Rubber, Bearings n' Bounce

Wasn’t expecting to be so impressed by the CST Czar 700x28 but many early morning miles hence and they’ve won me over with their blend of speed and swift, though predictable handling-even along greasier road surfaces. Wild rabbits love to test my handling skills and help with this assessment process. Little to choose between them and the Vittoria Roubino Pro Control Vittoria Rubino Pro Control Graphene 2.0 | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com) in terms of handling and compliance. Both are 60tpi, but the Roubino Pro run between 70-100psi.  

No minimum pressure is inscribed on the Czar’s sidewall, just a maximum-120psi. I’ve defaulted to 100 and this seems my sweet spot. I was pleasantly surprised to discover sufficient clearance at the Holdsworth’s fork, so parked a Czar up front and a Roubino Pro at the rear, given. Taking this route saved at least 300g from the build and probably deliver some more zip to proceedings. I am a major fan of the Freedom Thick Slicks, but an opportunity presented itself.  

Puncture resistance is dependable thus far. However, I have a quiet thought as to its long-term durability in this respect. A reflection of the price point, rather than the Czar specifically. I say this, since, in my experience, most budget-belted models seem dependable to around the 2,500mile (about 4023.36 km) mark before losing their edge a little.  

Back in 1989, I had a set of Nutrack 27x1 ¼ on my Holdsworthy built Claud Butler Super Dalesman. These became vulnerable to flats during a Norfolk tour, so were replaced with Michelin’s bargain mile munching World Tour (eventually superseded by some Vredestein due to clearance hassles). In the early 80s, there was a trend for relatively tight clearances, even “fully fledged” touring lorries were designed with 32mm tyres in mind. There’s a lot to love about this breed. They handled beautifully laden, or otherwise, had strong brakes and sufficient gearing to ride up, down, and along the Great Wall of China.  

Keeping a 3x drivetrain well-mannered could be a chore sometimes, though-especially through a grotty winter.  That said; while I like the relative simplicity of 1X setups, they tend to be relatively expensive, particularly when it comes to cassettes, given the wide spread of ratios involved. They also require mechs with very long arms, reminiscent of mid-80s mountain bikes, although I have subverted this by running a road typical 11-25 block and road mech. Works for me, for the most part, although there is some trade-off when it comes to winching and bombing prowess.  

There is a quiet movement for repurposing older mountain bikes as drop bar tourers/monster cross and gravel bikes. One I happen to subscribe to. However, if you’re going the drop bar route, there are a few things to consider. One is cable routing (if you are heading towards a front derailleur) the other is stem length/height.

Older cross-country mountain bikes tend to have very long top tubes. This partially explains why I run a stumpy 35mm stem, even on a 17.5-inch frameset. I am proportionately short in the torso but by contrast, on a semi/traditional road build, I run an 80, or 90mm stem.    

Staying with the front end, I decided it was time to retire Ursula’s long-serving (8 years) Stronglight O’Light. This time, I’ve gone for another, the Stronglight O’Light ST. ST denotes steel, whereas the O’Light was aluminium alloy. I had planned on just switching the bearings from the bitsa ST I bought some months back.  

However, it became clear the O’Lite cups were also looking tired, forcing my hand. I took this opportunity to prune the steerer by 15mm, switched to a shorter Gusset Headlock Cro-moly bolt and lost the extra spacers. Cleaner aesthetic too... The stiffer Kinekt Suspension Stem KINEKT SUSPENSION STEM | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com) spring also arrived this week, so I wasted no time in switching to it.  A very easy job, thanks to the design’s engineered simplicity.  

 

Forks, Spacers & A Bit of Faff

 

I decided to break fitting into two sessions. Primarily since there was quite a bit going on and am a subscriber to the measure thrice, cut once school of steerer tube pruning. After all, you can always lop a bit off, or add another spacer. You *can’t* add more fork steerer tube.(I know it is technically possible, but highly impractical, especially when it comes to aluminium alloy).    

Some will point out that you don’t need a dedicated cutting guide and, taken to its lowest common denominator this is also true. However, guides make life considerably easier and reduces the risk of potentially costly mishaps. However, a decent quality hacksaw, marker and steady hand are imperative. 

Preamble aside, having pruned the steerer to the desired length, I quit while ahead and started installation the following afternoon. I had been more conservative when cutting the steerer, so rounded up some additional spacers to compensate. Wheel removed, cable ties for mudguard (fenders), dynamo cabling and computer sensor snipped, it was time to perform the switch.  

The most complex part was juggling everything in situ (only to discover I needed to switch the spacers around). Blessing in disguise, it gave an opportunity to re-grease the Aheadset bearings (Last done six months back). Park Tool Polylube 1000 TESTED: PARK TOOL POLYLUBE 1000 LUBRICANT FOR BICYCLES (sevendaycyclist.com) to the rescue. Besides, I wanted to use the tube up, since it had burst along the seam.  

A quick lick to the Gusset Headlock’s threaded parts since I was there and shot of spray grease inside Ursula’s inner sanctum rounded things off nicely. Even doing the crude, juggle n’ lift comparison test, the new carbon set was palpably lighter than the very likeable 4130 Cro-Moly “school chair” pair.  

Everything together, pre-load set, I reintroduced the wheel and tethered cabling to the new fork leg and was just about to tether the mudguard (fender) stays when I noted a distinct lack of graceful curve. After some contemplation, it was clear that I’d need to trim the stays down a bit. I have chosen the cable tie route since this was discrete and yet stable arrangement.  

Topeak Versa mount are another alternative, although I’ve seen some riders employ “Banjo clips” commonly employed in plumbing and other applications. However, if you are going this route, regardless of fork material, make a shim from cut down inner tube to protect the finish.  

Admittedly, the mudguard’s curve isn’t as graceful as first hoped but stable and functional. I also switched this “universal” computer sensor magnet for a Cat-Eye unit. To some extent, one magnet is much the same as any other and in my experience, many have proven interchangeable. Sensors tend to be model specific, although, from time to time, I've got lucky when plundering the spares box. 

 

However, the profiles can be incompatible with some setups too thick and thus strike the disc calliper. Precisely the issue with my fixed gear winter trainer-hence the switch around. A stock of spacers always comes in handy. I’ve replenished supplies of these and some M5 bottle bolts since those belonging to my working bikes were past their prime.

 

I managed to restrain my “Child at Christmas” urges and resisted the temptation to nip out for a shakedown ride the following morning. Wanted to cast fresh eyes over everything first. Saturday came. A quick once over and I headed out for a 90-minute dawn meander.  

Formative impressions are favourable.  

Aside from a palpably lighter front end, they seem to provide a compliant ride over washboard tarmac. I pulled over at one point to tweak the Aheadset- an easy two-minute job-once I’d found my multi tool. Pondered 15mm spacer beneath the stem, for improved aesthetics and possibly tenure at that point. Went that route several days later and, famous last words, I won’t meddle with this arrangement. 

I'll leave you with my review of the Shimano MT701 GTX SPD Shoes Shimano MT701 GTX SPD Shoes | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com)