In my eternal quest to stop using white spirit to clean my chain, I stumbled across this stuff recently. It sounded promising so I read the reviews which sounded great, one guy even mentioned it was great for cleaning bike chains! I ordered some and it got delivered today. Awesom-O's chain was pretty claggy after two outings with the new home-made lube so I thought he'd be a perfect test candidate. I was suspicious that once again there was no real citrusy smell when I opened it so I put a few glugs into a clip-top container, added the chain, and gave it a really good shake. Encouragingly, the solution started getting pretty mucky.
I opened the container and gave the chain a good stir and found the product is reasonable but definitely no cigar. I washed the chain thoroughly in hot water and dried it and although the outside looks nice and clean and shiny, there is no tinkling noise as you shake the chain which is a good indicator the internals of the chain have been cleaned out properly. Having looked at some of the data on this stuff, including the fact the pH is 11 (so keep it well away from aluminium components unless it's very dilute!), suggests to me that this is basically a standard alkaline degreaser with a sprinkling of citrus to add a whiff of 'green'. Having said that I bet it's awesome for generally cleaning, rather than actual degreasing, around the house and garden!
6th November: Another day off work today and it was a gorgeous one. It was fairly cool but largely blue skies and sunny so I took a rather filthy Awesom-O out for a spin. I didn't do anything special, just the usual three ups and downs of the farm path, but it was an enjoyable ride. It's definitely cooling off though, I had my running top under the Castelli jacket and it was perfect and I noticed my feet felt quite cold so it'll be overshoe season soon enough. As a slight aside, I saw two kestrels today fairly close up, one in insect alley and one a few hundred yards before there so maybe there's a family group? Anyhow, 25.1 miles to kick November off.
8th November: It was my first day ever working from home today and the weather was fantastic, sunny and not too windy, so I took Awesom-O out for a ride. I normally take thirty minutes for lunch so I figured I could just work for an extra hour this afternoon and set off. For some unknown reason my legs weren't feeling great so not the most enjoyable ride ever but it was nice to be enjoying decent weather still. 25.1 miles.
11th November: It was a chilly but otherwise gorgeous day today so I took Awesom-O out for a spin. before I did, however, I performed some much needed maintenance. i took both his chain-rings off and gave them a thorough clean and degreased and re-lubed his chain with my new EP90 mixture. I'm not sure why but i checked the chain with the chain checker and was astonished to see the 0.75% end dropped through every link I tried it on at a mere 929.5 miles! Somehow it had gone from ok to worn out in the one ride since I last checked it; I guess being sprayed with liquid mud constantly really doesn't do them much good. Anyhow, I fitted a new chain and headed out. It was a fairly normal ride except for one thing.
As I was heading back in on my first leg a fire engine was coming along the path towards me. I pulled in to let him past (thankfully he saw me and rather considerately turned the siren off!) and saw another one which soon passed me. I carried on and kept looking around to see if I could see what they were up to. I eventually saw blue lights in the distance. I diverted down Simonswood Lane and went to have a look. They were pulled up outside an isolated semi. There was no smoke or fire but all the doors and windows of one of the houses were open and there was a faint smell of burning in the air so I think one there had been a small fire which was now out. A fun ride and another 26.2 miles.
14th November: Another working from home day today so another daytime jaunt for Awesom-O. I was browsing eBay the other day and might have accidentally started searching for titanium bits. I noticed a rather natty titanium stem cap and bolt for less that seven quid delivered so it was soon on it's way to me. I decided to fit it before I left and noticed the star fangled nut must have been at an angle because it was hard to get the bolt in. I did notice that there were two equal thickness spacers above the stem so a job for when I got back. I also fitted a new set of cleats to my shoes as the existing ones were sounding a bit rattly and look worn out.
It had rained a bit this morning so the ground was very wet but it was a gorgeous day otherwise, overcast but very bright and very little wind. I did the usual three ups and downs and, apart from having to slow down because of an unusually high number of dog walkers, it was a very enjoyable ride and my cleats felt a lot more secure. When I got back I washed Awesom-O (obviously...) and then removed his forks. I marked and trimmed the steerer and then hammered the SFN in, which straightened it out, and put everything back together minus the redundant spacer. He now has a single, equal thickness, spacer above and below the stem and the new titanium cap and bolt look awesome. Anyhow, another 25.1 miles.
17th November: It was overcast and wet today but not raining so I took Awesom-O out for the usual three ups and downs of the farm path. It was a fairly typical ride except for one thing. As I was coming back down the path I saw two lads struggling to push a black Seat car back up a driveway but there was a concrete lip at the edge and they couldn't get the car over it. I parked Awesom-O on the verge and gave them a hand and the car was soon where they wanted it. The lads were very grateful for the help, I just hope they weren't up to no good! Anyhow, an enjoyable ride and another 25.1 miles.
19th November: I was bored yesterday so I whipped off Awesom-O's bottom brackets and completely cleaned it and the shell out with a toothbrush and WD-40. I dried it off and refitted it with loads of copper grease and took him out for a spin this afternoon. It was a slightly irksome ride in the sense that the two sections of the farm path that really stay submerged were finally dry so I could have taken the Strael for a last jolly before winter but I'm sure I'll get the chance again. I was quite late setting off so I took the Diablo rather than the Knogg so that I wouldn't get caught out. It was quite a nice ride, it's definitely getting colder, around 7 °C today but a fun ride none the less and another 25.1 miles.
28th November: After a few days of cold, wet, windy weather I finally managed to get out for a spin on Awesom-O. I had to track my snood down for this ride as it was the first properly cold ride of the year, the BBC website said 4 or 5 °C. As well as the snood, I also wore my Rapha merino under my Stolen Goat so I felt rather like a eskimo as I rode which is going to take some getting used to. I think I underestimated how much rain we've had recently because the two big puddles on the farm path were as big as I've ever seen them and I ended up wet to the knees from the bow wave from the front wheel. Anyhow, it's all good fun and another 25.1 miles.
Well, I didn't manage to get out again due to the cold, rainy weather but November goes out with a not too shabby 176.8 miles. Lets hope the weather warms up a bit and I can get a few rides in in December.
