Muc-Off bike cleaner, works just as well on your alloys!

Into cars as well as bikes? Save a fortune on expensive alloy wheel cleaners, Muc-Off gets grimy brake residue off alloys just as well as it cleans your bike!

My wheels weren't too bad to start with this time but I've used it previously when the alloys were absolutely black and it gets the muck off absolutely effortlessly. Pretty impressive I'm sure you'll agree and no, I don't have any affiliation with Muc-Off at all.

Finally got the new rear brake fitted.

I finally ordered the Shimano BR650 rear brake from Wiggle and fitted it on Friday so no more Tektros and matching brakes again!

As it happened, the Aztec road system pads on the front were practically worn out so I fitted the Swiss Stop green pads at the same time in the Shimano cartridges. I've not ridden them in wet yet but they're very good so far in the dry.

Review: Muc-Off Drivetrain Cleaner.

If you've read some of my other blog posts, you'll know I remove my chain and clean it in a bath of white spirit every hundred miles or so. This works well but does nothing to clean the cassette or chainrings of the greasy black muck that builds up due to using a wet style lube. I read about Muc-Off Drivetrain Cleaner recently and it sounds very impressive so I ordered a bottle to try.

My drivetrain was looking pretty gritty and grotty as I got in from a wet ride the other night and the chain was due a clean so I decided to test the new cleaner. I tried to spray just the chain but it comes out in a very fine mist which covered the cassette as well so I gave the chainrings a spray for complete coverage. I just back pedalled the chain for a couple of minutes and then kept back pedalling as I blasted the chain, cassette and rings with the hose.

The next morning, the chain, cassette and rings were all free of any signs of black gunge or grit. They weren't back to bare metal, everything appeared to be covered in a very fine grey film of oil, but considering I hadn't brushed or agitated any of the parts, I was hugely impressed. Cleaning chainrings can be a real chore but the black ridge of gunk had completely gone - very impressed!

9th Jan, 2015 update: I decided to give this a thorough test tonight after work as Awesom-O was looking a bit grubby. I dribbled it onto the chain as I back pedalled and kept turning the cranks as I used a tooth brush scrub the jockey wheels, chainrings, cassette cogs and chainstay and then blasted it off for ages with water, also backpedalling. I could see as i got him back on the wall hangers that the entire back rim, rim decals, seat- and chainstays and most of the seat tube were covered in a thin oily grey film that took ages to clean off with some IPA on workshop roll. So, not so impressed this time at all. I guess it would work ok in a chain cleaner but I just don't think it emulsifies the oil and grease well enough. It dissolves it enough to spray every where making a mess but not sufficiently that all the oil actually washes off and away.

December 2014.

6th December: I finally got a ride with James today so we did one I drew in Map my Ride a couple of weeks ago. As I was planning it, it looked like mainly country lanes but it turned out to be a bit of everything really. It started off on quiet A roads but then there was some farm track, some proper country lanes and even a bit of a path where tractors enter and leave the fields - we were cycling through four inches of liquid mud at one stage. Awesome-O looked more like a cyclocross bike by the end of the ride and I'm sure half my front brake blocks have gone!

James was a bit hung-over so we did the ride at a comfortable, rather than fast, pace and it proved to be quite an enjoyable start to December and 32.5 miles in the bag.

9th December: Despite some fairly horrendous predictions on the BBC weather website, I decided to do the local 22 tonight. The weather was ok but by the seven mile mark the wind was getting up a bit and it was chucking it down so I decided to divert and do the Old Coach Road instead. Just as I was approaching the Old Coach road, I saw a road to the right I'd never been down before and decided to explore...

Anyhow, what followed was the usual few miles of really, really hoping I could manage to work out where I was before I eventually saw a sign for Knowsley Industrial Park. A couple of miles later I knew exactly where I was and happily carried on. By the time I was out the industrial park and heading down the Lancs I was feeling really good so I carried on and did the new section of bike path and came home via Billinge and Crank. An interesting ride and 25.1 more miles for December.

13th December: James isn't playing this weekend because he was too hung-over this morning and the weather looks really bad tomorrow. It was quite sunny so I dragged myself out and did the local 22. The weather was cold and windy at first but pleasant enough until it got really stormy and started chucking it down about four miles from home. At this point however the wind was behind me so still quite an enjoyable end to the ride and 21.9 more miles. 

17th December: Managed to drag myself out and do the local 22 after work today. It was fairly warm at maybe 10 degrees but very blowy so a so-so kind of a ride. I carried on into the village on the way back to do a quick shop so 22.7 more miles for December.

20th December: Did the above 25 miler again tonight, I would have done it during the day but the wind was horrendous and I didn't want to risk getting blown under an HGV! The weather was ok but the ride wasn't without incident, I replaced the chain this morning because the old one had 1,200 odd miles on it and was looking rather tired and the new chain skipped slightly a few times so I've had to order a new cassette. Luckily, HG80 cassettes (which I think are MTB parts equivalent to 'SLX' level but 9 speed cassettes are interchangeable between Shimano/SRAM and MTB/road) are half price at Wiggle at the moment but still, it's an unwanted expense. Oh, and to top it off? I got a puncture just after riding through some slutchy mud - bum 'oles! Anyhow, 25.1 miles.

22nd December: The new cassette arrived from Wiggle so I fitted it and headed out for the local 22. I was hoping for rain so I could test the Swiss Stop brake pads but unfortunately (!) it was dry but very windy. Despite the wind it was one of those strangely enjoyable rides where I felt really good all the way around and I stopped in the village on the way back for chips with curry sauce another 22.6 miles for December.

25th December:  Went out and did the local 22 today. It was cold and very windy so not the most enjoyable ride ever but another 22.0 for December. Somewhat annoyingly, I found a drawing pin in my front tyre when I got back so that's now 3 punctures in the Conti 4 seasons which are supposed to be epically puncture-proof - grrr.

29th December: I'm still short of miles for December so despite the sudden freeze I dragged myself out after work to do the local 18. The temperature was around freezing but I had my choob and some new Sealskinz wind-proof gloves so not too bad overall. I has one sketchy moment on the unlit section when I hit a section of frozen tractor tyre tracks I hadn't seen but by not grabbing the brakes and unseating slightly to absorb the bumps I didn't get launched so another 18.9 for the month!  

31st December: Did the Old Coach Road in the cold and fog on new years eve for 14.8 and a monthly total of 205.6 miles.

Replacing the Tektros with Shimano R650 brakes.

Not being a huge fan of road bike rim brakes so far I decided to give them another chance. I've heard fantastic things about Shimano R650 calipers recently so I decided to upgrade my crappy Tektros.

At the time I ordered, Wiggle only had the front brakes in so I ordered one and decided to order the rear at a later date. One thing I noticed when taking the B650 out of the box was how typically Shimano-like it felt. Squeezing the pads together, the caliper was silky smooth and springy. In contrast, when I removed the Tektro it was weird, they obviously have a stronger spring than the Shimanos but the pads felt far less 'springy' when you squeezed then together - I guess the Shimano calipers have much better bearings and pivots in them.

Anyhow, I've just popped around to the 'rents to pick a package and the new front brake is really impressive. Perfect modulation but a huge increase in usable power. I just need to get my finger out and order a rear one now!

November 2014.

2nd November: Nothing exciting today. James is having water problems at his house so he's stuck trying to get that sorted out. I dragged myself out the house and did the usual 22. it was very windy but dry so not a bad ride and 22.0 in the bag. 

7th November: Did the 22 tonight after a long day at work. It was breezy and cold and the roads were wet but it's another 22.0 for November. I must say it was nice having mudguards on knowing that every puddle I went through wasn't soaking my back and covering my rucksack in road grime! 

9th November: Did a route with James today that I found on a rather good new bike route website http://www.plotaroute.com/. It starts out in Withington before dropping down out of Manchester, does a loop around the Cheshire countryside and then heads back up through Manchester into Withington.

The route was a lot more urban than I'd assumed when I first saw it but the few miles between Wilmslow and Hale was perfect British countryside. I doubt we'll do this ride again because of some of the extremely heavily trafficed areas it goes through and some of the roads in Manchester are in staggeringly bad condition but it was 32.0 more miles for November.

16th November: I created a brilliant 32 miler this weekend and emailed it to James only to find out that he thinks he's broken a finger while out on the lash on Friday. Oh well, I did the local 22 instead. I'm off on Wednesday so I may test the 32 miler then. 22.0 for the weekend it is then! 

22nd November: I've had the lurgy for the last few days so I was beginning to worry about getting November's mileage done. Anyhow, still bunged up but with the cold on the wain, I decided to at least do the Old Coach Road ride today. As it turned out, I was feeling ok so decided to try the two miles of cycles lane the council have just re-surfaced that runs from Windle island to the junction at Carr Mill Dam.

As it turns out, the newly surfaced bike path was awesome, like cycling on black silk - very luxurious compared with the rubbish state of most of the roads us cyclists have to endure! From Carr Mill, I climbed the hill into Billinge then through Crank and back into the village. The weather was overcast with a bit of a breeze so quite pleasant really and another (much needed!) 20.1 miles for November.

23rd November: James's brother is off to Germany for 3 years with the Army soon so he's stuck with a family dinner today so I did the local 22, somehow managing to miss off some of the industrial park... It was pretty windy in places but the air was crisp and clear with that gorgeous bright, golden light you only get at this time of year. Anyhow, 21.6 more miles and I'm starting to feel more confident about the month, it's my dad's 80th next weekend and an all weekend celebration is on the cards but I should be able to get out with James on the Saturday.

25th November: It was freezing tonight (ok, well about 4 degrees maybe) but I desperately need the mileage this month so I dug out last year's Aldi long cycling pants and got changed. I had a t-shirt on covered by my Nike running top and a thin fleece along with some cheap fleece gloves. It felt cold for the first few miles but I soon warmed up and felt great. Despite it chucking it down for the second half of the ride (thankyou mudguards!) I actually really enjoyed the ride and it was 22.0 much needed miles.

27th November: Did the local 22 again tonight. It was dry and not as cold as Tuesday so quite a nice ride although my legs felt really wooden in places. I walked into my desk at work a couple of days ago and have a large bruise on my left thigh which probably didn't help! Anyhow, 22.0 more miles.

30th November: Well, dad's 80th proved to be a fairly drunken weekend so I missed the 200 for November. The final total was 183.8 so a 'must try harder' for December...

It's mudguard season again...

When nearly every ride entails stripping off in the back porch afterwards and putting everything in the washing machine, riding becomes something of a chore.

To that end, much as I find them a pain in the ass, I've bought and fitted mudguards. I went for SKS Chromoplastics in the end as they get good reviews. I've read a couple of reviews where people have said they take a few hours to fit but I had them fitted in a round an hour although I did use an angle grinder to trim the wire arms to length which helped a bit!

I've officially named my road bike!

After my family decided my Roux Menthe was called 'Minty', I decided I urgently needed an alternative name before it stuck... One of the many random thoughts that went through my head on the night ride from Manchester to Blackpool was of my favourite Southpark episode where Cartman disguises himself as a robot called AWESOM-O to try and find an embarrassing video tape of himself that Butters had made.

Anyhow, when I discovered I'd done the ride in under three hours, I decided that AWESOM-O was a cool name - I realise these stickers are supposed to be for the rider's name but I'm not a pro so I think having the bike's name on the sticker is way cooler. A quick Google found Flandria Bikes who claim their bike name stickers are Muc-off, GT85 and WD-40 proof so one order later and he's officially called AWESOM-O!

October 2014.

5th October: Took the bike for it's first decent ride with the Conti 4 Season tyres on this afternoon and did the local 18 with the industrial estate. The tyres roll very nicely although they're definitely smaller than a standard 25, more like 24mm really.

It was a bit chilly and quite windy but not bad overall. As a slight aside, I definitely had a cycling first as I cycled through industrial end of Kirkby - a hedgehog in the road! It was just sitting quite happily in the road by the kerb, there was undergrowth on the other side of the fence on the pavement so I picked it up and put it by the fence hoping it would trot through the slats and back into the undergrowth. Odd but 22.0 miles to start October off.

9th October: Did the same ride as above this evening. The wind was horrible for the first ten miles or so but I managed to get my average back up to 16.5 mph by the end so not too bad and 22.0 more miles. As a plus, there were no squashed hedgehogs in the road near where I rescued the hedgehog so I think it's ok!

12th October: Did the same again today. It wasn't warm but it was one of those crisp sunny autumn days that compensate somewhat for the lack of warmth. Nipped into the village do a bit of shopping on the way back so 22.7 more miles.

14th October: Aaaaand again... Did it in the dark for the first time this autumn which was interesting, the off road bit through the fields was fun with the 200+ lumens from my Hope 1 providing just enough light to see where I was going. I've decided to treat myself for autumn however and have ordered an Exposure Strada light - 800 lumens for three hours and multiple combinations there of. I can't wait to try it! Anyhow, 22.0 more miles.

17th October: Did the same ride again tonight with my new Exposure Strada light. I run it in mode 3 which alternates between 3 hours / fullpower and 10 hours / third power.

Full power is fantastic, the 3 miles that runs through the fields with no lighting at all was amazing, the light lights up a good 60 to 80 yards ahead while the 10 hour mode is more than adequate back on the road when you have street lighting as well. Very impressed and another 22.0 miles.

19th October: Did a beast of a ride with James today. Distance wise it was fine but the weather was wet and windy and there were two killer climbs, the type that leaves your legs feeling useless for hours afterwards.

It was so windy coming down off the moors north of Rochdale that we were struggling to maintain 15 miles an hour down a hill you can normally do 30 plus miles an hour down! An interesting ride and another 35.9 for October.

 22nd October: Did the local 22.0 mile ride again. The weather was quite wintery, breezy with a fair bit of rain but surprisingly quite an enjoyable ride even though the bike needed a good hosing down when I got back to get all the road muck off it.

26th October: I was so stuck for inspiration today that I nearly called it off and suggested to James that we both just do our locals. Then I remembered a ride I'd seen on the Sky ride website ages ago that sounded quite intriguing, it was a short one but we could always do a multiple laps.

We met up in the car park at Wythenshawe Civic Centre and headed off. The route basically goes around the whole perimeter of Manchester Airport. It's not a brilliant route, there are a lot of gates that really slow your progress and about a mile and a half of the route is off road on compacted limestone paths that mean slow progress on a road bike but there are some really cool bits. One part of the off road section goes right along the edge of one of the runways so you can watch planes take off from barely 100 yards away which is LOUD but cool. Also, there are two tunnels (with a seperate tunnel for ped's / cyclists) that go right under both runways which is fun, very smooth and obviously no wind. We ran short of time but managed 3 laps for 24.9 miles.

29th October: Did the local 22 miler tonight to end the month. It was cool and windy but not cold so quite a nice ride, in a way I was hoping for rain to test my new mudguards but I guess you can't have everything! Another 22.0 miles and 215.5 for October.

Chain cleaning and pet peeves.

I'm a pretty laid back kind of guy but one thing that cheeses me off rather a lot is over priced chain cleaning solutions and degreasing fluids. Sure, 500ml of citrus degreaser lovingly distilled by beautiful young virgins from Californian oranges for a tenner smells nice and is eco-friendly but I don't think you can beat good honest hydro-carbons for dissolving oil off a chain. White spirit is basically an industrial metal degreaser and at 2L for about £4 is pretty good value for money.

To clean my chain thoroughly, I just pop the quick link, put the chain in a cheap plastic container, submerge it in white spirit, put the top back on and shake vigorously for a few minutes and drain the dirty fluid into an empty white spirit bottle. This gets the road dirt and most of the old oil off. I then repeat the process but leave it to soak for a while after shaking. When finished, I just put the chain on the radiator to dry for an hour and it's ready to re-lube and put back on the bike.

 

When the empty bottle of white spirit is full of dirty white spirit, I just seal it up and take it my local Veolia recycling centre where it goes into the old paint section for recycling.

I'm sure many people will disagree with this process but let's be honest, chain cleaning regimes have been argued about for cyclists for donkey's years and probably always will be!

Wear indicators on Continental road tyres.

When I first fitted the Conti Grandprix GTs, I spotted a couple of what I thought were minor manufacturing defects, like tiny bubble holes, in the rubber of the tread. I thought it was odd given the very Germanic quality one expects from Continental tyres but thought nothing more of it.

A few weeks ago I was bored at work and looking around the technologies section of the Continental road bike tyres website when I found that these holes are actually wear indicators! When the hole effectively disappears due to tread wear, replace the tyre - simple. They're not universal, I've just checked the GT 4 Seasons I have waiting to go on when the weather changes, but very useful if they are present.

Getting ready for autumn: New tyres for the Roux.

The Grand Prix GT tyres on the Roux are pretty awesome but they're not designed for winter. They're excellent in the wet but it's the temperatures in winter that can cause problems. Like winter tyres on a car, you need different rubber for a winter tyre, one that's designed to stay soft and grippy in plummeting temperatures.

Having scoured the internet for reviews, I went for Continental Grand Prix 4 Seasons in the end. They're not cheap at about £35 each but they're made of a softer, stickier rubber designed to grip the road in the grimmest winter conditions and they also have a double Vectran puncture protection layer, Continental's toughest anti-puncture technology . I'll fit them when autumn arrives and report back on their performance.

Some much needed security for the Roux.

The Roux spends it's life when not on the road leaning on the radiator in my living room. The fact I tend to leave the back door wide open when I'm upstairs on the computer led me to decide that some sort of security was in order. I subsequently discovered that 56lb weights seem to have become collectors items since I bought the one for the Dave Yates and are now as rare as rocking horse poop...

Not to be beaten, I soon found a more modern 25kg weight on ebay which, luckily enough, was just up the road in Liverpool. I picked it up after work today and I now feel a lot more secure. The Roux's only locked to the weight with a bronze rated Kryptonite chain but it'll definitely stop some chancer wandering off with it!

September 2014.

3rd September: I started September with a version of the local 18 with the industrial estate but starting at my parents and ending at the chippy in the village. The weather was overcast but fairly warm so pretty pleasant overall.

The wind was fairly light for a change but it was quite warm and I was pleased when I arrived at the chippy and found I'd averaged 18.2 mph. A solid 21.2 miles to start the month with.

8th September: I didn't get out for a ride with James this weekend because he over-did the partying somewhat on Friday night so I had to go out today to get some miles in.

I'm getting rather bored with the local 18 so I decided to visit Formby Cycles in Formby, I've known it's there for ages but I've just never got around to visiting. The weather was hot with a coldish wind that howled in my face all the way there but was reasonable on the way back. It was OK, lots of nice MTBs and road bikes to drool over and 30.4 more miles for September.

10th September: Did the local 18 again tonight but with a bit of variation thrown in. The road marked with the black dots on the map is a farm track that runs through the fields, it's all tarmac'd but very uneven and heavily patched.

I've definitely decided that as long as you're sensible and try and avoid rocks, stones and potholes, there's no reason to stick rigidly to tarmac roads with 700x25c tyres. Another 21.9 in the bag.

15th September: Did the above route again today. It was nice and hot and barely any wind so very pleasant and 22.0 more miles for September

21st September: Today James and I did a route I drew in Map my Ride yesterday. It was very pleasant with a good mix of unmarked country lanes and A and B roads with around 1,800 feet of climbing.

The weather was spot-on, a combination of that subtle late summer heat you get at this time of year with a pleasant breeze so a very nice nice ride and another 31.3 for the month.

As a slight aside, I think it must have been the Southport air show today because as we were chatting by the cars after the ride I heard the sound of jet engines overhead. I looked up and a Vulcan bomber was flying over us at about 500 feet which was awesome (photo shamelessly borrowed from the Daily Mail website).

24th September: Did the rural version of the local 18 with (most of) the industrial estate last night. It was overcast and slightly chilly. It was the first ride this year where I had to wear my thin fleece over my t-shirt, quite depressing but you can't hold autumn at bay, I guess.

Despite the cold it was a nice ride (ending at the chippy in the village for chips - I'm doing the BHF Manchester to Blackpool on Saturday so I'm carb loading!) and 21.7 more miles for September.

27th September: Well, it finally arrived - the 2014 BHF Manchester to Blackpool night ride. Starting from the Trafford Centre in Manchester at midnight and finishing at the tower in Blackpool, it is a 52 mile night ride aimed at raising money for the British Heart Foundation.

After a bit of forum searching I decided I really wanted to complete the ride under the magic four hours barrier and ideally wanted to get under the three and a half hour barrier. In the run up to the event, I was slightly apprehensive about this ride and treated it more like a grand tour than a single ride, I had home-made caffeine drinks and six inch-thick slices of Soreen in my rucksack paranoid about running out of energy half way through the ride. In the end, the chasing after other groups and sticking with people going as fast as I wanted to seems to have overtaken any nerves and I didn't stop for food at all and was extremely pleased when I finished in 2h 57m!

My bike by the sea in Blackpool after a hard three hour ride up from Manchester.

Judging by the number of people at the finish area, I'm pretty sure I came in the top 10% of the field so a very pleasing first BHF M2B night ride and 51.4 more miles for September.

30th September: I needed a massive 0.1 miles to make the two hundred miles for September so I went for a quick pootle 'round the village for 2.8 miles and a total of 202.7 for September.

Review: Muc-Off wet lube.

Since fitting the PC-971 to the Roux about 400 miles ago, I've only ever lubed it with the White Lightning Epic Ride I introduced in a previous post. I've noticed signs of wear recently like the chain checker sitting very low in the chain and being able to see between the inner and outer chain plates if I flex the chain sideways sooooo... I'm switching back to a wet lube. They can be messy but I'm starting to suspect they offer more wear protection.

The Finish Line ceramic wet lube isn't very water proof so I decided to try Muc-Off's wet lube as I believe it's been reformulated since I last tried it. The original lube smelled vaguely of blueberries but this stuff smells incredible! It's like the smell of old-fashioned gear box oil mixed with blueberries. If you don't like mechanical type smells like petrol, diesel or gearbox oil etc maybe give this one a miss, it's quite potent, but I love it.

I applied one drip per link to a thoroughly degreased chain and although I've only done 34 miles on it, I'm pleased so far. It was a dry ride so I've no idea how water-proof it is but my chain was smooth and super-silent yesterday.

2nd November update: Well, summer's over and the rainy weather is starting again. I went out for an hour in the pouring rain recently and the morning after there wasn't a speck of rust on the chain so I'm impressed with the water proofing of this lube. Sure the chain gets a bit clarty and gritty but with wet lubes you have to accept the chain needs to be deep cleaned every 60-100 miles.

2 years later review (October 2016): I have stopped using this lube now in favour of synthetic based oils. This lube is vegetable based and vegetable oils go through a process known as resinification where the oil dries out and becomes clarty and gluey. I've used a couple of the bikes since this review where they hadn't been ridden for 6 months and oil had turned into a hard black residue that was a pain in the arse to clean off.

First time using lights this year - booo!

We went for a meal at the Indian on the by-pass last night for my brother's birthday. I had to take the bike to free up room in the car and I had to use my front light on the way back which sucked, the nights are drawing in...

Which thread direction for bottom brackets?

Unless you're a professional spanner, you're probably like me and get confused which way certain threads loosen and tighten on your bike. The pedals and bottom bracket each have a side that threads in in reverse ie tightens anti-clockwise and loosens clockwise. To make it even more confusing, pedals threads and bottom brackets threads each have a different 'wrong way' thread!

I was inspired to create this post when I came across a statement on the internet that suddenly make it easy to remember which way English threaded bottom brackets thread in and loosen - each side tightens towards the rear of the bike - simple!

The drive-side of the bottom bracket tightens towards the rear of the bike which makes it the unconventional thread:

The non-drive side tightens towards the rear of the bike which makes it the conventional thread:

It's easy when you know how! It's now easy to remember which way pedals thread into the cranks - they tighten towards the front of the bike ie the drive side has a conventional thread while the non-drive side has the unconventional thread.

August 2014.

2nd August: Not a promising start to August, it's absolutely chucking it down! BBC Weather shows it looking a lot better later on this evening so I may charge my AAs and go out tonight...

3rd August: Well I didn't get out last night as it rained in an absolutely biblical fashion, I was surprised there weren't frogs everywhere afterwards! However, it was overcast but dry today so I went out this afternoon and did the Alec's hill ride but did a lap of one of the industrial estates in Kirby.

Although the sun came out half way around the route it was extremely windy all the way around. The industrial estate was curiously cool as it was deserted so a bit like bombing around a race track! A fun ride and 22.9 to start August off.

9th August: Did the above route again today minus the Alec's hill bit. Extremely warm and very windy but 21.1 more miles in the bag.

15th August: Did the above route again today. Fairly warm and very windy but 21.1 more miles.

16th August: Did a fairly short ride today as James hasn't been on his bike much over the last month for various reasons. It was a route I found on Cycle Routes and turned out to be a nice flat ride through farmland and small villages.

The weather was distinctly autumnal with a fairly strong wind all the way around which miffed James somewhat and seven miles from the car the rear of my bike started feeling very bouncy - puncture. Yay. Given that at least 3/4 of the entire route was lined with freshly flailed hawthorn hedges it was no huge surprise and my new Lezyne pump meant a new tube tube was fitted and ready to go in no time. Anyhow, 26.0 more miles.

24th August: Revisited the route I got from Alix's dad that we did back in March. The traffic was worse than I remembered and the roads are often appalling, especially coming into Todmorden, but it is still a beautifully scenic ride.

The weather was hot but with a cold breeze which made for very pleasant cycling conditions and I think I finally becoming a roadie, the second half of the ride has a couple of very long climbs and I really enjoyed them both! Another 33.6 miles in the bag for August.

25th August: The weather's very meh today but I wanted to get out the house so I decided to do the old Coach road route on the road bike as a bit of an experiment. By concentrating constantly, trying to stick to 8-10 mph, avoiding the big cracks and off-camber bits because the algae makes it very slippery, I managed to survive and it's 14.7 more miles for the month.

26th August: Did the local 18 with the industrial estate tacked on. It was hot but extremely windy all the way around but I managed an average of 17mph so not too bad.

Quite hard work with the wind but another 21.1 for August. 

28th August: I need alot of miles to complete August so when mum suggested taking my niece and nephew, Adam and Daisy (and Adam's friend Ethan), to Farmer Teds for the day, I decided to ride there.

The weather on the ride there was glorious August summer sun, the sky then went black and it rained for a couple of hours which didn't bode well for the ride back. However, by the time we left the sky was pure blue and sunny again so a very pleasant ride back too! Another 27.2 for August. 

31st August: Did a ride with James today that we first did in early March. The weather was spot on, hot and sunny but with a cold wind, which is ideal for cycling.  

The route is heavily trafficed in quite a few parts but we both really enjoyed it, even the long climb up the Blackrod by-pass! The route was 27.0 miles and after a busy last few days, August goes out with 214.7 miles on the clock.

Some much needed new pedals for the Roux.

The only spare pedals I had when I bought the Roux were some extremely cheap platforms that I think I got from ebay. As well as being big and heavy, the bearings in these pedals have gone very notchy and graunchy so they have to go to the great recycling bin in the sky.

Both my Dave Yates and the Whyte have Shimano Saint pedals but I thought these were a bit heavy and chunky for a road bike. After a bit of research, I decided on V12 Mag's by DMR Bikes. They're 150g a pair lighter than the Saints and have buttery smooth bearings so I'm very pleased so far.

I'm just really not looking to the first time my foot slips off one and the cranks spin round and smashes it into my shin...

New wheels for the Roux!

A quick trip up to Ribble Cycles this morning and the bike has new wheels - Mavic Aksium S wheels to be exact. Unlike conventional wheels, they have 20 spokes each rather than 32 and each spoke is flattened so it slices through the air. To make them even stiffer and more aerodynamic, the front wheel and the non-drive side of the rear wheel are radially laced. Every cycling expert on the entire internet says a wheel upgrade is the best first upgrade to make on a bike. With a wheel, you're expending energy to turn the wheel and energy to move it along in space so in effect you get double the weight saving over a heavier wheel.

Overall the wheels should be faster and more efficient to ride and at less that £200 I reckon they make a great first upgrade for a budget bike, too.

I'm going for a ride later so the Garmin will reveal the truth...

Update: These wheels are amazing! The first 3.7 miles of my local 18 route is slightly uphill all the way and I tend to average about 15-16 miles per hour. This afternoon I was somewhat surprised to see it was 18 miles an hour! The downside is that they are a lot stiffer and more jarring than normal 3-cross wheels but it's a fair trade-off for the extra speed I reckon.

Review: Planet X titanium quick release skewers.

One of the things I don't like on my Roux road bike is the quick releases, they're chunky and heavy and not particularly good looking. A quick Google later and despairing of finding reasonably priced titanium road skewers I discovered Planet X. Made of carbon fibre and aluminium with titanium shafts they're extremely light and beautifully made - a big WIN!

Here's the front one...

...and the rear one

I have to say I'm very pleased and they're definitely a lot lighter than the ones the bike came with, definitely recommended.

July 2014.

3rd July: Had the day off work today but we had a family night out for a curry last night with rather a lot of lager so not feeling up to anything huge today. In the end I decided to do the local 18 with Alec's hill chucked in at the end then back through the village.

The weather was overcast and fairly windy but nice and warm so a quite pleasant 19.7 to start July off.

5th July: It's time to reveal my dirty little secret... I already own a road bike! Nearly a year ago, when I hadn't been back on my bike long, I bought a bike through the cycle to work scheme. The bike is a Roux Menthe and is what's called an Audax style bike ie a road bike with slightly relaxed angles designed for all day riding.

The gears were incredibly badly setup when I picked it up and it seemed to resist shifting properly whatever I did so I did a couple of 20 milers on it and it's leaned against the radiator in the living room ever since. Given that I'm vaguely thinking of buying a road bike, I thought I'd sort out the Roux and have another go. I fitted a new PC-971 last night and got the gears working this morning and I've just been out and done the route above again for 19.7. To be honest, I really enjoyed it! The carbon fork and cromoly frame really absorb road buzz and shocks and it's definitely no light weight but the skinny tyres definitely make it feel faster on inclines than the Whyte or the Dave Yates.

6th July: Took the Roux out again today and did the Alec's hill route but instead of heading back down from Crank, I carried on and came back via Crawford.

Yesterdays ride and todays were both a bit dodgy in a sense as I was out without any spare tubes in my kit although I do have a repair kit... From experience though, when skinny tyres at 100 psi let go they don't just go down, they explode off the rim leaving two tattered ends on the inner tube. I guess I was lucky though and I have a couple of Conti tubes on their way from Amazon. Anyhow, it's another 23.4 miles in the bag.

8th July: Just got back from Merlin Cycles with some new tyres for the Roux - Conti Grandprix GT. They were, like the Conti MTB tyres, a pig to get on and required metal tyre levers and a lot of swearing! The final tally was two destroyed inner tubes but 3rd time evidently is lucky - why are Conti tyres so bloody tight? If I get a puncture on a ride, I've got very little chance of successfully repairing the wheel!

I chose Grand Prix GT because they have the extra wide PolyX anti puncture strip inside and are made from Conti's latest uber-rubber which they call Black Chili. It's supposed to have lower rolling resistance, better grip and better wear than standard compounds. I guess time will tell! 

Just been out and done 19.2 miles on the new tyres and I'm very impressed so far. Compared to the cheapy Chinese tyres that were on the bike, the rolling resistance is noticeably lower which is always a good thing!

10th July: Did a version of Alec's hill tonight for 19.7. Very hot and sunny but still loving the Grand Prix tyres - they are SO smooth!

13th July: Just got in from a brill ride with James. We loved the last ride up near Blackpool so we tried one generated by Map my Ride's 'Route genius' feature. It was fantastic but, true to form, there were a couple of weird bits. At one point we were directed into the garden of an agricultural college and ended up going along this path through a wood that came out onto a gravelled road about half a mile long - interesting on 700c x 25 tyres!

I definitely need to get up to speed with these skinny tyres though. When I arrived at the car park at Kirkham, I found that rear tyre had somehow blown itself of the rim wrecking the inner tube in the process. I only had one spare so it was another ride with no spares... Strangely though, I was able to get the tyre back on just using my thumbs so maybe folding tyre beads do stretch a bit once they've been on a while?

Here's a random pic of our bikes outside Londis in Stake Pool where we stopped for a 'lots of mini cheddars' break. A great ride with another 37.9 miles in the bag.

14th July: Did the local 18 on the Roux tonight ending up at my dad's house for 18.0 miles exactly. It was extremely warm but with a strong head wind for about two thirds of the ride so I was very pleased to average 17.4 miles an hour.

16th July: Did the local 18 but back via Crawford like I did on the 6th but with the new Aksium wheels fitted. I averaged 17.6 miles per hour instead of 16.1 - an increase of 1.5 miles per hour which was awesome and another 23.3 miles for July.

As a slight aside, I managed to time this ride perfectly and ended up cycling through torrential rain. The roads must've been greasy because it hasn't rained for so long but I didn't have a single squirrelly moment on the Grand Prix tyres - I guess the black chili compound works as claimed!

18th July: Just done the local 18 in one hour dead for an average of 17.9 mph. A great average but I nearly suffered death by sweating when I got back! 17.9 more miles in the bag. 

22nd July: Did the Alec's hill route this evening but starting and finishing at my folks house for a decent 19.5 miles. It was a nice ride but absolutely roasting again!

25th July: Did the local 18 in 59 minutes, my best ever time. I hope this hot weather breaks soon though, I'm getting bored of being a dripping mess when I get in. Anyhow, that's more 17.9 miles. 

26th July: I needed some new pedals for the Roux as the cheap ebay ones on it are getting seriously graunchy so I cycled up to Leisure Lakes in Tarleton and bought some DMR V12 Mag pedals. Very hot ride but another 32.6 miles. 

27th July: Did a massive 2.6 miles around the village today! I needed this rather short ride to get my Map my Ride 250 mile badge.

 This was quite a fun idea, the aim being to do as much mileage as possible in the 22 days of the TdF and virtual badges were awarded for 100, 250, 500, half a tour and the full tour. I hit 100 quite easily so decided to go for the 250 which explains my higher than average mileage this month.

Finally: I've got a bad dose of the 'can't be arseds' tonight so as a penance I decided to give the Roux a much needed clean: a full deep clean for the chain, a good t-shirting for the cassette, the drive side crank and rings off for a thorough clean and a de-crudding of the jockey wheels so at least I've achieved something this evening! The final total for the month is a very good 271.4.