Having lowered my stem about a centimeter the other day and really enjoying the results, I was getting quite annoyed with the two unnecessary narrow spacers above the stem so I bought a stem cutting guide from Planet X and borrowed a star-fangled nut setter from my mate Al at work and got to work.
I unscrewed the brake caliper and snipped the two zip ties that held the cable to the fork leg and moved it out of the way. I then removed the top cap and loosened the stem clamp bolts and removed the stem and bars. I then removed the forks and trimmed the necessary half an inch or so from the steerer, set the SFN with the setting tool and put the bike back together. I think it looks absolutely epic and I'm now fully Rule #45 compliant as well!
After a ride like yesterdays, I always clean my bike thoroughly when I get back because I hate sand and grit and the damage it can do to delicate parts! I've used Muc-off in the past but am getting increasingly disillusioned with them, their stuff seems really over-priced for what it is.
I saw method grapefruit in the Tesco near work purely by accident and decided to buy a bottle just to see what it's like. It's great around the house and smells absolutely gorgeous, exactly like pink grapefruit. I now use it on the bike as well. I just spray it over the wet bike and use a brush to loosen all the dirt and then hose it down with a spray gun. It's eco-friendly, smells gorgeous and leaves you with a sparkling clean bike - perfect!
June 1st: I did the same ride again today but I avoided the dirt track near El Golfo and added a bit of length by coming back in via Playa Blanca town center. I was quite proud of myself, I came back through town with the evening traffic and didn't go around a roundabout the wrong way and get killed once!
Anyhow, another hard but fun ride. One thing that really struck me about Lanzarote was how courteous the drivers were. The main roads are fast but every car that went around me gave me a full car's width passing space which was a very pleasant change! It was 25.1 miles to start June off.
June 12th: I took the Claud Butler out for it's first proper ride today. It was fun but a totally alien experience compared to modern bikes. When you're used to STI shifters, reaching down to the down tube to change gear is very weird. The skinny brakes are strange too, I generally ride on the hoods but there kind of aren't any on old road bikes - the Eroica is going to be an interesting challenge. One rather amusing incident happened on the ride, about 5 miles from home the seatpost dropped right down so I got home looking like I was riding a kid's bike! Anyhow, another 10.2 miles.
June 14th: I took the Giant out after work this evening and did the local 21. It was a fairly average ride buy my legs felt good and I averaged a fairly decent 16.7 mph. Another 21.0 miles.
June 19th: We've had some amazing rain this month, the type that only last for 30 or 40 minutes but leaves the roads running like rivers. Anyway, it wasn't too bad today so I took the Giant out to the local 21 with the farm track tacked on. The first hour was constant light rain but the heavens really opened for the last 40 minutes, by the time I got in I couldn't have been any wetter if I'd fallen in a swimming pool! One downside to rainy weather was that as I was coming in along the by-pass, sweat and moisturiser was being washed into my eyes by the rain making my eyes burn so badly I could barely see, I had to stop about four times to wipe it out of my eyes with my thumbs. Despite this it was one of the most enjoyable rides I've done for ages (my weird cycling in the rain fetish seems to be going strong...) and another 27.5 miles for June.
June 20th: Today started off with rain but the BBC weather website said this afternoon should be sunny and dry. With this in mind I took the Giant out again to do the local 21 with the farm track tacked on. As it turned out, it was an absolutely gorgeous afternoon, very windy but sunny, bright and warm. The wind kept my average speed down to 16.3 mph but an extremely enjoyable ride nonetheless. 27.5 more miles.
June 22nd: I was planning on doing the local 21 with the farm track tacked on after work today until I realised that wouldn't leave me time to make tea and watch an episode of Person of Interest when I got in...
..So I ended up just doing the local 21 in the end, it was hot and fairly sunny so it was a pretty fun ride. I didn't feel particularly good but I averaged 16.9 mph which was good for me, particularly after a day at work. Also, I finally managed to take a decent pic of the enormous wind turbine that I pass on the route as well. I hadn't realised until I was standing near it that it makes an almost inaudibly deep 'Woosh, woosh, whoosh' noise as it rotates. Anyhow, 20.6 more miles.
June 25th: I did the local 21 with the farm track tacked on today. Before I left, I lowered my stem and bars by about 10mm to see what effect it had on the handling. As it turned out, the bike felt faster and felt better on the climbs. This mirrors what I found with the Planet X I hired on holiday that climbed so well so I've ordered a steerer cutting guide so I can get rid of the surplus spacers above the stem. It was a mixture of clouds and blue sky and quite windy but a nice ride, I finished at my dad's to pick up a delivery so it was 26.7 miles overall.
June 26th: I finally got around to replacing the mucky white bar tape on the Giant with brown tape to match the saddle today. I'd ordered two packs of the tape to keep one as a spare because Planet X were having a 'everything under £5' sale but I ended up using both packs - fitting bar tape is such a black art!
The new tape matches the saddle very nicely and I think it looks great, a little bit of retro on a modern carbon fibre bike. I set off to do the local 21 with the farm track but it started raining and I needed to be back by 2:30 to meet my dad for lunch so took the photo above and came back via the old coach road. It was fairly cold and windy ride but it was 23.0 more miles for June.
29th June: I'd booked the day off work today in the hope of some nice weather. The weather gods however had other plans and it turned out to be pretty much the most Rule #9 ride I've ever done! It had rained all morning so I knew there'd be puddles everywhere but the heavens opened solidly again for pretty much the entire ride. At one point I was stopped at a junction and saw there was a pad of sand on the back of my saddle where the spray had filled the gap between my bum and the cover. Anyhow, I survived unscathed, the Giant's had a good wash, and it was 27.1 more miles to finish June off. The total was 208.7 which wasn't as high as I'd hoped but the second half of June was ridiculously rainy so hopefully July proves to be a bit nicer...
Well, my Gumtree searching hasn't been in vain, I picked up my 'new' bike yesterday. It's a 1984 Claud Butler Sierra. She needs a bit of work but she's basically in excellent condition. Everything is original with no replacement parts fitted and all the original stickers on the frame, including the dealer decal which is cool.
She's a size 22.5 inch which is perfect because it works out at 57.1 cm in modern money and I generally take a 56 or 58 cm in road bikes. Luckily, because it's a touring bike, it has a small inner front ring which I suspect I'll need for the hills on the upcoming ride!She's not perfect of course and I've just had a good on-line shopping session ordering tyres, brake cables and blocks and a new chain. The bottom bracket has a very slight wobble which I'll either buy the tools for and fix or drop at the bike shop. Other than that, she's in great shape and I can't wait to take her out and try the local 21 miler on her!
I've decided to start a maintenance log for her which may help other people:
16th May: Took the front axle out of the front Sunshine 5345 hub to check the bearings. What little grease there was was baked hard and dark but the races and bearings look good. I've ordered a 13mm Park cone spanner because the cones are 13mm (I used a 15mm to undo them but they were very loose so no worries there) and the locking nuts are 17mm. The hub takes ten 3/16" bearings per side so Ive ordered a pack of 50 grade 10 bearings from Simply Bearings Ltd.
17th May: The new tyres arrived today so I've fitted them already. You can get 27 x 1 1/4" tyres for £6 each but I went for the Schwalbes because they are guaranteed to have 50 tpi carcasses which means they should be reasonably fast rolling compared to the very cheap ones.
They also have a basic anti-puncture strip fitted so I think the £30 I paid for two tyres and two tubes was pretty reasonable, especially compared to fancy modern tyres! I was also particularly happy with the understated graphics. The photo on ebay showed had fairly bright blue Schwalbe logos so I'm pleased they turned up with subtle black graphics.
18th May: I've definitely been keeping the various delivery companies busy recently with bits and bobs arriving for the bike all the time. I managed to find some Koolstop salmon compound brake blocks and a brown brake cable kit from a company in London so I decided to fit them today.
Removing the old perished outer and mangled inner and installing the new cables was very satifying. The old brake blocks were dried up and fairly chewed looking so replacing them with new Koolstop salmons was a pleasure. I might even stand a slim chance of slowing down a little bit if I ever have to brake in the rain... I'll do the fronts when I can find another brown brake kit in stock somewhere and keep you posted.
On another note, I managed to get the cranks off with no issues using a standard puller. The axle is loose and slightly bent so I've ordered a modern square taper Shimano bottom bracket. Cheating slightly, I know, but I've got the tools to fit a modern bottom bracket and I don't want to fork out for tools I'll probably never use again.
19th May: My packet of new bearings has arrived so I'm going to try and get the wheels done this weekend if time allows. Bearing come in various grades, grade 100 being generic ball bearings such as you might buy from a bike shop, the diametrical tolerance being 1/10,000".
There are various grades but I tend to buy grade 10 bearings which have a diametrical tolerance of 1/100,000". They only cost a couple of quid more for a packet so I tend to spend the extra figuring what the heck.
21st May:I replaced the bearings in the front wheel today, the old grease was disgusting, it was a blacky brown colour and so dry it was almost fibrous. Unfortunately one of the cones was fairly pitted but they should last a few miles hopefully, they're still a bit grumbly but very smooth now. I noticed the wheels didn't really look chromed this morning so I Googled the info on the sticker and it turns out they're aluminium. This should make the bike considerably less dangerous in the wet so that's definitely a bonus!
I cannot get the bottom bracket to move so I've stripped the bike down and I'm going to drop the frame at the bike shop in town this afternoon if my car gets through it's MOT in time.
Update: Right, the bikes at the bike shop in town to have the bottom bracket removed. The mechanic had a quick go at getting it out but said "It's stuck...
...but we will get it out", which was confidence inspiring. I've left it with them until Wednesday so I'll pick it up then and fit the Shimano BB-UN55 that arrived today from Chain Reaction Cycles.
26th May: I collected the frame from Thatto Cycles on the way home from work today and was very pleased when they presented it to me with a bag containing bits of bottom bracket attached to it. They charged a tenner for labour for removing it which I thought was pretty fair given they saved me a couple of hours of broken tools and skinned knuckles!
I cleaned out the shell with a tooth brush and loads of WD40 and then fitted the new bottom bracket with tons of copper grease slathered over the threads of both the shell and the bottom bracket so I should be able to remove it myself in the future if I ever need to. Now to decide whether or not to grease the tapers or not when I fit the cranks, a debate among cyclists second only to the infamous 'helmet or no helmet' question...
Whilst I had the bike in bits, I thought I might as well deal with the rust on the area of the frame behind the bottom bracket. There was a lot of rust and the paint was flaking badly so I started by removing as much paint as I could by picking at it with my fingernails.
I then got the half-loose stuff off with the small blade on my penknife and finished by going over the whole area with wet and dry paper. I then wiped the whole area with brake cleaner and painted over it with some clear nail varnish I bought ages ago for touching up my Pace suspension forks. It's not a permanent repair but it will prevent any further corrosion while I ponder future plans.
10th June: The one I'm calling the saddle saga... The first time I turned the bike upside down, I was greeted with a fairly gruesome sight. It appears that at some point in the past, the seatpost has seized and someone decided whaling on it with a hammer would get it out!
The aluminium has been peened right into the bolt rendering the seatpost a mess and the bolt completely irremovable. I've since bought a replacement post of ebay and wondered how I was going to rescue the saddle? I know angle grinding aluminium is a no-go but I figured I might as well try./span>
I figured if I could separate the head of the bolt, it might just all pop apart. The grinder smeared through the aluminium slowly but I was then pleases to see a huge fan of orange sparks flying out of one side. I carried on until I figured I must be close to separating the bolt head and stopped to check progress. The whole assembly still felt solid but when I held the saddle and tapped the post - PING - the bolt head seperated and the whole lot fell apart. The saddle is now installed on the new seatpost and it's time for the next job.
11th June: This entry is an important tip for bikes with horizontal drop-outs. The bike is more or less ready to ride now so I took it for a pootle up and down the back drive and noticed the rear wheel kept moving and rubbing against the left stay. A quick Google revealed you have to use traditional, internal cam type quick releases such as the old steel Shimano, Campagnolo or Maillard type. I'd been using a cheap modern cam-over type whilst I carried out the overhaul so I refitted the steel Suntour one very tightly and I'll test it again when it stop pouring down and dries out a bit!
The big reveal! She's not finished yet, I still need to nail the settings for the rear hub adjustment but that's about the only job left to do. The silver no-rust Clarkes chain is a pain but I'm sure it'll turn black soon enough.
The saddle was a bit of a bargain too, they're normally £20 at most bike shops but Winstanleys Bikes in Wigan were doing them for £11.99 which definitely appealed to my Yorkshire ancestry!
12th June: Aaagh, I was just having another look at some stock photo's of my bike and noticed it had brake hoods! Another order has just gone in to SJS Cycles...
15th June: One thing I noticed recently when i had the bike upside down was that the teeth of the smaller front chain ring were ridiculously worn, especially the teeth on opposite sides of the ring that bare the brunt of each legs power stroke.
This was confirmed when I took the bike for it's inaugral 10 miles ride the other night, the chainring was slipping around a bit which would get annoying on a longer ride and dangerous on a climb. Anyhow, I replaced it with a new Stronglight 36 tooth ring and it should be much more pleasant to ride from now on.
Having seen a few references to it at the Spin cycle festival in Manchester on Friday and been intrigued by the brilliant retro imagery, I did a bit of Googling and thought "That looks pretty awesome!". It's a 3 day retro cycling festival in Bakewell in Derbyshire that also includes food and drink stands, a retro cycling parts emporium, family fun events and a whole lot more.
The main reason I signed up however is the bike ride, it's a huge retro ride with some interesting rules... All bikes must be pre-1987, have downtube shifters, non-aero wheels, no clipless pedals, you must wear period-specific clothing, you get the idea - retro! I've signed up for the 55 mile route which would be hard, even on my Giant, but I figure it's an expensive event so I might as well make the most of it. With this in mind, I'm looking at an early 80s Claud Butler on Tuesday after work so more to follow...
May 4th: I managed to get out and do the local 21 after work tonight. It was very sunny and warm enough to ride with my running top sleeves rolled up which was cool. It wasn't perfect though, it was very windy but that's been par for the course this year so far. Anyhow, it was pleasant enough ride and I averaged 16.8 mph which, once again, backs up my theory that sunny weather makes you cycle faster and it's 20.7 miles to kick May off.
May 6th: Yaaaaay!!! It was a hot sunny day today and the official first 'Just a t-shirt' day of the year. I decided to do the local 21 with the farm track tacked on and it was beautiful, the hedgerows were full of goldfinches and sparrows and there was a real feeling that summer's on it's way which was awesome.
There wasn't much wind either, which was a bonus, and I averaged 16.8 mph again which was cool. Anyhow, 27.2 more miles for May. Full credit for the photo above goes to Singing Wings Aviary, it's a pretty awesome pic!
May 7th: I managed to get out again this afternoon and do the same route as yesterday. It was just as hot and sunny but a lot windier which was no surprise but it was still the second t-shirt only ride of the year. The wind dropped my average to just 16.1 mph as well but it was still a very enjoyable ride and 27.2 more miles.
May 14th: I did the same ride again today. It was just as hot and sunny but with a cold northerly wind that really didn't help. There was one puzzling thing about the ride that I must look into. There were bright orange A4 notices stuck on lamp posts and fences all over the place with the Wiggle logo on and something about northern events so I'm guessing there's a mass participation run or bike ride coming up maybe? Anyhow, another 27.2 miles.
May 30th: Lanzarote at last! It was a bit too fierce to cycle in the afternoon so at 6 o'clock I set out to do a local ride I created. It started by heading a few miles up a single carriageway through the Rubicon desert and then did a huge loop around a lava field by the sea and then headed back down the same single carriageway into Playa Blanca.
There was a lot of climbing, especially around the loop section, but I really enjoyed it, the Planet X Pro Carbon climbs like a goat! One mistake I made was adding a loop at the top near El Golfo to try and add a few miles to the route. This proved to be an unpaved track that serviced a few remote properties and nearly shook my teeth out by the time I got back to the road. Anyhow, a good ride and 24.4 more miles.
Not a brilliant month with a total of only 126.7 miles but I've had Lanzarote to prepare for and I've spent a lot of time restoring the Claud Butler. Here's hoping next month's total is a bit higher.
April 4th: I had the day off work today and the weather was bright and sunny so I headed out to do the local 21. It was very windy (the weird kind that blows in the same direction constantly) but a gorgeous sunny day so I decided to do the farm track section and back again on the way.
I wore my cycling shorts, t-shirt and running top for only the third time this year and despite the wind I was almost warm on certain parts of the ride. Overall though it was a pretty enjoyable ride and 27.5 miles to kick April off.
April 9th: The weather was looking fairly dodgy today, overcast and fairly cold, but I decided to do the local 21 anyway. As it turned out, it started raining after a few minutes and rained steadily throughout the entire ride. It was also fairly windy so not the best ride ever although I did see a large Kestrel (thus female?) hunting over one of the fields along the edge of the village which was pretty cool. Anyhow, it was another 22.6 miles in the bag.
April 10th: It was much sunnier today and a bit warmer than yesterday so I did the local 21 again. I initially thought I was going to get a record average speed because the wind seemed to be behind me constantly, I was cruising at 21+ mph for miles. My plan was thwarted however as soon as I hit the East Lancs, the wind was howling at me diagonally and I struggled to maintain 12-14 mph at times. Anyhow, a good workout and 21.7 more miles.
April 13th: Aaaaaand again. It was sunny turning to overcast and not too cold or windy so quite a nice ride overall. I was wearing my first ever set of bib shorts for their inaugural trip. They are Lusso Pro Peleton in medium which I got for half price from Merlin in a sale. They are fantastic quality (especially compared to my medium Alturas which are baggy and misshapen) even though they do make taking a leak something of a challenge... Anyhow, I think they're a bit small so I'll go to Merlin today and get a set in large and sell the mediums on. 21.2 more miles.
April 16th: I had the day off today and started by driving up to Merlin Cycles in Buckshaw Village to pick up a pair of bib shorts in large. With that issue sorted I headed out to do the local 21. The weather was like it has been a lot recently ie absolutely beautiful sunshine but very, very windy which is a pain.
On the plus side though, the new Lusso bib shorts are fantastic. Very, very comfortable and they look good too, properly skintight unlike my baggy Altura shorts. Interestingly, unlike a lot of cycling clothes, the Lusso sizing guides are pretty spot on, I'm 5' 11" with a 32" waist and the large are a very good fit. Anyhow, 21.1 more miles.
April 17th: I was fairly short of time today so I decided to brave the Old Coach Road. Again, it was bright and sunny but fairly breezy so a pleasant enough ride. I was a bit worried that it would be over-run with dog walkers again but I didn't see any at all which was a bonus and it was another 15.5 miles for April.
20th April: I really dropped on for todays ride. One of my colleagues phoned in sick on Monday and there was no one available to cover the late shift. In desperation, my supervisor Cath said "How about you have Wednesday afternoon off if you cover the late shift?" Given that the BBC said Wednesday was going to be 'The nicest day of the year so far' I selflessly agreed to cover it!
It turned out to be a cloudless, hot, sunny spring day so I decided to do the local 21 with the farm track tacked on and then come home via Billinge. It was pretty windy at times but when the wind dropped it was hot. I rode with my running top sleeves rolled up and after 1h 56m in the sun, I'm sure my cyclists tan is starting to make a come back! A fun ride and 31.9 more miles.
23rd April: It was quite a strange ride today, It was a beautiful sunny day with blue skies and white clouds but also extremely windy. Anyhow, I headed out to do the local 21 miler again, I was going to add the farm path on to the ride but the wind put me off. One thing I forgot to mention on my last ride was the baby bunnies. There's an enormous grass verge on Dale Lane behind Kirkby and on the last ride and this one it was covered with baby rabbits, seriously cute! A hard ride but I managed to average 16.0 mph which I was pleased with and it was another 21.4 miles.
30th April: They the weather in April can be very changeable and they're not wrong! Given that we had a few very warm sunny days in the middle of April, the last week has been awful. We've had a week of wind and rain and then I found myself changing a car puncture in the middle of a snow storm in Manchester on Thursday morning! Anyhow, it was sunny but windy today and I managed to get out and do the local 21 for a final 21.5 more miles for April which finishes with 204.4 on the clock.
