Post Pondering

 Sometimes I contemplate replacing the Holdsworth’s Crank Brothers Cobalt3 inline seat post. I love the lightweight inline design on many levels but the clamp, despite employing a T25 clamp fastener is a weak spot. In fairness, the clamp seems to settle, requiring just a quick tightening tweak after a few outings following a saddle switch.  

I’ve gone that route and will leave sleeping saddle cradles lie for the time being.  Should this prove a more prevalent experience, I’ll switch but that’ll be a job for another time before it goes into seasonal hibernation. Meantime, I’m enjoying the Madison Flux. Madison says they’ve spent considerable time testing and refining the design, and this shows.  

I’m not sure the Unisex design favours women, primarily because of the length but otherwise, its performance and specification are extremely attractive. Nice enough for a best bike but inexpensive enough for a working bike-although its Cro-Moly railed stablemate might be the best fit, giving change from £30. 4130/Cro-moly rails strike a fabulous balance between weight, strength, durability and price (although they need a decent coat of paint). 

The Burls Ti seat post with 15mm layback sounds like an obvious choice and would complement the stem beautifully. However, I’m an inline fan, or at least I like to be positioned directly over the bottom bracket shell-have done since my mid-teens. Yes, even on a tourer.   

The other contender is this Genetic Syngenic TEST & REVIEW: GENETIC SYNGENIC SEATPOST (sevendaycyclist.com)  which is inline and relatively svelte at 249g. I'd also given the Holdsworth’s pedal tension a quick snug down, having found my left foot unintentionally releasing while pulling away at a set of temporary traffic lights.   

I’ve also been getting some proper miles in with the Ergon All Road Core Comp Saddle and it's proving surprisingly agreeable, despite being wider than my supposed (and generally preferred) ideal. Much of this I attribute to the shape and padding density. A good six hundred miles plus before I arrive at any tangible conclusions.   

Vanguard Cycles have sent me the NZero degreaser and dry wax lube, the latter is a little ironic, given my last entry discussing my preference for hybrid blends. Both are petrochemical free, and the former is reckoned to blitz tenacious petrochemical lubes and greases. Formative impressions suggest its quite potent and effective on chain lube, but greases in my experience, can prove very stubborn (which is obviously a good thing), so we’ll see how effectively the eco-friendly chemical brew breaks them down. 

I was heartened by the news that Mercian cycles has been rescued and will continue building frames in Derby. It was bought by four local businessmen, who are cyclists themselves and will keep the frame builders. That might sound obvious, their main selling point but it could easily have been a case of the brand being bought and essentially becoming a retailer. Frame building being limited to off the peg frames made in the Far East and given Mercian decals. In many respects, I doubt the latter would fly with the cycling community but could’ve easily happened.  

In automotive circles, MG cars and BSA motorcycles have reappeared but have no connection with the original, British brands. Despite this, I’ve heard patriotic breast beating regarding the latter’s “return”. The collapse of Britain’s motorcycle industry was different to other sectors and influenced by changing social expectations, standards of living and the mini. However, in common with the car industry, complacency and a reluctance to develop and innovate on the part of senior managers were major players.  

While deep cleaning the house, I accidentally knocked the believed dead Apeman A80 4K Action Camera APEMAN A80 ACTION CAMERA | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com), only for it to mysteriously power up AND begin recording. Puzzled (but glad I didn’t consign it to landfill) I decided to park it on charge and see whether it will perform reliably going forward.  I had a spare battery in any case. The unit needs a weatherproof casing for anything other than dry conditions, hence my defaulting to the Compak, which has an integrated weatherproof casing.  

Talking of waterproof, here’s Steve’s review of the Showers Pass Crosspoint Ultralight Breathable Waterproof Socks ShowersPass UltraLight Waterproof Sockc | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com)