Rambling & Roaming

 

Having tamed cranks, rim tapes and similar sources of potential mischief, it was time for longer, laden escapes from the maddening crowd.   

The Madison Summit rack has been doing its thing very competently, without fuss, or fanfare. Its TIG welded in Taiwan and to the standards I’ve come to expect from products coming out of the Far East. The 10mm rod offers a very stable platform for panniers, especially those such as this Oxford Aqua V20 with Rixen Kaul type attachments Oxford Aqua V20 Single Pannier | cycling-not-racing, which is particularly welcome along rougher roads and trails. I’m still really impressed, astounded in some respects, by the Lomo Zephyr Lomo Zephyr Waterproof Panniers | cycling-not-racing

The narrower (100mm) top section is a little slender for bigger rack bags and though this Carradice will sit reliably, allowing me to concentrate on a decent tempo, it can make fitting and removing panniers from the lower tier trickier, technically defeating the object of a two-tier design. For the record, the Carradice is 116mm wide, so a consideration if you’re planning on a bigger rack bag, especially if you’re pairing with a pannier-single or otherwise.      

 I’ve been contemplating tyres for a while and was talking in terms of something old school and beefier. I may still do this, during the winter months but I’m sticking with something swifter. I’m still impressed by the Maxxis Ravager Maxxis Ravager TR Tyres | cycling-not-racing. My experience suggests that 60tpi casings are more reliable, especially off road. I’ve had one flat with the Ravager, three with Pirelli’s perky Cinturato. Admittedly one was a rim tape issue, so not down to the tyre and they still have bags of charm but I’m craving dependability at the moment, in case that wasn’t obvious.

I got curious about Maxxis Rambler, which Maxxis say are their most popular gravel offering, reckoned to perform uniformly well along asphalt, dirt roads and gravel. The Rambler has been around for a decade now, which suggests a fundamentally very competent design. Tightly packed centre knobblies promise efficiency, while more widely spaced cornering/side knobblies promise to keep bite deep when cornering on looser surfaces.

As would be expected, it’s a dual compound, tubeless ready model. There are two variants, our 60tpi and 120tpi, they’re also available in a wealth of sizes, from 38 to 50mm. I’ve gone for the 700x40, since that’s optimal, dare I say maximum for Denise’s clearances.

The Silk shield puncture repelling technology runs from bead to bead, thus offering the sidewalls some defence against flats and cut damage. They also tip the scales at a similarly respectable 524g apiece. I’ve run ours up front, the Ravager behind, as a control for the first hundred miles. Now, the Ravager are no slouches, even on metalled roads. However, the 60tpi Rambler feel palpably faster. Having reached for the rambler front and rear, I’ve am averaging 16.7mph against 15.9mph along comparable sections and thus far, they’re proving equally engaging off road, along dry hardpack trails, unmade roads and forest trails.

Grip and cornering prowess are proving similarly dependable, although I anticipate needing something with a deeper, more mtb influenced tread when the wetter, wintry months bring boggy bridlepath.  50psi seems the sweet spot for mixed terrain shenanigans but obviously, I’ll experiment further, as time and miles advance.   While giving Muffin a well-earned wash and light fettle, one thing led to another and I was curious as to whether they’d fit comfortably up front, being 42mm (against the Continental Pure Contact, which are 40mm wide and run a hair’s breadth from the MudHugger Gravel Hugger Mudguards. Much to my surprise, the short answer is yes, and this also presented an opportunity to tweak the Spyre calliper’s alignment fractionally.

The Leatt 6.0 are still performing impeccably and having regularly alternating between Muffin (and the Shimano M540) and Denise suggests the Leatt are a little stiffer, translating in slightly improved power transfer, Finish quality is also proving very high, resisting regular dis/engagements with nominal signs of wear.  Interestingly, the Leatt cleats seem fully compatible with Shimano SPD pedals, but Shimano cleats weren’t quite so compatible and its required more effort to engage and release.

Staying with pedals, I’ve always leaned towards dirt biased SPD shoes since the power transfer is generally very good, and you can walk or run efficiently and comfortably. Race shoes, mtb or otherwise can be fine- I’m quite happy whizzing along on the fixed for several hours with these stiff soled FLR F70 Pro MTB M250 Shoe FLR F70 Pro MTB M250 Shoe | cycling-not-racing  but found them a touch too rigid, say shouldering bikes cyclo cross fashion across more technical sections, or indeed mooching around, but then our old friend “horses for courses” springs to mind. 

Flashes of Inspiration

One thing led to another as it always does. I’d returned from a wet, early Saturday morning saunter on Denise and found myself compelled to clean the teal temptress- It had been a wet, mucky week’s riding…Out with the stand, buckets, and brushes. Before I knew it, the rear wheel was out, Continental Contact Plus substituted for the Maxxis Ravager.  

 

I decided then was the time to tackle the USE SX seat post strip and re-grease. Cable tie around the post, I slackened the collar bolt and shuffled it free. Access to the elastomers and related bouncy bits was via a tension dial in the base and a 5mm Alen key.   

 

I’d already brought the Peaty’s Speed Grease PEATY'S SPEED GREASE | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com) along in readiness and within easy reach. Slackening the cap, I wasn’t surprised to find it ejected from the post base and across the concrete. Mercifully, it didn’t go the whole hog and vanish into some inaccessible point. I shied away from stripping the unit completely (quitting while ahead being the mantra here). 

  

Casual inspection suggested that while it had been a while since the post was serviced, everything was in surprisingly decent shape. I directed a generous squeeze of Peaty’s Speed Grease into the elastomer and reaffixed the tension cap, adjusting carefully.   

 

Saddle resting on my recycling bin lid, I pressed down on the post, assessing the amount of travel. A few compressions later confirmed a much smoother action, so I added some more Wolf Tooth Grease to the post and slid it back into the seat tube.  

 

Correctly aligned and checked, I snugged the collar bolt to 5nm and refitted my characterfully faded SQR tour.  Grimy patina gone from the bar tape, bike gleaming, a light coating of Muc-Off Miracle Shine Wax to finish.   

 

The petulant beep from my clothes drier signalled the end of this impromptu fettling session before I could get too engrossed and the balance tip negatively. 630am the following morning, Denise and I were out along the lanes.  

 

Greasing the post’s internals rewarded with plush, refined and progressive damping, while the Ravager, despite running at a gravel typical 30-60psi were still relatively swift at their recommended maximum, while offering a compliant ride through the green lanes.

I stuck with the Specialized Crossroads up front, as a control for the first week before switching to the Ravager. By this point, I was satisfied everything had bedded in nicely, so whipped the rear Ryde/XT wheel down to Mick at Madgetts Cycles, so he could work his magic.  

Wheel out, I suddenly had an inexplicable urge to find the other, pink cum purple skewer. One that had graced the Teenage Dream’s hubs from 1994 to 2009. Purely for aesthetics. Might save a few grams into the bargain but it’s the early 90s aesthetic to compliment the otherwise neutral colour scheme.   

 

They’ve a nice closure action, too.  Maybe it was me yearning for a supposedly simpler time- time spent chewing the tech at Bob’s Discount (Bike dealers) on Ilford Lane. Misguided if I was. These were equally challenging times, pressures of study, a perceived lack of direction beyond that, faux friends, toxic romantic relationships into the bargain.  

 

Obviously, there were some strong positives but let’s not get misty-eyed about these things. It's merely that I was struck by and still like framesets and some components/designs from that era. A lot of things have also improved greatly since then-holistically.

I like disc brakes, but cantilevers still have their place. They’re simple, lightweight, powerful. Same goes for Dual pivot calliper brakes and while both have lost favour in recent times, I don’t believe the rim brake will disappear.    

 

More importantly, once the wheel’s true, I can get the rear CX50 and pads toed-in nicely. I’d tweaked the saddle height, raising the post a few millimetres. It was more or less bang on before but again, it's what those formative rides and weeks are about-fine tuning.  

 

Doing so has also provided some added clearance between tyre and Carradice SQR Tour. Thankfully, the weather’s been nice enough that I’ve been able to get some miles in on the Holdsworth too. I’ll end here with my review of the Cycology Baja Cap Cycology Baja Cycling Cap | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com)