Search found 470 matches

by nmnm
17 Dec 2016, 8:38pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: High centre of gravity for touring
Replies: 36
Views: 5791

Re: High centre of gravity for touring

As I see it, if you try to balance a pool cue upright in the palm of your hand, it's much harder with the thick end at the bottom. Balance is maintained by moving the base point around, same with cycling. I carried a big bag of clothes on my crossbar once, was struck by the stability when moving (not so great when stationary!).
by nmnm
10 Dec 2016, 2:27am
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: where to go 2017
Replies: 36
Views: 4706

Re: where to go 2017

Maybe the top of Scotland, Sutherland, via a sleeper north, then over to Orkney for a visit.

But if I lived in south I'd be tempted to grab a ferry, pedal south, fly back from Nice after a month of cakes and quiet roads and a few big name mountains taken at a leisurely pace. Maybe you've done that too often or have other UK-favouring reasons but I can't imagine having too many of the gateaux and that brexit is around the corner, nice to get the most of the place before the paperwork increases.

Went to Wales this year. Nice in some aspects, but too few road options - busy A/B roads or little steep hedged lanes with tractors and sheepdogs and still nippy cars. France is just so handy from Kent too!
by nmnm
12 Sep 2016, 7:41pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Lightweight rack options.......
Replies: 16
Views: 2885

Re: Lightweight rack options.......

meic wrote:Doing a quick search, I see that we have had this conversation a few times before..
Haha, well spotted! That explains the familiarity of it. We should do this again in a few years! :D
by nmnm
12 Sep 2016, 12:48pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Lightweight rack options.......
Replies: 16
Views: 2885

Re: Lightweight rack options.......

foxyrider wrote:Bit like the Carry Ti - you can weigh the rack on its own at @ 250g but add in your fixings and it could reach 400g easily!

I ended up using Ti bolts and dumping the heavy stainless fixings for Tubus' own al blocks which had an added benefit of making it easier to fit on my bikes!
SJS lists Carry Ti as 350g (w/o mounting set), 470g incl fittings, nice and clear(ish). They are equally clear on other racks that are light or sold as being light.

The Tortec Ultralight figure was included in the original Tortec website listing, which has since been changed. Wiggle (or Evans?) kept the Tortec pr wording but fixed the number so it's now got this incongruous "Weighing a remarkable 560g", which makes me smile.

Yes, I think I recall your rack fixings description, from a few years back, a great upgrade. The yellow packable bike, isn't it? That was a light bike!
by nmnm
12 Sep 2016, 12:53am
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Lightweight rack options.......
Replies: 16
Views: 2885

Re: Lightweight rack options.......

meic wrote:Tortec ultralights... They only weigh 400g ish.
Did you buy at sjs by any chance? It's a fine rack but Wiggle and evans both fixed that 400g "typo" a few years back. Real weight is 560g, I think.

I feel a bit sheepish mentioning this - I'm not sure there's great honour in knowing the weight of racks I don't even own! :D
by nmnm
1 Sep 2016, 10:52pm
Forum: Cycle Camping sub-forum
Topic: trangia copy, £12.49
Replies: 52
Views: 5258

Re: trangia copy, £12.49

willem jongman wrote:This is a shameless copyright infringement of the Trangia original
I wonder if it is possible the relevant copyrights / patents have expired.
by nmnm
29 Aug 2016, 4:38pm
Forum: Cycle Camping sub-forum
Topic: Painful hip when camping
Replies: 32
Views: 5486

Re: Painful hip when camping

Just for those talking about blowing up tube mats - I recommend the £35 thermarest air pump, terrific. 60g or so, reduces my puffs from 16 puffs per inflate to just the one topper-upper.

If weight isn't a particular interest for you, you can use a bit of hose and a Maplin keyboard vacuum for £3 to achieve similar results apparently.
by nmnm
13 Aug 2016, 12:59am
Forum: Cycle Camping sub-forum
Topic: Pictures of your tents.
Replies: 698
Views: 94427

Re: Pictures of your tents.

Great bargain, that lux mini and the hexpeak too. It's good they sell the bits separately. My old "silLite" Golite Sangri-la 3 (way back on page 2 in this thread) was £250ish, I think, with the pole and inner, with taped seams (the sil is on the outside and steeped through, I think). Not the absolute easiest tents to put up well first time, the hex ones and at its best in warm weather (big inside means cooler). But yes, assembly is outer first, and for disassembly you can pack everything up onto the bike under the fly, very good for rainy mornings.
by nmnm
1 Aug 2016, 4:33pm
Forum: Cycle Camping sub-forum
Topic: Patching up small groundsheet holes
Replies: 19
Views: 1871

Re: Patching up small groundsheet holes

In similar situation to the OP story before the Fabsil bit, and looking to invest as little effort as possible, I used bike puncture repair patches, the small square self-adhesive ones, not the traditional ones, stuck to outside of groundsheet. Very fast, worked fine.
by nmnm
21 Jul 2016, 11:37pm
Forum: Cycle Camping sub-forum
Topic: NatureHike Tents
Replies: 83
Views: 16313

Re: NatureHike Tents

I think giving weights excluding pegs is a good thing, as the pegs are easily changed but the fly and inner and poles are not. Also it sidesteps the tendency of manufacturers to issue tiny pegs with tents to improve the weight statistics. I just need to add 5g x the number of pegs required to be able to make comparisons with TN etc.

Great thread this one. Looking forward to hearing how the tent seems once pitched.
by nmnm
15 Jul 2016, 2:16pm
Forum: Cycle Camping sub-forum
Topic: Sub 1kilo 3 Season Sleeping Bag Recommendations.
Replies: 21
Views: 2523

Re: Sub 1kilo 3 Season Sleeping Bag Recommendations.

I have the alpkit pd 400, mentioned by OP. Nice bag, felt like good value. For me (thin, 45, big airy tent) it was fine in sheltered French campsites, early October, but just a bit higher up, on a clear night, I was fitfully dreaming of another 100g or 200g of down. OP mentions 1kg and £220gbp and 3 seasons, which, of the alpkit bags, sounds more like the pd600 to me.
by nmnm
6 Jul 2016, 10:23pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Numb fingers
Replies: 6
Views: 600

Re: Numb fingers

Consider also changes in your normal road surfaces and tyre pressure.
by nmnm
2 Jul 2016, 10:35pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: lightweight shoes for panniers
Replies: 55
Views: 5664

Re: lightweight shoes for panniers

As above, lightweight running shoes are a good bet, worth googling. Try also "aqua shoes". The sn706 for example is cheap and light (£30ish, claims 124g per foot, looks like a Toms slip on plimsol).
by nmnm
3 Jun 2016, 8:09pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Brittany ferries - crazy prices
Replies: 35
Views: 3967

Re: Brittany ferries - crazy prices

Interesting promotional email received just now from BF, tying in with the TdF being in Brittany / Normandy - suggesting I buy a bike + rider crossing at £69, to watch the tour. Intriguing thing is that it says supplements apply to the bike price if I have a trailer or it's a tandem or... if I have a child seat! A child seat! I wonder what the fee is for that.
by nmnm
3 Jun 2016, 3:42pm
Forum: Touring & Expedition
Topic: Transporting bike via Air: Factors to minimise damage
Replies: 19
Views: 1372

Re: Transporting bike via Air: Factors to minimise damage

All damage in flight I've suffered has been from my own bodged bike re-assembly (almost stripped rear mech hanger bolt thread) or from trying to stuff wheels into the box beside the rear mech (bent rear mech). I take a spare hanger these days, ready for next self-inflicted catastrophe!