Story goes these were invented after
Jon fancied a quick blast on Gary’s bike. Unbeknown to him, Gary had “just
chucked a bit of oil on his chain and cassette” seeing as they were looking a
bit dry…
Mid wheelie, Jon engaged the rear
brake…Nothing. Next thing he knew he was flat on his back and the concept was
born. Being marine engineers, they made a prototype from cardboard and
refined the design with some input from Huddersfield University.
The brake shields are essentially a
massive “bib” that clips on in literally seconds once you’ve got the knack. Bike
Bib was their intended moniker but it seems, Michelin own the name “bib”…
Ultimately, they decided
polypropylene was the ideal, flexible, chemical resistant material. In fact,
they are so confident in its longevity, they will replace free of charge and
under normal use, so long as you send them a short video explaining how they
failed.
First slip the shield behind the
cassette and secure the tab around a convenient spoke. Clip the top hook around
another spoke and check it won’t move when you rotate the cranks backwards.
Once you’ve cleaned and/or
re-lubricated your chain, unclip and flush the channel through with a bit of
bike wash/concentrate and rinse that away using tepid water. Despite some initial
scepticism; it’s beginning to find favour with me.
Out of the blue, this Blackburn
Piston 4 floor pump arrived on the SDC test bench-straight from the States.
It’s a high volume model, featuring a steel barrel and base, which are welded
together and finished in a very fetching gunmetal grey, a huge 3 inch gauge
that goes all the way to 220psi.
Formative impressions are very
favourable-these 35mm Clement were brought from flaccid to 90psi in a cool 38
strokes and my Univega’s 26x1.75 Vittoria to 80 in 50, both with minimal
effort. As you’d expect from this end of the market, not to mention Blackburn,
the build quality is absolutely top notch, with a really solid feel and refined
action.
While looking at foot mounted gauges
is hardly a hardship, the super clear top unit means there’s no excuse for
over-inflation and if you do, simply scrub off the unwanted pressure by
hitting the head’s integral bleed valve.
Other pleasant surprises
include these uber lumen Meteor Storm Pro and Shield-X lights from their UK importerwww.raleigh.co.uk . In recent
years, high power systems have become increasingly compact, especially for the
road market. The Meteor storm pro boasts a range of steady settings delivering
between 1700 and 125 lumens, which is very impressive from a torch type with
integral battery.
On paper, this range should cater for
everything from race pace antics along unlit back roads to urban commuting.
Admittedly offset by 6hour charge times, a quoted run time of 2hrs with the
full 1700 on tap is pretty reasonable given its fuelled by a 3.6 volt 3200mAH
cell…Buying a second will obviously extend its potential, especially since
those sorts of charge times aren’t the most convenient for desk bound
commuters.
Spec wise, we have two Cree XM-L2
diodes, CNC machined aluminium casing for durability and excellent heat
displacing qualities and an automatic shut down in the unlikely event of
overheating. No less than ten modes, including a 2000lumen flashing “day”
mode that they reckon will run for a claimed 38hours.
Those looking at the bottom line will
point out that high power Cree units complete with battery and charger can be
picked up online for around the £20mark. True, these offer a lot of bang for
little buck but tend to be a little unrefined in terms of delivery. Three
modes, run times around5hours in top are quite enticing and in my experience,
practical for longer winter training runs along unlit roads.
However, reflector and lens quality
tends to be bargain basement, so while there’s enough bite for 35mph plus on
straight sections, they tend not to be so useful in the twisties.
They’re decidedly overpowered in the
suburbs, let alone town centres too, which is where those with more
intelligent, multiple modes score highly. On a completely different note, I
found myself roped into photographing a wedding at a days’ notice-one of the
biggest textbook no-no’s for any photographer.
However, I had trusty CSCs and a few
suitable lenses, so was happy enough to help out; on the understanding it was a
favour. Despite some initial trepidation, the Baptist ceremony went
surprisingly smoothly. I was even asked by one guest, if I had photographed her wedding
22 years previously (!). Right, off for a chat with Tegan Philips about her bike,
Axel
