Serendipitous post ride inspection revealed some minor structural issues with Ursula- nothing a good frame builder couldn’t repair economically. A few phone calls later and Winston Vaz Varohna Frameworks - Varonha Frameworks provisionally agreed to do the work. Having seen a photograph of the affected area, he agreed to undertake repair and we also discussed modernisation and alteration. Afterall, we’d be talking new paint...
I’ve decided to have a disc mount added and perhaps a few little tweaks to the cable run but we’ll see what Winston feels best, nearer the time. I’ve stripped the frame down to headset and bottom bracket and will remove these just before I’m ready to send to him.
Meantime, I’ve woken the Dawes Edge from its slumber and into service...
While I was bolting everything together, I’d reached a point where I couldn’t wire up the rear mech for want of an inner cable, so I then stopped and found myself fitting wheels. Last time I offered a set of Ursula’s they appeared to fit but I hadn’t fitted the cantilevers. This time, with the Shimano CX cantilevers in situ, it became plain that I was misguided. 700c all the way...
Not a major issue but meant I needed a rear, 700c wheel. I found one from a respected dealer- three cross to an XT hub. I’m a firm believer in recycling good kit and not spending money unnecessarily, provided things are fit for the intended purpose. Cosmetics are one thing- the odd, minor scratch in some anodising isn’t going to cause me distress but a hub about to blow its guts is not a sound investment.
Rubber wise, I had a root around and went for a 38mm (about 1.5 in) Specialized Crossroads and a 37 mm (about 1.5 in) Continental Contact Plus, which seemed a suitable and dependable pairing. I’ve a bigger, 42mm section somewhere and will probably take this route at the rear, 37 up front in due course.
I gave a relatively low mileage 12-25 cassette a liberal blast of degreaser and seriously good scrub to purge the existing waxy petrochemical gunge. From grotty to respectable in five minutes and I’m including warm water rinsing. I fitted the chain but couldn’t fully connect the magic links securely but thankfully, the sleeping hub held everything nicely together, meantime. Since I was tackling chains, I replaced my fixed gear winter/trainer’s as it was now essentially bin fodder. Out of interest, does anyone use the magic links on a fixed? My concern is they’d brake under the increased load...
Before I change tack, here’s my review of the Muc-Off Bicycle Chain Brush Muc-Off Bicycle Chain Brush | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com)
Then of course, there’s the bike cleaner concentrate binge. I tend to buy concentrates, leaving them stock for degreasing duties and making a couple of custom strengths for cleaning bikes. Typically, the bog standard 100ml/900ml water for lightly soiled bikes and a 200ml/800ml water mix for winter’s grot and to a lesser extent, mountain biking/similarly boggy stuff.
Now, the thing to remember is that you stray from the manufacturer's guidelines/directions at your own risk. These strengths, at least with well-known brands haven’t left streaks, dulled finishes, or dried out composite/rubber components, such as seals when rinsed properly but I’ve seen (and used) what are essentially patio cleaners re-branded as bike washes/degreasers.
They’re cheap and fine on cassettes and really soiled rings and similar but I’ve not left anything anodised, or painted marinating too long. Even in dilute, bike wash forms, I’ve never left lingering and they’re quite prone to streaking.
Talking of cassettes, I’m considering going over to a 12-28 with Ursula and renewing the Tiagra mech for a medium cage counterpart, or possibly even a longer cage Microshift model, although that’s a bit OTT for my needs and a longer arm runs the risk of getting caught on something.
Takes me back to the late 80s when people were whizzing around on the lowest gears possible, the cage and jockey wheels hovering millimetres away from the tarmac. At the other extreme, during 1990 and 1991 there was a short-lived trend for sticking short cage road mechs on mountain bikes. Sure, shifts were snappier, but they weren’t designed with trail duties in mind, breakages being similarly common.
Continuing the gravel/off road theme, Extra UK Extra UK have sent me this Ergon All Road Men’s saddle. It has a slightly flat profile and bucks the short nose trend. Beneath the waterproof, faux leather cover we have “orthopaedic comfort foam”, which conjures up images of high-end mattresses but is designed to provide optimal support without feeling like a loaf of bread. The base is a nylon composite, and this is neatly tethered to hollow Cro-Moly rails.
Hardly exotic perhaps and explains why it tips the scales at 350g. Cro-moly rails require a decent coat of paint, which seems the case here. Superficially well executed and noticeable, only in the most positive sense but proof's in the long haul sitting.
Being a gender specific design there’s a male specific channel. I’ve been quite fortunate with some unisex, date I say neutral patterns, the Ritchey WCS Cabrillo being a prime example. More curious was the cut out...Might this be to protect me from reverb when unleashing an epic fart? For the time being, it’ll serve on my fixed gear winter/trainer and in time, a couple of hundred miles, I’ll port it over to the Dawes.
A couple of changeable months and many miles hence, I’ve reached my conclusions about the Blub Ceramic Lube Blub Ceramic Chain Lube | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com) and while I’m still testing its wax counterpart, there are some definite similarities between the two, which I believe may be attributable to the ceramic particles. Both assume a wet consistency when the temperatures drop below the early teens.
In this context, both also transfer quite readily to hands and other surfaces, although mud, grit and grime appear to lodge within the outer layer and doesn’t evolve into the drivetrain chomping grinding paste some wet formulas do.
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