Showing posts with label Salt monster. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Salt monster. Show all posts

Thursday 13 December 2012

Snow White, the Salt Monster & Sexy Bottle Cages









I’m dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the one’s we used to know-ah yes, those halcyon days where jealous siblings unburdened themselves into their rival’s new “Action Man” tank sometime between the first guests arriving and the queen’s speech…Mercifully I appear to be avoiding my  seasonal slump little by little...
Rory Hitchens at Upgrade was kind enough to let me play with his stunning Kinesis Pro 6 build. Race whippet first and foremost, well conceived civilising features (fenders, four point carrier fixings, two bottle bosses and chain pip) coupled with tyre swap makes effortless transformation to frisky sportive demon, winter plaything or indeed weekend tourer.
£2400 buys some beautiful kit and I’ve been particularly smitten with TRP’s Paradox  brakeset, which is essentially a hybrid design incorporating a unique stem mounted junction box (aka the parabox) that translates standard cable pull into hydraulic force. In common with Shimano and Magura, the hydraulic components run on mineral, not DOT fluids. Using the latter will cannibalise hoses and olives irreparably fast but in any case leakages/damage should be firmly in blue moon territory.
Being an open design means pads automatically adjust closer to the rotors as they wear, which can be the difference between Santa safely stopping his Bob Yak and the lever bottoming uselessly against his handlebars.  Despite being completely under its spell, I was somewhat relieved when the courier came to collect, since having a machine that valuable residing in my garage this time of year (let alone one that didn't belong to me) meant my inane grin was increasingly giving way to creeping paranoia.
This repatriation prompted a fleet rotation, Izzie Ilpompino being the obvious choice since fixed gives much better feedback and control, as the roads turn increasingly wintry. Cyclo cross geometry inspires a suitably engaging, yet stable passage over slimy asphalt, although the sudden plunge in temperatures induced a gritting frenzy of the sort requiring fastidious applications of bike wash, rinsed off in cold water so as to avoid hastening the corrosive, chemical reaction.
An evenings' saunter through minus five left me dangerously cold, despite winter weight gloves, bib tights, base layers, long sleeved jersey, training jacket, thermal hat and water proof socks-hence my faithful companion was popped away in the garage still wearing covering of said caustic brew...Within twenty four hours, it had already sunk its teeth into the paint, a chip or two incurred during earlier rides already succumbing to the dreaded brown taint. 
Easily cured with a rub back and retouch perhaps but illustrates the horrifying haste at which the salt monster attacks anything remotely exposed. Really, really cold conditions can also do interesting things to synthetic lubes and accidental over application of this otherwise superb Fenwick’s' stealth (easily the cleanest, yet most tenacious road prep gracing my chains to date) saw it become a sludgy mess within sixty miles. Unleaded petrol proved the best stripping medicine and I allowed the Stealth to thin in a bowl of very warm water for twenty minutes before delicately applying a trace amount deep into every link via its pipette style dropper.
On a happier note, another temp role presented itself and there's been no shortage of Gizmos such as this literally all singing and dancing USB charging Mio computer/GPS/HRM system. Ultra comprehensive, set up and calibration are surprising straightforward, although calls for a methodical approach- its the sort you set up on a wet Saturday afternoon, not twenty minutes before a group ride.
Aside from some initial communication problems between sensor and magnet (solved by replacing the latter with one hibernating in the spares drawer) we’ve been bonding surprising well given it does pretty much everything bar make the tea, although there’s probably a downloadable app for that too!  
Speaking of tipples, Lezyne flow SL might be just the ticket if you've bought a small semi/compact geometry frameset and are finding the main triangle a wee bit on the bijous side for two trade bottles. Made from a composite matrix (blend of sophisticated plastics to you n’ me) and 48g, it can't quite muster the same bragging rights as carbon but I'm really endeared to the left/right handed options that arguably add that final personalised touch-especially to a bespoke build.  
Right then, back to those pre Christmas deadlines…