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.
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.
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!
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...
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!
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!
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.
