London Fixed-gear and Single-speed

I'll take 20!

and 1.

I'm even rebuilding the Brooklyn into a fixed tourer again. :]

I miss the Chocolate Donkey, so I'm building Black Bess!

You and me both.

The BMW is still in a garage in California.

Was wondering about that Ed. Any plans to bring it home?

I thought you didn't like it anymore cos it was too long?

Yes, sooner or later, either I'll stump up the cost of shipping, or fly over and see my friends again and bring it back.

the latter cost slightly more.

the fit - resolved with Scherrit by looking at the geo chart again, that Brooklyn is ridiculously comfortable, I'm not getting rid of it, even with the Toe Overlap of Hell.

+1 for the alpkit, I've got the 3/4 length one and it packs down to a miniscule 30x15cm quality isn't quite as good as thermarest but you're paying a fraction of the price

i got a mountain equip air mattress. think its 35/45mm thick? was about 70 rrp and got two in a high street shop for 35 each. deal!
its light. not the lightest, but full size and ive taken it all sorts of places (mostly underground and abandoned buildings etc) and hadnt punctured yet

on one were selling the easton 1kg tent for 180 a few weeks back. apparently its big enough for two?

It's been a while now. What did you get??

airic's are very good for the money

they are good, and cheap. dont get one if your much over 6' though. i fell over on mine while a little under the influence... rang up gelert and told them about it honestly expecting to have to buy some new poles and they sent me some new ones for free, excellent customer service.

I've been tempted by one of them mate but like you said not really if your over 6ft. I'm 6ft 2. Would be very light weight touring with just a saddle bag/ handlebar bag. hmmmm...

^^ a mate of mine bought the Gelert and said exactly the same thing about being over six foot

I bought this off the back of the reviews posted on Amazon. Its low tech and cheap, which ticks a few boxes, but might turn out to be crap. I'll be using it this weekend and report back...


Result - Was okay in the drizzle we had over the weekend. There's enough room for a tall person, plus panniers but getting in and out is a squeeze. Light, very cheap and packs up really small so that's me sorted.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lichfield-...item1c26c5a5cc

2KG tent. Very cheap for the weight. Small porch. Same kind of space as the Banshee, Hunka or Taurus.

My tours likely to be 3-4 nights rather than weeks on end so this seems a good deal.

Lichfield I hear is the budget line of Vaude so good heritage.

Haven't seen this on this thread. Thoughts?

Brought the X-Lite.

Pocket empty.

I'll defintely enjoy not having to lug around a thermarest anymore.

Next step - tiny minus five sleeping bag.

snugpac make great small warm sleeping bags worth a look if they are still going

http://www.nemoequipment.com/nemo2012-gogoelite



I have the old version of this. A fantastic tent (once you are used to it), and packs very small. Not cheap though.

pete, unless this is where you got it from, Mike Hall used it on his round the world record attempt.

liking it very much.

Ed, i got it in Japan while i lived there...ITS been around the world, just not with me in it, but really comfortable tent - recommended

I've picked up the Tarptent Scarp 1 - http://www.tarptent.com/scarp1.html - for my UK Tour. I took it out camping once so far and its great - easy to set up, compact, and lightweight. Plenty of room too - its essentially big enough for 1.5 people (you'd have to be pretty snug with another person in order to share the tent with them) and comes with enough room to keep your bags dry too.

The cheap £25 tent that a flood victim wouldn't dare sleep in.

Don't think it's that bad, with a few work, different pegs, string, possibly a stronger poles that doesn't look it been made by an Englishman.

will test it out properly to make it work for Morocco, ridiculously easy to set-up.

Just about fit, max size I'd says 6'1.

looks good :)

Ed is that the one super light weight cycling blog recommends?

That's the one.

I think it's a decent tent, unfortunately during the Latitude, our fellow forumeanger tipped on the guy line and ripped the front of the tent, end up having to wrap the guy line on the top of the pole to have some tension, but even so it was slagging badly.

it did take a couple of minutes to put up, which was nice when it was raining heavily that night.

bit of condensation but that to be expected, the heavy wind wasn't fun when it hit the tent and all the condensation dripped down on my sleeping bag - dirty rags clean it off.

Just got an army surplus one for £25, good call.

You're not kidding, look at the size of it next to a water bottle;

Sorry to hear about the tent trouble Ed. Latitude was a wash out from what I've heard, considering you were in a tent which wasn't fit for a flood victim you did surprisingly well!

I'm still keen to give that tent a go, based on the reviews and the cheap price/weight and from what you've shown it'll pack down very small.

Are the snug pack ones really that small though?

I'm after a real small one I can fit with a bivi bag inside my saddle bag.

Saw one in tescos that was very small (like drinks bottle) good for 8C+ and cost under a £10.

Not worth going for the smallest one, the one I have rated as low as 2c, it's worth wearing warm socks and a down jacket as well.

snug pac are the smnallest sleeping bags i've seen
less than a loaf of bread size for a 3 season bag, possibly a loaf of nimble weight wise

Would you guys mind posting links? There's so many of the snug pack ones, would like to know I'm buying the right one.

hmmm i bought mine at age 18 ..... 25 odd years ago it is still going strong... i'll have a look and see if i can see something

The one I brought is a Snugpak Travelpak Lite, which come with a mesh as well;





Cannot emphasised on the importance of wearing socks while sleeping - it get noticeably cold by your feet.

http://www.snugpak.com/index.php?MenuID=160-131

presumably you are not off to the gulf to kill sadam hussain .. so you won't be needing the desert ops sleeping backs
you are not a member of the SAS guarding the olympic site therefore you'll probably not be needing the covert ops / black tactical bags section


i'd go for one of this section
http://www.snugpak.com/index.php?MenuID=114-119
now you just need to select what criteria you need it for ( there is a selector down the side to help you choose )
-20C / -10C / above freezing ? expedition / casual camping / weight / shape etc

could be misleading could be long in the 3rd dimension while looking very small in vertical and horizontal

I thought the same Dicki - would ideally like something that packs down small. That travelpak lite looks like it'll pack down small - 20cm uncompressed along the length which is good.

This will most likely be used during the spring/summer/autumn months so that looks like it would fit the bill. Also I could double it up with a silk liner to help - do they really add that much warmth?

We've often been out in bivi's during the winter months when walking (snow is fun) but take big sleeping bags where It's worth the weight penalty.

better view i reckon;

Ed - since we've both go the same saddle bag will it easily fit in there? Plan was to take bivi and sleeping bag and spare clothes in the saddle bag, possibly a tent along the top tube (may just bivi it.)

I don't have a big picture, but here it is;

Sleeping bag, High Peak Minilite tent, klymit X-Lite air bag, brunches of clothes in the saddle bag.

tent pole and pegs in frame bag with other stuff;

Mine has a pertex ( parachute silk ) inner and it warms up really quickly against the skin
can't really tell if it is warmer than cotton lining
but if you want a warmer bag just go up 1 season 5/6 degrees C

Not a fan of Snugpak sleeping bags (though the Pertex Sleeka jacket they do is a bit of a classic) I bought a Snugpak Winter Chrysalis bag for a winter camp a couple of years back and found it nowhere near warm enough. I was freezing in fact. Avoid

So thinking about a cheap break this summer. Possibly ferry over to Holland ride around for a bit and ferry back.

Alternative is to ride from Hook of Holland down through belguim and in to France - probably get the ferry home from Dieppe.

i did both of the above two summers back
london - dover france belgium holland via the coast. across to germany then up to denmark
train back to the middle of germany from denmark then cycle back through holland belgium and back to dover
did it in about 1 month sight seeing and meeting friends but it was really nice cycling
just make sure you choose the days when the wind is in your favour for the coastal stretches or it could be like cycling up an alp ... it's that difficult against the wind

MSR Hubba look like a great option, decent size, decent price and look comfortable.

I'm happy with my Decathlon T2 Ultralight pro, it's still 2kg, but it's very roomy and very cheap (around £70)

Sounds good for the price.

Other one is the vango banshee which is under 2kg.

have used my Vango Helium a few times now and rate it. Just over a kilo and packs pretty small. Bit coffin like inside, but ok for overnighters

The MSR weight 1.4kg, which I thought it pretty impressive for the size, it's suitable for four season which also a key selling point.

^ looks good Ed, but pricey?