The brakes aren't run in yet obviously but a few spins up and down the road suggest they're going to be great, lots of control without the power of the 180mm rotor. Oh, and I think it looks better too and we all know titanium makes your bike faster!
One man's epic quest to cycle 200 miles each month. Also includes bike maintenance how-to's, hints and tips, cycling routes, reviews and whatever else crosses my mind.
Saturday 26 April 2014
Changing the front brake rotor from a 180mm to a 160mm one.
As supplied, my new bike was fitted with a 180mm rotor on the front and a 160mm on the rear. I know down-hillers and free-riders will laugh at me but I find the front brake too powerful for my mainly road-based type of riding. Also, and call me picky if you will, I thought the adaptor the 180mm required on the fork was a bit ugly and the mismatched rotor sizes looked a bit odd on a cross-country bike.
Finding an Avid HS1 rotor on ebay was a pretty easy job so when it arrived, I had a crack at fitting it. It looked like a simple job until I hit that "Arse!" moment and realised I'd need shorter bolts... A quick trawl of the 'net was surprisingly hopeless in terms of finding which parts I would need. I found an Avid bolt kit at a local bike shop and after a long trip there and back, the fitting kit was useless! A search on ebay for Avid bolts found no steel ones but a guy selling kits of four titanium bolts described as 'm6 x 29mm for Avid brakes'. In a flash of inspiration, I took a bolt out of my rear brake and mic'd it - 29mm! I ordered a set and they were perfect!
The brakes aren't run in yet obviously but a few spins up and down the road suggest they're going to be great, lots of control without the power of the 180mm rotor. Oh, and I think it looks better too and we all know titanium makes your bike faster!
The brakes aren't run in yet obviously but a few spins up and down the road suggest they're going to be great, lots of control without the power of the 180mm rotor. Oh, and I think it looks better too and we all know titanium makes your bike faster!
Saturday 19 April 2014
Unusual security measures...
Now I have my new bike, I need to store the Dave Yates upstairs. This is fine but it lead me to wonder about securing the bike? I don't want to use wall anchors as my house would probably fall down if anyone tried to pull them out. The chain I used to lock the Dave Yates to it's wall hangers is an Abus Granit so I figured If I could lock it to something immovable it ought to be pretty safe. A bit of lateral thinking and a quick look on ebay lead to a long drive yesterday to pick up a 56lb weight.
I hate to call myself a genius but I reckon it should be pretty hard to nick a bike that's chained to a four stone weight with a chain that can withstand four foot bolt cutters!
Sunday 13 April 2014
Epic news, NEW BIKE!
Well, it had to happen eventually... I was originally looking at a Charge Cooker 3 or 4 but no one had one in stock to try and I ain't buying a bike I haven't tested! I knew Whyte had a reputation for being pretty epic and a colleague at work has a Whyte hybrid which is pretty sweet so when I saw this Whyte 19 steel at £700 off, I booked a test ride.
Because my bike is classic early nineties and this one is 2012, they felt radically different - the wide riser bars felt especially strange but I'm sure I'll get used to it. The brakes are going to be a real novelty, proper power and no worrying about the rims wearing out which has been a real concern on my Dave Yates. The suspension is also a novelty, 120mm of travel instead of one inch on a good day so I'm looking forward to plusher rides in the future and given the parlous state of Britain's roads this is going to be SUCH a luxury.
The frame itself is Reynolds 631 with a Shimano STX groupset, Hope hubs, Avid Elixir 5 brakes and a Fox 32 F120 RL Evolution fork. I'm going to ditch the Shimano chain and fit a Sram 1071 and switch out the tyres for my Travel Contacts (of course!) but overall I'm extremely pleased so far!
Quick update, here it is with the Conti's on:
160 miles later: I've put the Charge saddle and chunky Clark grips on, found the optimal pressure and damping settings for the fork, got the seat height nailed and set the stem height and trimmed the steerer.
On yesterday's 35 mile ride, the bike actually felt like it was 'mine', not just a new bike so here's to many more miles on it!
Because my bike is classic early nineties and this one is 2012, they felt radically different - the wide riser bars felt especially strange but I'm sure I'll get used to it. The brakes are going to be a real novelty, proper power and no worrying about the rims wearing out which has been a real concern on my Dave Yates. The suspension is also a novelty, 120mm of travel instead of one inch on a good day so I'm looking forward to plusher rides in the future and given the parlous state of Britain's roads this is going to be SUCH a luxury.
The frame itself is Reynolds 631 with a Shimano STX groupset, Hope hubs, Avid Elixir 5 brakes and a Fox 32 F120 RL Evolution fork. I'm going to ditch the Shimano chain and fit a Sram 1071 and switch out the tyres for my Travel Contacts (of course!) but overall I'm extremely pleased so far!
Quick update, here it is with the Conti's on:
160 miles later: I've put the Charge saddle and chunky Clark grips on, found the optimal pressure and damping settings for the fork, got the seat height nailed and set the stem height and trimmed the steerer.
On yesterday's 35 mile ride, the bike actually felt like it was 'mine', not just a new bike so here's to many more miles on it!
Thursday 3 April 2014
April 2014.
3rd April: The local 18 with a slight extension to pick a parcel up from my dad's saw 18.1 miles to start April off.
6th April: Met James in Haskayne today to do another ride I found on Cycle Routes. We both really enjoyed it, being on the Lancashire Plain it is pretty hill free and the route has a nice mix of country side, main roads and, of course, the seafront (rumour has it that with a powerful enough telescope you can actually see the sea occasionally!).
The weather was overcast and grey with the occasional rain shower but we both reckon it would be a cracking ride when the weather's a bit nicer. Anyhow, that's another 33.2 for the month!
10th April: I've got today and tomorrow off work and it's sunny today so I decided a ride was in order. I'm getting quite bored of the local 18 so I fired up Map my Ride and drew this route.
It was quite fun but boy do I need to remember to check the contour graphic next time! There are some short but extremely steep (10%!) hills on this route and some very long somewhat more enjoyable ones - I had to keep telling myself it's all good training! Anyhow, another 23.3 in the bag.
15th April: Did the local 18 for the first time on my new Whyte MTB. I'm still dialling in the various heights and angles but I averaged a best ever 16.3 mph which was pretty cool. Another 17.9 in the bag.
19th April: Did the Haskayne run again with James today with a slight edit for coffee and cake at Scarisbrick canal marina. It was warm and sunny but quite windy, it's another 34.1 in the bag at least.
27th April: I left finding a route to the last minute this week but managed to find one called 'The Ribble Valley fell runner' on Cycle Routes. It was rated a 10 for difficulty by it's creator and now I know why! It was one of the most scenic rides we've done but there are two killer climbs on the route. The first, and biggest, was a 3 miler that climbs nearly 1000 feet with parts of the road having a 20% gradient. Anyhow, at the top it was through the moors and then some insanely steep downs. I'm a bit paranoid about these sort of speeds and maxed 35 mph on the ride but 50 mph would have been attainable! This is the view across the moors at the top of the climb:
We soon worked out that this much climbing gives you a sore bum because the second climb is just as steep but a fair bit shorter and we actually walked about 100 yards of it because neither of us could sit on our bikes! We soon got back on though and finished it. Another 28.9 for the month and here's the route:
Update: My Edge 200 said my max speed was just over 35 mph (I'm a total coward on the really steep down bits) so I texted James to see what his was and it was 47.2 mph - scary!
29th April: Did the local 18 this evening but starting and finishing at my mum and dad's place for an actual 18 miles.
Not a brilliant month with a total of 173.4 but I had a massive crash mid-month (the bikes's fine but I'm still sore and black and blue) and a wisdom tooth out which was another couple of days off the bike.
6th April: Met James in Haskayne today to do another ride I found on Cycle Routes. We both really enjoyed it, being on the Lancashire Plain it is pretty hill free and the route has a nice mix of country side, main roads and, of course, the seafront (rumour has it that with a powerful enough telescope you can actually see the sea occasionally!).
The weather was overcast and grey with the occasional rain shower but we both reckon it would be a cracking ride when the weather's a bit nicer. Anyhow, that's another 33.2 for the month!
10th April: I've got today and tomorrow off work and it's sunny today so I decided a ride was in order. I'm getting quite bored of the local 18 so I fired up Map my Ride and drew this route.
It was quite fun but boy do I need to remember to check the contour graphic next time! There are some short but extremely steep (10%!) hills on this route and some very long somewhat more enjoyable ones - I had to keep telling myself it's all good training! Anyhow, another 23.3 in the bag.
15th April: Did the local 18 for the first time on my new Whyte MTB. I'm still dialling in the various heights and angles but I averaged a best ever 16.3 mph which was pretty cool. Another 17.9 in the bag.
19th April: Did the Haskayne run again with James today with a slight edit for coffee and cake at Scarisbrick canal marina. It was warm and sunny but quite windy, it's another 34.1 in the bag at least.
27th April: I left finding a route to the last minute this week but managed to find one called 'The Ribble Valley fell runner' on Cycle Routes. It was rated a 10 for difficulty by it's creator and now I know why! It was one of the most scenic rides we've done but there are two killer climbs on the route. The first, and biggest, was a 3 miler that climbs nearly 1000 feet with parts of the road having a 20% gradient. Anyhow, at the top it was through the moors and then some insanely steep downs. I'm a bit paranoid about these sort of speeds and maxed 35 mph on the ride but 50 mph would have been attainable! This is the view across the moors at the top of the climb:
We soon worked out that this much climbing gives you a sore bum because the second climb is just as steep but a fair bit shorter and we actually walked about 100 yards of it because neither of us could sit on our bikes! We soon got back on though and finished it. Another 28.9 for the month and here's the route:
Update: My Edge 200 said my max speed was just over 35 mph (I'm a total coward on the really steep down bits) so I texted James to see what his was and it was 47.2 mph - scary!
29th April: Did the local 18 this evening but starting and finishing at my mum and dad's place for an actual 18 miles.
Not a brilliant month with a total of 173.4 but I had a massive crash mid-month (the bikes's fine but I'm still sore and black and blue) and a wisdom tooth out which was another couple of days off the bike.
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