Wet muddy lanes and embedded sharps have declared the puncture season open- the first penetrating the Maxxis RamblerMaxxis Rambler Tubeless Ready Tyres | cycling-not-racing and several rides later, the Continental Pure Contact finally succumbed. Slow punctures, mercifully meaning they were only apparent when I’d reached home and not completely flaccid at that stage. Sometimes it’s the little things. Both were easily patched, although I’d replaced both with fresh butyl.
Standard practice wherever
possible, keep the patched tubes as spares. My only minor misgiving about the
Continentals is they are a very tight fit-less problematic when mounting but
can tax tyre levers (yes, you’ll want two, ideally three). By the third patch,
I’m consigning them to scrap. Saw a bundle of five going for a very favourable
price, so wasted no time purchasing.
The conditions presented
opportunities to don the Sidi Algor, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the
sole’s balance of stiffness and walkability. These are rated 5 on Sidi’s
stiffness scale, but their rigidity is palpably better than the Shimano MW5 Shimano
MW501 Dry Shield SPD MTB Shoes | cycling-not-racing-particularly apparent
when riding fixed where honking on the climbs is mandatory.
Having dismounted and run up some
fairly steep climbs, I’ve found the Algor’s soles less grippy, but they may bed
in over time. I’ve since switched to
Ursula and indulged in some further exploration of unmade roads and bridleways,
which will provide better insight into their off-road prowess.
Opportunity also presented, so I
dressed Denise’s WTB drops in the Ergon Orthro cell bar tape. At 230cm long per
side, there’s oodles of it, and at one point, I thought I might be able to dress
the big, swoopy bars using a single roll. Spoiler alert, I couldn’t but came
frustratingly close, even wrapping around the hoods “figure of eight”. Nonetheless,
there was plenty of scope if you ran a tri bar setup, or a gravel model, such
as Redshift Sports Top Shelf family.
I was also surprised to discover how much backing adhesive the Silica Nastro PilotiSilca Nastro Piloti Bar Tape | cycling-not-racing left behind after a few months and only modest weathering. That’s a statement of fact, dare I say, surprise, rather than a criticism. I’ve been contemplating going over to a 12-28 cassette with Denise, giving some slightly lower gearing, since its medium cage will manage 28teeth without turning cannibal.
Temptation is to wear the medium
mech out, go for a long arm cage and 11-34 tooth cassette, giving a more
touriste range, but without going gravel’s monster 9-42 1x route. Now, I’m
going to preface this by saying gearing is a very personal choice with a wealth
of influencing factors, including rider strength, terrain, and luggage. Late 80s
onward, touring lorries and mountain bikes tended to share groupsets, and I’ve
little doubt this is a big influence. Back in 1991, I had a 19-inch bottom gear
on my Super Dalesman and found myself needing to tame an impromptu wheelie when
powering away from a junction in the wee small hours.
I’m very fond of the gravel genre
in the broad strokes sense- it’s the all-terrain, spirit of escape thing. Bar
bags and capacious seat packs also speak to me. However, while bike packing
luggage certainly has its place, I prefer luggage that doesn’t rest against the
frame. Therefore, the trend for removing mudguard and rack eyelets does nothing
for me.
Racks are easily and
inexpensively repainted, framesets less so. I also tend to dress the tubing in
scrap butyl to prevent wear- this M Part Summit M Part Summit
Rear Rack | cycling-not-racing is starting to show some minor chips several
months down the trail. True, panniers can limit the ability to sneak through winding,
narrow singletrack and they do add precious grams, not to mention some air
resistance. You do you, I’ll do me and we’ll agree to differ.
For me, the beefy all-terrain
tourer and drop bar cross country mountain bike still have tremendous value and
though slower and portlier than a gravel bike, cope better when the roads and
trails become rougher and in the latter context, boggier. Indeed, machines such
as Specialized’s Tri-Cross might be better options than a gravel bike, if you
were seeking a do most.
Admittedly, it’s no longer a
production model, 6061 aluminium alloy tubes and the lack of disc mounts on
earlier versions might be a turn off for some, but I’m told later models
swallow 700x40c with 8mm to spare. Whichever route you take, there will always
be some element of compromise, and in keeping with life generally, it’s about
those that best compliment you, or have minimum negative impact.
