Misty Mornings

 

Navigating the backroads at 5am is like riding through pea soup and can play all sorts of tricks on an active imagination. Mercifully, the closest I’ve come to demonic hounds, or werewolves are speeding muntjac, deer but ideal conditions for evaluating lighting-and my reflexes!  

While it has some definite quirks, the Ravemen TR50 USB Rechargeable rear light is surprisingly potent, especially in the highest, 50 lumen flashing mode.  

This has sufficient bite to burn through dense coastal mist and doubles as a decent daytime running light. True, it doesn’t match the Knog Cobber Mid Rear Lights’ https://www.sevendaycyclist.com/knog-cobber-mid-rear-light knockout punch. High flash and pulsing produce 150lumens apiece and are relatively frugal-especially in the flashing mode.  

The Cobber’s curved optics, not to mention 192 diodes also mean its peripheral reach is considerably better.  Nonetheless, it needs four hours charge time and is almost twice the TR50’s asking price.   

The highest setting has exceeded cited run time by a few minutes, although the auto kickdown to fast flashing doesn’t last long (around 15 minutes) before shutting down. A consideration, rather than a deal-breaker but I’m always inclined to run a backup light, regardless.  

Flash flooding and thunderstorms have tempered the recent heatwave, hence my lube switches.150 miles in, formative impressions of the Muc-Off –50 lubricant are also very favourable. Not dissimilar to the Weldtite TF2 All Weather Lubricant https://www.sevendaycyclist.com/weldtite-tf2-performance-all-weathe in terms of lubrication and cleanliness. I have high hopes for its corrosion resisting properties, too.  

Similar viscosity also lends itself to cleat/mechanisms and even cables, although a dry wax such Weldite Ultra Dry Chain Wax https://www.sevendaycyclist.com/weldtite-tf2-ultra-dry-chain-wax is, my preferred option for cable inners. In this context, there’s no need to observe the long curing period, although it will last a good while longer if you can.  

Half link chains, like a lot of things, divide opinion. Personally, I’m a fan. They were a popular way of addressing chain tension issues, especially on fixed gear conversions with vertical frame ends. Much less of a challenge on a purpose build frameset using track ends.  

During a quiet moment, I chose to substitute my fixed gear winter/trainer’s Sram PC1 for this KMC HL1 Wide. As the imaginative moniker suggests, it’s a hefty, nickel-plated ½ link, direction specific model. Easily cut and joined using this trusty Topeak All Speeds Chain Toolhttps://www.sevendaycyclist.com/topeak-all-speeds-chain-tool.  

 

Refined and super smooth, I’m wondering how the HL1 will compare with my all-time favourite, the KMC Z1x https://www.sevendaycyclist.com/kmc-inox-chain (save for the tendency for lube to migrate from the rollers to the outer plates). Talking of which, I’m going to leave it dressed in the factory lube for the time being, since it's there, although being quite contrary in these matters, I might well change my mind.  

Talking of electroplating, while on a mission of mercy, I exhumed this seven-year old, 20 function BBB Microfold XXL from the recesses of my car boot tidy. I always some tooling there in case I need to fettle a friend’s bike while visiting, or in case someone is stuck by the roadside. 

Now out of production, said tool is anything but obsolete and has some nice touches. Curious? OK, T25 Torx, spoke wrenches (3.2, 3.3 3.5mm), tyre lever, chain hook, chain tool, chain pin tool, 2, 2.5, 5, 4, 5, 6, 8mm Allen keys, 8, 9, 10mm Box wrenches, Phillips and straight blade screwdrivers. By the look of things, I may have lost the 8mm cap but otherwise, it’ll cater for most eventualities and is surprisingly pleasant to use, thanks to the rubberised coating.  

I was somewhat stunned to discover the plated tooling had cultivated some unsightly, barnacle-like tarnish. This presented the ideal opportunity to test the cutting prowess of this M16 Ride & Shine. The chemical abrasives did a decent job of removing the lions’ share within 20minutes, albeit with a little help from a flat-file. Apparently, the Ride & Shine leaves a protective barrier behind, so we’ll see how effective that is... 

 

Motherboards & Other Internal Flux

  

Having returned from the Midlands, down to a third of a tank but fuelled with ideas and purpose, I stet about stripping the Ilpompino ready for its makeover. 60 minutes later, the frame was bare and removing its makeshift chainstay protector revealed some superficial wounding that had given rise to unsightly corrosion.

Stones, grit and salt monster had struck during the snowy weeks of 2012/13, scuffing caused by the chain colliding with its bottom bracket shell during a spill in the first quarter of 2008, bare metal skid mark etched into the seat tube by a slightly loose mid-section chrome plastic mudguard... Every mark tells a story.

Ten years in, time for a change. Seizing the moment, I popped said frame in the Micra and delivered it to Maldon Shot Blasting & Powder Coating, where we discussed the finer details of the new livery. They have exacting standards and demand for their services is high, hence we’ve arranged to proceed with the photo-love-story transformation next week.

The Holdsworth has been busy, putting a huge grin on my face while earning its keep with super clean, friction busting wax chain preps, Univega has ditched the otherwise brilliant Tortec rack, for a racier Altura post mount day bag, wet lubes and seriously soggy lanes.

There’s been a steady trickle of lighting arriving at my door for evaluation. Given the performance of their baby blinder arc 1.7 certainly delivered far greater clout than 170 lumens suggest their 600 (640 lumens) has me very excited. The song remains broadly identical, albeit amplified somewhat and the quality of light in its highest setting appears to eclipse some budget blasters boasting 1,000 plus.

Silicone straps look unchanged, save for magnetic claps and whether they’ll cope better with oversized bars/extensions and post diameters remains to be seen.Retro fans needn’t feel left out, there’s a smaller loop for 25-30mm, which even caters for Cinelli and other marques who were producing theirs in 26.2 before standardisation simplified matters. Apparently, Knog has not only boosted firepower but revised the optics and internals in this season’s Blinder Arc family.

In common with several other higher end models, this 900 lumen Sigma Power LED EVO Pro claims to combine spot and flood in a single lamp, allowing you to see 100metres (approximately 325ft) ahead.

Both have the options of bar or helmet mounting, look well made, simple to fit and user friendly. The blinder arc more obviously aimed at clutter-phobic commuters who fancy incorporating some fast paced saunters into their journey home, whereas the Sigma is a big, tuneable trail gun promising run times of between 3 and 11 hours depending on which end of the four setting spectrum conditions favour.

Talking of technology, my surprisingly long-lived HP laptop that served me tirelessly these past three years, succumbed to sudden and fatal motherboard failure last Monday evening. As Murphy’s Law would have it, said catastrophic haemorrhage struck before I had chance to back up files and second drafts on memory sticks and external hard drives

Several minutes’ heart stopping, irrational panic associated with lost data, documents and photographs subsided once I found most were either emailed to myself, or sitting in a pile of hard copy proof-reads, so I was able to catch up with 75% that evening and be ahead of schedule two days hence.

Having searched the web for inspiration, I concluded stripping and cooking the unit in my oven at 180 degrees to temporarily resuscitate and salvage was a fools’ mission. So begins the research for a replacement while I enjoy a newfound appreciation for a middle aged but very serviceable desktop.

 

 

 

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…