Winter, it is always said, brings
harsher weather and less opportunity to fettle bikes, so preparing machines and
rider for the elements makes the meaner seasons much easier on both. Ceramic Coatings have been around in
automotive circles for a good while and they’ve also been creeping into the
cycling market over the past few years.
These promise long-lasting
protection from UV light oxidisation, corrosion, swirls, scratches and similar
nasties. However, they also require very thorough preparation, which can be
time-consuming and harsh chemicals can still strip, or at least, impair their
protectant qualities.
Weldtite Rapid Ceramic Shield Weldtite
Rapid Ceramic Shield | cycling-not-racing impressed me with its speed and
convenience, requiring the minimum of prep-save for a good sudsy bucket clean
to remove any pre-existing contaminant. It could then be applied via a damp
cloth all over the bike. Some products aren’t designed for matt finishes, so check
first.
Muc-Off has sent me their Ceramic,
so It’ll be interesting to see how it compares with the Weldtite, Fenwicks and
others I’ve tried in the recent past. It’s another formula designed to be sprayed,
polished and done. Convenient and reportedly plays nicely with pre-existing
ceramic coatings, so we’ll see… Chances are I’ll use the Weldtite Rapid Ceramic
Shield as control and take things from there. Admittedly, testing will be in
real-world, rather than laboratory conditions, which may make some claims
trickier to evaluate.
Having exhausted the All-Mountain
Style Miami Glide Bicycle Chain Wax The
All Mountain Style Miami Glide | cycling-not-racing , I’ve given Denise a
deep clean, since I needed to strip the drivetrain before switching to Weldtite
All Weather Weldtite
All Weather Lube | cycling-not-racing. The KMC X10 was registering next to
no wear, so we’ll see how many miles I can amass before it hits .75 and becomes
bin fodder.
Inspecting the brake pads
revealed some very palpable wear. I had spares, so switched them, stripping and
cleaning the bosses before adding a light coating of Juice Lubes Slick Juice Juice
Lubes Slick Juice Low Friction Gre | cycling-not-racing and some thread
lock to the mounting bolts. Cables were fine, ditto the Tektro levers, so
didn’t merit a more involved tear down. I’ll switch to the Dia Compe when
cables and bar tape need replacing.
While searching for my headset
spanners, I unearthed a little-used 11-25 cassette sporting some ingrained waxy
grime. This was popped in a tub and left marinating in Juice Lubes Bike Cleaner
Concentrate, while I fettled. Hollowtech bearings felt fine, some very minor
play removed from the Stronglight headset, it was just a matter of giving the
cables, pivot points and cleat mechanisms a quick squirt of Muc-Off MO94 Muc-Off
MO94 Multi Use Spray | cycling-not-racing
Removing the Lomo Zephyr Lomo
Zephyr Waterproof Panniers | cycling-not-racing prior to the wash and
fettle revealed they were in rude health eighteen months mixed-terrain use
later. The sprung release system has required the odd shot of maintenance spray
but aside from being given a liberal blast of bike wash, worked into a lather
when deep-cleaning the bikes, they've just done their thing incredibly well.
No obvious signs of wear, or
deterioration anywhere. Nothing budget about their feel or build quality, which
is particularly impressive given they're £34 apiece. Back to the chemical
romance, just ahead of the muckier season, Leatt have been in touch keen for us
to try their new GRITT range of bike care (I can assure you the feeling is
mutual) which includes bike wash, degreasers, chain lube, ceramic coatings and
tubeless sealant.
Elsewhere, I strongly suspect I
may have purchased a couple of counterfeit KMC chains via a well-known auction
site. They were very convincing- I couldn’t tell, initially. However, one
fitted to Ursula, coinciding with the new freehub and cassette, snapped while
out on a shakedown outing.
On the plus side, everything was
behaving impeccably, which was a relief and confirmed it was the freehub, not a
brake issue. Passers-by also slowed to check I was OK- something that really
touched me, especially in the present climate. After some deliberation, unable
to find a quick link, I did what we shouldn’t do with ten speed
chains-shortening it by a couple of links. Sometimes we can’t do everything by
the book. I rode the remaining 6 miles home, carefully but glad of riding and
not walking.
Upon my return, I replaced the chain for one I
knew to be a genuine KMC, while also doing some light remedial tweaking of the
rear mech to ensure everything was bang on. I ordered some spare quick links. Silver
linings some might say but crucially, I was able to end the ride on a positive
note. Talking of which, here’s the link
to Steve’s review of the Leatt MTB Hydradri 5.0 Pants Leatt MTB
Hydradri 5.0 Pants | cycling-not-racing
and mine of the Magicshine Ray 3000 Endurance Bike Light with ANT+ Magicshine
Ray 3000 ANT+ | cycling-not-racing
