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That me.
I have ridden a bunch of it a few times now and both gravel or mountain bikes work. Basically if your comfortable off-road 40c is fine. If you arent then the security of a mountain bike is probably worth the slower pace.
Recently rode a shorter version in reverse. Slightly less milage but still has all the good bits. Rode it on my karate monkey and it was great.
And here is the setups @Eamesy and I rode.
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Merry New Year all. Hopefully everyone had a great Christmas and more importantly a successful Festive 500.
Last Christmas Eve Stu and I set a 15 mile route and looped around it as many times as we could. This went well and we managed 170 miles despite some rather punchy headwinds and a 5pm curfew.
New tyres and the Dolan was prepped for many miles.
This year we found a new fife loop and with no time restraints we were got to work at the strike of midnight. To briefly summarise 20 hours of riding; it was so cold everything that froze, we saw a nice sunrise and managed 230 miles.
Stu and I could have squeezed more laps out but @Eamesy was freezing to death in the van faster than we were freezing on the bikes so we called it at 8pm before anyone succumbed to the elements.
A bit disappointing that we didn't make it to 400km, there is always next year.
Popped out on Boxing Day and dusted my Festive 500 off with a superb Perthshire loop.
Other news:
- My doubts were unfounded and Planet X were mighty speedy at replacing my shoes.
- Rummaged my dads shed and found a nice set of Azonic pedals circa 2005 to replace the shitty plastic ones on the beater.
- Tried some Mary bars on the Charge and they were awful.
- My doubts were unfounded and Planet X were mighty speedy at replacing my shoes.
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I look forward to mid week evening rides again. If kinda dropped the ball at organising anything for the last six months.
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Yup we rode a chunk of the CP trail from Peebles to the pentlands. Nothing complicated and is easily doable on a cross bike with plenty of clearance.
The whole CP trail is worth a ride and all is doable on 35’s. Decent two day affair or super sporty one dayer.
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Bothy weekend was successful although the rain and wind was really awful and made us all question why anyone would enjoy cycling or even simply being outside. The Saturday was much better and fun was had. Write up filled with type 2 woes to follow.
Photo courtesy of Euan CamlinBike worked well and my best efforts at wiring the dynamo lights up myself seemed to withstand the drowning we experienced so very pleased. Ditched the longer, thinner and shitter Restrap drybag and instead used a 13L Alpkit number. The added width meant it was rock solid and reduced sway to almost nothing with about 10L packed.
Went on another bothy micro adventure last week with @Cupcakes to Wills Bothy. An excellent overnighter down to the borders of England and then back to Edinburgh. Battled some serious headwinds over the Granites which made the rest of the ride feel easy. Will's Bothy has had a touch up with a new fire place, new stove and new sleeping platform.
Updates:
- Dolan has replacement pedals which are exactly the same as the old ones, cheers to @Eamesy for sorting that.
- My shoes are fucked and need to go back for warranty, tide-me-over shoes need to be sourced as I cant see Planet X being speedy in sorting me out with shoes that dont have massive cracks across the soles.
- Bikes are in dire need of a wash.
- Dolan has replacement pedals which are exactly the same as the old ones, cheers to @Eamesy for sorting that.
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Need to pick a sunny long weekend and go for a run of the Badger Divide.
Aye probably cause last year was great, not sure if I will run fixed again though.
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The aluminium Scandal is much lighter than the Inbreds. Plus the mk2 Scandal had posher swap-able dropouts so you can easily run gears or SS. Ti would be the dream but there is no way I am going to have that sort of cash.
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Update:
Summer is over yet the days have still been good so there has been lots of autumnal shredding in the leaves before the get mushy and horrible.
I still havnt replaced the beaters front wheel due to an unfocussed intention to build it myself.
Front dynamo light is fitted and its everything I could have hoped for, blinding levels of illumination.
Since this picture was taken I have not only purchased but fitted the rear light as well so the Forever Light project has come to completion, a mere 1 year after I had planned.Steamroller has had a little overhaul and is running smooth again.
This week the Seta turned over the 1000 mile mark for the year and it needs a new BB.
On One's announcement of a new Scandal 29er in the works has got me further excited about mountain bikes.
BONUS CONTENT - I still have not got round to taking some pretty shots of my girlfriends Steamroller, pictures soon (probably not soon).
I have a bothy trip planned for tomorrow night although the rain and head winds forecasted might test our enthusiasm. Hopefully we make it and I will have some adventure photos to share next week.
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Subbed to make sure you dont listen to any of these people saying it needs to be slacker!
This is going to be an ace build.
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Glad you like the blog, I have been rather lazy regarding uploading but hopefully I will get it pulled back up to date soon.
In regards to the 40's its just a case of running the wheel a bit further back in the drop out and luck I guess. The Open Pro/slightly worn tyre combo seems to work well for clearance. I have a new tyre so will see how that fits but I would be expecting it to be tight. Also you wont have the option of running a double fixed setup as it there is not much room to play with.
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Gravelkings.
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Yes but I dont ride it anymore, there is a suspicious looking crack in the paint that I need to investigate.
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Same issue with my day one, wanted the option to switch between fixed and free and it was always a pain. Ended up running an SS DMR revolver with a track cog and an old BB lockring or the standard SS wheel. Quickly came to the conclusion that its 135mm with gears or 120mm SS/fixed, any other combo is just too much hassle.
My prediction for the Pompino V5 is 40c tyre clearance and small tweaks to the geo (steeper seat tube and longer top tube), they know their audience and wont make any dramatic changes. Basically a Bombtrack Arise 1 but 120mm spaced and blue.
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Steamroller?
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The dude didnt seem keen posting to Scotland which is a bummer.
The search continues.
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Trackpacking bothy weekend, spring 2015
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Count me in.
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The scruffy one is hiding at the back of the box room waiting for me to get round to selling it, im in the process of a slow clear out so at some point I will get it moved on.
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Spotted this, sent the dude a message. Looks ideal.
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Needed to avoid a car but couldnt stop in time. Dived for a gap and mostly didnt hit the car by getting very acquainted with a stone wall at the side of the road.
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Looking for an On One Scandal V2 in large. Ideally black and ideally in Scotland so that it can be picked up (based in Edinburgh). Not fussed if its only a frame or a full build.
Will consider similar frames however I am fairly sold on the Scandal V2 because of its relative lightness and swapable dropouts. Looking to build up a lightweight xc/gravel/bikepacking bike for general offroad adventures.
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Update:
Crashed into a wall on Friday riding the Charge home from work. A nipple pulled out of the rim so its game over for the elderly wheel, my rack is also looking a little worse for wear...
On the "positive" side I can now justify a more robust front wheel for the beater, maybe with disk tabs.
Played about with fitting the dynamo light. Cant figure out how the cables attach to the little plug for the hub, more googling is needed. Also think I might as well get a back light as well seeing as I am going to the bother of doing the front.
The Steamroller is riding like dirt after many summer miles of dust, sand and recent wetness. New chain, BB, brake pads and grips are to be replaced to get it running smooth again.
I think I need to learn how to build wheels.
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Fair play. Even I you could find a DC37 you would probably be hard pushed to pay less than £120 for one in decent condition.
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Melgrave is a great Bothy, it’s a two up two down so loads of space. I would be surpised if it was full. There’s another small Bothy on the north side near the top that’s also decent if things are getting grim, no fire though.
Your options for the second night will probably be camping or BnB. Had a quick google, Glenn Sassunn rings a bell but I can’t find any details on it, it’s pretty off route so I would give it a miss anyway. We stayed at a campsite on route after Loch Rannoch however it’s name escapes me. Top sheltered picnic area for a bivy.
You could bivy along the side Loch Rannoch but it’s a popular spot with weegie weekend campers so might be busy.
Edit: The campsite is called Kilvrecht Campsite