peaks bikes set up

The Saturday before the Peaks is always a big day - last minute prep and eating and for most a little shakedown ride to ease into the race the following day. Sat here this Saturday evening, I am quietly confident - I have been healthy all summer, lost 10lbs on last years weight and feel measurably fitter. Training too has been really Peaks specific this year and will hopefully pay dividends.

For my own Saturday preparations, I had the pleasure of meeting up with Konrad Manning, peaks devotee and columnist, and a local Burnley lad in days gone by. Konrad is now exiled to London but was back in his old hometown for the race and kindly showed me some offroad parts of the town I had never found, even in nearly 10 years of riding around.

Easy, ride, easy chat - a great way to get into full Peaks mode. I spent the afternoon prepping the 2 bikes I will use, so here for the record is what I am using for 2010:

Bike 1



Planet X Oom Johan XL frame, carbon forks
46/36 chainset with 12-27 cassette
Xero XR-1 clinchers with Kenda Cross Supreme at 65psi
Double bar tape
Bottle cage on seat tube

This will do Ingleborough and Whernside before being swapped at Ribblehead. Though I normally use tubs in the Peaks, I've been training on the Kenda £10 tires all summer and haven't had issues with punctures. They are as tough as Landcruisers but with very good side knobs that work well in stickier conditions, similar to the ones we usually get on Ingleborough early in the morning. The descent to Cold Cotes can also be peaty in places and the extra grip over say Landcruisers doesnt go amiss for me.

46 x 12 is fine for the swoopy downhills to Chapel le Dale. The bottle cage doesn't affect my carrying on such a large frame and is sensibly positioned very low down to keep it out of the way.


Bike 2



Planet X Oom Johan XL frame, carbon forks with less clearance
48/34 chainset with 12-28 cassette
Pair Wolber Profil 20 tubulars, 36 hole and handbuilt by Alan Gornall, with 34mm FMB Grifo file tread tubs @65/psi
Double bar tape
Bottle cage on seat tube



This is the Penyghent bike - fatter tires, lower gears and double bar tape to aid tired and sore hands. The fat white Grifo file treads might seem like an odd choice but there is no appreciable mud on this section, they are surprisingly grippy in wet, even muddy conditions and have a soft compound for gripping on any wet sections of the rocky PYG descent. They roll almost like road tires on the road too despite their large volume. Comfort is armchair-like.

So nothing fancy, apart from the FMBs and all tried and tested. The forecast is good, with temperatures nice and cool and I suspect the terrain will have dried out quite a bit despite soakings about a week ago. Good luck to everyone - see you in the pub for a well earned pint.