Tuesday, 6 April 2010
Monday, 22 March 2010
My bike
I picked up a third hand Surly Pugsley from the STW classifieds. It’s a size smaller than I would have bought new, but it was a bargain and I like the colour. Thanks Jez, and Grant. Here’s how it was built up:
Frame: Surly Pugsley, with a set of bottle bosses added under the down tube so I could put my fuel bottle under there.
Fork: Surly 135mm offset
Wheels: Hope Pro II single speed hubs with low temperature grease. 65mm Surly Large Marge offset, Pugsley specific, rims (with 29mm hand drilled lightening holes). DT Comp spokes and brass Proloc nipples. The front and rear wheels are interchangeable in case a free-hub froze up.
Tyres: Surly Endomorphs
Sprockets: “rear” wheel 25t Endless cycles and 20t On-one. “Front” wheel 22 and 20t On-one. I used the 30:25 for the entire course other than The ‘Burn where I used 30:20. Thanks Brant.
Cranks: Surly Mr Whirly with 30t chainring
Chain: SRAM 8spd with Pedros Extra Dry lube
Pedals: Bontrager King Earl with upgraded bearings and low temperature grease- the stock bearings froze solid at around –20 Celsius, so wouldn’t have been much use. Extra long PowerGrips.
Headset: Chris King re-greased with low temperature grease and with a motivational “What would Stamstad do?” top cap.
Stem: Bontrager Race X Lite 110mm 7degrees rise.
Bar: Bontrager Earl With Bontrager bar ends wrapped in bar tape, Ergon grips, which I’m still not sure if I like. Epic Designs Pogies (which are awesome).
Brake levers: Very old XTRs wrapped in tape so they weren’t so cold to the touch.
Brake cables: Gore extra long
Brakes: Avid BB7
Seat Post: Bontrager Earl 400mm
Saddle: Bontrager Race Lite
Front rack: Scrap from Psyclewerx in Bristol.
2009 Kit list
At long last heres the list of what I carried in the event.
Camping
sleeping bag: Alpkit Devkit prototype. This is getting a few tweaks and will be available as, I believe, the AlpineDream system at some point in the future.
Bivy bag: Alpkit Epic prototype
sleeping mat: Thermarest Ridgerest
Stove: MSR Whiperlite International
Stove base: MSR Trillium
fuel bottle: 650ml MSR
Fuel: White gas
Pot: Alpkit MytiPot
Spork: Alpkit Tifoon
lighter/matches
Drinks bottle: Nalgene with insulated cover
Navigation
Maps: Downloaded from the internet, never used!
map case: Ortlieb
Compass: Sliva Ranger
GPS: Garmin eTrex Vista Hcx
Lighting
Main light: Exposure headtorch prototype, with triple cell piggy back battery.
Back-up: Petzl Myo XP, with Lithium batteries
Outer layers
Down jacket: Alpkit Devkit proto
Trousers: Rab Latok Alpine
Softshell Jacket:Mountain Equipment G2 Alpine
Waterproof: North Face Hydrogen
Mid layers
Thin: Patagonia R1 flash
Thick: Patagonia R2 jacket
Base clothing
long sleeve base layers: Endura BaaBaa long sleeve merino x2
Shorts: Endura FS260 shorts non bib x2
windproof tights: Endura Stealth lite tights non bib- Saved my ass (literally) when the hose on my Wingnut broke!
Tights: Endura Thermolight Tights x2
Footwear
Thick socks: Smartwool- Mountaineer x3 pr
thin socks: Smartwool- liner socks x 4 pr
Boots: Scarpa Mirage GTX w/ Superfeet insoles
Ice grips: Yak Trax Pro, I didn’t need these in the end but Jill’s account of the glacier convinced me they were worth carrying. Next time I think I’d tap screws in to my boots.
Gators: Neo Navigator (Awesome stuff, even if I did break the snow flaps on one of them)
Gloves/hats
fleece gloves: Mountain Equipment x 3 pr
windproof mitts: Mountain Equipment
Warm hat: Outdoor Designs- Toptur Infurno
Balaclava: Mountain Hardware Windstopper
Neck warmers: Singletrack Buff and a fleece Combi Buff
Misc.
Tools: Fat Spanner multi tool, long 6mm allen key (for my hubs), 8mm allen key shim, Leatherman Skeletool CX
Tyre levers: Michelin
Pump: Topeak Mountain Morph
Poggies: Epic Designs
Frame bag: Alpkit custom
Bivy roll: Adapted from an Alpkit Drydock
Saddle bag: Epic Designs Super Twinkie
CO2: 2x Genuine Innovations Big Air cartridges
Co2 nozzle: Genuine Innovations
Spares: 2 inner tubes, 2 spokes, 2 links of chain, Tip-top and Park patches, some Duck tape (wrapped around the seat post) and several zip ties .
Sunglasses: Gyro Havik with 2 lenses
Goggles: Oakley O-frame persimmon
Hydration pack: Wingnut
hose insulation: Camelbac- Thermal control kit
2 digital cameras
Dematone
6 handwarmers, 6 toe warmers
First aid kit
4 spare lithium AA batteries
whistle
Camping
sleeping bag: Alpkit Devkit prototype. This is getting a few tweaks and will be available as, I believe, the AlpineDream system at some point in the future.
Bivy bag: Alpkit Epic prototype
sleeping mat: Thermarest Ridgerest
Stove: MSR Whiperlite International
Stove base: MSR Trillium
fuel bottle: 650ml MSR
Fuel: White gas
Pot: Alpkit MytiPot
Spork: Alpkit Tifoon
lighter/matches
Drinks bottle: Nalgene with insulated cover
Navigation
Maps: Downloaded from the internet, never used!
map case: Ortlieb
Compass: Sliva Ranger
GPS: Garmin eTrex Vista Hcx
Lighting
Main light: Exposure headtorch prototype, with triple cell piggy back battery.
Back-up: Petzl Myo XP, with Lithium batteries
Outer layers
Down jacket: Alpkit Devkit proto
Trousers: Rab Latok Alpine
Softshell Jacket:Mountain Equipment G2 Alpine
Waterproof: North Face Hydrogen
Mid layers
Thin: Patagonia R1 flash
Thick: Patagonia R2 jacket
Base clothing
long sleeve base layers: Endura BaaBaa long sleeve merino x2
Shorts: Endura FS260 shorts non bib x2
windproof tights: Endura Stealth lite tights non bib- Saved my ass (literally) when the hose on my Wingnut broke!
Tights: Endura Thermolight Tights x2
Footwear
Thick socks: Smartwool- Mountaineer x3 pr
thin socks: Smartwool- liner socks x 4 pr
Boots: Scarpa Mirage GTX w/ Superfeet insoles
Ice grips: Yak Trax Pro, I didn’t need these in the end but Jill’s account of the glacier convinced me they were worth carrying. Next time I think I’d tap screws in to my boots.
Gators: Neo Navigator (Awesome stuff, even if I did break the snow flaps on one of them)
Gloves/hats
fleece gloves: Mountain Equipment x 3 pr
windproof mitts: Mountain Equipment
Warm hat: Outdoor Designs- Toptur Infurno
Balaclava: Mountain Hardware Windstopper
Neck warmers: Singletrack Buff and a fleece Combi Buff
Misc.
Tools: Fat Spanner multi tool, long 6mm allen key (for my hubs), 8mm allen key shim, Leatherman Skeletool CX
Tyre levers: Michelin
Pump: Topeak Mountain Morph
Poggies: Epic Designs
Frame bag: Alpkit custom
Bivy roll: Adapted from an Alpkit Drydock
Saddle bag: Epic Designs Super Twinkie
CO2: 2x Genuine Innovations Big Air cartridges
Co2 nozzle: Genuine Innovations
Spares: 2 inner tubes, 2 spokes, 2 links of chain, Tip-top and Park patches, some Duck tape (wrapped around the seat post) and several zip ties .
Sunglasses: Gyro Havik with 2 lenses
Goggles: Oakley O-frame persimmon
Hydration pack: Wingnut
hose insulation: Camelbac- Thermal control kit
2 digital cameras
Dematone
6 handwarmers, 6 toe warmers
First aid kit
4 spare lithium AA batteries
whistle
Tuesday, 5 January 2010
So a lot has happened...
The build up to the 2010 event event is now well under way. I’m envious of those who will be there, but best of luck to you all. Especially good luck to Roger Leavesley who will be riding my Pug. He’s got some cool new ideas about kit which I’ll certainly be interested to see.
My mate Paul it off to the Arrowhead 135. He’s rolling on a set of good ol’ Snowcats that I had sitting about waiting to be built up as a “Mini-Fatty” for my wife. You can see more about his bike here. Good luck Paul!
As you’d expect, now I've lent out these bits it’s been snowing solidly here. Typical. I've made do with my winterised Trek Soho. OK, it’s just got Poggies on so not quite the same...
Also there seems to be somewhat of an arms-race going on in snowbike design. New Ali frames are available from Speedway and 9Zero7 and both have tweaked their Titanium frames. Speedway also have new lighter rims and some 100mm versions of the 15G cranks. I’ve been using the standard single speed versions of these cranks for a few months now, and they are going strong despite being around half a pound lighter than the Mr Whirlys. Tyres were historically one of the hardest part of a Fat bike to track down. Now the trusty Endomorph has been upped to 120tpi and the sidewalls have been toughened up. However there is also now competition in the form of its brother, the Larry (don’t you love Surly?!), and the, bargain priced Innova Spyder. All good stuff for progressing the fringes of the sport.
Eric, from the one-man, one dog sweatshop, Epic Designs is being forced to change his company name. As, apparently, his handmade bags may somehow be confused with a range of full-suspension bikes from a big company. He’s running a competition to rename the company on his website at the moment. I hope it all works out as Eric’s kit is top notch and he’s a great guy to boot.
My mate Paul it off to the Arrowhead 135. He’s rolling on a set of good ol’ Snowcats that I had sitting about waiting to be built up as a “Mini-Fatty” for my wife. You can see more about his bike here. Good luck Paul!
As you’d expect, now I've lent out these bits it’s been snowing solidly here. Typical. I've made do with my winterised Trek Soho. OK, it’s just got Poggies on so not quite the same...
Also there seems to be somewhat of an arms-race going on in snowbike design. New Ali frames are available from Speedway and 9Zero7 and both have tweaked their Titanium frames. Speedway also have new lighter rims and some 100mm versions of the 15G cranks. I’ve been using the standard single speed versions of these cranks for a few months now, and they are going strong despite being around half a pound lighter than the Mr Whirlys. Tyres were historically one of the hardest part of a Fat bike to track down. Now the trusty Endomorph has been upped to 120tpi and the sidewalls have been toughened up. However there is also now competition in the form of its brother, the Larry (don’t you love Surly?!), and the, bargain priced Innova Spyder. All good stuff for progressing the fringes of the sport.
Eric, from the one-man, one dog sweatshop, Epic Designs is being forced to change his company name. As, apparently, his handmade bags may somehow be confused with a range of full-suspension bikes from a big company. He’s running a competition to rename the company on his website at the moment. I hope it all works out as Eric’s kit is top notch and he’s a great guy to boot.
Thursday, 26 March 2009
Brain-dead
Sorry for the total lack of posts. To be perfectly honest I'm really struggling to sum up my feelings about the whole thing. It was a lot to take in.
If you are at the Outdoors Show at the NEC this weekend my bike is on the Alpkit stand. I'll be there on Saturday so head over for a chat!
Hopefully some pictures will keepthe rest of you amused for a while though...
Sunday, 8 March 2009
This just in: me
I'm in. Weather turned out nice and I pushed super hard. Finished 4th. Happy.
James and Chris turned up in a plane. Long story, but an almost very good short cut fell through...
I'm of to drink some more Alaskan Amber. I'll write some more when my head clears.
James and Chris turned up in a plane. Long story, but an almost very good short cut fell through...
I'm of to drink some more Alaskan Amber. I'll write some more when my head clears.
Saturday, 7 March 2009
Email from Nikolai
Just got an email from John. He's in Nikolai alive and well and feeling strong.
He says he's just going to eat lots and dry out his clothes before he heads off for the last stint to McGraph. Apparently its -30 out, which even the locals say is cold! He says it's a minimum of a 12 hour push to the finish.
He's been riding with Alec Petro - and trying to keep safe.
He thinks that James might have got lost along with Chris Wrobel as they were both ahead, but John and Alec didn't pass them on the trail. They have probably just taken a wrong turn somewhere on the way. I'm sure Kathi will post some news soon.
He says he's just going to eat lots and dry out his clothes before he heads off for the last stint to McGraph. Apparently its -30 out, which even the locals say is cold! He says it's a minimum of a 12 hour push to the finish.
He's been riding with Alec Petro - and trying to keep safe.
He thinks that James might have got lost along with Chris Wrobel as they were both ahead, but John and Alec didn't pass them on the trail. They have probably just taken a wrong turn somewhere on the way. I'm sure Kathi will post some news soon.
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