Dartmoor 26/27th - Bit of backyard meandering. Might even be the first scouting mission for the top secret Dartmoor 200 ITT route but don’t tell anyone.
Black - Proloc for numpties

Sounds like the bike is coming along nicely... plus you saved a few grams on the nipples. Look forward to meeting this legendary Surly one day Luke bro

Brass Proloc’s so no weigh off there.
I’m thinking it will be just under 14kg/30lb with a full metal construction and a purposeful look. Think Landrover Defender.

lune ranger wrote: ↑Wed Oct 16, 2019 4:35 pm the top secret Dartmoor 200 ITT route but don’t tell anyone.

Oooh, 200 miles or 200km? Put my name down for the group start

As for my bike, I've taken it out of the car and put it in the shed, wheels still off and covered in Welsh muck from the weekend. I've also moved my other bike to the end of the lock cable as I'll be riding that to work for the rest of the week until I can find the time to clean the main bike.

Swapped the kit over from the old stooge MK1 frame to the shiny new MK4. Spent the rest of the evening swearing profusely as I tried (unsuccessfully) to remove the seatpost from the frame.

Well yesterday to be honest, finally needed to change the pads on my delightful hope RX4 calipers, the original SRAM force calipers would eat pads at an alarming rate while still being sh1te at stopping, at the vastly reduced rate of attrition the hopes will repay the investment fairly quickly while actually stopping a dropbar mountain bike, result I say

Bought a new one!

I actually did something vaguely mechanical on my bike without it going wrong - took the valves out and topped up with sealant. I also noticed that my fork was moving in the head tube after I’d flipped my stem up the other day - just as well I’d not had a chance to ride it since. Looked up how to fix that and hopefully that’s sorted too

Finished rebuilding my Krampus. Krampus v2.1 as it’s now called.
Tipping the scales at 13.8kg. The loops are taped with Cinelli camo tape that matches my expanding Rockgeist camo bag collection. Subtle use of 90’s purple anodising gives it the crazy bug out bike meets Bugged Out look.
Nice

Started a new job on Monday 3.5 miles from home
I drove in Monday to drop some stuff off.

Now I can commute to and from work EVERY day for the first time ever in my life (just 3 minutes slower than in the car)





Each afternoon I've seen a King Fisher on the canal section on the way home, shame it's going to drop dark from next week

Let's hope this job is a keeper

As it's flat my cheaper single speed commuter is on order and a couple of weeks away, just in case as I don't want to loose my bling bikes to the scallies

Took a hacksaw to the frame of my Amazon.

Before


After


Fitting hydraulic brakes (c/o Scud) and going 11-speed at the same time. Progress was fine until I discovered there's a bolt and plate missing from the rear mech. Replacement now on order from SJS.

Bish wrote: ↑Sat Oct 19, 2019 4:56 pm Bought a new one!

Love the colour of this Bish. Thats a great looking bike.

I got my new front mech working but in another episode of Neil gets his monies worth, this is the one I replaced.

Meet Stan.



Sorry R-D-C, but I can't call him anything else. He was my father-in-laws' bike and became mine around 35 years ago when Dad ( his name was Stan)had to downsize and move to a pensioners bungalow. Stan is a New Hudson and has sat in one or other of my sheds since then, with occasional use, but not at all in the last twenty five years. A few days ago I took him out, pumped up his tyres and tried him out around my yard. Amazingly, everything still worked , 'though the gears were a bit stiff (Sturmey Archer 3-speed) and the tyres perished.

Yesterday, these arrived.


When i pulled him out again, I found that the front tyre had popped. No surprise there! So, new tyres on, cables oiled and now he seems to be in fine fettle (for his age, anyway). The wheels spin freely and the brakes work without sticking. There's a little roughness in the S/A hub that I need to research, but it might sort itself out now I've put some oil in through the oil port. There's some rust on his chrome and a bit on the paintwork too that I'll just oily rag and he'll be good to go. The Bottle dynamo still works too.

I don't know why, but I'm stupidly pleased to see him out again. I'll be using him for trips to town (around five miles each way)., though I'll have to get used to the riding position and the narrow handlebars.

Bwfore going to ride with Karl and Mart from Chapel N L Frith, I really wanted to sort my uncomfy forks out. Checked the pressure and it was 77 psi. Well below whats suggested at my wieght but still been feeling harsh on last bivy ride last month.

So this am or last night (I forgrt which as its always pressure going to ride with the BB veterans and maybe causes me to forgrt stuff ) I pressed the valve for a split second and it went to 55psi. Obvoously too low so I pumped it up again with my Rockshox pump (of which I noted Karl has same this morning) and checked again.

75 psi and todays ride with the rock gardens were all ace. No uncomfy feel of the fork feeling too stiff. Result...

thinking outside the box though... Well done Colin...

ScotRoutes wrote: ↑Thu Nov 14, 2019 8:08 pm Took a hacksaw to the frame of my Amazon.

Before


After


Fitting hydraulic brakes (c/o Scud) and going 11-speed at the same time. Progress was fine until I discovered there's a bolt and plate missing from the rear mech. Replacement now on order from SJS.

Bit of maintenance on the commuter - new (2nd hand) wheels and rear brake pads to replace the worn out rims and broken spoke on the old ones. Cleaned and oiled the chain and cassette - this bike is properly spoilt!

And stripped the Dirty Harry to give it a bit of tlc after last weekends Peak ride highlighted a few jobs I'd forgotten about.

I want to swap the headset bearings on my MTB, so I bought a vernier Caliper as I found out from the mechanic at Sigma I have to measure the cage bearings accurately to be sure I buy the correct sized sealed bearings , I had to watch a YouTube video to get the just of how to read this vernier gizmo , it was quite easy , so I’ll get the things ordered and do the upgrade ,

Rode my new bike:


Stopped a few times to adjust the saddle and hoods, but mainly tried to stay upright in all the slop:

New wheels and tyres, set up tubeless (pigging nightmare) and new bars.

Bled my brakes this morning, first time doing it so watched about twenty youtube vids first, went okay in the end and my levers are much less squishy now.

Happy Days

After all the rain and mud I took my SS comutter with full mud guards on on our local cycle paths.
I punctured near home so got the wife to come and pick me up.

Checked fluid in fat bike tyres ready for December Bivvy next week. Just as well I did - both wheels dry. Topped up. Now hoping they'll still be up tomorrow.

Shewie wrote: ↑Sun Dec 15, 2019 4:42 pm Bled my brakes this morning, first time doing it so watched about twenty youtube vids first, went okay in the end and my levers are much less squishy now.

Happy Days

Well done Shewie... dont forget that dot (i think you're ok if its mineral oil) fluid is corrosive. Both to hands and the steel parts it touches. Easy fix is to just pour some water over where it touches as it denatures it apparently... seems to work well

frogatthefarriers wrote: ↑Sun Dec 15, 2019 8:13 pm Checked fluid in fat bike tyres ready for December Bivvy next week. Just as well I did - both wheels dry. Topped up. Now hoping they'll still be up tomorrow.

Ha ha! The front tyre on my wife's fat bike was looking a bit low. The bike had been sat next to the radiator for several months and the sealant had dried out. Still fine two weeks on.

Edit: today I'm mostly cleaning the weekend's slop off two bikes and associated bikepacking bags and harnesses