4th April: Did the extended 22 again today. The weather was perfect blue skies with that weirdly clear air that makes things miles away look just as clear as things nearby. The BBC weather said 5 or 6 mph of wind but it was howling so I spent half the ride flying along at 20+ and half fighting into the wind but it's 23.6 miles to kick April off.
5th April: I met James today and we had another crack at the route I needed rescuing on because of the Garmin Edge Touring a while back.
I was using the Edge Touring again and for a fair few miles it worked perfectly normally giving me good visible direction indicators every time we approached a turn or junction. However, true to form, it then turned itself off and lost the first few miles of the ride. I turned it back on but it seems to lose interest after a few miles and so I ended up following James. This was easier said than done because we'd both forgotten about the massive hill at about mile seven which really wrecked my legs and James was flying along on his new Mekk... Anyhow, a hard ride but it was 34.4 more miles for April.
8th April: Did the extended 22 tonight again. The weather was fantastic and it was the first ride of the year in short sleeves and cycling shorts which was awesome. I finally got around to buying a Charge Scoop for the Giant. James and I both experienced some chafing on Sunday's ride which wasn't pleasant (thank god for Sudocrem!) so this ride was a much more pleasant experience and it was 23.9 more miles for April.
14th April: Did the extended 22 again today. The weather was gorgeous, hot and sunny with hardly any wind, so it was the official first ride of the year with just a t-shirt and shorts! Another 24.4 for April.
19th April: The weather was fairly bright and sunny today so I set out to do the extended 24. However, as soon as I hit the bypass I noticed it was pretty windy so I did something I've wanted to do for ages - explore!
It was quite fun and I saw all sorts of things I didn't know were there. It wasn't perfect though, at one point I ended up following an older chap on a road bike and nearly went up Shaley Brow, one of the most evil climbs in our area at an average of 7.2% and a peak of 27% so a tactical turn around in the entranceway to the golf club restaurant car park saved me from that! An interesting ride and and 17.5 miles for April.
20th April: Had the day off work today and the sun was cracking the flags so I did the extended 22. It was pretty windy (BBC weather website said 1 to 2 mph - thanks...) but it was hot and sunny so a pretty nice ride and 23.7 more miles in the bag.
21st April: Another hot and sunny day so I did the extended 22 again after work. It was warm and sunny but, once again, it was very windy which was quite annoying. Anyhow, another 23.3 miles in the bag.
26th April: Another gorgeous, sunny April day so I set out to do the extended 22. Once again however, the wind was howling down the bypass right into my face so I decided to explore again.
Quite a fun ride but I must get Awesom-O's back wheel trued and ready to roll. Exploring involves cycling some really bad terrain such as farm tracks and rocky, potholed lanes which really pound the hell out of the wheels and tyres, not to mention my wrists, which isn't really fair on the Defy. Anyhow, good fun and 21.6 more miles.
30th April: after a crazy day at work I was in no mood for a bike ride but, determined not to miss another month, I dragged myself out of the house.
Nothing exciting, just a pootle 'round the village for 10.4 miles and a monthly total of 202.4, I was hoping to do a couple of longer rides this week to try and make up for January's deficit but the sunny weather dissappeared and the cold and wind came back with a vengeance but you can't have everything I suppose!
On the way home last night, after repairing the puncture, I could feel a slight dink, dink, dink from the rear wheel which was a bit ominous. Feeling around the rim I could feel a dint but I left it until tonight to take the tyre off and have a proper look. One side of the rim was relatively unscathed but there was bit of bulge on the other side.
It wasn't bad enough to warrant hammering it flat (not a brilliant idea on aluminium anyhow) but it did need sorting. In the end, I filed the slight bulge off with a file. I'm not sure if it's a keeper yet, only riding it will answer that one, but it's worth a try to avoid forking out £81 for a new wheel. I only filed off 10 or 15 thou so I'm pretty sure the rim is perfectly safe, I'll have to give it a try when this ridiculous wind drops a bit.
Shortly after buying the new Giant I decided the brakes lacked bite so I searched online for some replacements and found seller Bikefridge again. The kevlar pads I used on the Whyte were ok but were a bit grabby and noisy in the wet so this time I went for the semi-metallic.
From the time these were fitted, I was impressed. The stock pads had barely buffed up the rotors after 180 miles of use but these polished them up on the first ride which indicates there is plenty of friction going on. They also have a very reassuring feel, you can feel the friction between the pads and the metal of the discs as you apply the brakes. Very pleased so far!
'A few hundred miles later' update: Perfect pads basically. No noise, great performance dry or wet and none of the fork judder I experienced with the kevlar version.
I admit it, it's a weakness. I like titanium. I was browsing ebay the other day and idly searched for titanium bike bolts; mere seconds later, a set of twelve M5x10mm titanium disc rotor bolts were winging their way to me...
I replaced the stock black steel bolts one at a time in a star pattern making sure to add a blob of Loctite 243 to each one to keep it tight and I think it looks pretty bloomin' awesome. The icing on the cake is that my bike is now a staggering 12 grams lighter - BOOM!
6th March: Did a variation on the local 22 tonight that involved exploring Knowsley Industrial park a bit more to up the distance a bit.
It was the first time this year I wore my cycling shorts and two top layers so long may it continue and roll on summer! 23.5 miles to start March off.
8th March: The weather was windy but absolutely gorgeous today so I did the local 22 with the extended industrial park and Alec's hill tacked onto the end for a total of 25.0 miles.
10th March: Did the local 22 again tonight after work. It's been a gorgeous day and the wind was forecast to be pretty calm so I was looking forward to this ride. It didn't occur to me however that sunny days are usually followed by cold nights and my toes were like blocks of ice when I got back in. I also got a puncture in the middle of Kirkby and got slightly lost in the industrial park but it was still quite an enjoyable ride and 23.9 more miles for March.
15th March: Did the longer 22 today. It wasn't too windy and the sun came out half way around the ride so a pretty nice ride overall and 23.6 more miles.
16th March: I had the day off work today so I did the extended 22 again. There was virtually no wind for the first half but then in my face all the way back down the Lancs which was quite annoying. On a positive note, I saw a kestrel looking for food and a buzzard enjoying the sun over the fields on the farm track section which was very cool. 23.8 more miles for March.
18th March: Cool and breezy after work today but did the extended 22 again. Not the warmest ride ever but quite enjoyable, there's definitely something fun about bombing around a deserted industrial estate at night on a decent road bike. 23.9 more miles for March.
21st March: I really couldn't be arsed going out today but the weather was glorious so I dragged myself out and did the old coach road for 15.0 miles. The Giant is quite forgiving generally but the front end pounded my wrists into submission so I may leave this ride for Awesom-O in future.
22nd March: I met up with James today for the first time since December which was awesome. We did a 30 miler I found on plotaroute.com that started in a village called Lea on the edge of Preston.
The day provided almost perfect cycling weather with glorious sunshine and a cool, fresh wind. This would be a great route for family cycling with the kids as, although there are a few sections of A road, it's mainly quiet country lanes. The ride should have been 30.0 miles but we sort of got a bit lost a couple of miles from the end so ended up with 30.5 miles on the clock and a great start to the year.
30th March: With winds from midnight tonight to tomorrow evening predicted to be 55-60 mph according to BBC weather, I had to get out tonight and do at least 10.2 miles or miss the monthly target... It was chucking it down and windy but I headed out for a pootle anyway. I did roads I normally ride but went exploring down an unpaved farm track until I could get no further, I was cycling through liquid mud six or seven inches deep in places which was great fun and really brings out the inner kid.
I was dreaming of a hot bath on the way back when I cycled over a small submerged pothole followed instantly by 'PSSSSHHHHHH!' and a rear tyre as flat as a pancake. Changing a tube in the pissing rain on a bike which had been almost up to it's hubs in mud only minutes ago wasn't much fun but I was on my way in under 10 minutes. The rear rim has a big ding in it which may or may not be repairable but overall a fun ride and 13.5 miles making a total for March of 202.7 miles.
A few weeks ago after using it for two or three rides, my new Exposure Strada stopped working completely. In fact it was as dead as a door nail, there was no response at all to the power button or when attaching the charger. Anyhow, Rutland Cycles were great and paid the postage for it to go back to USE who repaired it and sent it back with a repair note saying 'reprogrammed'.
This time it lasted one more ride and again conked out, this time the five red charge lights came on when attaching the charger but that was all. This time Rutland cycles declared they didn't have any new Stradas and repaid my money so back to the drawing board...
With the refunded money rapidly burning a hole in my Paypal account I did a lot of research and chose the Exposure Diablo Mk.6, this time from Wiggle. This thing is tiny compared to the Strada but can chuck out a massive 1,300 lumens for one hour or the usual variants thereof depending on what mode it's in - 650 lumens for two hours or 260 lumens for five hours etc. I've only used it around the village so far, and very impressive it is, but I can't wait to try it on the four miles of unlit farm track on the local 22!
The performance of the TRP Spyre brakes on my new Giant is reasonable but they are very noisy and a bit lacking in power in the rain. Having been very pleased with them in the past, I ordered four sets of semi-metallic brake pads from Amazon seller, Bikefridge and replaced the stock resin pads.
Start by removing the small wire retaining clip from the pad retaining bolt:
Now use a 3mm allen key to remove the pad retaining bolt and put it somewhere safe:
Now remove the wheel from the frame and, with the bolt removed, the pads and spring should just drop out the bottom of the caliper:
To fit the new pads, place them both in the stainless steel retainer, pinch them together and simply slide them into the bottom of the caliper and manipulate them until the holes all line up with the holes for the 3mm retaining bolt:
Finally, just replace the 3mm retaining bolt and retention clip. Don't over-tighten the bolt or you risk stripping the threads in the caliper:
I've done the local 22 on the new pads and I'm very pleased. In 180 miles the resin pads had barely buffed up the discs but one ride with the semi-metallic pads has really polished up the discs and you can feel them bite when you brake. Very impressed so far!
