Tubes, Glorious Tubes

 During the dying embers of 1979, I recall a Z-list comedian letting a balloon roar flatulently into the crowd, quipping “That’s what Mrs. Thatcher needs...Deflation!!” Fast forward 43 years, prices of food and other essentials are rocketing. Inflation is at a sobering 9%… 

Moments from home I was struck by another, all-too-familiar sinking, and squirming, as I engaged Ursula’s front brake. Yup, the Vittoria Evolution had succumbed to a sharp flint that had lodged within its chevrons and burrowed into the casing.  

Blowouts are rare.  

Most punctures follow this narrative and this one had the grace to hold off until I was parallel to home. Being 5.55 am, I simply switched the Ryde/Alfine Shimano Alfine UR700 Hub Dynamo | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com)  for the Ryde/Shutter Precision SD8 SHUTTER PRECISION SD8 HUB DYNAMO | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com) shod with a Schwalbe Land Cruiser, which employs a similar level of puncture resistance to the Vittoria and broadly on par, price-wise.

  

My first flat in 750 miles, too. Inspecting the tube revealed a tiny pinprick, which was easily patched. I left it hung up and inflated while replenishing the patches in my two kits, while on my mind.  

I had some business in the midlands and made arrangements to leave my car at John Moss’s house. LOVE RESURRECTION: JOHN AND JANE MOSS'S TANDEM TRICYCLE (sevendaycyclist.com) 

Transpired he and Jane are doing some “Swedish Death Cleaning” so very kindly gifted me a batch of new, unused tubes (700x32 and a 26x1.5) which was very welcome and extremely kind on their part. Ironically, I returned to discover two 25mm Eclipse Road inner Tubes and this Kask Protone Icon Helmet awaiting me.  

The Tubes are TPU and reckoned not only to be lighter but reduce rolling resistance while being more resistant to flats. These feature a welded valve stem, which is also reckoned to be superior to bonded and glued types.  

The Eclipse are also reckoned repairable, although dedicated patches require a decent curing time-overnight, ideally. So, I’d be inclined to carry a butyl spare, or two just in case. These are earmarked for the Teenage Dream, which frankly, is the most obvious candidate, save perhaps for the Holdsworth...  

Weather conditions have presented opportunity to go out and enjoy my beloved road bike and given its presently sporting the now discontinued A520 pedals, I’ve clicked in and racked up some miles with the Shimano MT701 shoes.  

Took me a few rides before this incarnation of the Boa lacing system became truly intuitive. Well, release was the issue. I’d gone into Child-at-Christmas mode, without reading the instructions and couldn’t work out how to slacken the laces. This is just a matter of pulling the Boa wheel upwards. The MT701 are increasingly becoming my go-tos for general riding.  

That said; think I’ll stick to the Quoc Pham Tourer when it comes to the Teenage Dream since the soles are that bit stiffer. As for the PD ED 500 pedals, no surprise to learn I’m warming to their charms as the miles rack up. A good bet for touring and indeed, light, dry trail work. Dare I say the G word... 

I managed to lose a spoke magnet on Ursula’s Ryde/Alfine wheel but thankfully, I had a couple of generic, auction site specials in stock. I was also slightly surprised to find the Cat Eye Viz 100 LED light had lost its USB plug. Porting it beneath the saddle, thus sheltering it from rain and spray, was the obvious move. 

 

Talking of which, I’ve concluded the Teenage Dream’s saddle height was just a fraction too low, so raised it by a few milimetres- now perfect. Must’ve been when I re-greased the Thompson post, using the Peaty’s Bicycle Assembly Grease PEATY'S BICYCLE ASSEMBLY GREASE | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com) 

Strip Club

 I needed some mental downtime, and provided I’m not under undue pressure, immersion in a mechanical project can be extremely therapeutic. I’d intended to decompress by giving my fixed gear winter/trainer a midweek sudsy bucket clean and top up the now thirsty looking KMC S1 chain. However, one thing led to three successful missions.  

I was suddenly compelled to check whether Ursula’s RL340 would pull sufficient cable, thus removing any need to disturb the cockpit, save for a new cable and obviously, the bar wrap.  Having measured the TRP compresionless cable set and pruned to approximate length, I placed the wheel and forks into a stand, paired everything together.  

Drum roll...Engaging the lever proved a welcome surprise- decent modulation, travel and feel, no mushiness, sponginess or bottoming out. Hmm...Spotted a primer patch peeking through the School Chair fork, so on went a thin layer of black. Midweek...Should be nicely cured come the weekend... 

Fixed gear winter/trainer washed and rinsed, I topped up the Bike Medicine Purple Extreme Synthetic Chain Lubricant| cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com) and gave the saddle a lick of hide food to keep it nourished.  Ditto Ursula’s Cycles Berthoud Soulor CYCLES BERTHOUD SOULOR LEATHER SADDLE | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com)    

While rummaging through various boxes, I resurrected the Infini Sword Super Bright 30 COB rear Light, which pumps out a maximum of 50 lumens and a super frugal flashing mode, genuinely good for 200 hours. No, you read that right. Not that I have any issue with the run times on my current batch of rear LEDs, but a super frugal backup is a serious boon.  

Halo Aerorage Track hub rebuilt; I’ve mounted the Kenda Kwick Roller KS Plus KENDA KWICK JOURNEY TYRES | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com). It’s a super dependable and seemingly durable model well suited to a winter/fixed-especially one forgoing a mechanical rear brake. Dusk’s cloak had well and truly been cast by this point, and I had a business meeting in Milton Keynes the following morning, so I quit while ahead, carefully repatriating everything to the garage.

Overnight Thursday had been extremely wet, with ample red, dusty rain coating cars, windows and garden furniture. Ursula was the obvious choice, especially given I’d just deep cleaned my fixed gear winter/trainer.  

Swift, compliant serenity was rudely interrupted by front mudguard stay chatter-just catching the tyre sidewalls over washboard tarmac. Annoying though. Having addressed another phantom click on Friday morning, I returned from Saturday morning’s blast convinced now was the time to switch the front end.  

Tools, cable, grease, and other essentials lain out, I commenced surgery. This took longer than intended and was defined by contemplative belching, barely audible agricultural utterances, and of course, diesel strength coffee. Wheel off, bar wrap peeled back, I slid the Univega’s triple-butted blades out and placed them gently to one side.  

Next came generous carpet of Peaty’s Assembly Grease PEATY'S BICYCLE ASSEMBLY GREASE | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com) to the school chair fork’s crown race and everything was going to plan. The Gusset Headshock system also got a lick of grease before I introduced the mudguard and dialed the top cap’s preload, just to hold everything together. Ryde Andra 40/ Shutter Precision SD8 wheelSHUTTER PRECISION SD8 HUB DYNAMO | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com) securely in place, I pruned the TRP cable outer further, remembering the measure twice, cut once mantra, and then fed the inner through the Tektro RL340 lever...

Fed into the outer and TRP Sypre SLC caliper, I was relieved to discover the pads hit the rotor with minimal lever travel. I then discovered that the mudguard stays weren’t long enough to connect with the Día Compe eyelet adaptors. Momentary dejection didn’t linger but my flash of initial inspiration (Bolting the left hand stay to the adaptor mount) caused caliper alignment issues.  

After some faff, I reached for some stocky black cable ties and tethered everything securely to the fork legs. No rattle, no flex. Aside from some minor cable and caliper tweaking, we were on the home straight. Bar dressed and tape secured with a spare finishing strip, I tweaked the Aheadset bearings. A couple of readjustments and rock-tests confirmed all was right, so I reattached dynamo cabling and Sigma BC9.16 computer sensorSIGMA BC9.16 ATS WIRELESS CYCLE COMPUTER | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com). Tyre pressures checked, it’s time for some shakedown rides and to bed in the stopper...Oh but before I do that, here’s my review of the Shimano Alfine Hub Dynamo Shimano Alfine UR700 Hub Dynamo | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com)