Highland Trail 550 - 2018

[whitestone]

Last year I used Bontrager XR2 2.35 on the front, XR1 2.2 on the back. This year it will be XR3 2.4 on the front, XR2 2.2 on the back. The XR2 is equivalent to the Ikons, the XR1 has a little less tread, the XR3 a little more.

Generally something that's decent rolling but with a bit of grip. Strong sidewalls preferred.

[Mart]

thanks that’s very useful to know

[GregMay]

All I've had to fit is tires, brake discs, pads, bb,rear wheel and freehub bearings, pedals, chainring, chain and cog. I've also had to buy the wife a new car as a 1000 mile round trip in the old one or my land rover didn't seem sensible. After that lot the SPOT subscription seems quite small on the expenditure list for the event

I also managed to fit one of the tires on the wrong way round to start with as well so got to fit it twice. Maybe Peter has both his tires on backwards - hence his route choice

most expensive free event going!

TDR is a lot more :)

[GregMay]

Good luck all riders.

Remember, if you scratch, to send me a message, it makes things a bit easier.

Please don't expect a prompt reply, please don't call, I'll be on holiday and my phone will be in the bottom of my bag switched off.

I'll get back to you eventually.

Ride well.

[whitestone]

I'll be on holiday and my phone will be in the bottom of my bag switched off.

I'll get back to you eventually.

That's a man with his priorities properly sorted

If the forecast is anything like correct https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/0/2635199 then we'll be very lucky.

[GregMay]

I'll be on holiday and my phone will be in the bottom of my bag switched off.

I'll get back to you eventually.

That's a man with his priorities properly sorted

If the forecast is anything like correct https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/0/2635199 then we'll be very lucky.

Always, my out of office states "I am away on holidays until the 5th of June. I won't look at email. I won't answer my phone. If you need me, I'll speak to you when I return."

I don't do always connected.

[ianfitz]

Been seeing some pictures of folks setups. Big variety.

Anyone seen Fraser’s? (Touch on here)

He’s packing light

[whitestone]

I've seen Rich and Tom's setups over on STW along with Stu Taylor's https://singletrackworld.com/2018/05/st ... y-get-set/. This is pretty much mine:



Just missing the SPOT, a water bottle and probably an inner tube. Packing light? Come on Ian, I'm not exactly slim and that all takes some feeding!

[touch]

Been seeing some pictures of folks setups. Big variety.

Anyone seen Fraser’s? (Touch on here)

He’s packing light

I do have a backpack which wasn't pictured. Also still got another bottle and a couple of tubes to strap to the frame.
Still as light as I can be though.

[whitestone]

Phew! Looking at that shot I was getting worried

Just be as light as you need to be I suppose.

[fatbikephil]

Looking at the weather forecast I guess you can afford to take some liberties with gear, just remember the sun cream!
If I could get the time off I'd be tempted to gatecrash the group start, however I can't so I'll look forward to doing it next year in the rain....
Good luck all

[whitestone]

Looking at the weather forecast I guess you can afford to take some liberties with gear, just remember the sun cream!
If I could get the time off I'd be tempted to gatecrash the group start, however I can't so I'll look forward to doing it next year in the rain....
Good luck all

Actually I'm taking virtually the same kit as I did last year, it's just distributed about the bike a bit differently. I'm not taking (unless the forecast changes dramatically) the heavy duty waterproof I used last year, no spare cycling shorts and probably no spare shirt - I'll just have to smell

[Mike]

I went for a jolly yesterday on the start of the trail. It's rocky in places I'm running 2.4 ardent front 2.35 ikon rear kinda wish I'd left the plus tyre up front, and my new rim on rear has now got a huge dent in it from hitting a rock to hard doh! Lucky though it hasn't effected the seal

[postierich]

Packed and ready to roll
33359916_10156533046631474_3247555038863687680_n by Richard Munro, on Flickr

[ScotRoutes]

FWIW there is currently some resurfacing work on the KLL side of the Devil's Staircase.

[windjammer]

Last year I used Bontrager XR2 2.35 on the front, XR1 2.2 on the back. This year it will be XR3 2.4 on the front, XR2 2.2 on the back. The XR2 is equivalent to the Ikons, the XR1 has a little less tread, the XR3 a little more.

Generally something that's decent rolling but with a bit of grip. Strong sidewalls preferred.

vittoria mezcal 2.35,with graphene

[ianpv]

Great to see my old bike ready for another ht550 Bob! Hope you're enjoying it!

[whitestone]

Great to see my old bike ready for another ht550 Bob! Hope you're enjoying it!

There's a lot of the bike that's been around the HT already - the frame and the wheels for starters! It built up surprisingly light, 12.1kg which I really wasn't expecting. I got a new frame bag as I wanted one that had room for a water bottle and I've had to replace the bottom bracket. I pulled the Jones bars and stem off the fat bike, and the wheels off the Solaris, the rest is a mixture of CRC orders and bargain basement parts.

FS takes a bit of getting used to again - I'm not used to heading downhill that fast

[Cheeky Monkey]

Lucky though it hasn't effected the seal

......... yet

[wriggles]

Saw this on STW

Isla Rowntree just posted this on Twitter:

3 of my colleagues have just had their bikes stolen from Charnock Richard services on the M6. They were on the way to ride the HT500. The two bikes pictured are unique Islabikes If you see them please get in touch.

Gutted for them. Good luck to everyone

[Alpinum]

Saw this on STW

Isla Rowntree just posted this on Twitter:

3 of my colleagues have just had their bikes stolen from Charnock Richard services on the M6. They were on the way to ride the HT500. The two bikes pictured are unique Islabikes If you see them please get in touch.

Gutted for them. Good luck to everyone

Oh ffs!

Cheers to all in Tyndrum. Kind of wish I was there with the big ride awaiting tomorrow morning. Kind of. Good speed (no not god) to all.

[ianfitz]

Isla has also just tweeted that Shand are going to lend them bikes.

Gutting to lose those though. Going to be a tricky to sell on as they’ll be custom made staff bikes. Hopefully that will lead to the scumbags getting caught.

[wriggles]

Steven Shand posted on STW

shandcycles

Member
The boys have just picked up 3 bikes from us so they can carry on their trip. 2 of the bikes that were stolen were custom frames built by the guys at IslaBikes. They were a bit shell-shocked but in surprisingly good spirits.

They lost a lot of the kit that was on the bikes too, we had some bikepacking bags for them but they could do with some more stuff. If anyone has spare bags they could offer as a loan, they are in Edinburgh tonight/tomorrow and could pick up.

I’m can facilitate the return of stuff when they get back.

Steven

[AlasdairMc]

If anyone has a way to get in touch with the Islabikes guys, I’ve got kit they can borrow.

[stevenshand]

If anyone has a way to get in touch with the Islabikes guys, I’ve got kit they can borrow.

Alasdair, I got your message and have passed it on to Ben. Although it sounds like they have got most stuff sorted now.