Kiwi Brevet 2015

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Hey all, this thread is for those interested in participating in the 2015 Kiwi Brevet and others who have useful information to contribute. I’m very interested in going, the dates fit in with my calendar and I’ve got most of the gear. Thinking about going a bit early to do some mountain biking and sight seeing as I’ve never been to NZ. Maybe 15th of jan to Feb 10th.

Anyone want to post their gear set ups etc? I just ordered a revelate terrapin and gas tank to add to my setup. Will probably buy a Bearpaw wilderness designs lair for a shelter soon but am going to keep practicing with my flat tarp for now. Also need a rigid carbon fork (15mm TA) for my 29er at some point.

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User JICE and myself will be in attendance!

I will be using this fork: 2014 Newest 15mm thru axle 485mm carbon 29er rigid fork, carbon 29er mtb fork 15mm axle-Xiamen Iplay Sporting Goods Co.,Ltd.

Let me know if you want in… could work out cheaper as a group buy

Still no idea on gear setup yet…

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I’ll be there most likely.

gonna go for a bit more comfort than the bivvy last time (which I didn’t use, cos it didn’t rain, but that’d suck if it did), thinking light one person tent, ditch the inner and use a ground sheet to lighten it up, bugs aint a problem in NZ like 'ere.

Gonna be on the rawland, probably gonna ditch the front rack and get a full frame bag, bottles on forks and underneath DT, sleeping bag on bars. Saddle bag out back. Or put mat and something else cylindrical (?) on the forks and just use the half-frame bag and bottles normally.

Might get a dynamo, maybe.

Will be slower than the CX but more fun, and a bit more comfortable. Treat it a bit more toury than last time, maybe some swims etc.

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Yeah I’d be keen, looks good. Keep me updated.

Yeah I’m keen for riding pretty hard but taking the time to smell the flowers etc. might buy an SP PD-8 and a dyno light/e-trex srt up. Sounds like you should get a shaped tarp, no point buying a tent and ditching the inner like that. Check out the MLD trailstar or Z-packs hexamid, bear paw make some good cheaper options and they can add floors or removable bug netting.

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hmm, I was looking at a Big Agnes Fly Creek 1, which is ~650 grams with a groundsheet and no liner, that trailstar is ~350 but need to add a pole, pegs and a groundsheet, it seems cheap but once you add those other things (mainly a bug net) they’ll end up costing about the same, if I get the tent I get a fully functional 2 wall tent and a tarp like setup…

The trailstar will have less bulk… gear to nerd out on.

Yeah I am on the fence re a dynamo, a light with 5-8hrs charge would probably be enough as the days a looong (14hrs of daylight) and that would allow to ride an hour or so into the night. I had a light with ~4hrs charge and I only rode after dark for ~2 hrs over the whole ride. My phone and light were USB charging and I’d sneak them onto charge when stopped for breakfast.

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Off-topic but where’d you grab the Relevate gear, Aeons?

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Ordered it from abbotsford cycles. Bike bag shop shipping was expensive and abbotsford give you a free shipping voucher when you sign up.

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Rad, thanks man. I ordered a Tangle from Abbotsford, I think that’ll come today.

Just trying to decide which seat bag to get, I don’t run a lot of post on CX bike so I was thinking either Pika or a Terrapin, I should probably make a thread for this.

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Cool, I’m in no rush to purchase. Will keep you updated.

JICE has those forks as well. Have they arrived yet?

OK, thought about my setup a bit…

Shelter: Tarptent contrail. Never used, but uses 1/3 of my Viscacha lol.
Mat: some cheapo Kathmandu ting
Sleeping Bag: dunno here… suggestions?

In terms of bags it’s all Revelate… Viscacha/Tangle/Sweet roll. Bladder in frame bag. Will also have room for two bidons cos 22" frame :slight_smile:

Dynamo would be cool - but I cbf spending much money on this shit. Good to know there will be ample stops along the way to charge gps/lights/etc.

Only thing I’m stuck on is bar setup… what’s everyone’s doing here?

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Well, that depends how long you stop for but ;).

But fancy lithium AA’s for garmin and AAA’s for Spot tracker (you have to have lithium for tracker) means they’ll last the whole ride pretty much, so only thing need to charge is phone and maybe light.
There isn’t much reception, so I put mine in in-flight mode, off at night battery lasts well but can still take pics.

Bars; I’m trying out some On-One OG bars flipped to have some droop. Gonna try some cheapy mini bar ends or maybe those ergo grips with them attached, and tape up parts to have some other holds.

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I’m taking notes. Won’t be at the 2015 but am planning to make the 2016 Tour Aotearoa.
I’ve never done weight weenie camping so it’s all new to me. I have ~18 months to save up for the hundreds of dollars it all costs.

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Hi guys,

Yup. As many of you already know I’m well down for riding the Brevet.

Other than myself, my brother and his buddies (who rode the Brevette last year) will also be coming, I also have a mate Jarrod making the trip over from Melbourne for it too (Jarrod is a LTL on FOA – user Jazzballs, and some of you might know him as Paconi on the evilBay).

My set up, I’ll be twinsies with tom. on my newly acquired El Mariachi. I’ll be running 3x10 (SRAM) with hydraulic brakes (Shimano SLX M670 - 160mm F&R) and a XMI Play carbon fork – this setup seems to be the best compromise in terms of functionality and durability/dependablity. I know that running hydraulic brakes is not without risks but in my experience Shimano brakes are so dependable its a risk I’m prepared to take (says while touching wood).

And like Tom, I’ll be running a full gamut of framebags (including a couple of toptube-mounted bags, as my small frame has a pretty insy main triangle). I’m also planning to get some 710 Jones Loop bars. As for me I’m getting my gear from Cycletech (they are the NZ distributor of Revelate, ESI, Jones, Surly… - let me know if you guys have any issue getting any gear over your side of the Tasman and I’ll see if I can help you out).

Re: the XMI Play fork. I ordered it direct from their website (contacting Peter Que). All up they cos me $193 USD sent. In the mail as we speak. I’ll give a initial impression when I have them in my hot little hands.

As for tyres I think I’ll run a set of Conti Race Kings ProTection 2.2’s, run tubeless w sealant. The sidewalls seem pretty robust and they’re reasonably light at 600g an end. (FWIW Dirtjerks are offloading their WTB Nano 29x2.1 Race (60tpi, aramid bead) for a rediculous $16 per tyre – these are a Tour Divide fav and Stans’ recommends them instead of their TCS version for mounting tubeless on ZTR rims.)

As for a dynamo, I’m not bothering. There’s 14.5 hours of daylight at that time of the year so I highly doubt I’ll be riding for much more than an hour each day before and after sun up/down. I’ll be taking a 1500 lumen helmet mounted light with a 4-cell battery. I think that will be more versatile for when moving around off the bike, cooking tea, etc.

Haven’t given too much thought to my camping gear, clothing food yet.

There’s a fair bit to consider huh. And then there’s training too… Anyways I gotta get back to my work :wink:

Lastly, When you guys book for flights its worth noting that the upper South Island is a really amazing place. Make sure you leave yourself enough time to do some exploring around Nelson. The MTBing is pretty epic by all accounts (google Coppermine Classic)

-D

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ftfy :-/

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Good call on the WTB tyres… just purchased!

One thing JICE warned me about was crazy NZ customs and how someone he rode with had to throw out his two week old/cleaned Hans Dampfs… Will keep these tyres brand new and setup tubeless when I arrive in NZ.

Yeah, pretty confident a dynamo is overkill now. Good to know.

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Haha yeh, I meant per item.

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I’ve got some of these you can try out/borrow/buy if you want Mick. You should checkout my Tarptent Contrail too. I read up way too much on tents, and as much as I’d like to just tarp it and/or cuben fibre it, this tent was cheap, and proven, and a tent, and light. Check this dude out for custom gear if you’re keen. Great bloke by all accounts. I’m friends with his girlfriend and she’s rad.

Now, this brevet. So Lauren and I have been planning to have time off next year for years now, and we’ve got it. Five weeks, starting at the end of January, and we’re going to NZ, riding South to North. That’s brevet time right? That kinda riding snot our schtick for this trip, but it’s a bit funny that we’ll both be doing similar things at the same time in the same place. Maybe I’ll be up for the 2016 version by then, but I reckon I’ll be on my own on that one.

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Re: Tarptent contrail. I believe there is an Australia distributor for them.

I ordered mine directly from their website, paid for international shipping and it arrived two days later from someone in Australia… but yeah… super light & packable for the price.

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That’ll be Franco. I think he’s in QLD and is Henry’s distributor here. The youtube stuff you find on them are usually made by him, and he’s active on the bushwalk forum. Buying through the Tarptent website is the only way to buy them officially, and you have to pay postage, but it’s usually already been sent to Australia and is waiting at Franco’s place for you to buy it.

(I need to get off here and go to bed…)

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I’ll probably run aero bars or little barends on the inside ala Mike Hall tour divide 2014. I’m envious of his dialled cockpit setup. Tyre wise probably race kings or maybe an ikon up front so I can have a bit more fun on the ST while I’m in NZ.

I’d go terrapin, you can always put a smaller dry bag in there. Also means you can remove the bag and rummage through easily without having to readjust the straps or awkwardly reach in.

Go a quilt from Enlightened equipment. I’d get one if I didn’t have a sweet bag already, might get a summer quilt or make one out of an old bag at some point. Enlightened Equipment

I might go ccf for the mat, either that or a shortened big agnes aircore.

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I wouldn’t want to be stuffing about with tubeless setups at the airport or even at a shop so close to the start, mount them tubeless here and just use them on the road to make sure they are holding air etc, don’t need to deflate tyres for the plane, well esp not MTB tyres at 30psi.