Flashes of Inspiration

One thing led to another as it always does. I’d returned from a wet, early Saturday morning saunter on Denise and found myself compelled to clean the teal temptress- It had been a wet, mucky week’s riding…Out with the stand, buckets, and brushes. Before I knew it, the rear wheel was out, Continental Contact Plus substituted for the Maxxis Ravager.  

 

I decided then was the time to tackle the USE SX seat post strip and re-grease. Cable tie around the post, I slackened the collar bolt and shuffled it free. Access to the elastomers and related bouncy bits was via a tension dial in the base and a 5mm Alen key.   

 

I’d already brought the Peaty’s Speed Grease PEATY'S SPEED GREASE | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com) along in readiness and within easy reach. Slackening the cap, I wasn’t surprised to find it ejected from the post base and across the concrete. Mercifully, it didn’t go the whole hog and vanish into some inaccessible point. I shied away from stripping the unit completely (quitting while ahead being the mantra here). 

  

Casual inspection suggested that while it had been a while since the post was serviced, everything was in surprisingly decent shape. I directed a generous squeeze of Peaty’s Speed Grease into the elastomer and reaffixed the tension cap, adjusting carefully.   

 

Saddle resting on my recycling bin lid, I pressed down on the post, assessing the amount of travel. A few compressions later confirmed a much smoother action, so I added some more Wolf Tooth Grease to the post and slid it back into the seat tube.  

 

Correctly aligned and checked, I snugged the collar bolt to 5nm and refitted my characterfully faded SQR tour.  Grimy patina gone from the bar tape, bike gleaming, a light coating of Muc-Off Miracle Shine Wax to finish.   

 

The petulant beep from my clothes drier signalled the end of this impromptu fettling session before I could get too engrossed and the balance tip negatively. 630am the following morning, Denise and I were out along the lanes.  

 

Greasing the post’s internals rewarded with plush, refined and progressive damping, while the Ravager, despite running at a gravel typical 30-60psi were still relatively swift at their recommended maximum, while offering a compliant ride through the green lanes.

I stuck with the Specialized Crossroads up front, as a control for the first week before switching to the Ravager. By this point, I was satisfied everything had bedded in nicely, so whipped the rear Ryde/XT wheel down to Mick at Madgetts Cycles, so he could work his magic.  

Wheel out, I suddenly had an inexplicable urge to find the other, pink cum purple skewer. One that had graced the Teenage Dream’s hubs from 1994 to 2009. Purely for aesthetics. Might save a few grams into the bargain but it’s the early 90s aesthetic to compliment the otherwise neutral colour scheme.   

 

They’ve a nice closure action, too.  Maybe it was me yearning for a supposedly simpler time- time spent chewing the tech at Bob’s Discount (Bike dealers) on Ilford Lane. Misguided if I was. These were equally challenging times, pressures of study, a perceived lack of direction beyond that, faux friends, toxic romantic relationships into the bargain.  

 

Obviously, there were some strong positives but let’s not get misty-eyed about these things. It's merely that I was struck by and still like framesets and some components/designs from that era. A lot of things have also improved greatly since then-holistically.

I like disc brakes, but cantilevers still have their place. They’re simple, lightweight, powerful. Same goes for Dual pivot calliper brakes and while both have lost favour in recent times, I don’t believe the rim brake will disappear.    

 

More importantly, once the wheel’s true, I can get the rear CX50 and pads toed-in nicely. I’d tweaked the saddle height, raising the post a few millimetres. It was more or less bang on before but again, it's what those formative rides and weeks are about-fine tuning.  

 

Doing so has also provided some added clearance between tyre and Carradice SQR Tour. Thankfully, the weather’s been nice enough that I’ve been able to get some miles in on the Holdsworth too. I’ll end here with my review of the Cycology Baja Cap Cycology Baja Cycling Cap | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com)    

 

Reflections & Refinements

 

With the miles racking up and confidence in the Dawes increasing, I was able to enjoy its brisk, yet predictable persona and push it quicker along the lanes. The slightly wobbly rear wheel wasn’t causing any issues at this point, although obviously, I wanted a tweak on the jig- only at that point would I revise the rear brake’s setup.  

 

Everything else had settled down, although I wasn’t surprised to discover the quill stem wedge moving very slightly. Nothing, a more liberal turn of a 6mm Allen key wouldn’t cure. I pulled over mid ride to correct- no sense leaving it and I had a nice long 6mm bit handy, courtesy of the Cyclo 20 function multi tool CYCLO 20 FUNCTION MULTITOOL | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com).  

 

A minute or so later, tool was back in the SQR Tour, and I was spinning home at a nice cadence. Talking tools, here’s Steve’s review of the Wolf Tooth EnCase System Bar Kit One Multi Tool Wolf Tooth EnCase System Bar Kit One | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com)   

 

I’ve bought another 9 function Giant Continuum Wireless Computer. Yes, this one’s also pink. I like these since they’re easy to set up, intuitive to use and via my supplier, gentle on the wallet.    

 

No need to tweak the Microshift/Tiagra tag team at this stage. I may well upgrade Ursula’s Tiagra, post refurb, only because the existing mech has done a lot of work, year-round and if I’m rebuilding the bike, it seems silly to scrimp unnecessarily. However, I’ll clean it up and “take a view” from there.  

 

The weather has become more temperate, dare I say summery, so I’ve been able to get the miles in and reach much firmer conclusions regarding the Cycology Men’s Summit Long Sleeve Jersey and the Castelli Espresso Men’s Jersey.  

 

Both are very competent and true to some big claims, the Espresso is a lovely go-to. £130 certainly isn’t cheap and there are several competitors. However, some costing a good deal more. I’m hoping truing will address the braking issues, but I’ve also acquired a pair of these Suntour SE (Self energising) rear cantilevers, which I last recall from the late 1980s. They were something of a curiosity and rather like the XCD group (which I was also fond of) and in this instance at a price, seemingly impossible to resist.  

 

With their arrival, I’ve ordered some more straddle wires, since I had gone through my last supply and the Suntour weren’t supplied with any (not that I’d expected this). I’ve gone for Transfil, since they were favourably priced, and the brand are known to me. Transfil produced a very effective (if stubborn to fit) sealed brake and gear cable set but they also produce cables for the automotive industry.     

 

I’ve been warming to the Ergon SR AllRoad saddle, though not exotic materials-wise, it's not exotic, but very well executed, providing support in all the right places thus far.  The rear cutout has me curious and induced some laddish suggestions involving flatulence relief.  

 

According to Ergon, the “Deep Relief Channel” is, like others designed to relieve unwanted pressure. This design deepens progressively, leading to a small cut out. The design apparently gives greater “forgiveness” to the perineal region, while the hole’s positioning apparently overcomes some of the pitfalls of bigger cut outs.  

 

The obvious one that springs to mind is a very soggy crotch riding sans full length mudguards-gravel, adventure and cyclo cross bikes being obvious examples. It is noticeably deeper than I’ve traditionally come to expect and seems more than clever marketing thus far. One rider suggested the rear cut out was designed to protect the rider (indeed, stoker if fitted to a tandem) from fart reverb. I gave the sideways glance, but my inner child sniggered a bit.   

 

The Ergon will stay on the fixed for now, until I get the Dawes bedded in and refinements sorted. To a point where I can do something close to proper gravel and cross type off road duties. At that point, I’ll switch the rear wheel to a 42mm Continental Contact Plus. As I’ve said throughout, it's all part of the bonding process. Glad I had instated the Giant computer, missed being able to glance down and check my speed, distance and similar informative stuff.  I didn’t want an overly cluttered, congested feel to the bars either.