The post man's been ...

[JohnClimber]

What does it do John?

It fits on the GoPro 9 and gives a wider field of view, the software for this lens gives the footage a Hyper smooth look without the need for a gimble and an amazing job of holding the Horizon Lock no mater how you hold the camera. even if you turn the camera upside down, a bit like a higher quality 360 camera but not with the 360 coverage

[Verena]

Sleep socks

[ledburner]

Sleep socks

Get a net bag so thd the washing machine doesn't eat one, like your named daily socks.

[ledburner]

The Duece Ace of Spades trowels turned up. Seconds quality, just the graphic on one, else can fault.
I'll keep on are sell/gift the others. Buying 3 justified the $14.50 UPS postage.
At low value, marked $5 for customs, no vat or duties, phew...

[FLV]

Brought me an SQ labs 30x 12 degree handlebar. Will it be the best bar ever? Hope so.

I've tried a 'normal' riserbar (nukeproof), tried a 17 degree stooge bar, maybe 12 is the happy place for me.... just maybe

https://www.sq-lab.com/en/products/hand ... ox-12.html

Anyway, wanted to try one so here we go. Might even have a whizz round in the mire on later. If I can face washing it... again.


Oh, also a Soto gas stove. Bigger than I thought, but until I find where I have lost my pocket rocket 2, I'll give it a go.

[ScotRoutes]

Brought me an SQ labs 30x 12 degree handlebar. Will it be the best bar ever? Hope so.

I've tried a 'normal' riserbar (nukeproof), tried a 17 degree stooge bar, maybe 12 is the happy place for me.... just maybe

https://www.sq-lab.com/en/products/hand ... ox-12.html

Anyway, wanted to try one so here we go. Might even have a whizz round in the mire on later. If I can face washing it... again.


Oh, also a Soto gas stove. Bigger than I thought, but until I find where I have lost my pocket rocket 2, I'll give it a go.

I was looking at the 30X until I got a chance to buy a 2nd hand Thomson Ti 12 degree bar. I like it. A lot.

[Cheeky Monkey]

I'm trying these (OK, I've fitted them but haven't ridden as it's just slop and chunder out there):



Ritchey WCS TRAIL 10D RIZER HANDLEBAR

Got more rise to them than I really desired but hey ho, riding them'll be the test. Had to flip the stem.

[RIP]

Getting a bit confused with all the posts about pots and stoves (never mind those posts with open fires in - hah!) but just had an illuminating conversation with Sean about supermarket pots. Having discussed how we both did our respective mothers shopping (mine and mine and his and his, not mine and his and him and mine, if you follow) in Morrisbums today, we then told each other about our thrilling discoveries about which type of pot is needed for which type of, er, pot. Cream featured quite highly, as did soup, but my bizarre wildcard is a 1L drinks container.

My cheery Friday is now sorted out with fiddling around with russian doll cook set setups .

Yes I did take my tape measure into Morrisons - ended up with three very nice young staff ladies surrounding me (social distancing got a bit forgotten for a moment I'm afraid but I was having such a nice time...) all keenly and animatedly suggesting and evaluating which pots I needed! I'm hoping I recruited them for This Place . I can imagine the conversations in the security office watching on the CCTV....

[Jurassic]

And I did take my tape measure into Morrisons - ended up with three very nice young staff ladies surrounding me (social distancing got a bit forgotten for a moment I'm afraid but I was having such a nice time...) all keenly and animatedly suggesting and evaluating which pots I needed! I'm hoping I recruited them for This Place . I can imagine the conversations in the security office watching on the CCTV....

Is bikepacking grooming a thing? It sounds like it might be now!

[sean_iow]

I didn't realise you took a tape measure I put marks down the side of my shopping list, one for the diameter and one for the height I need and then check the pots against them.

The postman brought me a Mountain Equipment Eclipse Beanie in a fetching orange colour, to wear when biving, can't beat a new hat day.

[Dave Barter]

I received an Akai MPK today and project lockdown Alien Sex Fiend cover has begun

[sean_iow]

I received an Akai MPK today and project lockdown Alien Sex Fiend cover has begun

I had to google that to find out what it is, the Akai not Alien Sex Fiend. Is the cover going to be a musical rendition or the album artwork as per last lock-down? If it's the artwork, and remembering their outfits, you'd better put a warning on the pictures before we see them

[Dave Barter]

I received an Akai MPK today and project lockdown Alien Sex Fiend cover has begun

I had to google that to find out what it is, the Akai not Alien Sex Fiend. Is the cover going to be a musical rendition or the album artwork as per last lock-down? If it's the artwork, and remembering their outfits, you'd better put a warning on the pictures before we see them

No more album artworks. This is a musical rendition. It’s a little hobby of mine where I re-record obscure punk songs from my youth.

[ledburner]

I didn't realise you took a tape measure I put marks down the side of my shopping list, one for the diameter and one for the height I need and then check the pots against them.

The postman brought me a Mountain Equipment Eclipse Beanie in a fetching orange colour, to wear when biving, can't beat a new hat day.

I recently got their Humbolt beanie, orange like a Belisha beacon. Merino one side /polyester the other. But you can't tell which is witch . Cozy any way... Thank Magic Mountain for good sake prize!

[RIP]

Longish post sorry, but it’s a bit of a deliberation/review as well.

Reg swore he’d never have a seat harness rather than a seatpack. Reg today has a seat harness.

Reg swore he’d never have a frame bag. Reg today has a frame bag.

What an embarrassing sell out . He’s definitely, er, not getting a bivvy bag though.

Up to now have been quite happy with Alpkit Koala seatpack, AK gas tank, AK stem cell, and one or two AK custom 10L drybags on the bars, plus the MYOG cabletie/gaffertape water bottle stem cell.

The Koala is VX21 fabric, but the gas tank, stem cell and dry bags are all extremely light LS07 versions. The dry bags are simply strapped round the bars and onto the 16g cabletie bars/mudguard harness. All works perfectly.

But the seatpack had almost worn out, and now it's had its life cruelly cut short due to a catastrophic involuntary strap/cassette interface entanglement situation which ripped the strap from the bottom of the bag.

So which new ones then, c’mon, cut to the chase.

Didn’t take long to narrow things down to Stu’s Acepac gear, and what I bought. Would obviously like to support Stu, but I can’t be doing with luggage that ends up weighing more than its contents. No dis to Acepac, it’s certainly bombproof, but it’s a bit too portly for me. The Alpkit Koala 13L seatpack in LS07 would have been great but they told me a while ago they'd stopped making them. My ultralight MYOG seat harness made from milk bottles (plastic!) and cableties worked but isn’t 100% satisfactory.

I also thought well if I’m going to lay out some cash I may as well try something different – so why not a harness instead of a pack. The “you can’t take a seatpack into your shelter easily” thing has never really bothered me so the pack’s been fine. In summer my bar bag takes the whole shelter, and the seatpack takes the sleeping bag at the bottom with day stuff near the opening. In winter, same, except my winter sleeping bag leaves little room for day stuff so the sleeping bag sometimes goes in a second bar bag which isn’t ideal.

Anyway, one outfit already made very light stuff and now it’s even lighter being made from LS21 fabric, so that clinched it.

Wildcat.

The LS21 Drover seat harness is a bonkers 184g on my scales. It’s tapered so you really need the 10L Wildcat tapered drybag which is 64g. Cunningly you can ditch the lateral harness strap and clip the drybag straight to the harness if it’s not too full. So that’s rear luggage for 221g – a third of the weight of alternatives.

So I didn’t want a frame bag. The capacity/weight ratio always seems poor, and makes HaBing harder. And it’s an excuse to TMS . However, the Wildcat rear drybag is 10L not 13L, and to be honest two (winter) bar bags isn’t ideal anyway, so I’m going with the LS21 Ocelot “large” frame bag and will have to re-think my packing regime. In future it’ll be shelter in one 10L bar bag; sleeping bag, down clothing, dry clothes etc in the 10L seatpack, and all day stuff – kitchen, 1st aid, bathroom, workshop, etc - in the 4.6L frame bag. The Ocelot weighs 205g, less than 200g would have been nice . Weight is saved by using cord to attach it to the frame instead of lots of velcro or straps – clever.

As an experiment I filled the frame bag with water and it actually holds 5.3L rather than the nominal 4.6L, and is JUST the right size for my new 550ml cookpot. Certainly proved the waterproofness as well .

Mr Shand answered my stupid questions promptly and the kit turned up 2 days later. Brilliant.The gear is absolutely top quality and beautifully made. Everything where it should be and nothing where it shouldn’t. The only change I’d make is to use 2mm dyneema instead of the straps . Not bothered about the frame bag liner really either although I guess it reduces rattles etc.

So, new setup is 576g for 10L bar bag + harness, 1L stem cell, 500ml stem cell, 1L gas tank, 5.3L frame bag, seat harness and 10L harness drybag.

http://Wildcat.cc

[ledburner]

Turncoat.

[ledburner]

Turncoat.

Enjoy, careful with it.

That's lighter than my bomb proof bar harness support combo...


Remberer ultralight mean no enforced route clearing/ shrub bashing.

[sean_iow]

The LS21 Drover seat harness is a bonkers 184g on my scales. It’s tapered so you really need the 10L Wildcat tapered drybag which is 64g. Cunningly you can ditch the lateral harness strap and clip the drybag straight to the harness if it’s not too full. So that’s rear luggage for 221g – a third of the weight of alternatives.

My dynema seatpack weighs 174g, but try not to think about that too much as you drag your heavy luggage about

But being serious, I've seen the Wildcat stuff on their Instagram and it's lovely

[Bearlegged]

Posty just dropped off a custom engraved bell from Lion Bellworks. Such a lovely ding.

You can listen to the sound here:
https://www.lionbellworks.co.uk/index.php

[slarge]

The LS21 Drover seat harness is a bonkers 184g on my scales. It’s tapered so you really need the 10L Wildcat tapered drybag which is 64g. Cunningly you can ditch the lateral harness strap and clip the drybag straight to the harness if it’s not too full. So that’s rear luggage for 221g – a third of the weight of alternatives.

My dynema seatpack weighs 174g, but try not to think about that too much as you drag your heavy luggage about

But being serious, I've seen the Wildcat stuff on their Instagram and it's lovely

I think helium is the answer - fill drybags with it and you could have negative weight . May be a thing for non-bikepacking rides..... (Not hydrogen - that leaks out)

[RIP]

Turncoat.

Enjoy, careful with it.

That's lighter than my bomb proof bar harness support combo...


Remberer ultralight mean no enforced route clearing/ shrub bashing.

Yeah top seamstresses ( ) such as yourself and Sean always impress me but even darning a sock always goes horribly wrong for me - maybe I'll darn it onto my finger or close up the entry hole. Mebbes should've commissioned you guys to make them .

But gimme some gaffer and cableties and I'm your man. My 16g bar harness has been faultless - admittedly it doesn't include the enormous 40g for the 10L and a bit more for the S2S ultralight straps. Same for the 12g waterbottle stem cell. I just need the 15g frame bag and 15g seatpack to go with 'em.

Helium, now there's a thought....

[ledburner]

Turncoat.

Enjoy, careful with it.

That's lighter than my bomb proof bar harness support combo...


Remberer ultralight mean no enforced route clearing/ shrub bashing.

Yeah top seamstresses ( ) such as yourself and Sean always impress me but even darning a sock always goes horribly wrong for me -

Seamstress, not even at weekends.
Sure Seameister....
And definately not a
Thread Insertion Technician
(They can be found making hammocks in Carolina etc)...

[ledburner]

Turncoat.

Enjoy, careful with it.

That's lighter than my bomb proof bar harness support combo...


Remberer ultralight mean no enforced route clearing/ shrub bashing.

Yeah top seamstresses ( )....... Mebbes should've commissioned you guys to make them .

Sure, PM us!
I guess we can help out...

[Verena]

A Welsh dragon jersey. No particular reason other than I've fancied one for ages and they were reduced from something ridiculous to something I consider acceptable. And it's a cheery thought, being able to ride in short sleeves again soon.

A bag of tarp clips. Bought for me by Mr Z. Proof that, despite the exaggerated yawns and eye rolling every time I start a conversation with "the guys on the BB forum have been talking about .....", he does actually listen. And take an interest. And they say romance is dead... awwww

[RIP]

8g stove, cheers Stu