Change Your Weather, Change Your Luck…

 

September has brought with it refreshing rains, which flooding aside, is very welcome for water levels, life and er, product testing. A long, dry spell is great for making the most of our best bikes. Extreme heatwaves aren’t particularly comfortable, even with SPF50 jerseys, shorts and sunscreen, our bodies take a toll.

I’ve been glad to reach for the ultralight, packable race jacket (not to be confused with the old school condom type, which kept the rain off but didn’t breathe. A rabid, sweaty mess isn’t the best look), cap and arm warmers-just in case. It’s also been my cue to tackle some preventative maintenance.

Aside from overhaling long-serving, faithful dyno hubs, I’ve taken the opportunity to re-grease quick release skewers, thru-axle converters, since they’re easily overlooked. Prevention is always better than penetrant spray and persuasion. I also needed to adjust the front brake, which had become a little impotent. Just a question of pulling the inner wire through, snugging the lever’s cable holder and calliper pinch bolts down.  

The Juice Lubes Slick Juice seemed an ideal candidate, not least since I’m exploring its qualities and limitations.  Same goes for bike washes and similar potions, although dry, dusty spells mean bikes tend to get coated in a stubborn filmy layer. Especially around the rear triangle, bottom bracket and downtube.

Tyres are another consideration as we transition to hedge clipping season and of course, wetter, colder conditions. Both are conducive to cuts, punctures and similar stuff I’d sooner not be tackling by the roadside with numb digits.  I switched Muffin’s 38mm Vittoria Adventure Tech for a 35mm Vee Tire Co Zilent MK2 TESTED: VEE TIRE CO ZILENT MARK 2 TYRES that I’d resurrected while on a different treasure hunt. In common with the Adventure Tech, it’s a portly but dependable wire bead model with a 5mm thick puncture repelling centre strip and an aramid strip running bead to bead.

 There are similarities with Schwalbe Marathon too. The centre strip works with a capillary action to push thorns, glass and similar out from the tyre. Muffin’s other dyno hub wheel is shod with a bigger (42mm) Maxxis Roamer TESTED : MAXXIS ROAMER TYRES which I may well switch to during drier, fair-weather spells. The front Mud Hugger Gravel Hugger Mudguard MUD HUGGER GRAVEL HUGGER MUDGURADS | cycling-not-racing  will manage 40mm. I experimented with a model identical to that sported by Ursula. However, it wouldn’t sit high enough around the fork crown, so back to the drawing board. The guard was only £1.50, so no great loss.

 Now was also prudent to do a tube inventory and retire or patch any suspect looking examples.  

Leather saddles are very durable but require a quick lick of hide food every so often. I’d suggest every six to eight weeks as a rough n’ ready. This will keep the hide nourished and protected from the elements. The Spa Nidd pictured has served me well, year-round, for thirteen years.

The wetter weather has also presented an opportunity to get a proper feel for how well the Nutrak Vee Swift Gravel Mud Frenzy cope in softer conditions. We’ve not got to the gloop proper as yet, but they’ve cut through softer sections reassuringly well. Something I attribute to a mix of profile and tread pattern. Pressure also plays a part. I’ve been running them between 50 and 55psi, the upper end of their range, given I’ve been doing a mix of tarmac, trail and green lane.

Despite this, their relatively supple casings ensure sprightly,, yet compliant passage over washboard surfaces, tree roots, stones and ruts. I’m expecting them to cope better than 2.1-, or 2.3-inch cross country mountain bike rubber due to these characteristics and greater clearance. Theoretically, less chance of clogging around fork crown and rear triangle.  Time will tell.

The M Par Ridge Pannier rack also continues to grow on me. There are some limitations common to single tier designs per se, but lateral stiffness is excellent-even with heavy loads. I’ve also been impressed by oodles of heel clearance with big (20 litre) panniers, including the mighty Lomo Zephyr and this Halfords Advanced Waterproof Pannier Bag.

Aside from the top sections, which employ nuts with nylon inserts, I’ve applied some medium strength thread lock to the fasteners- precautionary but good practice, especially when hauling the proverbial kitchen sink, or escaping the maddening crowd.    

 

New Guards & Big Flaps

Ended up stripping the Univega of the mighty Tortec chrome plastics, while I waited for these superbly solid SKS BLUEMELS SHINY 26″ 60 BLACK SET to arrive. Good thing I did too, since the front was one rattle away from falling atop the tyre, and launching me over the bars.

Sans guards it has a very rugged, raw simplicity. Arguably closest to the original 80's concept that fired my teenage imagination, its trail potential was fully realised, along with some seriously big grins for a few evenings. 

The first was quite cold, frosty, although rains returned the following two nights. Thankfully I've been testing these Funkier Aqua Water Repellent Tights. Very welcome (Competent too, especially considering the asking price (£74). 

Talking of the 80's, though frame fit pumps have largely disappeared (thanks in no small part to compact geometry framesets, and mountain biking's other influences) Zefal HPX High Pressure Frame Pump remains quite relevant. https://www.sevendaycyclist.com/zefal-hpx-frame-pump 

I returned from Tuesday night's mud spattered meander to find the SKS guards waiting. 

Not the sort of job I wanted to embark on, then. Wednesday morning came and I wasted no time in un-boxing and weighing the guards, which are 50g lighter than the Tortec. 

Next my beloved tubby tourer was popped in the workstand, stripped of wheels and given a rich, sudsy bucket wash. 

Rinsed and dried, I turned my attentions to the front guard. Fitting mudguards can prove fiddly, rather than difficult. In this instance, it's complicated by my preference- a Gusset Uni Head system, rather than the Star Frangled Nut (SFN). 

Now, these might carry a weight penalty over the humble SFN, or expandable wedge type systems. However, they offer improved security. I've never had one work loose and they're also reckoned to keep things together, in the event of a steerer crisis. One of many experiences I would like to keep academic. 

However, it does preclude attaching mudguards via the fork drilling. I judiciously cut out the riveted stainless steel mount, using a hot blade. Given the quality of chrome plastics, and valuing my own digits, this had to be done in three stages. 

Having established the uni-head's bottom nut would slide snugly through the hole, I began bolting the guards in situ. Measure twice cut once when tackling the stays but otherwise everything bolted together smoothly, sans faff.

Achieving graceful, flowing lines is very simple with this calibre of mudguard too. 90, rattle free miles in, and despite the absence of mudflaps coverage is surprisingly good. Nonetheless, presented with a scrap Panaracer tyre, I decided to cut and fashion a set. 

Arguably pop-riveting would've been the neatest method but I settled on a high-strength glue, left clamped and curing for 24 hours. Though not a precision cut, they're neat enough and I've been refining things, gently sanding excess glue-at least where it can be seen. Besides, blasted with dodgy looking water, diarrhoea like mud and other greasy midwinter muck, they'll blend in nicely!  

Talking of which, the Weldtite TF2 Performance all weather lubricant https://www.sevendaycyclist.com/weldtite-tf2-performance-all-weather has fared much better than the Juice Lube Ceramic Juice Chain Lube in comparable conditions. 

The Ceramic Juice hit 185 before the dreaded squeak struck but I should point out, its actually blended for dry to moist, rather than wet weather. 

Therefore, I will reserve judgement and resume testing once (some might say, if) we get a decent dry spell. Meantime, I've switched to their Viking Juice, which they say, is the most durable of their range. 

Application is reminiscent of early ceramic blends in the sense its applied in stages. Whereas some required you to ride around, before adding a final layer, Viking Juice takes but a few minutes. 

Between 2 and 4 coats are recommended, so having established we're in the depths of winter, I've gone the whole hog. 

Its a really runny formula too, designed to seep deep within the chain, so keep some clean rag handy and resist any urges to apply indoors. My Univega's drive train feels suitably frisky but staying prowess is another thing entirely. 

Been rather impressed by their JL69 Bike Maintenance Spray, which seems versatile, durable and very competitively priced. Cleat/mechanisms, locks, cables and jockey wheels have all cheered up with a squirt. Electroplated Allen bolts and similar fasteners have also remained taint free.  

Been rather impressed by this Naked Bikes Pro Wax Special Edition, too. https://www.sevendaycyclist.com/naked-bikes-pro-wax-special-edition  . Though hardly cheap, the quality and durability of finish is very impressive. A Christmas gift idea, for the rider who is tricky to buy for.