Cranksets & Calculations

The Deore Crankset arrived and with a 32tooth front ring and 12-28 cassette, gives a range between 29.4 and 69.44 inches. A little low at the upper end for tarmac terrorism and catching riders, but plenty of torque for trailer towing and gravel stuff.  

Ideally, I’d be looking towards something in the high 70s. Will stick with it for now, unless a suitable, closer spaced option presents. 11-25 would give 33.0-74.9, which is arguably a better option. I took this opportunity to replace the chain and deep clean the drivetrain, since the existing KMC had done 1,000 plus. Besides there’s no sense in prematurely wearing cassette and new ring. I also noted that, despite the nickel finish and being fed wet lubes, it had become quite stiff and showed the ominous orange taint.   

Wintry conditions largely gone and while waiting for the new crankset, I whipped the Univega’s wheels out, given the frameset a more thorough waxing of its intimate areas and switched to the Schwalbe Billy Bonkers.

  

This also presented the ideal opportunity to give banish the congealed gloop, clinging to the cassette and Sun Race derailleur’s jockey wheels, using this Squirt Bike Cleaner Concentrate. Thankfully, the oily residue had done a good job of preserving the finish, so no call for the M16 Ride & shine M16 RIDE & SHINE | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com) 

I’ve been getting the miles in on the fixed. Switching the Schwalbe Marathon Plus for the 42mm Continental Contact was a sensible move and I ordered replacement ceramic pads for its TRP Spyre stopper, so they’re in stock, when replacement’s next due.  

The Zefal Z11 bag is proving a very useful addition. Minimal sway (which is unusual for the bigger models, especially those tethering to the post via a single strap). The larger breed also doubles as a decent mudguard, protecting saddles and buttocks from cold, wet, slimy stuff.  

On the theme of transmissions, I’d returned from a ride, intending to simply tweak the chain tension, when I discovered some issues with the Fix-G HALO FIX G TRACK HUB | Seven Day Cyclist Tourin Tests Commuting side of the hub. Horsef*ckers! No matter, I switched back to the Aerorage wheel, until I’ve time to assess things properly.  

Oh well, might as well, give the transmission a good blitz, then feed it Squirt Low-Temperature Wax Chain Lube. Talking of the concentrate, this can be applied neat, as a degreaser, or diluted to make a bike wash.  

I’ve decanted neat into a chain cleaner receptacle, a 30/70 concentrate/water mix as a winter weight/early season bike wash. Like many concentrates, it can be applied to (a) the drivetrain via brush/chain bath, left for a few minutes, then agitated and rinsed. Or (b) poured over parts and left marinating for a few hours/overnight. This version pours easily in cold weather-noticeably so, compared with its otherwise impressive standard counterpart. SQUIRT LONG LASTING DRY CHAIN LUBE | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com)  

Wax formulas aren’t the obvious choice for cold, wintry conditions. Indeed, I would reserve most for spring/summer. However, this low-temperature blend stoked my curiosity. Similarly, while wet lubes are the obvious default for wet/wintry conditions, they can also attract a fair bit of gunk.  

Purging this regularly (as you should) can be a tedious chore. Ignore it and there’s a very real risk of it grinding through expensive rings, cassettes, derailleur jockey wheels (and even cages). Waxy types require longer curing times but will simply scab off when leaden with contaminants. 

No need to scrub, or clean, just apply another layer and leave to cure.   

As the photos illustrate, I’ve gone this route with Ursula’s new chain, since I was there.  Also switched back to the Ravemen CLO6 Sensored Rear Light.RAVEMEN CL06 SENSORED REAR LIGHT | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com) Fancied a formative “shakedown” blast to see how the new drivetrain components behaved and its CLO5 counterpart needed a charge.  

 

As Easy as One, Two Zee...Well, not quite ...

Braking up to scratch and headset buttery smooth, the UN55 bottom bracket was showing the early signs of slop. Nothing serious but seeing as I already had a UN300 on standby and time allowed, rude not to replace. All was going to plan until I put a shot of lube on the tool threads and coupled it with the cranks.  

I was rather shocked to discover them flaking away.  Thankfully, popping them from the tapers wasn’t a hardship and no surprise the bottom bracket spun free with comparable ease, thanks to my policy of liberally greasing threads and of course, oceans of frame preserve... Time to investigate my transmission box...  

Enter the Shimano Zee and 36 tooth ring, compatible bottom bracket, Acor tools and some of the Corrosion Block grease, since it was to hand. Now, I’d bought the Zee blind. Other than acknowledging that it was new, unused, and priced to sell, I didn’t think to check the axle length... It’s not the most obvious choice perhaps, given it's intended for freeride and downhill audiences. However, it's solid and in my view, quite pretty.  

Hollow Tech II basically works to the same compression principle as Aheadset. Set the bearing preload hand tight, test for play and good movement, then gently snug the pinch bolts down to 14nms (alternating between them, to ensure equal loading and avoid damage caused by over-stressed components).  

Being as the cranks provide the compression, if I was going to run the system successfully (without the bearings constantly coming loose) I needed to plug this. One-inch Aheadset spacers seemed the obvious solution. Rummaging through my small parts toolbox proved fruitful.  

While there’s a lot to like about the Shimano Hollowtech II bottom bracket (and their bottom brackets, per se), I wasn’t taken with the plastic sleeve, so found myself upgrading to a titanium Van Nicholas VNT Ceramic Bottom Bracket. This has a titanium, rather than composite sleeve, so engaged very precisely within the frame shell.  

Essentially everything came together beautifully, although I was quick to apply a liberal helping of suitable grease to the threads, shaft and bearings. Always a good policy but there was no way I was going to run the galvanic gauntlet for the sake of a couple of minutes. Having exhausted the Corrosion Block, I went for the Green Oil Eco GreaseTWELVE MONTH TEST: GREEN OIL ECO GREASE (sevendaycyclist.com). It might lack the outright stoicism of Park and similar but nonetheless, it’s a solid middleweight performer.  

Being several degrees below zero, it emerged from the spout in a more solid state than some petrochemicals but malleable. Thus far, this present configuration is proving very satisfactory. Chain line is bang on and I’m not pedaling like John Wayne. Just as well since pandemic and Brexit is beginning to bite in terms of acquiring suitable replacements e.g. Deore and at sensible prices.  The UK is a third country now, so importing from Europe would incur punitive import costs. In essence, I will stick with the present configuration and evaluate other options, should limitations with the setup materialise.   

 

While rummaging through my spares boxes like a possessed spirit, I also happened upon the trail version of K-Lite's Bike Packer Ultra. K LITE BIKEPACKER ULTRA DYNAMO LIGHT | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com) Suspicious that the V2 issues may boil down to the lamp, rather than the “box”, I performed the switch... On the one hand, being the same family, I would expect the switch and connectors to play nicely, but that shouldn’t be taken as a given. 

Thankfully, it wasn’t long before the lamp came to life, so I tethered it to the Soma Condor 2 Shallow Drop bars SOMA CONDOR 2 SHALLOW DROP BARS | (sevendaycyclist.com)  and am back to swooping through the empty lanes, which are now largely free of anything slippery, thanks to a sudden hike in temperature. However, there’s a fair bit of standing water, so sans guards, bikes get mucky. Nothing a decent bike wash won’t shift. Steve’s been quite impressed by the Pure PURE BIKE WASH | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com)  

Larger bike packing luggage, including this Zefal Z Aventure R11 do a decent job of doubling as a rear guard, protecting rider and saddle from the watery worst.