the first batch of hulls from my mold quite soon. Available initially as bare hulls, if anyone might be interested. Future plan is to make some patterns, to make the tooling, so the buoyancy chambers can be molded into the hulls directly (this is a prototype, with plywood tanks).

I really like that. Are you making these to sell? How strong are those joins/ what glue do you use?
Edit: is it 12mm board and could it be made in plywood?

And a few shots of the first hull.
I'll post again when it's finished...
if you know anyone who might interested in a project; fitting out their own boat, get in touch.