Mischievous Mounts & Sunday worship

 Some of you may have popped by looking for something X rated, sorry to disappoint. For those of you still reading, I am referring to Ursula’s first shakedown ride. Out at 5am, I was initially cruising along with complete and serene silence. This was swiftly and rudely interrupted by a bouncing mudguard (fender) stay and then a binding disc. Slightly dejected, I whizzed the two miles home, popped Ursula away, and headed out on my fixed gear winter trainer to contemplate the root causes.  

A brisk and cold ride certainly helped and reminded me why gilets, such as this Oxford Venture OXFORD VENTURE WINDPROOF GILET | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com) and other cool-weather kit is necessary during the early season. Conditions where it may be bright but can be deceptively cold, especially if you need to stop for any reason.  

I returned with blood and thoughts flowing. Fixed popped away, I put Ursula on the work stand and began troubleshooting/diagnostics. Having disconnected the cable and got back to basics, I concluded the issue lay with the mount. This was confirmed when I found the TRP’s escapee mount. I say escapee since it had crept beneath the box folds.  

Mounts switched; caliper alignment was immediately looking sharper. I reinstated the cable, drew the lever to the bars while snugging the calipers’ Allen bolts down-belching freely to release tension...Spinning the wheel confirmed sufficient clearance at the pads and between spokes and caliper.  

Repeating this several times confirmed all was well. Home straight then...I was bitterly cold by this point, mucus streaming from my nose, chill nipping at my digits but still very much in the zone.  

I drew the inner wire tighter and snugged it down. Lever pumped several times, wheel spun-repeat three times listening tentatively for anything binding. Repeat once again, to appease invasive thoughts. Neurosis vanquished I reunited mudguard and fork leg with another beefy black cable tie.  

A gentle, calming wave of satisfaction crept over me, inducing quiet song. Time to pack up and hit the shower-a nice warm one. Thawed, cleaned, dressed and caffeinated I ten decided the fixed’s redundant Apeman APEMAN A80 ACTION CAMERA | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com) housing needed to go. I had been tempted to get another Minoura mount but since the blue CNC machined bracket was perfectly good and there were some mounts bouncing around the electricals box, I used these.  

Much neater. I can either run the old but loveable Geonaute or the weather-sealed Campark. Action cameras tend to be quite poor in low light but now the dawns are sooner, this allows me to capture footage of red deer cantering across fields and similar incidentals.   

 

Next, I decided to install a centre lock disc to the Alfine hub dynamo Shimano Alfine UR700 Hub Dynamo | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com)-all was going well until I discovered the supplied lockring was a different pattern to that I’m used to (and have a tool for).  

Another dive into my small parts tray-bingo, older pattern retrieved, and everything snugged down to 40nm. I also found a quick release skewer while I was there, so added a lick of grease to that before slipping it in situ.   

I’ve yet to run the Alfine and new disc, staying with the Shutter Precision and bedding that rotor in, for the time being. Technically I’ve already done it, but I’ll give it a little while longer for now. 50 miles in, I had to pull the TRP cable through a little but otherwise, I’m happy with the modulation, feel, and lever travel.  

    

Fork, Rotors Action...

 After some foraging, I’ve everything together for Ursula’s front end upgrade. The Project 2 fork sports a crown race, has some corrosion inhibitor sloshing around its inner sanctum, and the TRP Spyre SLC calliper bolted to the IS adaptor. Following the “use what you have” mantra, I’ve blasted the remainder of some heavy-duty PTFE spray inside.  

The sort that forms a thick, protectant layer and can also evolve into a fat-ball, causing sticky control cables. Great for protecting electroplated frame/fork ends, derailleur cable guides that run beneath the bottom bracket shell, trailer hitches and locking mechanisms, garage rollers. Jobs, where grease is too heavy and traditional maintenance sprays, are too easily dismissed by wet, wintry roads.  

Indeed, a couple of teaspoons of 10w40 motor oil coursing through the tubes would do much the same job, although, in this instance, I’d need to deliver it via a syringe-messy but again, dirt cheap and very effective.   

Now, I’d been believing, nay convinced myself that the RL340 wasn’t compatible with disc brakes, so needed an RL520. However, closer scrutiny of the Tektro site contradicts this (I wanted to swerve travel agent or similar adaptor), so hopefully, that pans out, in the real world. I have a sliver right-hand RL520, but cosmetic symmetry is also important.  

The rotor in this instance is an auction site special. I was curious as to its performance and durability. In any case, I have a Clarkes unit sitting in the brake spares box...Somewhere. The transplant will take place at a more convenient time, probably when the weather turns a little less wintry and I can switch to the fixed for a while.  

However, I’ve gone the slow and steady route to cut down on time and potential snarl-ups. Tucked away in Ursula’s Deore crank, the Torque 7 tool is remaining rattle-free, and pleasant to use. The magnetic components mean everything’s still together. There's been a faint hint of taint but nothing a quick once over with an oily rag won’t arrest convincingly. On the one hand, I’d expect that, given the price point but reassuring and the tool itself is genuinely much nicer to use than I was expecting.  

The Schwalbe Land cruiser has been another pleasant surprise. Traction and rolling resistance have been more convincing across the board, even along untreated, slippery backwaters and at 70psi.  Puncture resistance is lower on their scale than say the Marathon plus but again, thus far no unpleasant surprises. During one freezing ride, I went for Ursula’s bar con, ready to drop down a couple of gears, in preparation for the climb that would take me past the poultry processing plant-an eerie pulsing hulk, especially at 530am.  

Nothing, it was if the lever had frozen solid. Thankfully, I wasn’t in an overly tall, knee popping gear, so cruised my way to the summit. Over the top, the Microshift brifter behaved normally once more. Weird. It did remind me of tales pro mechanics told of treating chains with anti-freeze, during winter cyclocross races.     

For months, the UK media has seemingly been obsessed by whiteouts, “thundersnow” and the general second coming of the ice age. Now, I’m no stranger to spiked tyres and really rate them, for tackling winter’s more extreme conditions. I was very intrigued by Kenda Klondike, but these aren’t so readily available in the UK and then I happened upon what may be the holy grail. Schwalbe Ice Spiker Pro. I’ve been impressed by the Schwalbe Winter TESTED: SCHWALBE WINTER SPIKED TYRES (sevendaycyclist.com) and the upgraded Schwalbe Winter Plus.  

However, the Ice Spiker Pro is reckoned to be the “turbo of spike tyres” with a maximum of 402, yes 402 spikes. These are made from tungsten carbide but coated in aluminium. They still weigh 997g apiece (which is still lighter than the Schwalbe GT365 TESTED: SCHWALBE MARATHON GT 365 BICYCLE TYRES (sevendaycyclist.com)  

Continuing the cold weather narrative, here’s Steve’s review of the Funkier Nueva thermal skull cap FUNKIER NUEVA THERMAL SKULL CAP | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com)