Pumping & Prepping

 

Not in the Mad Max post-apocalyptic sense, although global events and the political climate have certainly left me imagining some very dark scenarios. Growing up in the 1980s, I recall the very real threat of nuclear war and societal collapse and frankly, we seem closer to both scenarios, now…

After ten years, I was compelled by the urge to strip and inspect the Blackburn Piston 4. Would a good clean and regrease of the gasket and piston (plunger, if you prefer) restore its slick, refined efficiency? The hose and chuck were al in good shape and it was still very functional, delivering the desired pressures but the piston action and airflow weren’t optimal.

Undoing two little Philip screws, everything separated smoothly and in one piece. Gasket and plunger were sporting a gungy beard, but essentially sound. Degreasers can be a little harsh, so I gave both parts a light rinse with tepid water and then treated both to a few blasts of Juice Lubes Bike Wash.

Now, I’d generally steer people toward solvent based aerosol cleaners, or industrial alcohol when cleaning the barrel’s inner sanctum. However, I blasted some Motoverde Drivetrain Degreaser inside and left it doing its thing for five minutes, turning my attention to the gasket and piston. A gentle tickling with this Green Oil Bike Brush GREEN OIL BIKE BRUSH REVIEW and some tepid water cut through the grot.

Rinse, dry and reach for grease. Swerve anything lithium, or PTFE-based. When it comes to Silca, only use their dedicated preps. Otherwise, silicone formulas are a good default, but I’ve gone for the Juice Lubes Slick Juice. Liberal around the gasket, sparingly along the piston’s lower section. That done, I returned to the Piston 4’s barrel. I dried this in two stages. Some old, scrap towel doing the lion’s share, judicious deployment of a hairdryer on medium heat removing any residual, mischievous dampness.

On a roll, I took the same route with my SKS Air-X-Plorer Digi Floor Pump SKS Air-X-Plorer Digi Floor Pump | cycling-not-racing. This is stereotypically Teutonic in terms of build quality. Same MO, save for the collar screws being M25 Torx. Piston, spring and gasket were particularly solid. This time, I cleaned these with bike wash but exorcised the barrel using an aerosol solvent cleaner. Everything slid back together beautifully, any faint stiction well and truly banished.

Well and truly in the zone, I popped Muffin in the work stand and decided to remove the Genetic Tibia crank, clean and inspect the ring and give the frame a good waxing while I was about it. Be rude not too… I’ve gone for self-extracting bolts and was initially disconcerted by their reticence. Gentle persistence with the 8mm Allen key secured the drive side’s release.   

A tag team of Motoverde Drivetrain Cleaner Motoverde Drivetrain Cleaner | cycling-not-racing and Muc-Off Chain Wax Cleaner Muc-Off Chain Wax Cleaner 500ml | cycling-not-racing  consumed the slightly gungy residue clinging to the teeth, making inspection and assessment viable. The ring is still in good shape, so stays for now. I’ll review come November and at that point, will take a view and chain replacement may be all that’s called for.

I turned my attentions to the TRP Spyre SLC, giving the pads and disc a cat-lick, ensuring the piston movement was optimal. An easy, preventative tweak. Muffin back in the workshop, I turned my attention to Denise. I was keen to see whether the Magicshine Ray3000 would sit securely atop the auction site Garmin Mount.

Given the light’s girth, I needed to relocate the Genetic Neuron Accessory Bar GENETIC NEURON ACCESSORY BAR | cycling-not-racing outboard, necessitating a quick dip into the shim bag. While on that particular mission, I found another Magicshine handlebar mount, which is an improvement on that supplied with the Coospo Real Road CS600 GPS Bike Computer Coospo CS600 GPS | cycling-not-racing  . Sure the bars feel a little busier, which might bring the clutter-phobic out in hives. However, there was a bigger, unwelcome surprise in store. During our first outing, the out-front mount ejected the Ray3000. Testament to its build quality, not so much as a scratch.

Closer inspection revealed the plastic Garmin pattern mount had deformed and fractured at one point. I switched the light to the resin Magicshine mount and popped the Coospo CS600 in my jersey pocket for the remaining five miles. Diagnostics done, I arrived home, had a rummage in the spare munts bag and found a replacement. I also took the opportunity to exchange the Gaciron Cetus 1700 Gaciron Cetus 1700 Underneath Bike Light | cycling-not-racing mount for the Magicshine Hori 1300 Magicshine HORI 1300 Front Light | cycling-not-racing for those times when I’m testing the Ray 3000 on another machine and I want more lumens than the Exposure Revo dynamo lamp can muster.

 

 

 

 

 

Mr Tickle… Disciplining the TRP Spyre

 

No, I’m not referring to Roger Hargreaves creation, or the office letch…I’d been experiencing some very minor, intermittent tickling with Ursula’s rear TRP Spyre. Now, lifting the rear wheel and turning the pedals confirmed the rotor was true and the calliper correctly centred. Ditto the rear wheel.

Before touching anything else, pop the bike on the ground, slacken the quick release and ensure the wheel’s correctly seated within the dropouts. Snug the quick release down and close the lever.

Double check by lifting the rear wheel (popping the bike in a tune up stand, such as this Topeak, makes this and any subsequent tweaking much simpler.) In this instance, everything was behaving impeccably, so this left frame flex. It only happened under load, say when accelerating and would then smooth out. Thru axles are much stiffer, largely eliminating this issue.

Some deliberation and a quicker wander round the web suggested slipping a 3mm Allen key in the pad adjusters and backing the pads out fractionally either side. This would buy a smidge more gap between the rotor, without impairing stopping prowess. Accessing the pad adjusters was tricky, although this Oxford Torque R10 Mini Ratchet Set Oxford Torque RT10 Mini Ratchet Set | cycling-not-racing  came into its own.

Maybe it was psychosomatic but pumping the brake lever a few times suggested small but tangible improvement. Being as it was late in the evening, I wanted to quit while ahead, ruling out becoming wired, dare we say obsessional. Road testing was left until the following morning.  

The humble Spyre divide opinion and in my experience, they require a little more patience to setup and finer adjustments then onward. However, for the most part, they’re straightforward customers and much better fit for me than Avid BB7. Hybrid models, including TRP HY/RD are cable operated but employ a hydraulic reservoir, automatically adjusting pads as they wear.

They work well in my experience. However, the hydraulics are another thing to service. I’d even toyed with buying a different brand of rear calliper. Shimano BR-R517 and 317 seemed a good bet. However, there wasn’t anything wrong with the Spyre, so the sensible, cost-free (save for time) decision was to analyse, trouble shoot, tweak, ride and repeat. The intermittent tinkling continued and the only thing I hadn’t ruled out was rotor health.

Now, the rotor fitted came straight from the brake spares box, so was part worn and intended to get us going following Ursula’s renovations. Pensioning off seemed like a good move and would rule that out as a potential source. No amount of calliper alignment would work if the rotor was slightly warped. Not enough to create mischief in the work stand but amplified by minor flex under pedalling force. I’ve gone for a 160mm Disco brakes Wavey, since I had excellent experiences with one tested back in 2022 Disco Disc Brake Pads and Wavey Rotors | cycling-not-racing . It’s gone up in price but is stainless and very much a known quantity.  

Some Deore rotors going for the proverbial song (£10 pair) so indulged, since like most consumables, rotors wear out and at the least convenient moments. Since conditions allowed, I decided to whip out Ursula's Kinkekt2.1 KINEKT 2.1 SUSPENSION SEAT POST | cycling-not-racing seat post and blast some corrosion inhibitor down the seat tube, before the weather turned.

I toyed with the idea of making a butyl boot for the Kinekt post but didn't have any suitably broad scrap butyl to hand. Neoprene covers are one solution, but they also hold moisture, which can cause corrosion and similar problems later down the line. I dried the post and give the moving parts a shot of Muc-Off Silicone Spray MUC OFF SILICON SHINE POLISH | cycling-not-racing

One thing led to another-since time and weather permitted. The drivetrain was blitzed using Motoverde Drivetrain Cleaner Motoverde Drivetrain Cleaner | cycling-not-racing and Oxford Chain Brush Pro Oxford Chain Brush Pro | cycling-not-racing, followed by a through sudsy bucket washing and waxing.  Fully dried, I decided to use up some leftover Finish Line Dry Lube TEST & REVIEW FINISH LINE DRY BIKE LUBRICANT - it was a small, saddlebag size that I'd had since the dawn of time and just taking up space. 

I didn't fancy the wax route this time round but wasn't ready for a stodgier oil-based lubricant just yet. A quick shot of MO94 Muc-Off MO94 Multi Use Spray | cycling-not-racing on the cables, cleat mechanisms and pivot points to flush any residual water out concluded this impromptu post-ride fettling. I’ll close here with my long-term review of the System EX Pro Grease Gun The System EX Pro Grease Gun | cycling-not-racing