This evening's rainy bike ride

I haven't cycled much lately, what with one thing and other.  In seeking a bit of inspiration I watched the Tour de France highlights on TV this evening (first time for many, many years) and couldn't resist going for a quick blast afterwards.

It was raining.  I hesitated.

"Becky, do you think I should run, cycle or stay in?"

"Go for a bike ride Dad".

"And you Hannah, what's your view?"

Hannah replied (with her daft question look) "Bike"

"Rachel?" I gently enquired.

"You decide" was the firm reply.

And so it was.  Quickly changed and I was off.  Just a quick blast covering 8 miles in the rain and I loved it, almost following my favourite hilly running route, but not quite.

Here's a few highlights:

1. hardly any cars on the road once outside the town
2. at one point the road was flooded.  I couldn't go into the middle of the road because I was about to be overtaken.  As I hit the water it was so deep it felt as if I'd pulled the brakes on hard
3. a car then overtook and showered me with a huge deluge. For half a second I was annoyed and then I felt exhilarated!
4. clocked 39mph on a fast downhill stretch
5. got reminded of how versatile the Thorn Audax really is
6. felt fabulous

Some lowlights:

1. reminded that my Montane Featherlite jacket is NOT waterproof
2. my Specialized Sonoma shoes soak up so much water it's like wearing diving boots
3. forgot brakes don't work very well in the wet....

Related:

My cycling in the rain guide

Keeping my bike clean?

When I got the Thorn Audax in January last year, I felt like an excited school boy with a new shiny racer.  It's always nice to have a beautifully maintained and lubricated bike but I became very self-conscious in the early days with spokes glistening in the sunlight.

Soon I saw it differently and have continued to keep a certain amount of dirt on the bike.  Here's why I keep it with a little dirt on:

• Attracts less attention from would-be thieves, blending in makes me feel a little more modest
• Maximise cycling time, instead of fiddling around keeping it clean
• It's good to keep the chain extra clean: this will really reduce the rate of wear and extend the life of the chain and sprocket
• Not setting myself up as an expert cyclist
• Becoming more interested in the mechanical side could turn out to be expensive.... "ah I could do with upgrading X and while I'm at it I might as well do Y at the same time.  Then I'll need special tools for doing this and a workshop stand" and the list goes on and on....
• BUT I am less likely to spot something that's worn or about to fall off
• "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"

What about you?  Do you clean your bike?

World's best saddle bag?

It is all very well for cyclist and blogger Tejvan Pettinger in his truly excellent Cycling Info blog to talk about buying the largest saddle bag you can, he has neglected the above Carradice saddle bags, still made in the UK (thankfully).

I was amused by the thought of other roadies asking him "are you going camping?" upon seeing his somewhat compact saddle bag on his training bike.  If they saw mine they'd be asking if I was moving house.

There are so many fantastic things about Carradice saddle bags.  They're so durable as this one testifies - being circa 1988 or thereabouts.  They're probably "bomb proof", timeless and that adds to the charm, I think.  Certainly heavy duty and comes in handy for carrying some paperwork to and from work, my lunch, mobile phone, wallet, ID badge and clothes for the day.  Permanent occupants are a spare inner tube, some spiders, tyre levers and a spare pair of glasses.

It is amazing what these can carry, having stuffed them full of tins from Sainsburys; I use my pannier bags for less robust cargo.  It is easy to carry a 4 pint bottle of milk, smoothies and tins knowing they're strapped in there really securely.  Hardly anyone ever cycles to our Sainsbury's to stock up on loads of shopping - people look at me and think I'm either a disqualified driver, weird or too mean to drive my car.

These bags are hardly  elegant, aerodynamic, modern or trendy.  Instead they look a bit dated, a bit CTC-ish of old and generally twinned with a Brooks B17 saddle but I couldn't care less.  For use on an all-purpose bike they are great bags.  Mind you, I can't imagine Tejvan Pettinger et al using one - unless you know different (and now there's a challenge).

STI levers verses Bar End shifters

It was almost a year ago when I took the plunge and bought my Thorn Audax.  I agonised over some of the details far too much; in fact we bought our last car with much less thought or research!  Amongst these details was whether to go for the all-in-one Shimano STI levers i.e. the combined brake and gear lever, or, the bar end shifters which you see in the above picture.  I'm still not convinced I did the right thing but here are some considerations if you're undecided which to get:

Bar End shifters:

• Bar end shifters are much cheaper
• Stay in adjustment very well
• Simple
• Easy to replace
• The front shifter is friction only (not indexed) so it is easy to fine tune, or trim, the position of the front mech in order to stop the chain rubbing
• Slight less vulnerable to damage
• You only change gear when you need to

STI levers:

• STI levers are very comfortable to rest your hands on; gives a nice position on the bike
• Expensive when bought on their own
• Scope for changing gear and braking at the same time
• Safety - keeping your hands on the handlebars when gear changing
• The more upmarket ranges (i.e. Ultegra) have the gear cable concealed under the handlebar tape
• Less durable
• More likely to need cable adjustments

First 2000 miles on Thorn Audax

In marking this milestone, I could talk about the frame and the components but instead I thought I'd reflect on some figures lying behind the 2000 miles.  Before I do so, I'm disappointed in myself that I have only covered these miles in 11 months and you might remember I was off the bike for several weeks having injured my hand (and it STILL hurts but less so).

Calories, energy
2000 miles at an average of 14mph = 142 hours of cycling
142 hours using 400 calories per hour = 56800 calories
Knowing there are about 95 calories in a banana....
56800 calories divided by 95 = 588 bananas needed
(that means a banana will fuel me more 3.4 miles)

Costs
The bike cost, in round numbers, about £1000.
I estimate that half the miles were purely for leisure.  The other 1000 miles were in commuting and where I left my car at home.  Using the HMRC mileage rate of 45p per mile, means I have saved £450 in petrol and running costs.  At this rate the bike will have paid for itself after 5000 miles!
I've had a couple of punctures, resulting in using a couple of patches and a new inner tube.

Priceless
De-stressing reflective times
A sense of well being, independence
Three great rides with my friend Wallie
Environmentally friendly
Sometimes faster than driving to work
It's becoming a good "friend"

Related:
Thorn Audax mk3 our first 1000-miles l

Thorn Audax Mk3 - my first 1,000 miles

Disclaimer
Please be mindful that I bought just the frameset from Thorn Cycles / SJS Cycles and had it built up at a Local Bike Shop (LBS).  The LBS used some components that may differ from the complete bikes supplied by Thorn but it is a long similar lines.

Before I go into all the details, I'd like to say that this is a really great bike and without doubt a good choice for me.  Secondly I'm really disappointed in myself for not being able to clock up more miles in the last 5 months.  If you're a regular reader you'll know how an injured hand caused me to stop riding for several weeks and it still prevents me from riding as much as I should.  That's the challenge: it's a fantastic bike that begs to be ridden and yet I know I have to allow my hand to heal properly.

I digress, back to the bike.  Here's a review which I hope will be of use to anyone interested in this kind of bike.  It's worth bearing in mind that there are a number of alternatives which I'm sure will have their merits; the light touring bike seems to be popular these days, though probably terms such as "sportive", "audax" or "training bike" may have more street cred with some cyclists.

The frameset
The frameset, the heart of the bike, is where it all springs from and I reckon it's worth spending an appropriate amount of money to get this right from the outset.  Please click here for Thorn Cycles for all the technical details.  It is supplied complete with a headset and a seat post which contribute to this being good value.  Before I rode the bike I looked over the frame.  It was flawless.

I like many of the thoughtful touches.  There are a number of braze-ons which are all very worthwhile:

• Pump peg on the seat stay
• Two sets of bottle cages
• Four point fixing for a rear pannier rack
• Low rider fixing points on the front forks
• Slotted cable guides
• Mudguard eyes

I was impressed to find the mudguard mounting is threaded; not just for the eyes for the stays but also on the bridging tubes on the seat and chain stay tubes - this is nice as well as functional in avoiding the use of those nasty mudguard clips.  Again, a lesser bike manufacturer could economise there and you'd never think to ask about this in the shop (well, I wouldn't!).

I appreciated the small bottle of touch-up paint and I've already had to use this.  I have also found the gear cable casing rubs against the head tube (just because of the natural curve) and so I've used a little gaffer tape to stop any more paint wear.

It handles beautifully overall.  It has a nice lively sporty feel compared to my 1984 Dawes Galaxy.  Also it's nice and stiff, useful when stomping down hard on the pedals.  And yet it's not too sporty either; it's stable on fast down hill swoops (I've hit 38mph a few times) and yet has that steel frame springiness to make long rides less jarring.

Transmission
I'm pretty sure this is the same as what is offered by Thorn as a complete bike.  Deore chainset with 48, 38 and 26T chainrings, combined with a 9 speed cluster of 12-26T.  The mechs are Shimano XT at the front and Deore at the rear.  The shifters are the bar end type, indexed for the rear only.  The chain is a 9 speed KMC with a quick link.

The performance is impressive.  It changes so fast and smoothly (compared to what I was used to) and remains the case.  It has retained perfect adjustment with only the need to tension the rear cable once.  The range of gears is lovely, though in practice I've not had much need to use the 26T chainring but it's nice to know it's there.  I'm sure there will come a time when I appreciate it being there.

The choice of shifters was something I dithered about.  I got put off STI shifters because of their complexity against the long term simplicity of the bar end alternative.  They work fine though it still does not seem a completely natural place for shifters to be.  The STI ones seemed really comfortable when I tried them.  Perhaps for this comfort reason, I might go for those if ever I need to replace the bike in the future.

Wheels
I have the same 32h Mavic Open Sport rims.  After the initial bedding in period they were trued and have remained perfectly true for hundreds of miles (including a few bumpy trails, fully loaded).  The Miche hubs are different and a suggested upgrade by my LBS.  These are fully sealed cartridge bearings, replaceable of course.  They're light, ultra smooth and reckoned to be better than the Shimano equivalents.

The Panaracer Tourguard tyres are fine with nice handling and grip.  They're not heavy and I'm confident they're a good choice.  I have, however, had two punctures but looking at the offending glass and thorn I think they can be forgiven.

The tyres are perfect on the rims and at 28c they're a sensible size for all round use.  I doubt if there's much scope for wider tyres though,

As for wear, you can see just a little wear in the picture but that's after 1000+ miles on the rear.  So therefore I guess there's another 3000 miles.  You can get cheaper tyres but it's just not worth it over that number of miles.



Contact points
The LBS used Cinelli bars and stem with the sizes based on those in the brochure, with the offer of changing them free of charge if the need arose.  No such need cropped up and they're fine, though a little wider than what I was used to.  These though are, I'm sure, the correct width.

The pedals are the Shimano clip less, carried forward from my old bike.  They're fine apart from being single sided.  Even though they cost, from memory, £35ish, and have done thousands of miles, they're still smooth, in perfect adjustment and therefore good value.  I hate the Specialized shoes but that's a subject for another time.

I went for a Brooks B17 saddle as I already had one on the old bike.  I just like it and appreciated being able to still get something like that.  The LBS doesn't usually stock them, "no demand" they say.  Shame. If people think a cheap squishy plastic saddle is the route to comfort, I reckon that's a mistake.  I also like taking care of the Brooks saddles with an occasional wipe of Proofhide - a kind of ritual.

Brakes
These are the standard issue Shimano ones and are fine but only adequate in terms of their stopping power.  Maybe better pads would help.  They have stayed in perfect adjustment.  One other observation is that the pads are at the bottom of the slot and only JUST sufficiently far down enough to miss the tyre.  Another 1 or 2mm wouldn't go amiss.

Other bits
I had a Cateye Strada wireless computer for my birthday, a while after I got the bike.  It's great, I love it!
The Nimrod rack is too flexible and will be replaced before too long. I do like having a proper fixing plate for the rear Cateye light, so that's good.  Yep, I'm disappointed in this rack as it seems to be made with a one-size-fits-all approach which is undoubtedly useful on some bikes but not this.  It just sways from side to side too much.   The mudguards in the top photo got replaced as they were too wide for the forks and flapped around - I went for some narrower SKS mudguards with two sets of stays.  I think the original ones were Blumels Commuter type, grrrrrr. Nothing less will do and they're not expensive.

Conclusion
This bike is great, no doubt.  I'd buy another if it got nicked, crushed or whatever but I'd ponder some of the details once again.

As for the elusive question of whether it has that certain "something" where I feel totally in tune with it, I'd have to say "no, not quite, not yet".  That is partly due to my injured hand, naff shoes and whether STI levers would be more comfortable.  But they're only details which can be dealt with as-and-when.  This bike holds great promise and I look forward to getting my money's worth over the next 25 years.

Any comments, questions?
Just leave me a Comment below....

Cycling in the Cotswolds

Yesterday my friend Wallie and I had another great ride in the Cotswold Hills.  For us it's a brilliant place to meet up (equidistant from our homes).

Any rumours about us being like a pair of grumpy old men is just not on, right?  We don't need injunctions, super injunctions or anything like that because it's just obvious - we're not grumpy old men and not even middle aged grumpy men either.  Naturally we did a fair amount of "putting the world to right".

Wallie on his 1980's Claud Butler Dalesman

Anyway, here's a few bits from the day......

Bikes.

Our bikes were perfect for the day and it was the first time Wallie had seen the much-talked-about Thorn Audax Mk3.  Naturally I'm very proud of it.  It's uncanny how similar our bikes are despite the age gap of 30 odd years between them and just goes to show how timeless and useful a traditional touring bike is.  Makes me wonder why people go and buy Mountain Bikes, especially those flat pack heaps of junk sold in supermarkets.  They're useless and cheap for a reason and I'll have another rant about those some other time, we don't want to spoil a nice Cotswold ride, do we?

The weather.

The month of May is always a fantastic month in my book, the nicest month in the whole year.  May is characterised by lengthening daylight, nice warm weather and beautiful clouds.  It also strongly hints at the coming promise of summer.  For us, we managed to pick the wettest day of the week for our ride!  It was almost like a dose of April showers with squally gusts of wind, horizontal rain, all mixed with sunny intervals and a rise in air temperature.  Consequently we were wrapped up all day in our waterproofs and I'm having mixed feelings nowadays about my Altura jacket - I feel a bit of a 'Kit review' coming on but some other time.  Back to the weather which links neatly to the wonderful clouds...

The Clouds

These were fantastic to watch through our ride.  Fast moving, sometimes threatening, or dramatic and brooding.  

Becky our eldest daughter is, I'm pleased to say, genetically programmed to be a day dreamer and we think it's a very good thing to do; it can be a means of sorting out all kinds of problems.  One regret I do have is not knowing all of the different names of the clouds we enjoy.  Perhaps another reason to check out the Cloud Appreciation Society one of these days.  

The landscape

We always did like the Cotswold Hills and they're brilliant for cycling - nice gently rolling hills, a few sharper ones, beautiful colours and picturesque villages.  The different seasons all have their own treats and reasons to make each visit so memorable.  Wallie was the first to spot these colourful thistles:

The ride was gentle and at an easy pace, so we could talk easily.  We covered all our usual topics including what old friends are up to and I enjoyed telling Wallie all about my friend Dee (Hello Dee) who'd been in touch from California after break which has been too long.

We also started to talk over what our next ride could be like, having both enjoyed an all night ride last year.  We could once again do a tour of the Cotswolds but I was wondering if we could do some kind of A to B ride (we'd need to sort out the practicalities of maybe planting a car in the right place) and I'd appreciate there being a nice Cafe at the destination.  So we'll have to mull that one over.  I'm tempted with the Black Mountains and being up high (Hay Bluff?) for sunrise - that would be fantastic but tricky to organise especially if we're working in our respective jobs during the day.  Watch this space.

At Eastleach, where we stopped for our packed lunch.  No, I didn't fall in.

Today's ride

Not the best photograph I've ever taken, nor the most flattering but it's about as good as it comes today I'm afraid.  Have you ever tried to photograph yourself while riding along?  Not easy, is it?

Anyway, this afternoon's ride was pretty good.

I did 52 miles over a reasonably flat terrain today as I wanted to clock up some miles.  Having treated myself to a new Ordnance Survey map I've been exploring some new areas.  All frightfully English and this was helped today by seeing quite a few vintage cars (don't ask what kinds as I don't know but I'd guess and say 1960s or earlier) having an outing, perhaps there was some kind of a rally on.  Picture postcard villages, cricket on the green, village ponds and "gated communities" all provided the backdrop.

There were a few other cyclists around and again I made it my business to greet them in some way (nod, smile, "hi there" etc).  Pretty much everyone responded in a positive way and one or two beat me by greeting me sooner.  This is amazing, especially after the rant I had (click here) and it got me wondering what has changed.  Perhaps the weather improving helps?  Perhaps I'm not quite as scruffy nowadays?  Maybe it's the sight of my kness?!?!?  Which ever it is, I appreciate it.

The kind of anti social cyclist which remains indifferent are those Lycra clad fellows, wearing dark wraparound shades and who do their best to ignore me.  They're normally riding in the opposite direction, on decent looking road bikes

I have been plotting a ride of about 125 miles in my mind.  How will I get on?  Can I make that distance right now?  Extra training?  I was thinking about doing it in a few weeks time; maybe I'm biting off more than I could do?

Just a quick word about the bike, my Thorn Audax Mk3.  I still really like it, handles nicely.  The honeymoon period has now concluded and I'm up to 870 miles (I got the Cateye on a couple of weeks after I had it).  I'll do a proper review when I get to 1000 miles and there's a couple of things which could be improved on.  The LBS who built it for me used a cheap nasty rack and mudguards.  The latter of which got replaced and the ack isn't looking that good either.

I have faired reasonably well, legs a little tired and I'll sleep extra soundly tonight.  Just the thing for setting me up for the week ahead, which tomorrow includes attending some of the SMT awayday.  Might be scary but I'm determined to make the most of it.

Thorn Audax Mk3 - update

Regular readers will know how I have been impressed from the outset with this new bike.  Happily it continues to delight me, so now a few hundred miles later, here's an update.

The main thing is, of course, the frame.  As the wheelbase is about 2 inches shorter than my old Dawes Galaxy, the handling is a bit more sprightly and although I am very used to it now, it continues to please.  The frame has a nice mixture of being nice and stiff when I'm pedalling hard (pulling up a hill when I ought to be in a lower gear) and yet beautifully comfortable.  When I look straight down the forks, I can see them fluttering slightly in going over a rough road surface, just like the Dawes.  It's nice having handlebars a little wider than what I'm used to - they're just right and fairly comfy with some cork type handlebar tape with a strip of gel backing.  The bog standard Shimano brake levers are just right, as are the gear levers, now I'm used to their position at the end of the handlebars.  The brakes are, well made, stylish, smooth, perfetly balanced and more than adequate but not outstanding in their stopping power.

The Brooks B17 saddle is a real delight and seems to have broken in a lot faster than my other did 27 years ago.  I've played around with the position a couple of times, fine-tuning the ergonomics is crucial.  I've given it a few doses of Proofhide and have needed to tension the leather using the complimentary spanner.

I need to perfect the bike though.  There's an irritating rattle, which I thought was the front mudguard and brake rubbing against each other.  ON close examination, it's actually the mudguard rubbing against the fork.  This is a potential rust problem, so I need to get that sorted this coming week.  The mudguard is, I believe, just a little too wide.  I should say, in defence of Thorn Cycles, this bike was built up in my local bike shop and some details like the exact mudguards were, shall we say, a little more flexible.

The smoothness of shift of shifting gears is fantastic.  The rear cluster is fairly close ratio but even so, it is very quiet and quick with each of the components working well with each other.  What does sunrise me is the ability to get these slick gear changes even when under pedal pressure.  Having a Sram 9 speed cluster seemed a luxury but it all works well with the Shimano Deore mechs and Shimano bar end shifters.  The ratios are good and useful.

Overall this is a well sorted bike.  It fits the purpose of being a fast, practical bike that is versatile enough for commuting, light touring, day rides etc.  I am looking forward to enjoying some longer day rides to really put it (and me!) through its paces.