Joined Up Thinking

January is usually a slow month, though no excuse for coasting. Having chased a few leads, sourced products and responded to an aspiring model’s photographic request, I headed out for some serious reflection. Speeding through the winter sunlight, alert to black ice skulking beneath a thick, steaming carpet of freshly lain equine arse fruit, I contemplated braking.

Temptation to remove the Ilpompino’s rear stopper has been tempered by memories of my worn shoe cleat disengaging while hurtling down one of Surrey’s delightful 1 in 4s…One thing lead to another culminating in a barrage of ill-timed profanity as we passed a convoy of well-heeled grand/parents herding little henry/etta’s into awaiting Lexus, BMW and elderly Mercedes…

Six years and several thousand miles hence, I’m still inclined to leave this configuration completely stock given the left lever’s a convenient resting point/means of carrying a spare cable. Then of course there’s the occasional trailer coupling, necessitating a little extra prowess than afforded by cantilever and transmission alone. However, while perfectly capable of hauling Moto Guzzi motorcycle clutches fully home, I am right hand dominant and see no reason why people with reduced dexterity shouldn’t enjoy equal standards of performance/safety.

At £35 Dia Compe’s Siamese 287(T denoting tandem) seems an obvious choice, the left substituted for a composite stoker unit, shaving unwanted weight and overcoming chatter while providing useful parking for my corresponding palm. The Flat bar faithful are similarly well served by its Tech 77 siblings; although both are non-starters with integrated Sti/Ergo systems.

Mercifully Problem Solvers offer an aesthetically pleasing, CNC machined cable doubler for a very reasonable £20, though as the ride progressed I became convinced there must be a thrifty, discrete and moreover bodge free alternative… Said Eureka moment arrived in the cry of “Clutch cable junction box!!!” while overtaking a sports moped at 29mph. Perhaps unsurprisingly its pilot took such as a challenge, though no amount of wheel sucking could save his blushes.

Taking full advantage of a lofty, eighty one inch gear, I entered the descent, nudging 108rpm and 37mph. Windblast had long since muted the unmistakable two-stroke banshee howl, replaced by thoughts of upgrading the Ilpompino’s OEM 25.4 diameter cockpit in favour of its oversized and theoretically stiffer successor.

Twelve chill but uneventful miles later man and machine were safely ensconced, one rewarded with a few shots of PTFE maintenance spray, the other diesel strength coffee while purchasing this NOS (New Old Stock) Yamaha unit on ebay for the sum of £3. Now, my next project necessitates an illustrator who’ll bring some visual pizazz to my series of children’s stories, oh and best I procure a wheel jig to tame the effects of worsening local infrastructure (!)   

Little Things

Inclement weather has limited my ability to clip in and go testing , so turbo trainer aside; its been a question of completing existing reports ahead of deadline, resurrecting the book projects with continued hunting of something suitable in temp land.

January’s close is oft regarded as the worst for morale, Christmas’ and New Year sparkle tempering quickly against cobalt skies and sometimes harsh, economic realities. Tired of well meaning but ultimately empty enthusiasm, I made contact with an accomplished author and editor (who I’d approached some twenty five years previously, eager to write for his newly established magazine) to see if he’d be tempted by my project outline. 

Fenders fitted to my favourite fixer; substituting its stocky Surly long haul trucker for a 6061 Topeak Super Tourist DX seemed an obvious move since it only hosted a cotton duck rack bag, shaving several hundred grams in a stroke. Reasonable payloads aside, wanderlust is limited to commuting, weekend touring and of course, Audax duties but then things seldom give trouble when built properly and used as per design brief.

Then came the big thaw, seeing the Univega plucked from its hook and introduced to the 933g Tortec epic, fitting with consummate ease having found a full compliment of stainless (as distinct from the chrome plated hotch potch) fasteners. However, doing so necessitated forgoing its Torch fender fit blinky and plugging the holes with silicone, bathroom type sealant.

To my surprise, the epic is only 40g heavier than Tubus’ legendary Logo with an identical payload. Repeated exposure to slushy, salted roads hasn’t given any cause for alarm, although are readily ingrained along with fingerprints and light dirt into the slightly dimpled texture. Warrantee wrangles aside, the tubus is more easily repaired or adapted with pump pegs, bespoke light fittings and similar nick nacks using brass, not fusion welding. 

Arguably a no-brainer but you’d be surprised at the number of folk who I’ve seen introducing a common or garden wire feed MIG/MAG unit to proceedings only to find their lugged and brazed frameset melts like the proverbial waxwork.  Keeping the cargo theme for a minute, having also spent some of this enforced confinement exploring home built homages to the mighty mono-wheeled Bob Yak (Most notably here:
http://www.instructables.com/id/My-version-of-a-YAK-Bike-Trailer/?ALLSTEPS

http://www.instructables.com/id/Single-wheel-bicycle-trailer-with-suspension/?ALLSTEPS)

It occurs to me that trailer racing would make a superb sub genre-whether fixed or freewheel, trail or tarmac. Categories could include custom/bespoke, production or backyard special with further segregation according to budget, wheel-size, extent of modification, payload etc. Making best use of slack time and with the help of a pop rivet gun and sixty odd 4mm aluminium rivets, I’ve been devising my own snow specific tyres from part worn rubber.

Taking inspiration from Continental’s Nordic spike, I haven’t put sufficient mileage on this little Kenda to comment as to its worthiness but it’s an interesting experiment nonetheless. If successful, I might extend this to 700c and 26inch mtb formats. Some months ago, I was lamenting the lack of (relatively) narrow, commercially available options-42mm and 2.2 inches being pretty much the limit. Kenda offer a Klondike in fender friendly 35,38 and 1.75 sections.

Alas, at the time of composition, they’re not a UK import. Temptation was to order a set from across the pond were it not for a relatively weak pound since snow and Ice look set to becoming increasingly frequent patrons of our winter landscape but then these Schwalbe “Winter” arrived on my test bench.

Available in the magic 1.75 diameter, these are reckoned to require twenty-five miles on asphalt before taking to skiddy stuff and look to be a fair bit swifter than most variants I’ve used to date. February’s always a tricky month weather-wise so, we’ll see how they behave after the initial run-in.     

Elsewhere, I’ve been chatting with Rory at Upgrade bikes regarding two very innovative Kinesis builds that follow in the convertible, yet ultra capable one bike does all road path tradition and at the other extreme, some splendid DMR coffee receptacles.

Dropping by Maldon shot blasting & powder coating revealed this slightly intriguing mid 80’s touring frameset refinished in a very tasteful orange. Initial impressions suggested something 531^st from the Holdsworthy works- Claud Butler Dalesman/ Coventry Eagle but some unusually (by production standards) intricate lugwork around its semi sloping fork crown infers something older/ smaller scale…