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.
