150 miles hence and my bruised
inner right thigh reminded me why I substituted it. This time round, I’ve reached
for Selle Royal Respiro, which is something of an “old faithful”. Should it
prove a little narrow, I’ll reach for the BBB Echelon, which is another
all-rounder but slightly broader-145mm at the widest point. Madison have sent
me their M Part Primo anti-slip silicone gel bar tape.
Available in four colours- red, black, blue
and white, it employs a silicone underlay for damping and a Polyurethane exterior
for tactile purchase. It’s a little heavier than some at 128g (complete and
uncut) I’ve dressed Mufin’s bars since
it contrasts nicely and I’m very satisfied with the Wolf Tooth Supple Lite Wolf
Tooth Supple Lite Bar Tape | cycling-not-racing adorning Ursula’s Soma
Condor 2 SOMA
CONDOR 2 SHALLOW DROP BARS | which
offers a good blend of connection, damping and grip without undue bulk.
It’s also in very good shape, so
stays-for now at least. Arguably, no need to go beyond 2.5mm, even off road
since the big 2.3inch tyres also provide plush, refined comfort. Before I
forget, here’s Steve’s review of the Continental Contact Speed Continental
Contact Speed Tyres | cycling-not-racing
The M Part Primo is surprisingly
easy to fit and thoughtfully employs a tacky silicone backing strip, rather
than the traditional adhesives, meaning its tolerant of correction. No cheater
strips either which suits me, since I’ve found myself defaulting to the “figure
of eight” technique around the brake levers. Plenty of tape left, despite
generous overlap on these 44cm wide Genetic D-Riser 4 GENETIC DRISER 4
HANDLEBARS | cycling-not-racing
Elsewhere, I've been harvesting
some smaller fasteners, specifically bottle cage mounting hardware, not least
as it's good to have some decent staples in stock-a chainring bolt can go rogue
and create mischief at the least expected (read convenient) moment.
Particularly on the fixed. Several years down the line, I’m still seriously
impressed by these Genetic Tibia GENETIC
TIBIA TRACK CRANKS & RING | cycling-not-racing
Obviously, it’s important to get
the correct bolt and collar length, not to mention applying a light coating of assembly
grease. This will give you a sporting chance of removing them when ring
replacement’s due.
Aluminium alloy fasteners might sabe a few
grams while looking pretty into the bargain but where components are under
load, I reach for Cro-moly every time and twice on Sundays. I’ve wasted no time
in fitting them to Dobbin and torquing down to 12nm. Another little job off the
list.
On the subject of small parts, I'm keeping an
eye out for a replacement skewer for my TWBents Bob Yak homage trailer.
I'm confident I've stashed the
original unit safely away in one of my storage boxes, following Ursula's
renovation last year. Spares of this kind make sense. However, some folks have
been hawking them for £74 apiece, which is laughable, not to mention uneconomic.
I always preferred that coupling system to that employed on the original Bob
Yak. I was fond of mine but there were some things that merited
improvement/felt a little fragile.
This includes these Wellgo, which
offer greater support (and consequently efficiency) than the mighty dual side
cross country M540 and XTs. They do strike an excellent balance between
stiffness and walking for longer periods-think touring and bike packing rather
than gravel racing, or competitive. They’re a notch or so better on the riding
and walking fronts than the otherwise likeable Shimano MT701 GTX SPD Shimano
MT701 GTX SPD Shoes | cycling-not-racing
Staying with pedals a moment,
here’s a quick guide to keeping them cleaned, greased and happy Simple Pedal
Overhaul | cycling-not-racing I’ve acquired some lever rubbers-primarily
since the WTB bars wide flare tends to see the lever ends grazed against
brickwork, which sets me on edge for several reasons. Might also provide some
additional grip when riding in the wet.
On the chain lube front, I'm
continuing to default to the TF2 Performance All Weather Lubricant TF2
PERFORMANCE ALL WEATHER LUBRICANT | cycling-not-racing . This is a lighter
middleweight that returns decent mileage in changeable conditions but without
attracting too much grot, especially along fire roads and forest trails.
I've since discovered that Weldtite have revised the formula, removing
the PTFE component, which has me intrigued...
Whipped out the chain checker and
Denise's KMC is still in reasonable health 3 months down the line. I’m confident
I’ll get a further six weeks, or 600 mixed terrain miles before its retired. That
said, I bought another batch of staples, since chain wear can be very
sneaky. A bit like the front mech, which has dropped the chain a
couple of times recently-nothing turning the adjustment screw 1/8th
of a turn didn’t fix, but annoying and inconvenient at the time.
