Category: Words

Rode in today late because I had to go to the Hope Hospital for an outpatient appointment. Dermatologist reckons that one of the moles on my back is worth taking out for a closer look so I’ll be going under the knife next year. No big deal, better to be proactive about these things I thing.

Anyway legs felt like lead. Like one of those times you have a big headwind and the going is really slow and hard work for not much progress. Ground into work and realised that I was probably wearing too many layers for the temperature outside. I’m fighting off a cold, but it’s taken ten days for me to feel it affecting my legs. Not particularly excited at the prospect of having to ride home again in the cold…

Jam Price has given me a heads up  on a new site and enterprise being setup by two guys from Lichfield, One F Gear. They’re a bunch of blokes that like to ride bikes, talk bollocks and now design some clothes.  Not just any old shite though, got to be cool and as they love their single speeds, they thought that’d be a good theme. The who thing sounded really simple in the pub… Check it out!

I’ve also been meaning to link to the Adventure Cycling site for a whiile. Adventure Cycling Association’s nonprofit mission is to inspire people of all ages to travel by bicycle for fitness, fun, and self-discovery. Founded in 1973 as Bikecentennial, Adventure Cycling is the premier bicycle travel organization in North America with 44,500 members.

It’s been getting colder recently. At the end of last week I had to add in a fleece gillet between a merino base layer and softshell jacket and this week, I’ve moved up to a full fleece midlayer. The bandana has been broken out too, mainly just to keep me from getting an ice cream headache on the ride home at night. There’s been some lingering frosts too, but the ice is nothing on the conditions that last weekend brought which were snow and sleet. The commute has been pretty good or I’ve been very chilled because there don’t seem to have been any people trying to take me out.

Stopped at a set of lights and had a chat with another rider on Wednesday night. I’d seen him weaving through the traffic ahead of me at a good pace, but he didn’t seem to have any rear light. Turned out it had flicked up onto the top of his bag where you couldn’t see it and he seemed grateful for having this pointed out. Can’t help thinking that he’d have been better off having a fixed light on his bike and a backup on his bag, but then I would say that – it’s the setup I use…

Rode out this morning under blue skies and although there was a chilly wind blowing that numbed fingers and toes even through winter layers, it was a great ride out. What made it special was the fact that it was one of those rare days when the conditions are perfect and as you ride through the woods, your tyres rustle up the leaves, leaving them crackling and crinkling under the treads.

Rode in this morning against a bitterly cold headwind blowing from the North. I was glad I’d put gloves on. Up until the last few days it has been borderline in terms of whether it’s cold enough to warrant them. No idiots trying to kill me, some actually quite considerate drivers for a change. Saw a big smash on the Hathersage Road Upper Brook Street junction last night which just reminded me that big junks of steel on four wheels are still fragile things…

Riding tomorrow morning. I’m looking forward to it and will probably get the Singlespeed out, although I’ll need to take off the 1.5 Conti tyres. In sad news Tyrrell’s Voodoo Wanga singlespeed was stolen from Altrincham recently. It’s a very distinctive bike so hopefully will be spotted around and about and reunited with it’s rightful owner in the end.

University is known for many things, but educating the next generation of bike mechanics isn’t unfortunately one of them. Which might explain why the hero in this tale appears to be riding a bike with the forks fitted the wrong way round. Not the first time I’ve seen it in Manchester either…

Headed over to north Wales and went riding with Neil and Lardy and some other guys they know from riding in the Alps over the last few years. They picked two top routes (Saturday and Sunday) out of their collection of amazing local riding spots and led us out into the bleak wilderness.

Well it wasn’t all bleak, lashing rain, mist, cold and getting wet, but it was most of the time. It meant that you didn’t want to stop pedalling for a second and just wanted to get around as soon as possible so that you could either generate some body heat or get to somewhere that was warm dry and sheltered. It was ace. More photos here.

At the moment there is a case going through the courts where Russ Pinder is taking a legal action against Fox Racing Shox. The story behind Russ’ situation is sad and dates back to a time shortly after this website was launched in 2003. I think many of people on the UK mountain biking scene know him or feel like we know him through various conversations, fundraising events and heartbreaking stories over the last couple of years. I wouldn’t wish his injuries on anyone, even if they are a total swine.

As I see it this is a test case. It’s logical for Russ to pursue Fox as he was riding their forks at the time of the crash. The other factors in the case might be considered consistent in terms of the disc brake – it wouldn’t have mattered what brand he was using for example – the effect described by Annan would have been the same, although the forces would have varied depending on the size of the disc rotor being used.

The other factor that isn’t certain is the QR being used. There has been a lot of experimentation (although this has been real world rather than in labs as far as I can tell) and discussion to try and ascertain if this is a sizable contributing factor. The only results I have seen from this indicate that certain expensive CNC machined QRs at the time were of inferior design and function in comparison to the high leverage cams in Mavic and Shimano QRs.

On the subject of QRs I think it’s been taken as fact by those in the know (i.e those in the trade and those who actually read mountain biking literature rather than just look at pictures and listen to gossip) that using anything other than a steel axle for a QR used in a suspension fork and disc brake setup has been a stupid idea since the late 1990s. Using Titanium QR axles in this application is asking for trouble*.

The other interesting thing is that since Russ’ case and Annan’s theory getting more press, manufacturers have in many cases reviewed their designs. Fox are one of them and I think this fact may have some bearing on the case. It’s almost like an admission that they’d done a bad design in the first place. If this case leads to other manufacturers being forced to change then I think this is a good thing.

I also suspect that this case may have been a contributory factor in the design of improved bolt-through systems – particularly the lighter weight QR15 standard. This is as far as I am concerned the single biggest step forward in fork design since the original QR20 standard because it brings a no-brainer sensible design to the lighter weight fork market. I’m surprised that it has been led by Fox, rather than a company with more of a motorbike heritage like Marzocchi, but then I suspect the latter’s MTB design division is now so far removed from the Motorbike division they may not be talking to one another.

So although no one may be a winner in this, if it leads to DT, RockShox, Manitou and others to follow Fox in a sensible dropout design, be it slotted or bolt through then this is a good thing. If this is through choice or because of revised legal precedents in some of their international markets then does that really matter either? I’d argue it doesn’t because at the end of the day we as consumers will end up with a better and arguably safer product design.

Although the press may in some cases be keeping quiet on this, if at the end of it all the major mountain bike magazines run some coverage of the case, then it may make people running forks that feature vertical dropouts and in some cases no lawyer lips (either rigid or suspension) with disk brakes to consider whether this is a good idea. It might also make some smaller manufacturers think about what they’re supplying to customers paying thousands for custom built designs.

And whilst we’re on this topic it probably isn’t a good idea to use any form of roof rack that clamps the fork drop outs to the rack either. The loading stresses this invokes probably doesn’t met the general riding use the fork was designed for. Still that’s a different can of worms…

* Given the amount of Titanium components** I’ve snapped over the last 20 years makes me think that using Ti is generally asking for trouble.

** Although thankfully not frames – if my IF breaks I’ll be very sad, but happy to know they’ll repair it under warranty.

So the other day I stripped the commuter down to replace the bottom bracket. With it’s newly rebuild pedals it’s singlespeed drivetrain should be running silky smooth and quietly. Except it’s not. It’s still squeaking and creaking like an old garden gate.

So I’m thinking it’s time to replace the drivetrain and see if some setup that makes less noise can’t be found. Plus the fact that given the spikes on some of the chaining teeth, it’s going to be a case of fix it or end up introducing the crown jewels to the stem when the chain breaks. As I fancy having kids one day, I’m thinking it’s better to do that sooner rather than later…

When I was reading The Ride (which is an amazing piece of production) a few nights ago, it turns out dR j0n was here in Manchester at Uni. I never knew that, but it seems to have been a long time ago. He’s north of the border now, but his experiments with bikes are always worth following…

So Lance retired (briefly). When he left the sport he said he wanted to try something else. He seems to have done some marathon running and mountain biking, but found them both a bit hard (i.e. didn’t win). Perhaps he then thought, ‘sod it, I’m bored’ and decided to go back to road racing. Alternatively maybe several major sponsors saw a dive in their profits following a drop in sales of products previous endorsed by Herr Armstrong and waved cheques with an increasing number of zeroes at Lance until he could be persuaded to come back from retirement.

There can be little doubt that Armstrong’s return to the sport will boost publicity for the sport and if it gets some more people riding bikes as a result it can be no bad thing. Other riders in the pro peloton, don’t necessarily look forward to his return, probably in much the same way that Formula 1 drivers would be pretty miffed if Schumacher came out of retirement. Both were at the top of their game when they retired. Sure they might have peaked, but the fear will always be that they are so both supremely talented in their respective disciplines that the current batch of competitors would be right to be concerned about them coming back and stealing victories that might otherwise have gone to younger folk.

It’s going to be an interesting year for sure.