Well, the adventure travel film
festival came round just at the right time; giving digits and keyboard a
welcome break from each other. Having loaded up the KA and headed along the M1
to Mill Hill, we went the hotel, rather than tent route, although the weather
was perfect for the late evening outdoor cinema showings.
Austin Vince was an extremely
welcoming host, making time to speak with people on a personal level, adding to
the collective ambience. Now in its fourth year, the event still attracts more
motorcyclists that cyclists but that is changing.
Slowly cultivating a strange and
irrational interest in contemporary Ural and sidecar combos, I was slightly
disappointed not to catch a couple in the flesh. Nonetheless, I found myself
babbling excitedly to Sharon about two pre Aprillia Moto Guzzi and we met Miles
from Cycle Miles (www.cyclemiles.co.uk) at his stall.
Sharon loved the creative gifts and
kit, while I found myself ogling his fetching grey polo bike, which was in
trailer tug mode (!) Having made my excuses for not bringing his T2 touring
trailer along (Won’t fit in the KA, even with seats down) we then discussed his
fixer’s spec in greater details while our better halves compared notes on how
many bikes constitute too many... Most notable features of his polo steed are
this two ring FSA crankset and the single Tektro lever that commands front and
rear V brakes.
Elsewhere, Michael Murphy has devised
the latest characters for our series of children’s stories and I have been
struck by the most aggressive puncture plague in 25 years-literally depleting
my stock of 700x25 and 35-43 tubes in the space of a month!
Thankfully, I’d had the foresight to
put an order in last week, so despite receding rim tapes, embedded sharps and
the odd faulty sidewall, we’ve kept rolling.
Some of us flat more than others, I
fall into the thousands of trouble free miles, then six in a row. We’ve all got
used to cheap tube bundles now and for the most part, they work just fine,
although tend to be bin fodder- premium brands lend themselves better to
patching.
Tubeless is certainly here to stay
and I suspect, will become the dominant system over the next few years, though I'm fairly confident tubular and butyl will still enjoy a relatively strong following.
Most of us carry a couple of spare
tubes; whip in the spare and where possible, patch the injured party at the
next rest stop, or comfort of home. In common with
exhausts, two patches are my limit. Afterwards, I’ll recycle them as top
tube/chain stay protectors, boots for headsets and seat collars.
CO2 inflators have become the go-to’s
for roadside resuscitation- not just for racing/catching up with riding
companions. They certainly take the insult out of injury on those cold, rainy
winter evenings, when you’re weary and want to be home, thawing out under a hot
shower and supping a brew.
Nonetheless, being single use
products, they still work out quite pricey and mini pumps should always be on
standby, should the worst happen.
These have also improved greatly
since the days of high volume mtb types that would leave you light headed once
you’d eventually hit 40psi. Around the £25 mark buys a CNC machined aluminium
unit capable of delivering a genuine 100psi plus into a 700x25 in around 440
strokes and 5 minutes.
Infinitely preferable to the long
walk home (or being stranded) this is well within the operating range of most
high pressure road tyres. Small enough to hide unobtrusively on the bottle
bosses, or slip into a jersey pocket, mini track pump or high pressure frame
fits are my preferred options when it comes to bigger section tyres and/or
touring contexts.
Talking of which, those Maxxis Roamer
are continuing to delight with their blend of low rolling resistance and plush
ride quality. True, the Kevlar belt is less comprehensive than some, hence some
vulnerability at the shoulders, although so long as these channels are purged
of mud and similar detritus, sharps don’t get chance to work inside the tyre
casing.
The 42mm section are non starters for
my MK2 Ilpompino’s rear triangle, 32mm with full length guards and 35 without,
is tops. Nonetheless, their bigger 26x1.65 siblings look perfect for the
Univega. I’ve been suitably impressed by the Guee wrap, which has a lower
density and less rubbery texture than the Genetic flare, although lends itself
better to road biased, rather than mixed terrain riding.
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