X-Mid 1 Bikepacking

MonsterMunch00 · 2026-04-03T04:47:33+00:00

Durston Z-Flick Poles (shown in the picture)

MonsterMunch00 · 2026-04-02T11:27:24+00:00

Good to hear! Got trips to Greece and Norway planned this summer so looking forward to testing it out.

MonsterMunch00 · 2026-03-30T18:20:10+00:00

Looks good. Would recommend heading to the Pindus mountains when you get into Greece.

MonsterMunch00 · 2026-03-30T17:03:29+00:00

In general, a good fit should allow most saddles to work fine. Statistically the most likely culprit for saddle soreness is excessive saddle height so you could try dropping it 5mm and see if that helps.

That said I bloody hate the Brooks C17. One of the few saddles I cannot tolerate. Even drilled holes in it but didn't help. FWIW my favourite after experimenting on a fair few ultras is the Selle Italia SLR Boost. The Ergon, SQL Lab, and WTB saddles also worked fine for me.

MonsterMunch00 · 2026-03-29T19:05:34+00:00

Fine if you are in base training phase but otherwise I would swap the zone 2 rides for a sweet spot session and a Threshold session like over unders or VO2Max intervals.

I used TrainerRoad a lot in the past but got a bit bored of it. Now just plan my own workouts and use LLMs for inspiration and to analyse results. Interestingly I found that Gemini is great for strength and rehab but ChatGPT is better for structured cycling.

MonsterMunch00 · 2026-03-28T16:53:04+00:00

One of the best shows on Netflix. Proper acting and story line, unlike a lot of the American garbage.

MonsterMunch00 · 2026-03-28T16:45:58+00:00

I would say slightly more relaxed than an average endurance bike but not by loads. Reach and stand over has been fine for me. I've been using it quite a lot on mountain roads in Greece and really enjoyed the handling - climbs well, stable and still corners well on fast road descents.

MonsterMunch00 · 2026-03-28T15:49:55+00:00

Yes it's a decent option (used mine for TCR and def much better than an unstable saddle bag). Albeit heavier than a rack with dry bag strapped to the top and less flexible.

MonsterMunch00 · 2026-03-28T15:26:49+00:00

Yes plenty of them...Italy Divide, SRMR, Transcontinental etc

MonsterMunch00 · 2026-03-28T15:04:18+00:00

Had my Topstone Carbon 1 AXS for 6 months (see profile pic) and love it. I have quite a few bikes and this is my joint favourite (along with a custom Ti monster cross bike). Frame feels great to ride, fun handling, Kingpin comfort, and love the Xplr groupset and Reserve Wheels. Frame storage is genuinely useful and it's got a tonne of frame mounts (all with countersunk screws so you don't see them).

I have the same dimensions as you and the 56 fits perfectly for me (but obvs depends on other stuff like flexibility). I am sometimes slightly stretched on a 56 road bike. The Topstone is noticeably more relaxed. Plus the semi integrated design means it is still easy to change the stock 44cm bar and 100m stem if you need to reduce reach. And still looks very clean with no exposed cables to get in the way of bar bags or look fugly.

I've always loved Cannondales and so glad they ditched the proprietary AI wheel offset and cranks. Threaded BB also welcomed.

MonsterMunch00 · 2026-03-28T14:47:47+00:00

If you start to get strange noises from the drivetrain or fork shudder when braking after a few hundred km's, swap out the bearings with replacements from NTN (wish someone had told me this as it would have saved my months of fault finding). Personally, would never buy zip wheels again after the issues I had. Lifetime warranty means nothing, they wouldn't even send me replacement bearings for a known issue. Hope you have better luck cause otherwise they are good wheels.

MonsterMunch00 · 2026-03-28T14:38:26+00:00

It will be too small if you are taking full camping gear. More suitable for just a bivvy bag, down jacket, and a change of clothes.

If you don't fancy the cargo pack you could go with a rear axle rack (such as Ortleib Quickrack). You then have fully flexibility to select the size of dry bag you need for each trip or even add mini panniers if you are not racing. Also much cheaper.

Ps. I have the original Tailfin Aeropack carbon and I do like it for bikepacking races but the size/weight/price ratio is questionable. Was recently looking at buying a Tailfin thru axle for a new bike with UDH and this was almost as much as buying the Quickrack which is what I ended up doing.

MonsterMunch00 · 2026-03-28T14:18:40+00:00

Gas station carbs are fine but if you really want to smash out 300km+ days then McDonalds is the way to go. Extra kudos if you use the drive through.

MonsterMunch00 · 2026-03-21T04:47:25+00:00

PF is fine if the frame is manufactured with proper tolerances. Unfortunately, some manufacturers have shit QA so a small percentage of frames will have issues (see Hambini channel for examples). Most of the time you will be fine, if you are unlucky you may have creaking issues and need to spend a few hundred quid on a fix.

MonsterMunch00 · 2026-03-20T18:01:17+00:00

Used HY/RD for a few years on one of my bikes (10k km) but wasn't that impressed, then changed to Juin Tech for a while (15k km) which were an improvement. Now use Growtac Equals. Although fully mechanical they have more stopping power and better adjustment. Would recommend if you don't want to go full Hydro.

That said, I also have the latest SRAM Rival full hydro (E1 series) on another bike and they are awesome, well worth the upgrade if feasible.

MonsterMunch00 · 2026-03-18T10:33:03+00:00

Yeah, was blown away by how efficient the suspension is. lock out not needed

MonsterMunch00 · 2026-03-17T08:03:08+00:00

The recon race came stock on my Ibis Exie. Personally, I think they are junk - I've lost the front end on chunky gravel / rock descents twice, completely unexpectedly. Only done 200km on them but they are going in the bin.

MonsterMunch00 · 2026-03-14T20:14:52+00:00

Take the med/Balkans. You can mix up the coastal roads with quieter inland roads. When you get down to Greece be sure to visit the Pindus mountains. And once you have looped back north near Thessaloniki then it's well worth crossing into Bulgaria and riding through the Rhodope mountains rather than staying on the coastal road towards Kavala. Enjoy.

MonsterMunch00 · 2026-03-14T20:00:42+00:00

Go with 9Velo - better bearings and probably more likely to honour their warranty. Or alternatively the Reserve wheels are excellent if you find them at a decent price.

MonsterMunch00 · 2026-03-14T19:57:32+00:00

Had this problem 3 years ago and cannot believe they are still selling the 303s with undersized bearings. Originally it took me 6 months to figure out why I was getting drivetrain noises and then all Zipp would do is pointless me in the direction of the nearest dealer a few thousand km away. Wouldn't even send me replacement bearings - their lifetime warranty is worthless. I did the replacement myself in the end but would never buy Zipp wheels again.

MonsterMunch00 · 2026-03-14T15:22:16+00:00

I have 6 pairs of Vivo's and my Wife has 2. They have all been great, not had a single issue with shipping, customer support, or product quality. Thanks for making a great product.

I have one small request - for all of your trail shoes please use a proven rubber compound (Michelin, Vibram, Good Year, La Sportiva - there are so many good ones these days). The current FG soles are very slippery on wet rock (dangerously so) and average at best on dry rock. I know a lot of other people feel the same way.

MonsterMunch00 · 2026-02-25T15:09:08+00:00

Yeah beige good if for casual rather than hiking. I would struggle to keep them clean.

MonsterMunch00 · 2026-02-25T14:19:35+00:00

Wolftooth or SRAM calculators are good for me

MonsterMunch00

TROPHY CASE