Having returned from the
Midlands, down to a third of a tank but fuelled with ideas and purpose, I stet
about stripping the Ilpompino ready for its makeover. 60 minutes later, the
frame was bare and removing its makeshift chainstay protector revealed some
superficial wounding that had given rise to unsightly corrosion.
Stones, grit and salt monster
had struck during the snowy weeks of 2012/13, scuffing caused by the chain
colliding with its bottom bracket shell during a spill in the first quarter of
2008, bare metal skid mark etched into the seat tube by a slightly loose
mid-section chrome plastic mudguard... Every mark tells a story.
Ten years in, time for a
change. Seizing the moment, I popped said frame in the Micra and delivered it
to Maldon Shot Blasting & Powder Coating, where we discussed the finer details
of the new livery. They have exacting standards and demand for their services
is high, hence we’ve arranged to proceed with the photo-love-story
transformation next week.
The Holdsworth has been busy,
putting a huge grin on my face while earning its keep with super clean,
friction busting wax chain preps, Univega has ditched the otherwise brilliant
Tortec rack, for a racier Altura post mount day bag, wet lubes and seriously
soggy lanes.
There’s been a steady trickle
of lighting arriving at my door for evaluation. Given the
performance of their baby blinder arc 1.7 certainly delivered far
greater clout than 170 lumens suggest their 600 (640 lumens) has me very
excited. The song remains broadly identical, albeit amplified somewhat and the quality of light in its highest setting appears to eclipse some budget blasters boasting 1,000 plus.
Silicone straps look unchanged, save for magnetic claps and whether they’ll cope better with oversized bars/extensions and post diameters remains to be seen.Retro fans needn’t feel left out, there’s a smaller loop for 25-30mm, which even caters for Cinelli and other marques who were producing theirs in 26.2 before standardisation simplified matters. Apparently, Knog has not only boosted firepower but revised the optics and internals in this season’s Blinder Arc family.
In common with several
other higher end models, this 900 lumen Sigma Power LED EVO Pro claims to combine spot and flood in a single lamp,
allowing you to see 100metres (approximately 325ft) ahead.
Both have the options of bar or
helmet mounting, look well made, simple to fit and user friendly. The blinder
arc more obviously aimed at clutter-phobic commuters who fancy incorporating
some fast paced saunters into their journey home, whereas the Sigma is a big,
tuneable trail gun promising run times of between 3 and 11 hours depending on
which end of the four setting spectrum conditions favour.
Talking of technology, my
surprisingly long-lived HP laptop that served me tirelessly these past three
years, succumbed to sudden and fatal motherboard failure last Monday evening. As
Murphy’s Law would have it, said catastrophic haemorrhage struck before I had
chance to back up files and second drafts on memory sticks and external hard
drives
Several minutes’ heart
stopping, irrational panic associated with lost data, documents and photographs
subsided once I found most were either emailed to myself, or sitting in a pile
of hard copy proof-reads, so I was able to catch up with 75% that evening and
be ahead of schedule two days hence.
Having searched the web for inspiration, I
concluded stripping and cooking the unit in my oven at 180 degrees to
temporarily resuscitate and salvage was a fools’ mission. So begins the
research for a replacement while I enjoy a newfound appreciation for a middle
aged but very serviceable desktop.
