More Bike Cleaning - Muduards don't keep a bike clean!

I do look after my bikes but cleaning in the Winter is pain - after just one short ride the bike can be filthy again. I normally keep the chain as clean as worthwhile (a wipe after a dirty or wet ride and application of oil) but I tend not to clean the whole bike too often. I do a once a year thorough clean (strip down to the frame) in the Spring and then they make do with a wash and rinse for the next 12 months.

I cleaned the Giant mid December but this weekend, after just over 450 miles, I decided I really needed to give it another wash.

Despite running with mudguards they don't keep the bike clean - but just stop me getting a badger stripe up my back. And the bike was probably the dirtiest its been for a long time

I fitted Crud Road Racer (Mk1) back in 2010 to try keep me and the bike a bit drier and cleaner. Here's a picture of the Mk2 version

The Mk2 differ in that the rear mudguard (the rear in the picture) now extends right down to the bottom bracket to try protect the front dérailleur.

I used to take the guards off in the summer as they are easy to remove but have just left them on for the past 2 years.

The guards are made of plastic, very light and fitted with a combination of zip straps (to the brakes) and O rings (to the frame). They tend to rub a bit and can move about but are easy to reset. I think they work fine on my Giant as there is quite good frame clearance.

The other good thing is that they do spares. I have replaced the main length (from the rear) twice now for around £6 a time. Once something went between the tyre and guard and pulled the guard off (and broke it) and the second time due to wear the slot for the zip strap failed. Both times they lasted about 18-24 months. No problems with the front at all. 

When fitted they do look reasonably discrete. I think when I need some more spares I may well fit some more "permanent" mudguards, and there should be plenty of choice as the frame clearance is generous and the Giant also has the fixings on the forks and rear stays.

Here are the before and after pictures:

Bottom Bracket Area

Forks, Front Brake and Mudguard

Chain Stays, Crank and rear wheel

Seat Stays and seat tube - mudguards finish above the front Dérailleur. Good view of my Fibre Flare Shorty light as well

Rear Dérailleur & Chain

Crank Set and chain stay

Detail showing the Cruds stopping above the front
Dérailleur

The rear brake - its covered in muck because the Crud has been rubbing and has worn away a slit for mud to be thrown through

Rear Dérailleur and jockey wheels - messy!

And after - massive improvement all over

Lovely clean cranks, chain and chain stays

Almost fully clean rear Dérailleur - the brown hue on the cassette is muddy rusty water, not rust on the cassette rings

With the chain often in the state seen above accelerated wear is an issue. The chain on the Giant was new about April 2014 and, according to my Cycle Chain wear indicator:

not even 0.75% worn in October of 2014 after over 2500 miles. However another 750 miles or so in the winter and by today (25 Jan 2015) the tool shows that its over 0.75% and quite close to 1%. That's what riding in mud and water does! It'll last until March/April this year when I'll replace it with another KMC chain. This winter I did replace the cassette with a cheaper Tiagra (vs 105) version given the damage the roads do in the winter. The jockey wheels may also need replacing as the bearings are quite soft.

This damage is why I put the Scott away for the worst of the Winter weather.

Proviz Gilet - Extending the Commute Window and Cycling in the Dark

I commute quite a lot but I have some personal "guidelines". These are mainly

• don't commute when its icy
• don't commute when it will be dark on the way home (I'm less bothered about being dark in the morning as there is a lot less traffic)
• look at the weather forecast and try not to commute in the rain

These are not hard and fast rules and apart from the icy one there is some scope for flexibility.

The main one is that I feel less comfortable is commuting home in the dark. Because of this its rare that I cycle to and from work after the end of October and before late February and this is despite having enough "be seen" lights.

On the rear I have 2 Smart Lights and a Fibre Flare Shorty Side Light (in red) and use all 3 in flashing mode. The Fibre Flare is a really effective light and throws a good bright light all-round. Powered by 2 AA batteries this lasts at least 30-40hours in flashing mode.

On the front I have a Lifeline 1W Led and more recently I have bought a Knog Blinder Skull.

The Knog is a small USB charged bright white LED front light with a constant mode and 3-4 flashing modes. Its most definitely a "be seen" light rather than a see light but its really effective. I tend to use it in the normal flash mode (50% on/50% off) and it gives about 2.5-3 hours run time, which for me is enough either to commute both ways or for a medium length morning ride where I use it for the first few hours when the visibility may be lower at the start of a ride.

I don't think the Skull adds anything to the performance and is just a design feature!

Some of these lights are discussed here: link

Despite quite a few lights on my bike I still feel vulnerable about being seen - both from the front or rear. I saw on the Internet before Christmas some reviews of the Proviz ultra reflective clothing range and was pretty impressed with what it seemed to offer.

Proviz Gilet in "Reflective Mode"

Basically it looks like a full top made of the silver reflective material strips that are normally a small part of normal HiViz clothing.

The prices ranged from around £50 for the Gilet to around £75 for the jacket and this was a lot of money - and a search n the internet showed that the prices were consistent across a range of outlets. Fortunately Halfords stocked the jackets so I was able to have a thorough look at what they were and get a better feel for value and quality.


The jacket was well made but the material is quite heavy and appeared to have no breatheability at all. Its difficult to tell in normal light and just looks like a matt grey nylon material. Others had commented on this and this meant that perhaps the Gilet was a better bet since the lack of arms might stop too much sweaty heat build up.

I hesitated for a few more weeks before deciding that the significant increase in visibility I would get would make me feel happier cycling in the dark. I repeated the earlier trawl for the best price but the prices were very consistent. In then end I ordered it from Proviz direct (http://www.provizsports.com/en_gb/) - the price was within a pound or so of the lowest, there was free postage and a "free gift":

The Ankle or Arm band - a strap of the Proviz material with LEDs built in

(although what I received looks nothing like this).

In terms of size I would normally say that I was a medium for most things. Proviz did not have any Medium in stock but the size chart suggested that a Small would be OK - although I was not totally sure. I am certainly not heavily built but getting a small was a risk.

The gilet arrived after a few days - well packed and no damage to the packaging. It was quite a small package but surprisingly weighty. Compared to my other more "traditional" gilets (in nylon) it is a lot heavier.

Opening the packaging and getting the gilet out confirmed the good quality of manufacture (good seams, no spare threads etc). What I had not expected was that there are 2 zipped side pockets and the back of the gilet is made of a slightly different material with perforations in an attempt I assume to improve breathability. The weight of the material at the front was the same as the jacket and is quite heavy. There is a small logo on the left breast.

The Small size was absolutely fine for me - the Medium I think would have been far too big, so it might suggest that sizing is generous - however the chest size for a Small was my chest size s perhaps Proviz just have a medium that's bigger than other companies. The neck is quite high and will be irritating but does seem to fold down to a more sensible level. In normal domestic lighting the colour is the same matt grey but if the lights are turned off you can see even with light spilling from another room how the light is reflected back and the material starts turning white and reflecting back.

I first used the gilet about a week later. It was a cold morning (1-2DegC at most) and I wore the gilet over a base layer, long sleeve jersey and a long sleeve jacket (in this case one of Aldi's finest). Despite being a Small this was the right size for me. Temperature wise it certainly kept the chill off and I did not get excessively warm by any means. Its difficult so see how reflective it really is when you are wearing it, but on my commute (a mix of lit urban and unlit rural roads) what I noticed was how much more room most drivers appeared to be giving me (some on the other side of the road completely). I got the same room on the way home as well. I don't know if this was some sort of psychological perception or if I really was that much more visible and as a result was being given room. A sample size of 1 commute (2 rides) is totally inadequate to draw any conclusions.

So what can I summarise so far?

• The gilet is well made
• It has pockets that were useful
• The material is quite heavy and might be too hot in warmer months
• It does appear to be very reflective
• The sizing may be on the larger size than you expect - make sure you select by Proviz size rather than assume that your normal size will be OK
• Its quite expensive compared to other reflective clothing
• I did feel more visible in it that normal but am still a lot more cautious in full dark conditions

We Remove Sh1t

When we revisited Edinburgh for our Silver Wedding in October 2014 (where we went for our Honeymoon) we were out and about and by chance in Stirling (I think) I saw this lorry. Nothing remarkable about that but the www address is fantastic:

Unfortunately the address www.weremovesh.it does not resolve and only http://www.granthendersontankers.co.uk/ works - bit of a pity that!

Bargainacious Ultegra 10 Speed Cassette

Every now and then some great offers appear and they are too good to pass. An example of this was my Scott (here and here). This week it was an offer from Halfords that I found out from a post on BikeRadar in the Commuting Chat section in the long running thread "Tell People About the Bargains you've spotted". This was for an Ultegra Cassette for £20 - but only  a 12-25 and not any of the other ranges.

After a little bit of deliberation (well not a lot) I decided I'd get one as a spare. I knew that for the Scott I'd not be able to put it on and just leave it - I need the 11-28 I have on for any big hills or long rides - but for a lot of riding it would be fine and when I needed lower gears I'd refit the 11-28.

The Giant has a 105 12-25 cassette fitted for most of the year and I manage fine on that and have used in the winter for some rides. I am on the 34-25 for some (slow) climbs but I can live with it.

I wrote about cassette sizes here and here

Unfortunately our local Halfords did not have any in stock  - there were some in Castle Bromwich and also in Stratford upon Avon. We decided that I'd cycle down to Stratford whilst my wife would drive down. We'd meet at Halfords, I'd put the bike in the car and we'd go into Stratford proper for a walk round and some lunch. About 30 minutes before I left I had a polite call from the store confirming that it had been put aside. 

I set off on my bike and did a meandering route criss-crossing the A3400 on this route:

It was pretty cold and some of the smaller roads were still icy so care was needed but I still arrived within 10 minutes of my wife and within 5 minutes of the planned arrival time.

We went to the Costa where I also got changed, had a coffee, and then strolled over to Halfords.

Compared to the Solihull store the experience was really great. I handed over the emailed ring and reserve confirmation. The assistant recognised the order and observed that she'd spoken to me earlier. She went to get it and found it within 30 seconds. I asked for the 10% British Cycling discount which was accepted without any issue which brought the price down further to £18. I was asked for my membership card which I had and there was a short conversation about needing to check as people had been asking for it without any proof. I also offered up an Electron gift card as payment that I had for Christmas and that all went through OK as well. So all in all a good deal and a good experience.

Here's the proof:

When I service the Scott for this year's riding I'll weigh the cassettes I have and compare the weights (105 12-25, 105 11-28 and Ultegra 12-25).

Then we went into Stratford and had a very pleasant (late) lunch in one of the many eating places in Sheep Street and a walk around. Despite it only being 40 minutes drive I don't think that I have been to Stratford for a number of years - we'll have to go again when the weather is better - although a cold winters day certainly kept the crowds down and made it a pleasure to walk round and park!

Hill Climb Training - a First time with the Heart Rate Monitor for a Long Time

Today was the last day of my extended (2 week) Christmas 2014 holiday. I wanted to get out for a short ride but the weather forecast the night before suggested frost, so I played it by ear to see what it was like when I woke up. However I had planned ahead and decided that I'd ride over to Rose Hill (or Bilberry Hill as its also known) in the Lickey Hills and do some Hill repeats. The main reason for this was that if it were icy the route over was a bus route so should be reasonably ice free and also its not too far to go. Rose Hill is also a reasonably tough climb (especially in the winter) and although not overly long it's one of those hills that gets steeper as you get closer to the top. Its about 12-13% at the steepest.

I also, completely on a whim decided to wear my Garmin Heart Rate monitor the first time for a long time - I'd given up on it again as it was getting very erratic the last few times I'd worn it much earlier in 2014 - I wrote about some of the issues in this post. Certainly when I first put it on it read 64bpm - I am fit but not that fit.

I had to spend about 5 minutes refitting my front mudguard as I'd removed it to bring my bike back from Dartford where we'd been for a week over the Christmas holiday. It does not fit that well when on the Thule 561 rack - the Crud Roadracer mudguards only take a few minutes to remove so its not an issue. It also took a further few minutes to finally get ready to start and it seemed that this 10-15 minutes helped the strap to read a more sensible value.

It was bitterly cold when I set off but the main roads seemed to be reasonably ice free for the first 5 miles or so. However as I got to the top of Groveley Lane I saw some ice and slush on the road which I managed to avoid but the road was very slippery. I then saw just ahead 3 cyclists waving me down - it appeared that it was so icy that at least one of them had fallen off. I dithered for a minute or so but decided to continue but got off the bike and walked down pavement about 1/4 mile to the railway bridge where the road was OK again. I am not sure why that particular bit of road was so icy though.

From there it was just another mile or so to the bottom of Rose Hill. I dropped onto the 34 inner ring at the roundabout to start spinning up from the very beginning and did the first ascent. It didn't feel too bad at all although I was not trying. The lowest gear I used was the 34-24 (2nd) and rolled up reasonably comfortably. I turned around at the top and mostly free wheeled to the bottom, mindful of potential ice patches. The 2nd and 3rd climbs were also pretty easy, but I was starting to feel it by the 4th. However as I hadn't been lower than the 34-24 gear for all climbs felt I could easily complete a 5th climb. On the last ascent I did use the lowest gear (34-28) but just to be lazy - I could have done it in the 34-24 again but didn't bother.

Once at the bottom for the last time I was originally going to head back the same way I rode over as its quite rolling and as a result its feasible to get over 100ft/mile of ascent. However given the ice on Groveley Lane I rode back via the Bristol Road South to Northfield, then Cotteridge/Kings Norton (past the house in Middleton Hall Road that I lived in for 2 years as a student at Birmingham University), Kings Heath and Yardley Wood.

The new 2015 Strava Segments feature meant that again I picked up lots of 2015 KOM and top 10 placings being one of only a few riders to have ventured out early enough in the year!

Here's the route:

Here's a better picture of the elevation courtesy of Veloviewer:

The actual ride was 94ft/mile which is pretty impressive for this non-hilly urban area of South Birmingham.

Here's some more data from Veloviewer:

Looking at the HR data I am not sure it was working properly for the 1st 1/2 hour. I am fit but not fit enough to keep my HR below 100 - I think once it shows above 130 it was OK. Its also interesting to see where I stopped and walked down Groveley Lane which I have circled in red. Also the max HR at the top of the climb was a consistent 165-169bpm - so I was not working flat out but kept the effort even. I don't trust it to be reliable over a whole ride but it performed better than it had last time - so I might start using it again a bit more often for more challenging rides.

Given that the strap itself costs around £35 I can't justify buying another unless I want to start training a bit more specifically.

Reasons to Love Cycling (pinched from elsewhere)

Continental Gatorskin Tyres

On my Giant I have used Continental Gatorskin tyres (700c x 25mm) for the past 4 years or so. I bought them because of the general view that they were pretty puncture resistant, although the reviews that claimed they were also heavy, uncomfortable and not great in the wet were also pretty easy to find.

Given that I have been using them for the past 4 years or so aligns the timing with when I started to get back into cycling. After a couple of punctures with the tyres that cane with my Giant I decided that I really wanted to try and reduce the chances - although I accepted that I would not eliminate them.

I have since run just 2 Gatorskins on the Giant in over 4 years. (Strictly speaking this is not non-stop use as they are now only put on for the winter and I run a different set of tyres and wheels in the summer.). The rear tyre is the oldest and is at about 6-7000 miles, with the front at about 5000 miles.

My view of them can be summarised as follows:

• Puncture resistance - excellent. I have had one puncture and this was due to an issue with the inner tube as there was no penetration or sign of penetration anywhere on the tyre and the hole I tried to repair was near the valve on the rim contact area of the tube. There are also a lot of cuts and small holes in the road surface contact area, none of which have penetrated the tyre
• Durability - excellent. The rear tyre is only due now for replacement. I was putting the Giant on the car and got a good view of the surface and could see the ripple pattern of the "canvas" (see photo) through the rubber. There is also a very strong squaring of the rubber showing where its worn (I'll try and get a photo that shows this another time). The front tyre still has a slight trace of the moulding flash along the centre of the tyre and has no signs of wear at all after ~5000 miles
• "Feel" - they "feel" heavy and dead - at least compared to the Continental GP4000s I run on the "better" bike
• Speed - they feel heavy and slow, but to be fair they are on heavy wheels as well
• Grip - mediocre at best. Ok in the dry and warm weather, but I am much more cautious when the roads are wet than say when I am riding on the GP4000s.
• Ease of fitting/removal - the wired (non-folding) are very very hard to fit especially when new - you need fingers and thumbs of steel

I think some of these properties might also be related to the age - I also have a much newer set of 23mm Gatorskins on the lighter wheels I use on the Giant in the summer and they feel quite different to the old high mileage 25mm Gatorskins I use in the Winter.

Here's a not very good picture of the canvas showing through the rubber. Its also possible to see some of the smaller cuts in this tyre (there are some bigger ones elsewhere):

Would I buy them again - quick answer is yes - the puncture resistance is key for the Giant as I commute 18 miles to work on it and I don't want to be changing inner tubes at 6.30 in the morning. And they'll last at least 3 years based on the mileage I do and the distance I got out of the one pictured above. The 23mm versions on the summer wheels are also showing minimal wear after a couple of thousand miles so far this year.