Rubber, Bearings n' Bounce

Wasn’t expecting to be so impressed by the CST Czar 700x28 but many early morning miles hence and they’ve won me over with their blend of speed and swift, though predictable handling-even along greasier road surfaces. Wild rabbits love to test my handling skills and help with this assessment process. Little to choose between them and the Vittoria Roubino Pro Control Vittoria Rubino Pro Control Graphene 2.0 | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com) in terms of handling and compliance. Both are 60tpi, but the Roubino Pro run between 70-100psi.  

No minimum pressure is inscribed on the Czar’s sidewall, just a maximum-120psi. I’ve defaulted to 100 and this seems my sweet spot. I was pleasantly surprised to discover sufficient clearance at the Holdsworth’s fork, so parked a Czar up front and a Roubino Pro at the rear, given. Taking this route saved at least 300g from the build and probably deliver some more zip to proceedings. I am a major fan of the Freedom Thick Slicks, but an opportunity presented itself.  

Puncture resistance is dependable thus far. However, I have a quiet thought as to its long-term durability in this respect. A reflection of the price point, rather than the Czar specifically. I say this, since, in my experience, most budget-belted models seem dependable to around the 2,500mile (about 4023.36 km) mark before losing their edge a little.  

Back in 1989, I had a set of Nutrack 27x1 ¼ on my Holdsworthy built Claud Butler Super Dalesman. These became vulnerable to flats during a Norfolk tour, so were replaced with Michelin’s bargain mile munching World Tour (eventually superseded by some Vredestein due to clearance hassles). In the early 80s, there was a trend for relatively tight clearances, even “fully fledged” touring lorries were designed with 32mm tyres in mind. There’s a lot to love about this breed. They handled beautifully laden, or otherwise, had strong brakes and sufficient gearing to ride up, down, and along the Great Wall of China.  

Keeping a 3x drivetrain well-mannered could be a chore sometimes, though-especially through a grotty winter.  That said; while I like the relative simplicity of 1X setups, they tend to be relatively expensive, particularly when it comes to cassettes, given the wide spread of ratios involved. They also require mechs with very long arms, reminiscent of mid-80s mountain bikes, although I have subverted this by running a road typical 11-25 block and road mech. Works for me, for the most part, although there is some trade-off when it comes to winching and bombing prowess.  

There is a quiet movement for repurposing older mountain bikes as drop bar tourers/monster cross and gravel bikes. One I happen to subscribe to. However, if you’re going the drop bar route, there are a few things to consider. One is cable routing (if you are heading towards a front derailleur) the other is stem length/height.

Older cross-country mountain bikes tend to have very long top tubes. This partially explains why I run a stumpy 35mm stem, even on a 17.5-inch frameset. I am proportionately short in the torso but by contrast, on a semi/traditional road build, I run an 80, or 90mm stem.    

Staying with the front end, I decided it was time to retire Ursula’s long-serving (8 years) Stronglight O’Light. This time, I’ve gone for another, the Stronglight O’Light ST. ST denotes steel, whereas the O’Light was aluminium alloy. I had planned on just switching the bearings from the bitsa ST I bought some months back.  

However, it became clear the O’Lite cups were also looking tired, forcing my hand. I took this opportunity to prune the steerer by 15mm, switched to a shorter Gusset Headlock Cro-moly bolt and lost the extra spacers. Cleaner aesthetic too... The stiffer Kinekt Suspension Stem KINEKT SUSPENSION STEM | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com) spring also arrived this week, so I wasted no time in switching to it.  A very easy job, thanks to the design’s engineered simplicity.  

 

Fresh Rubber & Lights

August continues to accelerate at an alarming rate with darker mornings and night’s crafty creep becoming progressively more apparent. Timely that I should receive these Ravemen and Kranx lights from their UK importer Bob Elliot Co Ltd - Suppliers of high quality bicycle supplies to registered traders (bob-elliot.co.uk) I have the TR500 USB Rechargeable rear light, TR1600 USB Rechargeable Curved Lens Front Light and Kranx Strix 100 USB Rear Light.  

On the rubber front, these CST Czar700x28 Dual Compound Tyre arrived. However, I was also disappointed (but not remotely surprised) by the response of a Dutch supplier, who likes Seven Day Cyclist www.sevendaycyclist.com but says the costs (due to Brexit) prohibit supply of some very tasty test products.  

Then of course, there’s the very real prospect of power shortages and “black outs” during winter, which will be sold as character-building and doubtless heaped with rhetoric, evoking the second world war. Expect to hear “Blitz Spirit” and “pulling together” ad nauseum (which drives some sections of the British public into a palpable jingoistic frenzy).  

I’m still waiting on some component upgrades, which should’ve materialised by now-I'm hoping they turn up before much longer, given the impending strike action at Felixstowe.

 

Back to tyres...For general, year-round riding I’ve tended to favour those with a 60tpi casing. Now, sweeping generalisations are, begging for contradiction. However, while they lack the zing of those with 120, maybe 170 tpi, they still roll easily, ride quality isn’t overly harsh, and durability is similarly impressive. I’ve done several thousand miles with the Kenda Kwick Roller KS Plus KENDA KWICK JOURNEY TYRES | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com) and they’re still in rude health. At 757g apiece, they may be a little portly for some tastes but in the darker, colder months, I preside reliability over outright speed.  

The Vittoria Roubino Pro Control Graphene 2.0 Vittoria Rubino Pro Control Graphene 2.0 | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com) are slightly narrower but palpably lighter and faster. No flats to date and it’ll be interesting how they fare during winter (although I may well swap to bigger sections, when conditions turn a little more challenging). This may not be for some time, given some sources suggest a heatwave will continue into October, possibly November.  

That said; back in the late 80s/early 90s, when many of us were whizzing along on 20-23mm road rubber, 28mm was very much the preserve of lightweight/weekend touring. Still perfectly viable, with lighter loads, or indeed, a low-slung touring trailer.  

 

Otherwise, where frame clearances permit, 35-40mm is my sweet spot for road-biased touring, although I err toward the upper end of this scale.  

Weekend, or indeed “credit card” touring aside, tyres for laden duties should have strong sidewalls and a decent puncture repelling belt (preferably one that runs bead to bead and 3-5mm thick)   

Much as I suspected the Souma Leather Bar Tape improves with use and has settled beautifully on both bars. I’ve fed ours a few times and it's darkened the hide slightly but thankfully, this is uniform, so doesn’t detract. This is to be expected with all leather products, so test an inconspicuous area first, especially if you are treating a light colour.  

The Green Oil Dry Chain Wax continues to impress with its cleanliness and longevity. It's designed for dry, dusty conditions, so arguably in its ideal element. In terms of characteristics, it's somewhere between a traditional dry and wax, meaning it's clean and dry to touch.  

Much as I expected, it uses plant-based ethanol, plant oil and antioxidant. This version also employs graphite as a friction modifier. Continuing this theme, Ursula’s KMC chain is still in rude health, reassuringly so, given it's done 1500 mixed terrain miles. It's been a dry summer, but winter and spring conditions were more varied and I’m thinking cleaner lubes are the determining factor.   

Honeymoon period passed and I’m still pleased with the switch to carbon forks. The weight saving is genuinely palpable, especially since I’ve also switched to the lighter of its dynohub wheels. It’s the compliant ride quality, which is the main draw.  Sure, Cro-Moly forks, like the “school chair” type that Ursula has sported can still be found, new for £60 (although lighter, cross-country models with disc mounts are still available for around £125).  

These might be a more cost-effective choice for some, especially since 26inch wheels are increasingly regarded as old-fashioned. That said; there is a small but seemingly growing community of people who are going the “gravel” route with older, mid and higher end cross country mountain bikes.  

Closer to the Specialized Rock Combo (694) Specialized Rock Combo 1989 commercial -- the first production gravel bike? - YouTube 

 that blew my fragile teenage mind c. 1989 (although the drop bar mountain bike first sprung to my attention in March 1987, when I clapped eyes on Muddy Fox’s Trailblazer). I am forming the opinion that the Carbon fork is an affordable and realistic upgrade for those with older, mid to higher end mountain bikes given new leases of life. 

Painted fork ends bode well for winter and the clear cost uniformly good, although I’ve applied some Zefal Skin Armor roll ZEFAL SKIN ARMOR ROLL | cycling-not-racing (sevendaycyclist.com) on those areas where cabling, or cable ties rest, to prevent unnecessary wear-especially when wet, muddy and gritty stuff are thrown into the mix.