Feeling The Urge

Project management phase 1 completed and site furniture reclaimed-albeit slowly. The portable toilet was great for Impromptu bike leaning but also enticed an amorous couple in the early hours of Monday morning…

Tempting though it was to sing that immortal verse from “drunken sailor” i.e. “hooray and up she rises!” (Judging by their levels of intoxication, this feat was unlikely). Security light and my reproving silence, saw them slink away into the night.  

I’ve since found time to swap the mighty Halo aerotrak for John Moss’ meticulously crafted Mavic Open Pro build. There’s little margin for error at the MK2 Pompino’s rear triangle, which will just about swallow a 35mm tyre sans (full length) chrome plastics.

This wheel’s been precision tensioned and trued to .1mm-no tyre on chainstay flirtation here. John urged caution during the bedding-in phase but I’m delighted to report unnerving pinging and dinging of spokes under load have remained academic in the past 125 miles.

Hub, though not of the Halo’s calibre, is surprisingly smooth nonetheless. Serendipity…I may switch back to the Halo during the murkier months-purely because of its retina warming charms.

Talking of which and ss August recedes, I’ve been enjoying the longer evenings. Unless I’m doing a dead of night blast along the lanes, a couple of mid-power blinkies and/or a compact front light on standby is optimum.

Until 2100hrs, it’s about being seen, so, up front 200-350 lumens is more than adequate. A system that will dip to 150 round town is better still, conserving reserves until they’re really needed. New season’s lighting is beginning to trickle onto the Seven Day Cyclist test bench and I’ve just taken delivery of Xeccon Mars 30 and Xeccon Mars 60 smart rear lights.

“Intelligent” lighting; units that automatically adjust i.e. becoming more/less intense automatically, according to situations/conditions have been the preserve of higher end models, including See Sense icon plus https://www.sevendaycyclist.com/see-sense-icon-rear-light . Like most technology, elements are starting to creep into the lower price brackets. In this instance, the light supposedly becomes more intense at closer range and under braking.

The 60 is considerably bigger than its 30 lumen sibling and boasts a unique bracket, presumably to cope with the additional size and (relative) weight. To be honest, I’m surprised they haven’t both shared the latter’s bracket, since superficially, it seems a superior design. Time will tell. Both of these employ the increasingly standard, integrated fit n’ forget lithium ion rechargeable cell.

 For general riding and where it’s easy to cadge a charge from mains/laptop/PC these batteries are extremely practical. However, I still firmly believe there’s a place for AA/A fuelled lights. So does Sigma judging by their Stereo model.

This one features two slightly old school 0.5 watt LEDs but is reckoned visible to 400metres. It also comes complete with two rechargeable AAA cells, which can be refuelled in the usual way, or via a more traditional mains charger. Better still, this set up also ensures you can run dry cells; should need arise. On paper, this also means the light isn’t bin fodder, once the OEM cells cash in their chips.

Perfect for touring, or those occasions where you’ve forgotten to charge it. Stop off at your off-licence, supermarket etc, pick up some batteries and you’re back in business. Why not keep a stash handy? That way, you’re fully prepared should the switch cum charge indicator turn red along a dark country lane, 25 miles from home/civilisation.

We’ve also received some Align footwear insoles. https://alignfootwear.uk   Commanding the lion’s share of £50, these are a high end design from Denmark, which uses their patented “Tri-Planar” technology.

This three point support, theoretically aligns the wearer’s foot. Eliminating other, seemingly unrelated pains-knees, hips, shoulder etc. Now, I had a BG (Body Geometry) consultation and fitting by Specialized at their Surrey HQ almost nine years back.

This revealed that my saddle height was 1mm below optimum. While my legs were of identical length, my right femur was longer than the other, resulting in a tendency to lean slightly to the left.

Consequently, shoulder discomfort and other muscular skeletal niggles set in given a few hours. Admittedly, this is exaggerated by other, everyday factors, such as long periods at a laptop and previous knocks sustained during motorcycle and cycling spills.

BG red insoles were prescribed at the time and genuinely improved my riding experience. Will be interesting to see how the Align pan out over the next month, or so. They seem a precision fit in these recently resurrected Scott shoes, which is a good start. I'm genuinely feeling some benefit after 75miles or so but that, could simply be the hawthorn effect at play. Six weeks, 600 miles to go.