This week we’ve been looking at trailers for touring and commuting http://www.sevendaycyclist.com/tug-jobs.
Hopefully we’ll have some samples of
Dani Foffa’s new urban clothing range in for testing very shortly. In the
meantime, these 42mm Maxxis Roamer tyres arrived from another title and our
Revolution ‘Cross test bike seemed the ideal candidate.
The Roamer is a wallet-friendly family of e-bike rated urban rubber,
supposedly designed to cope with everything from commuting to touring. 60tpi
semi slick casings, maximum 75psi operating pressure and a Kevlar breaker strip
certainly indicate so.
Giving the ‘cross a visual once-over, I reckoned the roamer wouldn’t
present any concerns clearance-wise and those portly, supple casings also
implied a compliant, easy-to mount set... welcome antidotes to the Bontrager several
weeks’ back.
Well, I was nearly caught out on both fronts.
The first 65% slipped aboard the rims effortlessly and sans tools but it
wasn’t long before I was close to agricultural language and guttural groaning
more commonly associated with hospital labour wards. “Oooooh! Go-on, go-on!!!!
You will! You will, you will!” probably wasn’t the sort of tea-time
entertainment my neighbours hard bargained for either.
Order was restored with the retrieval of my magic tyre wand that had
mysteriously escaped its hook and was hiding behind the chest freezer. Having
dialed the Spyre’s barrel adjusters in to provide some slack, wheels were repatriated.
Clearance up front was good-pretty much what you’d expect on a modern
disc braked ‘cross/adventure biased build but at the rear, you’d be lucky to
slip the proverbial fag paper between casing and chain-stay bridge.
To my amazement, it didn’t clog following a ride or two on the wild side
but something to check, especially on frames with vertical ends where there’s
no leeway. Lighter than the OEM kenda, these have been delivering a magic
carpet ride over the lumpy lanes and increasingly battle scarred main roads.
They’ve given the ‘Cross2 a perkier persona and rolling resistance is
much les than I was expecting from rubber weighing over 700g apiece, although
thanks in part to the widely spaced gearing, ride/handling still feels closer
to that of a middleweight tourer than ‘crosser per se.
The other objective that evening was to continue getting it as filthy as
possible since this fetching blue Zefal bike wash had also been sent my way…Bike
washes provoke quite a bit of debate and most work to broadly similar science
with comparable results.
Most solutions (aside from citrus based versions) are alkaline and
employ non-ionic surfactants. These basically break down the grime on a
molecular level; ensuring non/organic grot is easily flushed away and does not
reattach itself during the washing/rinsing phases. Aside from distinctive blue colouring, Zefal
reckon theirs imparts a protective, dirt and dust repelling glossy film...Time
and testing will reveal whether there’s any substance to these claims.
Working on the basis most knobblies become slicks when feed sufficient
gloop, I decided it was time to revisit the bridle path featured on our
facebook page https://www.facebook.com/Sevendaycyclistmagazine/videos to see how they’d behave.
Despite some initial skepticism, the Roamer’s comparatively supple
casings literally glided through the gloop, taking thorns, flints in its
stride. However, while the strip is comprehensive, its thinner at the shoulders... Given another seven miles or so, a sharp hard infiltrated the recessed,
traction boosting, water channelling grooves. Just as I’d pulled up outside the
house, its rear tyre let rip with a hearty hiss. Ruptured tube seam, so new
tube and back to testing…
Elsewhere, the Univega now sports this Guee silicone bar wrap. Despite
materials in common it’s proving quite different from the venerable Genetic
flare http://www.sevendaycyclist.com/genetic-silicone-bar-wrap in many respects, though most obviously,
texture.
Price is a stumbling block for some people but compared with space age
polymers commanding similar cash, the rubber’s natural tenacity means these
don’t require backing adhesives, so aside from introducing fresh UPVC
(electrical tape) they can be repeatedly rewound.
The Guee benefits from a little extra pre-stretch (especially when
feeding the first few centimetres inside the bar end). Thankfully, it’s less
susceptible to stretch marks/discoloration under tension, which is helpful
since it’s less generous than the flare. (I had sufficient left over for the
Holdsworth’s pursuit bars) Only time and miles will tell whether performance
justifies the £7 price differential...
