Shuv's 2-wheeled antics *SLOG

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sevenfourate

sevenfourate

Devotee of OCD
You could have saved all that time and bother and just bought one of these šŸ¤£

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Iā€™ve got a dozen or more of the Aluminium bodied, spring-loaded jobbies here: half a dozen of those not in use and leftover from BMXā€™s sold. Same stand as Iā€™ve always used on my bikes though; as they are fantastic.

Theyā€™d be better than your Mild Steel stand in terms of corrosion; and probably stability. Neither will be as good as this wooden one though. Which will be rock solid while jet-washing, can be left tucked inside by the rear gate when not in use, wonā€™t ever rust / corrode and can be left outside wet šŸ‘Œ

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a.twiddler

Veteran
You could have saved all that time and bother and just bought one of these šŸ¤£

View attachment 756191

Where's the fun in that?
 
OP
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sevenfourate

sevenfourate

Devotee of OCD
3rd coat of wood protection going on. Dry and windy out today - so should dry out lovely by the end of play today (Due to the weather yesterday it did what drying it did: in the shed).

This thing is a Beast ! A Fireman's hose would have trouble upsetting this thing. And with 8ā€ of rear wheel depth-insertionā€¦.ill be able to fire mud / grime off to my hearts content šŸ˜Œ

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sevenfourate

sevenfourate

Devotee of OCD
Some prep / tinkering / cleaning: ready for our Boxing Day ride:

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Also installed a couple of Titanium jockey wheel bolts on the Winter hack:

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And cut 4 bands from an old inner tube: and stuck them on the Hydraulic braked MTB and Hybrid: pulling the lever in reasonably firmly.

This is an old ā€˜trickā€™ I learnt from motorbikes - when sitting over Winter - and squeezes any air out the lines, past the Master Cylinder and keeps brakes feeling fresh and strong. If youā€™ve got a bike with Hydraulic brakes that sits - literally do this for 48 hours or more and the feel will be rejuvenated šŸ‘

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Merry Christmas folks šŸ¤¶
 
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sevenfourate

sevenfourate

Devotee of OCD
Yesterdayā€™s 20-odd (Sun drenched šŸ˜‰) enjoyable solo miles - were the last of the year:

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And what a fantastic year of slowing down and tasting the Coffee itā€™s been šŸ˜ This face:

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ā€¦ā€¦is looking forward to upping the miles and Iā€™m aiming for 2025 in 2025. After a late start and only managing 1200 miles in 2024.

So - to finish off the Year; Iā€™ve done a little maintenance today. Which involved a clean / lube / chain waxā€¦..

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Speaking of which Iā€™ve ordered a spare KMC X-Bow chain from a favourite bricks-n-mortar store on eBayā€¦...as these are ripe for being faked. *Ready for when the current one gives up the ghost after nothing but hard / gritty, winter miles.

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I also took some time - using Black smoothrite paint - to carry out a few frame and fork touch-ups on the Winter ride. The forks being the main ā€˜concernā€™ as they are mild steel. The frame on this bike is Aluminium - so small marks here are nothing other than visualā€¦.

Was some rust under the bottom fork cup:

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And cable rub marks from the front brake cable:

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New Yearā€™s Day forecast looking dire. So hopefully this coming Saturday it all starts again.

Happy New Year folks šŸ„‚
 
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sevenfourate

sevenfourate

Devotee of OCD
Pre-Christmas I read about kids back in the day (Early to mid 1980ā€™s) having those ā€˜jellyā€™ / rubber watches attached to the handlebars of their BMXā€™s Maybe the ones you got from McDonalds etcā€¦..

So I bought a period correct: Burger King item Brand New in the pack from the USA. And had it shipped over here to me in a cold and miserable U.K. And have now slapped it on the ET that hangs in the man-cave. All good funā€¦ā€¦šŸ˜‰

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sevenfourate

sevenfourate

Devotee of OCD
Bought a spare KMC 6/7/8 speed chain as above. Thinking of the Winter beater mainlyā€¦..but will work with either of my Carrera Subwayā€™s. Along with a spare-link for joining it.

I did the enquire here - about how people join chains together: who have to regularly remove it to Hot-Wax. As this may be how Iā€™ll end up goingā€¦ā€¦

Either way: the spare link I ordered turned out to be a pair. And the KMC chain came with one anyway šŸ˜

So looks like I have 3 (These will each last a number of removals / refitting Iā€™m told) I am ready for stripping and hot waxing if I do so.

Any suggestions on what starter kit to buy ??

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sevenfourate

sevenfourate

Devotee of OCD
ā€˜Gravel bikeā€™ *For me a multi-purpose; and first drop bar in the fleet - incoming !!

Looks a pretty decent spec. And i've been pondering for weeks on this very model. Should be perfect for my usege:

https://www.balfesbikes.co.uk/bikes...N6c56ncqOJuEyhr0tJACy8tI4R5yGo2xoCTakQAvD_BwE

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Also ordered cages, bottles, DMR V12 Magnesium flat pedals, another Charge Spoon seat and a few other bits.

Eeeny meeny miny moe. Which of the current fleet has to goā€¦ā€¦.... (To keep same amount of space in the man-cave).
 
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sevenfourate

sevenfourate

Devotee of OCD
After ā€˜muchā€™ (?) consideration (*Because they need to look right - as well as obviously doing a good job) Crud-Guards are on order for the Gravel bike. Went with Win Wing 2 for the rear:

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And an SKS-S Board for the opposite end:

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Also bought a selection of widths [25, 40 and 50mm] of Helicopter tape to protect the paint from stone chips etc. Man is that stuff expensive. I should really write to the monopolies commission. You could honestly buy a nice bike for the cost of protecting your nice bike ! 25mm wide for example is over a tenner a metre.

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Itā€™s no wonder some of these pre-cut ā€˜kitsā€™ for popular frames are over Ā£100. You can do Ā£50
in no time just protecting the most vulnerable areasā€¦.

Either way: bike should be here Wednesday. Canā€™t wait. And more importantly - hereā€™s hoping for a frost-free weekend so i can actually rideā€¦ā€¦..šŸš“
 
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sevenfourate

sevenfourate

Devotee of OCD
I must attract them ? Balfes Bikes are not doing too well to put it mildly; on my new bike arrivalā€¦ā€¦šŸ™„

I rang before purchase to check stock and despatch time. They failed the latter by 4 days after immediate payment [Note to others - this payment stage is where service, standards and promises often start to failā€¦šŸ¤Ø]

I rang and complained and was told a Manager would call back. Hey presto - they didnā€™t. Now their chosen courier is playing silly buggers and with 4 full days travelling the UK already and Iā€™ve been told I wonā€™t get it until Monday earliest. Customer care have already told me they will be offering me compensation (Here we go again šŸ¤£šŸ¤£šŸ¤£šŸ¤£). All I really want is the bike I so desired, hankered over, purchased and paid forā€¦ā€¦

#frustrated
 
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sevenfourate

sevenfourate

Devotee of OCD
Burgamont Gravel bike delayed due to local DX depot having no drivers. Monday Iā€™m told šŸ¤¦ā€ā™‚ļø

Carbon bottle cages, favourite Charge seat with Green accents, Green bar end plugs, Green decals, rear Win-Wing mudguard (Green text šŸ˜), front SKS mudguard [Both these look really good šŸ‘Œ], handful of KMC quick-links for the chain, SIS clear water bottle, 25mm and 50ml Helicopter tape, and some Stainless Steel bolts for swapping out / getting rid of some of those horrid Black stock jobs are all here. Just need something to fit them to nowā€¦ā€¦ā€¦šŸ™„

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sevenfourate

sevenfourate

Devotee of OCD
(Looks like)ā€¦ā€¦Iā€™m going down the contrasting Lime Green theme: on the eventually šŸ™„ incoming Burgamont Gravel bike.

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Rear Mudguard Iā€™ve already bought has Lime Green text, new Charge seat has Lime Green highlights, Bar ends are Green.

And today Iā€™ve purchased Lime Green textured handlebar tape:

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Some more Lime Green decals in various sizes - to pick a couple from:

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Some Green self-amalgamating Silicone tape (**That I use to protect surfaceā€™s underneath: and mount lights, mudguards, other brackets etc on)

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The Worlds most expensive dust caps (?) šŸ¤£ I could literally only find Lime Green Presta valve caps in one single place only. So these were Ā£8 for 5 šŸ˜³

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Also snagged some crank arm protection stickers / tape;

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