Just back from 9 days on the Highland Trail 550. I only made it around 500 of the 550 miles as I ran out of the time at the end but the remaining section (Fort Augustus -> Contin) is close to where I live in Inverness so I’ll finish it off some other time.
I was definitely overbiked on a Bird AM9 full-sus enduro bike with a 160mm Zeb fork. My only other bike is a gravel bike though so I was glad that I chose the comfort over weight on this very rough route.
I don’t own a tailfin rack or any other full-sus-dropper-compatible rack so I left my saddle pack at home and loaded up most of my weight onto the forks. I used the tailfin suspension fork mounts and 10L fork bags as well as a couple of other manythings cages to hold water and my MSR windburner.
I stayed in bothies most nights and had my bivvy (see red drybag strapped to frame) as a backup. I took a restrap hike-a-bike harness but didn’t actually use it in the end.
Anyway, what can I say about the route? Crazy hard with lots of mandatory hike-a-bike, however, it takes you to some of the most amazing spots in the Scottish Highlands. I have a new found respect for the people who race this route, I couldn’t imagine doing it!
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Just back from 9 days on the Highland Trail 550. I only made it around 500 of the 550 miles as I ran out of the time at the end but the remaining section (Fort Augustus -> Contin) is close to where I live in Inverness so I’ll finish it off some other time.
I was definitely overbiked on a Bird AM9 full-sus enduro bike with a 160mm Zeb fork. My only other bike is a gravel bike though so I was glad that I chose the comfort over weight on this very rough route.
I don’t own a tailfin rack or any other full-sus-dropper-compatible rack so I left my saddle pack at home and loaded up most of my weight onto the forks. I used the tailfin suspension fork mounts and 10L fork bags as well as a couple of other manythings cages to hold water and my MSR windburner.
I stayed in bothies most nights and had my bivvy (see red drybag strapped to frame) as a backup. I took a restrap hike-a-bike harness but didn’t actually use it in the end.
Anyway, what can I say about the route? Crazy hard with lots of mandatory hike-a-bike, however, it takes you to some of the most amazing spots in the Scottish Highlands. I have a new found respect for the people who race this route, I couldn’t imagine doing it!