On our mountain bike trip around the islands of Scotland this Summer, we had a great time exploring islands such as Eigg and Raasay, and staying at a number of luxury hotels and B&Bs along the way, all of which you’ll find detailed on the blog. We also had the opportunity to try out lots of new equipment, details of which you’ll find below.
Mountain bikes from Ridgeback
We had some excellent bikes from Ridgeback for the trip. Ridgeback, if you’re not already familiar with them, were responsible for introducing mountain biking to the UK and are currently enjoying their 30th anniversary. We used four different Ridgeback bikes among the four of us in the family. Mine was the 19″ matte black Dual Track X3(pictured), my wife’s was the 15″ Dual Track X1 which comes in a very smart-looking ‘forest green’, our eldest son loved his 13″ 602LX which is aimed at “young adults” and our youngest was very comfortable on his RX24 and grew in confidence with his cycling as each day went on.
Cycle clothing from Madison
We were also well equipped with cycling gear from Madison. This included really good quality padded shorts (although our mileage was never that great, we didn’t suffer from any saddle soreness whatsoever) as well as jerseys and hi viz jackets. They also have an excellent range of kids clothing.For the most part the weather was very kind to us (almost too kind!) but the apparel remainedvery breathable in the hot weather.
Helmets from Lazer
For this trip we used helmets from Lazer – a very comfortable fit and with a flashing reflector light in the rear of the helmet for added visibility. Again, they have a children’s range also (minus the lights).
Thule Pack ‘n’ Pedal Tour Rack and Panniers from Madison
Also supplied by Madison were a couple of the Thule Pack ‘n’ Pedal panniers. Once I’d worked out to fit the rack and make it secure, the process of adding and removing the panniers as and when you needed them was a very straightforward process.
Travel clothes for women from Anatomie
If you haven’t heard of Anatomie before, then take a look; they specialise in luxury travel clothes for women. My wife tried out a couple of items. Combining style and comfort, these were very lightweight (ideal given that we were away for around 10 days in total) and of high quality.The Monti Cozy is fashionable and perfect for an evening out. Similarly, the Celine Pants proved to be really versatileand could be worn for evenings out or for times when we were on the move.
