Hollow Thoughts

 250 miles in, I’m arriving at the conclusion my shim experiment wasn’t the success I’d initially thought. However, I’m glad I went this experimental route. It didn’t cost me anything, since I already had the components and wanted to see how much difference a Hollowtech system would make to my Univega’s drivetrain.  

My fixed gear winter/trainer ran a Truvativ external cup system for a while and I’ve tested machines with external cup groupsets. There’s a big difference between living with a system for a few hundred miles and a machine that you ride year-round and have exceeded 100,000 on. 

Anyhow, I’ve decided to stick with Hollowtech and acquired a Deore unit, which aside from being the right fit, and will save some weight. Afterall, Zee is designed for downhill duties, so overbuilt for a mixed terrain, rough stuff tourer cum daily driver. 

 

Replacement crankset in question comes with 32 tooth, 96BCD ring, which gives rise to reviewing gearing. Might need to switch the cassette to something more closely spaced to compensate and avoid warp speed spin-out on the road/unevenly wearing certain sprockets.    

For the time being, I’m getting the miles in on the fixed, which is no hardship, especially since I dialed in the chain line. The Acros Silicone Wrap Handlebar Tape LONG-TERM TEST: ACROS SILICONE BAR WRAP | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com)    

Is still going very strong but looking a little grubby, so the arrival of this T-One Mr Fantastic Handlebar Tape, sent to me by Greyville Enterprises Greyville.com - T-ONE Mr Fantastic Handlebar Tape: Orange is also 100% silicone and promises to be extremely durable. 

For example, UV resistance is reckoned between –40 and +260 degrees. Uncut, it carries a 24g weight penalty over the Acros and over double that of Genetic Flare Silicone Bar Wrap GENETIC FLARE SILICONE BAR TAPE (sevendaycyclist.com) 

Being a naturally grippy fabric, silicone tapes require no adhesive backing, so bar swaps, cable changes etc don’t spell the tape’s end and make the other tasks that little bit quicker/easier. Talking of which, it’s quite relaxing to fit, requiring nominal pressure-closer to the Genetic Flare, in this respect.    

Oh, and lighter colours, such as fluros keep their looks longer since you can pop it on the washing machine at 30 degrees. Talking of which, it will be interesting to see whether the smooth texture means it stays cleaner/is easier to clean, compared with the Acros’s embossed finish.  

Formative impressions are favourable- the aesthetic is less chunky than the Acros but still does a capable job of damping low level vibration. I’d also toyed with porting the K-Lite Bike Packer Ultra over to the Genetic Neuron Accessory Bar GENETIC NEURON ACCESSORY BAR | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com) but ultimately thought better of it. 

More pressing was a sudden loss of braking-pads again. Thankfully, I had replacements in stock but it’s amazing how quickly these get consumed in bad weather. This also presented an opportune moment to switch from the Schwalbe Winter Plus to this Continental Contact plus TESTED: CONTINENTAL CONTACT PLUS TYRES (sevendaycyclist.com)  

Back to the drivetrains...Well, I’ve reached my conclusions regarding the Muc-Off e-Bike Wet Weather Ceramic Chain lube MUC-OFF E-BIKE WET WEATHER CERAMIC LUBE | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com) and Weldtite Ceramic Chain Lube is also making a generally positive impression. In terms of consistency and friction, it’s quite close in characteristics and staying prowess to Juice Lubes Ceramic Chain Juice JUICE LUBES CERAMIC JUICE | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com) 

I’ve noticed a tendency for it to migrate away from the rollers in very wet conditions, although residual stuff seems to get reclaimed from the cassette. In fairness, The Juice and Weldtite Ceramics are designed for fair, rather than foul weather but it’s interesting to see how they behave in wetter conditions.  

Given the forecast these coming weeks, I may be reaching for the Muc-Off –50 MUC-OFF -50C CHAIN LUBE | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com)  again. For the time being, I’m enjoying the lower friction, which is particularly apparent, riding fixed. Steve’s also been impressed by this Rohloff blend ROHLOFF SPECIAL BIKE CHAIN LUBRICANT | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com) 

As Easy as One, Two Zee...Well, not quite ...

Braking up to scratch and headset buttery smooth, the UN55 bottom bracket was showing the early signs of slop. Nothing serious but seeing as I already had a UN300 on standby and time allowed, rude not to replace. All was going to plan until I put a shot of lube on the tool threads and coupled it with the cranks.  

I was rather shocked to discover them flaking away.  Thankfully, popping them from the tapers wasn’t a hardship and no surprise the bottom bracket spun free with comparable ease, thanks to my policy of liberally greasing threads and of course, oceans of frame preserve... Time to investigate my transmission box...  

Enter the Shimano Zee and 36 tooth ring, compatible bottom bracket, Acor tools and some of the Corrosion Block grease, since it was to hand. Now, I’d bought the Zee blind. Other than acknowledging that it was new, unused, and priced to sell, I didn’t think to check the axle length... It’s not the most obvious choice perhaps, given it's intended for freeride and downhill audiences. However, it's solid and in my view, quite pretty.  

Hollow Tech II basically works to the same compression principle as Aheadset. Set the bearing preload hand tight, test for play and good movement, then gently snug the pinch bolts down to 14nms (alternating between them, to ensure equal loading and avoid damage caused by over-stressed components).  

Being as the cranks provide the compression, if I was going to run the system successfully (without the bearings constantly coming loose) I needed to plug this. One-inch Aheadset spacers seemed the obvious solution. Rummaging through my small parts toolbox proved fruitful.  

While there’s a lot to like about the Shimano Hollowtech II bottom bracket (and their bottom brackets, per se), I wasn’t taken with the plastic sleeve, so found myself upgrading to a titanium Van Nicholas VNT Ceramic Bottom Bracket. This has a titanium, rather than composite sleeve, so engaged very precisely within the frame shell.  

Essentially everything came together beautifully, although I was quick to apply a liberal helping of suitable grease to the threads, shaft and bearings. Always a good policy but there was no way I was going to run the galvanic gauntlet for the sake of a couple of minutes. Having exhausted the Corrosion Block, I went for the Green Oil Eco GreaseTWELVE MONTH TEST: GREEN OIL ECO GREASE (sevendaycyclist.com). It might lack the outright stoicism of Park and similar but nonetheless, it’s a solid middleweight performer.  

Being several degrees below zero, it emerged from the spout in a more solid state than some petrochemicals but malleable. Thus far, this present configuration is proving very satisfactory. Chain line is bang on and I’m not pedaling like John Wayne. Just as well since pandemic and Brexit is beginning to bite in terms of acquiring suitable replacements e.g. Deore and at sensible prices.  The UK is a third country now, so importing from Europe would incur punitive import costs. In essence, I will stick with the present configuration and evaluate other options, should limitations with the setup materialise.   

 

While rummaging through my spares boxes like a possessed spirit, I also happened upon the trail version of K-Lite's Bike Packer Ultra. K LITE BIKEPACKER ULTRA DYNAMO LIGHT | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com) Suspicious that the V2 issues may boil down to the lamp, rather than the “box”, I performed the switch... On the one hand, being the same family, I would expect the switch and connectors to play nicely, but that shouldn’t be taken as a given. 

Thankfully, it wasn’t long before the lamp came to life, so I tethered it to the Soma Condor 2 Shallow Drop bars SOMA CONDOR 2 SHALLOW DROP BARS | (sevendaycyclist.com)  and am back to swooping through the empty lanes, which are now largely free of anything slippery, thanks to a sudden hike in temperature. However, there’s a fair bit of standing water, so sans guards, bikes get mucky. Nothing a decent bike wash won’t shift. Steve’s been quite impressed by the Pure PURE BIKE WASH | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com)  

Larger bike packing luggage, including this Zefal Z Aventure R11 do a decent job of doubling as a rear guard, protecting rider and saddle from the watery worst.