Upgrading shifters! From Sora to Tiagra.

After the recent changes made to the Bianchi and the possible new user I thought that I would try and search around for some Tiagra shifters to replace the Sora ones with the thumb bits.
I was fortunate enough to strike a deal with a member on the BikeRadar forums who posted me his 9 speed double Tiagra shifters for £32. Bargain.

Changing the shifters requires new bar tape and optionally new cables, which I went for. At the same time I also changed the brake pads as they REALLY needed doing. So all in all I paid £9 for two pairs of brake pads (Wiggle),  £6.50 for some new bar tape (Wiggle), £10 for 2x gear cables & 2x brake cables from a LBS & then the shifters, £32 as mentioned. Total: £57.50.

Okay, so this is how the Bianchi looked to start:

First step was to remove the existing bar tape:

Easy enough to do. I also took off the black tape holding the cable housing down. There was no real need to do this, I just fancied replacing it. 

Next up was using a 5mm allen key to loosen the bracket holding the shifters on. If you peel back the rubber on the shifter you can see the allen key. It needs to be quite loose in order to wiggle the bracket off of the handlebars. 

I loosened the bracket too much and the shifter came off... 

Track bike anyone? 

Okay, next up was to cut the existing cables and pull out all the bits from the various clamps or shifters. Alternatively, if your cables are still good you could undo all the clamps and push the cable out and re-use. My cables were the originals so probably could have done with the changing. 

Once the shifters were off and all the cables were removed it was time to put the new shifters on. To do this the bracket was loosened and they were put to roughly the right position on the bars and tightened a bit. I then used a straight edge to measure where the shifters should go. I opted to have the bottom of the brake lever level with the bottom of the bars.

Next was attaching the brakes. I took this time to change the brake pads. Here is one of the ones I removed compared with the new one: 

Once the new brakes were installed I hooked up the brake cables. Fed it through the shifters, through the housing and through the loosened clamp. Then I tightened the barrel adjuster, squeezed the brakes to the rim and pulled the cable tight. Tightened the clamp and then opened the barrel adjuster about four turns. Quick test and it looked pretty great! Very responsive, much better than previously.

The gear cables followed a similar pattern. I was worried about this bit but actually it was fairly easy. Pop in the cable, go through the housing, under the bottom bracket and up into the front derailleur or round to the back for the rear derailleur. Pull the cable tight and tighten the bracket. The rear derailleur took a bit more adjusting, opening and tightening the barrel adjuster and clicking through each of the gears but I got it as good as it was before long. I think a new chain/casette is needed to get the best out of the shifting but that's fettling for another day.. 

Once the brakes and gears were cable-d in, it was time to re-wrap the bars. Unfortunately I'm not very good at this so it's not the best job in the world but I'm pretty pleased considering, and much happier about the results of the shifter upgrade to really care about the bar tape job :) 

And lastly, I took off the mudguards as to make it look a proper little summer bike for the missus.

We're off work this week so hopefully get her out a few times at least to get some miles in the legs. Hoping to get out a few times myself though we have got quite a busy social calendar so might have to sneak in a few hours here and there...  Until next time, cheers! 

Converting the Bianchi for a smaller rider...

The most amazing thing has happened.

Victoria (my wife) has decided she wants to get involved with cycling! This makes me so happy.

She owns a bike, but it's really crappy. The brakes rub and it must weight 20kg+. It's not much fun to ride so I let her have a go on one of mine, hoping it would help give her a good experience. We went on a short ride with her on my best bike (Ridley - full carbon) and she really enjoyed it. However, I don't want to get too excited and splash out on a new bike specifically for her, but equally I don't want to let her ride the nice carbon bike all the time...

So, I thought of converting the Bianchi from my winter bike into a female friendly road bike :) It sits in the shed collecting dust most of the year anyway so I thought about what I could do for her. I figure the nicer the bike is, the more she will enjoy cycling and hopefully stick at it!

First things first - this is how the Bianchi looked at the end of last winter:

Fairly simple set up, not too aggressive but good for short-medium rides, along with the Crud RoadRacer mudguards previously reviewed here. 

I made three major changes to the bike, in under half an hour. 

First things first I lowered the saddle. Unfortunately my bike has a police fitted tracker inside the frame which prevents the saddle going any lower. Not a problem before but frustrating as hell now!

Next I flipped the stem so the handlebars have more of an upwards angle. This creates a less aggressive position on the bike, perfect for someone new to road riding.

Lastly I swapped out the SPD-SL pedals for some old, flat pedals I had lying about. This means that my wife can wear normal trainers to ride and feel safe. Perhaps one day we will progress to SPD's but I'm not going to push :)

Here is the Bianchi after those 3 main changes:

We went out for a ride on Tuesday evening for 40 minutes covering about 5.5miles. I was super happy. Yes the pace was slow but I was so happy to be out with my wife sharing a hobby that I love with her. To start with she was quite uncomfortable in the position as it's very different to a normal bike but by the end she was much happier and becoming quite comfortable. Unfortunately the saddle was very high and he leg was basically straight at the bottom of every pedal stroke, giving her a fair amount of discomfort in her hips every rotation.

To help fix this I came home from work today and got to work on the seat post of the Bianchi.

Here are a few 'arty' photos of the job:

This is the seat post as it was. The faint black line (halfway-ish) is where I have the seat position. Plenty of room left for me to cut a couple of inches off.

This is where I decided to cut. Approx 2 inches from the bottom.

I used a small saw that I found in the tool box, pretty sure it is for use on metal.

This was after 5 minutes of sawing.

About 8 minutes in. Not too hard work, although the cut is a bit wonky.

Almost ready to come off.

In just under 10 minutes I had sawn through the seat post. Shortening it by a couple of inches.

Not the straightest edge ever.

Finished product! Seat lowered even further for optimal pedalling along with the other changes. Ready for some nice rides next week as we enjoy a week off from work!

I have also ordered some Tiagra shifters and new bar tape to make shifting easier (no more of the thumb shifters!) and also some new brake blocks to improve stopping power! 

Next on the list is some female specific lycra and a helmet that fits as my spare is comically huge on her tiny head! 

Hopefully more reports on her progress coming soon! 

New Job & Lunchtime Runnings

I've now been in my new job role for a month! Time has flown! I'm really enjoying being busy here in Oxford and getting some great exposure to all kinds of people in my new role.

I have been out cycling a few times around Gloucester now and found a couple of nice routes -see my Strava. The latest update is that my wife & I will be moving... again... somewhere more in the Cotswolds and closer to both our jobs as she is about to start a new role at the Four Pillars hotel in the Cotswolds Water Park (it's very posh!)

What's a bit more exciting is that I have found a group of 4 or 5 people who go running at lunch times here at Siemens. They are mostly all a lot quicker than me but tend to do a good 8km or so every lunch time. So far I have joined them twice but I am going to try and commit to going out every Monday, Wednesday and Friday - which will be a lot more running than I've ever done before!

We run either down a river path along the Thames or in some woods owned by Oxford Uni. I've never done any trail running and I didn't realise how brilliant it was. It's quiet, there's no traffic and lots of wildlife to look at to distract you from the pain in your legs! I have really enjoyed it so far and running with other people - especially people who are much quicker and more committed - is great! Really enjoying it.

The only annoying thing is that my Garmin seems to not pick up signal for the first 10 minutes or so and misses out the hardest hill of the run! Must be a few hundred feet of elevation and my heart is pounding by the top but I don't get any data recorded from it! Think I'm going to try with my phone next time and use RunKeeper and see if I can get the whole distance/elevation profile off of that - or try and set up my Garmin outside instead of in the changing room..

Hopefully I will see some improvements in distance, fitness and maybe even shed some weight! The group also does races at some points in the year so I'm looking forward to getting stuck into that.

My current schedule is looking like running in the weeks and getting some miles in on the bike on the weekend. This I am very happy with!

On Gloucestershire

A couple of weeks ago, the big move happened. I finally moved all my stuff down to Gloucester and I now live here permanantly. I started a new job last week and so far I think it's going very well. It's a ton of responsiblity but everyone is really nice so I know I will have as much support as I need once I take over the role completely.

Anyway - the important stuff!

I have now been out 3 times on the bike in the last week and a bit and I am thoroughly enjoying it. (See strava links on the right for rides..) It's a lot hillier than Lincoln (surprise!) but I am relishing the challenege. On my first ride I stumbled across Haresfield Beacon which is by far and away the toughest climb I've ever come across. It's so steep that I am yet to get up it without getting off and pushing. I've tried twice and today I got about 25m further but still nowhere near the top! One day.. one day..

I've found a bike shop that does social rides (Eastgate Cycles in Gloucester) which I am hoping to join on a Wednesday evening but they also put all their rides on facebook so I've been able to export them to my Garmin and use their knowledge of the local roads to get out and about.

Cheltenham and County Cycling Club is the other club I am hoping to join. They are a huge club based down the road and go out on Saturdays which keeps my Sundays free. (They go out on Sundays too, though.)

Hoping that some of my Lincoln friends will come and visit when the weather is a bit nicer, looking forward to showing them around and doing some epic longer rides and getting fit again, at least up to last years standards.

I am leaving Lincoln..

After over 5 years I am leaving Lincoln to start a new job in the South West. I will be living in Gloucester with my wife and working on the west side of Oxford.

I am looking forward to new challenges, new friends and new bike routes but of course I will miss all the challenges, friends and rides that I have done in Lincoln over the last 5 years. To celebrate this, this weekend I have organised to do a 5k run, play one last hockey match and to go on a nice Sunday bike ride with some friends who I will miss when I leave.

I haven't run 5k since Christmas Day and I struggled then. I'd love to say I'm in a good condition to PB (sub 23:19) and I will try but honestly anything under 25min would be great.
Hopefully I get a goal in the hockey, it would be nice to score again - I think I have one for the season after finishing top scorer in the league last year.
Sunday bike ride I'm hoping to get 40+ miles in - it will be a bit of a novelty to be cycling in the daytime to be honest!

I will update with how the weekends activities go and look forward to updating in the future about Park Runs, Cycling Clubs etc down in the South West!

Wiggle 40L Luggit Backpack Review

With some changes in my personal circumstances recently I've been commuting further to work and needing to cycle rather than walk. The extra set of clothes, as well as often having to take my work laptop meant I was on the lookout for a new bag to use for work. Previously I was using an ancient laptop bag with dedicated laptop space in the main section - but not enough room for a set of work clothes, and a pair of shoes plus other various bits.

I had a look around and weighed up my options. I really like the look of the Henty Wingman which is available from Evans and other sites. This uses an innovative design to carry a rolled up suit without creasing as well as a small bag inside that can carry a laptop, pair of shoes, your lunch etc. It's a great design with only two flaws that I can see. 1) It uses a single shoulder strap so I imagine any heavy loads will be fairly strenuous on just one shoulders and 2) The price. The thing costs £120 for a bag. A bag! Crazy price. Couldn't justify that at all.

Whilst I'm dreaming I also looked up the Rapha Backpack which is a costly £125! For the price you get enough space for a laptop, pair of shoes and folded up clothes. You also get Rapha's classic stylish design and either a pink or white stripe down it. An added bonus is a bright pink rain cape that is stored in a separate pocket and can cover the bag when it is night or raining to keep your things dry and keep you visible on the road.

In the end though I went to the trusty Wiggle site to see what they could offer. Wiggle have their own dhb range of backpacks and being as I have been more than pleased with their dhb stuff in the past, I thought I would give it a punt.

First of all I ordered the 30L 'slice' dhb rucksack as I thought it looked nice, had a rain cape and wasn't sure how much space I actually needed.
When it came I eagerly unwrapped it and took a look. It was immediately obvious that whilst it was a really nice bag, it wasn't fit for my purpose. There was a pocket that I could use for my laptop and whilst my 13" MacBook Pro fitted in nicely, my bulkier Fujitsu work laptop struggled to fit in comfortably.
Additionally, when I had the laptop in there, I could barely fit a pair of nice brogues, let alone a nicely folded suit and shirt.

I really liked the bag but it had to go back. So I went back to Wiggle to see what else they had available. For an extra fiver I could upgrade to the next size up - the 40L version. This seemed a good option although it had slightly mixed reviews. I thought for the price it was worth a punt - and I could always return it if I didn't like it.

The bag turned up a few days later and I am really impressed. I've been using it as a commuting bag and also a luggage bag on the train for the past 3 or 4 weeks and I've detailed some of my thoughts below:

Overview and Functions:

The bag has a large central compartment and other smaller ones.

The compartment on the back is a laptop specific one, large enough to hold the biggest 17" laptops with room to spare - it really is huge. I've had 2 laptops, an A4 notebook and  a George RR Martin novel in it comfortably! However, there is little to no padding in it so be careful when putting the bag down to not break anything!

The main compartment is very large, I've had a weeks worth of clothes in here no problem.

There is a front top compartment which has a felted interior to keep valuables in. I use this for things like phone, wallet, keys, cufflinks etc whilst cycling but it is plenty large enough to hold much more.

Lower down there is a velcro'd compartment that is quite sizeable though I wouldn't keep anything of value in there as the velcro is only in the middle meaning stuff could get wet or easily stolen. I keep things like deodorant and hair gel in this.

In front of the velcro pocket there is a side zip pocket, of decent size to fit small things - I've used this to fit 3 pairs of underwear in, for example.

There are two zipped side pockets that can fit a 500ml waterbottle in, but cannot be closed up. This is of mild annoyance but it's not a deal breaker for me.

As I've detailed, there are plenty of pockets to keep your stuff and probably room for more!

General Use:

I first used this bag to hold a 3 days worth of work, casual and biking clothes. I took it on a train and even when full it fitted in the overhead space comfortably.

To give you an idea I think I had the following somewhere in the bag:
- 3 pairs of underwear
- 6 pairs of socks
- 3 long sleeve shirts
- 1 suit (trousers & jacket)
- 1 hoody
- 1 jumper
- 1 pair of jeans
- 1 pair of smart shoes
- 1 pair of cycling shoes (with cleats)
- 1 cycling jacket
- 2 jerseys
- 1 pair of bib shorts
- 1 non-padded tights
- 1 work laptop
- 1 A4 notebook
- 1 novel by GRRM
-  iPhone charger
- Edge 500 + charger
- Various cables
- Toothbrush/toothpaste
- Shower gel
- Hair gel
- Antiperspirant
- Probably something I've forgotten

As you can see - plenty! I was very impressed with the size of the bag and it meant that I didn't need to take a suitcase on the train (always a pain.)

When cycling or carrying this very full bag the straps are comfortable and the weight is distributed nicely across my back. It's much harder to pick up a full bag and carry it by the carrying handle than it is having it slung across your back.
I've been quite layered up during my recent commutes so I can't say if the bag produces a particularly sweaty back but I've had no issues so far. The padding keeps the back of the bag away from your back so I would imagine it keeps your back cooler than many alternatives.


Summary:

Well made and very large bag from Wiggle's dhb range. Comes in at a great price point (£35 at full price) and sits nicely on your back.

I've fitted plenty of clothes in and it is large enough to meet the demands of my daily commute.

Really pleased with this bag as it enables me to have a few more home comforts to travel with me.


Pros:

1. Very large. Fits in lots, with lots of compartments
2. Sturdy and well made
3. Looks good
4. Distributes weight across back evenly
5. Separate laptop compartment

Cons:

1. No rain cape like there is on the 30L
2. It's all black without too much reflective detail
3. The description on the website is out of date - probably indicative of a previous iteration of this model. 
4. Little/no padding in the laptop section

Lezyne Micro Drive Front Light Review

When the sun goes down it is dark.

I don't think I quite understood this before I started cycling. When I was younger I hung out in lit places in the evenings - all the streets around my area had lights. Then when I could drive and went anywhere, the cars headlights lit up the entire road for me to see by, potlights, animals, cyclists.

Last week I went out and found it too dark for my liking. Descending was a slow process and the light shining from my two front lights were not bright enough for my liking.

In steps the Lezyne Micro Drive. 

Overview and Functions

This light is more at the budget end of bike lights (I bought it for £26 in the sale) but boy is it worth the money. The light has two 'functions' normal & race. The normal function has 5 settings. 100 lumens (pretty bright), 150 lumens (really bright, don't point it straight in your eyes!), 50 lumens ('economy') and then two flashing patterns, both at 100 lumens. 

The Race function then has 2 settings - 50 lumens and 200 lumens. 

200 lumens is the brightest this thing will go, and for general road riding I think having any more would lead to a series of diminishing returns the more money you spent.

With 200 lumens shining on a pitch black road I can see straight ahead for about 100m and about 25m of road lit up and clear. The beam is very wide so I can see both edges of the road (on single carriageway) as well as any potholes or other dangers with enough time to react to them (branches, glass etc)

General Use

You get between the two functions by holding down the single-button for 5 seconds, and then cycle through each setting by pressing it once. The button is held down for 2 seconds to turn on or off, and pressed just once to indicate the battery life. Green is fully charged, Orange is in use and Red means charge me please or you will soon be in pitch black!!! 

It's pretty intuitive but I have found pressing the button down with cold, numb hands whilst cycling along to be of moderate difficulty.

As far as battery life goes I am a left a little bit wanting but the unit is so impressive with size, weight, looks  and strength of light beam that for me, it is not a deal breaker.

Lezyne claim 3 hours of usage on Economy setting (50 lumens), 2 hours on 100 lumens and just 1 solitary hour on 200 lumens. But I can't imagine needing 200 lumens for very long - if ever really.

In my first week of use I have found that to be enough, my commute on its longest day is now an hour and I only need the 150 lumens for it so it's all good as long as I remember to charge it!

Now, charging it is awesome. The only lights I've ever had before took normal batteries that you had to replace once they were used. The Lezyne Micro drive uses an internal battery that gets recharged. How do you recharge it? Well, it's super simple. Just screw off the cap and underneath it is revealed to have a built in USB stick! Pop this in your laptop/pc/other charging device for a couple of hours and it will be back to full strength next time you want to use it. (Lezyne note it takes up to 4 hours to fully charge, though I've not had to charge it for longer than 90mins down as far as about 1/3 charged.) What's even better is that other than the cap there's nothing to lose. No leads, no battery packs.

It secures to the bike using a plastic holder which is itself secured by a thick rubber 'ladder', which has lots of bars on depending on how thick your handlebars are. My handlebars are oversized, yet the rubber ladder is still too long, and I am left with a rubber tab sticking up one end - to help remove it, and an excess bit of rubber ladder at the other end, threatening to get in the way of the light! 

It is however, easily kept out of the way and doesn't impact on the use of the light. It is held in place securely  and doesn't jiggle or rattle whilst riding. 

Summary

I really like this light. I'm so glad I bought it and it is possible even literally a life saver for me this winter. For the price I think the performance is incredible and the little niggles I have with it aren't worth splitting hairs about. 

Pros: 

1. Very bright - easily bright enough for pitch black riding.
2. Fantastic charging method 
3. It's remarkably light and small - doesn't get in the way at all
4. Great price - lower end of the market but still high level of performance
5. Secure in place yet easily taken off when you leave your bike
6. Lots of functions and options depending on your preferences - economy for daytime, flashing if you want it or the high powered settings for when it's truly dark

Cons:

1. Battery life isn't great - you would struggle on a long evenings ride of more than about 2 hours on unlit roads. I would happily have a larger body to accomodate more battery
2. The beam is so wide I get HUGE shadows of my handlebars, brake levers and hands on either side of my vision
3. The rubber holding attachment is too long, and it leaves lots of rubber either side of the light base - even though my bike has oversize handlebars. 

If you need a new light for this winter, but don't want to spend over the odds then I strongly recommend this fantastic product! 

An Experiment of Quality

Having heard so many good things about Merino Wool - keeps you cool, keeps you warm, keeps you dry, doesn't smell etc - I thought it was about time I got myself some.

I did some research and it looked like (surprise, surprise) that the Rapha winter baselayer (here) would be the best in terms of quality, warmth - I wanted it for winter afterall - but also with the highest price tag.
I'd love to be able to justify £80 for a base layer, but I probably couldn't so I decided to look around to see what else was on the market.

In the end I bought the Rapha winter base layer (£80. As well as a winter hat (£35) to qualify for free delivery),
This LS dhb base layer from Wiggle (£35) and also this LS roll neck/zip base layer from Mountain Warehouse for just £20. (as well as a round neck one in two sizes, just in case.)

The products all came on the same day which was a bit like Christmas!

The dhb one was too small across the chest so I knew that was a no-no straight away but realistically it wasn't that nice. It didn't look too great, the material felt quite 'rough' and it didn't seem to be that warm (from just trying it on in my living room.) Which is unusual for Wiggle as usually I am massively impressed with everything about them - their products, prices and customer service are more often than not, top notch.

Next the Mountain Warehouse version. The cheapest of the 3 it fitted the worst - it was too baggy but that's better than being too tight, I think. It looks very chic in all black and the zip roll neck isn't uncomfortable at all. It's also actually only 80% merino wool, but for that price I'll let them off.

Lastly was the Rapha offering. Of course it was the nicest. Of course it fitted the best. It was warm, it was comfortable and it looked incredible. I was in love. However, it wasn't really 4x better than the Mountain Warehouse and as sad as it made me - I had to return it as I couldn't justify the cost. Oh if only I were a better rider and could get sponsored by Rapha... that would be amazing....

The long and short of it is, that I sent back the Wiggle & Rapha offerings and kept the cheapest option (which pleased my wife). I wore it out on a run that evening (couldn't send it back after that anyway!) and was pleasantly surprised by its performance. To start with I was a bit warm with it on, but after a few K's in the legs my body started to regulate itself better and the merino wool felt nice against my skin and ended up keeping my core temperature down. When I was done (10k in 59mins, not bad for the first 10k since April) I was very dry under the base layer and it itself wasn't damp or smelly.

I look forward to wearing this base layer across the next few months but I look forward even more to buying more merino wool in times to come and hopefully being able to afford some high performing premium articles.

The Nights Are Drawing In

I was out last night for my first truly dark ride of the year. Took in a normal 30mile loop with my friend Josh but failed to think about just how dark it would be without streetlights. A couple of the descents were sketchy to say the least.

I currently have 2 front lights - a cheap eBay jobby which is actually pretty bright, and a middle-ground CatEye light which produces a fair beam and is just about good enough to see by for a few metres in front of me. After last night however I've invested in a Lezyne Micro front light for the princely sum of £26 from Wiggle so that should improve my visibility on the road and make me that little bit happier. I'm excited that it's USB re-chargable and I won't need to faff about with AA batteries all the time.

I also wore my new merino wool baselayer from Mountain Warehouse for the first proper ride last night - it performed admirably. Any sweat was absorbed and there was no smell - I even wore it to work today and it still isn't damp or smell! So for £20 I was very impressed and will definitely be investing in more merino wool in the future.

Not much else to say really except we ended our ride last night up Michaelgate climb - which is a cobbled 16% hill in the centre of Lincoln going up to the Cathedral which is used 13(!) times in the University of Lincoln Grand Prix. I struggled up the climb at 6mph with the cobbles sapping any of my speed whilst Josh danced away from me and around the corner. I will definitely be doing the climb again but I have developed much more respect for the riders such as Kristian House and Peter Kennaugh who fly up that climb multiple times at the Lincoln GP.

Looking forward to more late night rides as the weather gets colder and I will report back on how the light adds to my arsenal of lights on the road.

Worst Ride Ever

Just a quick note really...

Went out on the bike this morning and instantly felt a bit off.. My left foot just wasn't clipping in/out properly and my mudguards were rubbing against my new 25mm tyres. 

I stopped a few times to check my shoe and mudguards but couldn't sort out either and just tried to ignore the noises and uncomfortableness. 

I was just going up through a nice park when at the top there's a curb that you need to unclip to get up and of course I couldn't unclip so ended up toppling sideways and twisting the steerer tube out of whack with the handlebars. Didn't have the tools with me to tighten it up and just gave up and rolled on home to be annoyed at myself all morning. 

Ah well. 

Ready for Winter Part Two

Continental Gatorskins are a bitch to put on.

I was so excited for these tyres when they came in the post. Excitement soon turned to frustration however as I could not get the damn things on my rim. First I tried with my fingers - gave myself a big blister on my thumb - so I moved onto tyre levers. Snapped three of them.
Asked my friend Paul to try, he couldn't get them over the rim either. So I left them for the night.
Came back to them Monday evening with my friend James who managed the front tyre fairly quickly but was as stumped as the back tyre as I was. We chatted and chilled and eventually using a kitchen knife he got it on the rim for. Thank goodness!

I adjusted the mudguards to make sure the wheels span smoothly and I was good to go!
I also added another front & rear light to add to my visibility at night.

Cycled to work on Tuesday in the pouring rain and I loved every second of it. Tyres weren't noticeably different to the old 23's but the difference will (hopefully) be the amount of punctures I get from the Gatorskins. Mudguards performed brilliantly - not sure if I will ever get used to the feeling of cycling through a mini-lake and not getting and splashback at all.

Here are a few pictures of the new tyres & lights. Black bar tape yet to come but otherwise this baby is ready to tackle winter!

Lincoln Wheelers Club Run in the Peaks AKA Sunday from Hell

• This is from a few weeks ago - Sunday 29th Sep. James & I had been planning on joining the Lincoln Wheelers for a trip into the peak district for a few weeks. It would his first time cycling there and my second after the Rapha Condor JLT day although a bit further north this time.

  
  

  Just after I'd packed both bikes in the car about 7am James rang me to say he didn't want to come because he was 'ill'. Then just as I was about to unpack the car (and go back to bed) he rang again to say "feck it" and that he would come.

  We got to the meeting point safely and all set off in one big group. At the first set of traffic lights we lost half the group then regrouped further down the road. Turned the corner and and there was a piss stop (less than 2 miles in), and as I stopped my tyre decided to randomly deflate completely - tube failure, not sure why! So changed that tube over and got on our way... (tube count: 1)

  After about 10miles we split into the short group but we missed our turning so had to get called back, but then 2 other guys went another mile or so down the road, up a big hill before realising they'd lost us! Oops. The next 10 miles or so was fairly uneventful... lots of lovely hills though. Then we had a truely epic decent for about 3 miles. I happened to be leading the group at the time and used the empty roads to my full advantage. I don't think my speed down there was insane but easily hit 30mph for a sustained period of time. Possibly the most fun I've ever had on a bike! But then James had a blow out, a BANG and the seam of his inner tube failed. So we swapped that over and discovered that the tyre is a tad too big for the wheel (don't know how..) but anyway was a pain and used both of the tubes I had with me. (tube count: 2)

  Then we had lunch which was nice.. I had a scone and choc milkshake but most others had a full meal! I didn't think we really deserved a full meal as we'd only done 24miles with about 2000ft of climbing. After lunch we went straight into this huge Cat 3 climb, it was brutal but I loved it. The road just went on and on and then there was this switchback which was awesome. I lead up the climb the whole way and even unzipped my jersey for the cooling effect/to look like a pro. Eventually the others came over the top but we waited for ages for James... he finally comes over the ridge carrying his bike on his shoulders looking like a true hero! I thought he just couldn't make the hill but turns out he had another blowout! (tube count: 3)

  So we take the tyre off to discover that the inner wall/beading has come away and is popping all his inner tubes! Tried to cover the tyre wall with an energy bar wrapper but when pumped up another huge lump popped out... so had to leave James at the top of this hill on his own with a broken bike. Luckily it was a nice cark park with sun and shade and an ice cream man! Felt guilty leaving him but there was really nothing we could do...

  So we carried on, and actually had some brilliant descents but also at least 2 brutal hills - one felt like 10-12% for about a mile.. haven't checked it out on strava but it was HARD! Then going up another hill later on I got a 2nd puncture!! (tube count: 4) Again in my front wheel! - it was so annoying. So that was 4x those cheap Giant inner tubes which popped in one day... don't think I'll be buying them again!

  Then after that it was fairly okay - lots of hills, which I really enjoyed... I beat everyone to the top on every hill ;) felt quite strong and it was nice to get into a rhythm and get up to the top. The final road into Bolsover (where we were parked) was a big hill as well - a Cat 4 climb I believe! So was pretty tough but finally got to the car park, had to google a postcode for this random car park at the top of the hill and set off to find James!! Got myself an ice cream for my troubles and came home. Whew. Crazy, crazy day.

  We were out for over 6 hours for the 50miles (4:30 moving time) but I had a really great day - not sure if James enjoyed the experience quite so much! Will defiantly be doing the route again though as I really enjoyed it!

  Thanks for reading - this was an edited version of what I sent my friend straight after we got home so it was fresh in my mind. Here is a link to the strava.
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Prendas Waterproof Cap Review

Yesterday (Oct 1st, circa 2pm) I read an article on Inrng about his sponsor for the last month or so - Prendas.
The comments were very, very good so off I popped to check out the website.

As I don't have too much spare cash (although I was very tempted) I opted for something fairly low price, the Prendas Waterproof Cap. I'm rather partial to a nice cotton cap so this was something slightly different. It cost £7.50 and included free delivery.

I came home today (2nd Oct) to find the cap from Prendas on my mat. Talk about quick delivery, wow! Already impressed with the cap I opened it up and put it straight on as I was heading out for a ride anyway.

First off the cap feels a little odd as it is a nylon exterior with a slight foam padding to the interior so it's nice and comfortable. It says Prendas on the peak and Ciclismo on the inside of the peak, in a very pleasing font.

The cap fitted well and looked good under my helmet and got some good attention from my ride buddy tonight. It kept my head nice and dry amid the evening showers and kept the sweat from my hair away from my helmet foam pads. Being a little thicker than cotton it is promising for those colder autumn and spring rides and I'm looking forward to showing it off more in the future.

Thanks to Prendas who can be found here. And the cap which can be found here.

Ready For Winter Part One

Back in April my sister in law and her boyfriend sent me Wiggle vouchers for my birthday. Well, I've finally got round to spending the money on a pair of Crud Roadracers Mk II! (Linky)

I had heard that they were a bit tricky to fit, and being quite an impractical person I set aside a few hours on Sunday afternoon after the World's Road Race to fit them onto my Bianchi so I can think about using it throughout Autumn and Winter as the roads get wetter.

From this experience I have concluded that tricky is an understatement! I found the instructions hard to understand and interpret and felt the explanations didn't really match up with the diagrams. Because of this I got off to quite a slow start and struggled to get going.

Once I'd figured out how to attach the lugs (is this a common word? Doesn't explain what they are..) and the other bits it came together fairly easily. Lots of dropping out the back wheel to fit and then popping it back into to check there's enough room but overall I was pleased with the result.

The front wheel was easier but also fits less well. The way I've fitted it has made it wonky and even with tonnes of fiddling I can't quite get it to sit straight. This results in a tiny rub which is a bit annoying but hopefully after a few rides I'll be able to adjust it and get it just right!

This is how the bike looks with the mudguards fully fitted. You can see that the back goes really far down to protect you and any riders behind you. They are both held on by a cable tie through the guard and over the brake. The front also has good coverage and I look forward to stepping off the bike without the tell tale mud streak up my back.

My two favourite features of the Roadracers are certainly the ease of which you can raise or lower the mudguard to give a closer fit and also how the rear one protects the drive chain from muck as well as the saddle post/your arse.

Annoyingly as I was wheeling the bike back into the house the rear tail bit got stuck on the floor and snapped off where it was attached to the middle section of the mudguard. The damage isn't too bad and I'm hoping I can duck tape it back together but if not Crud helpfully do a bunch of spares for the roadracer. I can pick up a new middle section for a reasonable(ish) price of £6.50. Roadracer spares can be found here.

You may notice that the title of this post is Part One... Part Two of my winter conversion is twofold.

i) I am going to finally succumb to the fact that white bar tape doesn't stay white and going to purchase some black bar tape for the Bianchi.
ii) Not sure how sound this reasoning is but I plan on picking up some 25mm tyres for the Bianchi to give some extra stability on wet/slippy roads across winter time.

Overall I think the Crud Roadracer MkII look great, performed great on my short test ride but are a pain in the arse to fit and to adjust! Set aside major time to fit these, try not to lose too many of the tiny pieces and stay calm ;)

Sunday Club Ride....

...where the club was Continental team Rapha Condor JLT!

I saw on twitter on Friday that Rapha Condor JLT were hosting a team weekend in the Peak District were they were inviting fans to come and join them for breakfast, a ride, lunch and then a Q&A session. Obviously, I had to go!

So after a quick tweet to find their was still places left I persuaded my pal Alex to sign up with me and started making plans for the day.

Alex picked me up just after 7am and we piled the two bikes into his little Yaris and set off for the peaks. When we got to the pub (The Bull i' th' Thorn - can you get more Yorkshire?!) the car park was already packed full of riders and the Rapha Condor JLT transit van/mechanics mobile office. We put our bikes back together and left them by the car. As an aside, I hit a pothole yesterday on a ride and totalled my front wheel. Snapped 3 spokes and the wheel is in for repair :( Luckily I could use the Bianchi front wheel.

We went inside and had croissants & coffee (mmm!) as we prepared for the ride. The weather conditions weren't ideal, cold and windy and I'd only packed a short sleeve jersey and bibs - nightmare! I had some leg warmers but I'd just need to man up and embrace the cold on my top half. After standing next to an Olympic Gold Medallist (Ed Clancy) and ex-National Road Race Champ (Kristian House) they called us outside to get into groups after a quick briefing.

Alex and I set off in the third group led by Milk Race winner Felix English and new-Senior rider Hugh Carthy who has just been chosen to ride The Tour of Britain! The ride started off with a fairly epic descent on lovely quiet roads and moved quickly into the first Category 4 climb of the day. Alex got dropped on the first climb, caught up on the descent and then got dropped again on the 2nd climb. I didn't see him again after that.. I tried to feel a bit guilty but I was having too much fun!

The roads were quiet, the pace was quick enough and the Pro's were nice to talk to so I was having a whale of a time. One or two descents were a bit sketchy, one especially was on an awful road that was narrow, full of potholes and covered in slippy hay! Glad I got through it upright, I was a lot more nervous of the descents because of my off yesterday but didn't lose too much time.

There were two climbs of note, both around 16% one short which ended in a carpark with a tempting ice-cream van... and the other around 2miles long but did peter out near the top to around 7 or 8%. It was good to test my legs and I finished in the first 4 out of a group of 15ish on the climbs so although the pace wasn't particularly high on the flats everyone was giving it their all on the climbs (except the Pro's I guess..) so it was nice to confirm that I'm not absolutely awful. I did feel like I would need an extra gear on anything steeper (this was a Category 3 climb) so I think a 11-28T cassette might be on my Christmas list!

After a final lengthy descent and a long but shallow climb upwards we were back at the pub! Got myself a nice hot coffee and had a well deserved rest! Lunch was served soon after (pasta & spag bowl along with garlic bread) and I waited (and waited..) for Alex to get back. He turned up after about 45minutes having got a bit lost and tacked on 2 and a bit extra miles to his ride.

There was a clothing sale on too with 10% off Rapha Condor gear but I couldn't justify their prices (£22.50 for a cap, £9 for a water bottle!) and they even brought out some kit from a few seasons ago at highly discounted prices (£50 for a jersey and £70 for bibshorts) and although they look classy and probably very comfortable those prices are a bit ludicrous for someone like me.

The lady from Condor handed out a goodie bag which was unexpected. It was a Rapha mussette containing an SIS bottle and energy bar and the Rapha Condor JLT 'Summer' booklet worth at least £15 for the goodie bag. After lunch we all stood around and their was a Q&A with the riders and team manager. There were some interesting questions asked such as favourite race this year, budget for a team like RC JLT and how they expect the young riders to develop over the next few seasons.
The surprising things I took from this are
a) Once the riders reach 23, if they haven't progressed to a team at a higher level they will probably be let go to find another 3rd tier team
b) They are scouted by being 'not quite good enough' for the British Cycling programme (that Cav, Wiggo, Kennaugh etc came through) and they all seemed fairly happy with that assessment.
c) The young riders don't get paid! They get all the gear for free and all their expenses (travel, foot etc) paid for but they don't actually earn a salary from it. One of the guys has been offered a place at Cambridge Uni but has turned it down to try and make it as a bike racer - a bit crazy!

After some final words we applauded the riders and thanked them all for coming today and agreed we all had a great time. I hope Rapha Condor JLT do this sort of thing next year because I will definitely be going along!

The day only cost £10 and I think that is truly outstanding value. Decent breakfast, ride with the pros, lunch, Q&A + a goodie bag made for a very, very worthwhile Sunday!

Strava ride can be found here: http://www.strava.com/activities/79214554

Some pictures from the day: