Chainrings don’t last long in the winter mud do they? Some say they’re made of cheese! The way ramped chainrings are designed they’re meant to be fitted one way only. The big ring especially often has a bar that goes behind the crank arm so that should the chain come off it cannot slip down between the crank and the ring. Now, bear in mind that most cyclists do not/cannot pedal with equal force throughout the 360 degress rotation of the cranks then the chainrings become worn more through the ‘power phase’ than through the ‘resting phase. Or, they become worn more just after ‘top dead centre’ where you get more power down than they do anywhere else.

When your chainring is sufficiently worn your chain starts to jump. But always in the ‘power phase’ where the rings are worn most. So what’s to stop you rotating the chain rings through 90 degrees to even out the wear? Nothing really. Especially if you’re not in the habit of changing under load. Shifting efficiency should be affected, but I can’t really tell the difference, and like I’ve said before….Riding budjet is finite, and when it’s gone it’s gone. What you spend on mundane stuff you can’t spend on groovy stuff, so scrimping will help you get a little more miles for your moolah.

Riding budjet is finite, and when it’s gone it’s gone. What you spend on mundane stuff you can’t spend on groovy stuff, so scrimping will help you get a little more miles for your moolah.
Not only does the slapping of chain on chainstay drive me mad, it also damages the frame. Didn’t want no ‘lizard skin’ holding moisture and grit, so made this natty little number from an old Spesh tyre. Stayed in place no problem for a couple of years now. Good scrimp yes? 🙂

Riding budjet is finite, and when it’s gone it’s gone. What you spend on mundane stuff you can’t spend on groovy stuff, so scrimping will help you get a little more miles for your moolah.

Here’s an idea for that old pair of tights you have, or that leg-warmer that was once one of a pair. Simply cut it to length then cut open almost all the way, and hey presto! a natty chest and neck warmer, for those cold winter days. I made this one around 4 years ago, and it’s still going strong.

Lusso make one, it’ll cost you £12 ish. Make one (or even two if it’s from old tights) like mine for nothing, and spend the money you save on somethin sexy 😉

Happy 2nd birthday to my Spesh Stumjumper hardtail. She’s carried me safely through many a ride, in fact she’s been my main bike throughout the two years I’ve had her. I’m begining to lose count, but I reckon this must be my fourth Stumpy. To my mind the Stumpjumper hardtail is the XC race frame par excellence. It feels fast, and by golly it is fast. Ask anyone who’s ever owned one, and if you ain’t never owned one then you ain’t never rode an MTB. Anyway, as it’s her birthday I thought it would be interesting to take a look at how she’s wearing.

Superficially she’s lookin’ good, she’s been well cared for, I’m fastidious about bike care. The only marks on her are transit marks from her forays into France. I’ve made no upgrades to her, so she’s pretty much a stock bike, bit’s have worn, and been replaced as you’d expect. Two years riding in all sorts of weather and terrain has taken it’s toll as follows…

First of all, the FSA headset has never been touched (apart from lubing), and is as smooth as new. Likewise the LX shifters, and front half of the cable outers. The brakes have never needed bleeding, and the wheels rims are still round and straight.

Front Wheel – Specialized Stout hub, 28 spoker, light as a feather, straight as a dye, has only needed one set of bearings that took around 10 minutes to fit.

Rear Wheel – Shimano LX, has needed new bearings and cones, plus freehub body. One broken spoke replaced. I reckon this is the achilles heel of the bike.

Fox Forks – RL80s have performed faultlessly. When I noticed a small amount of play in the bushes I sent them off for a rebuild. No signs of wear on the stauncions, still going strong.

Saddle – Halfway through it’s second winter it was starting to look a bit tatty, nothing wrong with it, but like I said, I’m fastidious, I had the chance to replace it, so I did.

Front mech – Last September, it fell apart. It had taken a few knocks, and I had straingtened it a few times, but finally I had to replace it.

Bottom Bracket – Octalink, can’t beat ’em last ages. Been changed once.

Drive Chain – 4 chains, 2 cassettes, one set of rings, one set of jockey wheels. Not bad considering what it’s been through. Bear in mind that the middle and granny rings are steel (slight weight penalty, but last much longer).

Brakes – Three sets of pads. When the first set wore out I tried some EBC ones that seemed to last no time at all. Went back to shimano ones, much better.

To sum up, not bad considering the work she’s done. She’s due for a birthday makeover. She’ll get new chain, cassette and rings, also a new set of disc pads and discs. That’ll see her ready for some early spring action. Bring it on!!!

It gave me great pleasure to accept the trophy for “Pearce Cycles Champion of Champions 2006”. It gave me great pleasure to show the ‘young guns’, and to prove to myself, that there’s life in the old dog yet. Karting, MTB racing, and Motorcycle Trials, a great multi-discipline challenge.
What started as a fun idea back in late summer turned out to be a fantastic motivator for me. Once I got started I just couldn’t help myself from taking it seriously.

“Thanks to everyone at Pearce Cycles for organising the events and being super competitors. Thanks to my wife for her continued support and putting up with my grumpiness when I’ve been tired from training. I have always believed that it is ones duty as a sportsman to give the best performance that one can give, and to win where possible by the biggest margin…….and fancy letting an old bloke with a dodgy shoulder beat youse”

The annual Runners versus Riders race is 10 miles of lung-bursting strength sapping agony. It’ll be my first race in over three years, I’ve trained hard and I want to do well.

Warming up before the start I’m a little nervous. This manifests itself in the form of phantom pees, almost as soon as I’ve put me willy away I wanna go again. This is normal, and a good sign. Also warming up are Doc, he looks fit and purposeful. Gary, he always looks fit, has won before, and in my mind is the man to beat. Marcus is here, he only shows if he has some form, and he’s a past winner.

As we sit on the start line there’s a young whippet on a Litespeed titanium with trick bits next to me. Someone is telling him that he’ll go well and will win! We’re off!!! I jump into second place on the tarmac so as to keep out of trouble but take some shelter. We start the climb accross the field towards the forest. The ground is very soft, like riding with flat tyres in porridge. Dave Price (Pricer) puts in a stinging attack, and Gary goes after him. There’s no way I can match that.

We cross the road into the forest, I’m in third place. Litespeed lad comes past me and opens up a gap. The climb through the forest is a tough one, Gary has caught Pricer and is almost out of sight. Down the ramp and onto the fire road. The gradient eases slightly, more my sort of climb. I clang down the block a couple of gears and mash on. Litespeed lad comes back to me in no time, I slow for a second behind him then lift it past him to deter him from hanging on. I catch Pricer just before the singletrack at the bottom of Chemical Bank. I scramble past trying to look smooth and strong. Continue reading →

With the Pearce Cycles annual runners versus riders just over a week away, plus the fact that I’m in second place on the Pearce Cycles Champion of Champions 2006 leader board, the pressure is on, and a final push will see me on the start line in good form.

For the last couple of months I’ve been out with the Radbroke Wheelers, a mix of roadies and triathletes who thrash around the lanes of Cheshire for an hour or so each lunchtime. They ride roadbikes, or cross bikes with road tyres. I have been riding my mountainbike. It has been absolute agony, but come rain shine and gales I’ve been there. On good days I have contributed, on bad days I’ve just grovelled on wheels, but I’ve not been dropped once, and the hard work is surely paying off. I feel fitter, faster, and more aggressive on the bike.

Why am I trying so hard? Well, after last years poor performance I was dissapointed in myself at having let my fitness go so much, and resloved to do something about it. It’s amazing how having a goal spurs you on.

My Chances? I know that my main rivals have also been out training hard, but I don’t think they’ve put in as much work as me, and I’m banking on the fact that they won’t have the miles in their legs, and will fade early. I’m playing my cards very close to my chest, and haven’t mentioned to anyone how much work I have put in.

I’m cutting back on the miles this week, but keeping the intensity high, I’ve lost some weight, and I’m feeling mean. A final push…..

I’ve used Crank Bros pedals before, for cyclo-cross. I had two sets of Eggbeaters. I chose them because they were light, simple, easy to use, and fantastic in mud. They gave a couple of seasons of faultless service (I stripped and regreased them regularly). After that I sold the bikes. They may still be going strong.

I’ve always associated the Crank Bros name with quality specialist products. To me the Smarty pedals looked cheap. Maybe it was the plastic, or the shiny black spindles I’m not sure. Also not sure about the spare plastic covers in different colours. Seemed like a waste of plastic to me. I expect they’d end up in that drawer where things go never to be found again. But they are very light, much lighter than the Shimano pedals I took off.

Fitting the Smartys was a piece of cake, no problem, simple. Pedals fitted to the bike in seconds, and the cleats only took a little longer. Because Crank Bros pedals have such good float there was no need to spend ages lining cleats up, then testing and tweaking. Just line ’em up fairly straight, tighten the bolts and you’re done. No tension screw to faff about with either. In fact they were so easy to set up I tried them with three different pairs of shoes. Top Marks!

Once fitted it was time to ride. As a rider with experience of clip-in pedals the Smartys took no time at all to get used to. Clip in was easy and sure, clip out was the same. I could use them confidently straight away. Top Marks again.

But, they creaked. The shoe creaked against the pedal. This was worse on the oldest pair of shoes I tried, and it maybe that the creaking would stop as they beded in. They didn’t seem to be designed with maintenence in mind. The plastic end cap was difficult to remove, and I could see how it could easily become loose/worn and get lost. The pedals had a larger Q factor (meaning that the riders feet are further apart) than the Shimano ones I took off. While this was not a problem for me, I know it is a biomechanical issue with some riders.

As I understand it Smartys are Crank Bros budget pedal, and as such I think they are great. As I said earlier, i’ve always associated Crank Bros with quality specialist products. If I was looking for a cheap lightweight pedal then the Crank Bros name would give me confidence, and I would look no further. Would I buy some? Well for cyclo-cross yes, but for mountainbiking no. My mountainbiking pedals take such a hammering that I choose robust over lightness every time. I’ve had one bad painful experience with a lightweight pedal, and I don’t want another. Placed side by side with a similarly priced but much heavier Shimano pedal I’d choose the Shimano one.

Bear in mind that I only tested the pedals on one ride so cannot comment on how they’d be long-term. I tested them on my Spesh Stumjumper Hardtail. I tested them with three pairs of shoes – a hardly used but old pair of Shimano, an old pair of Specialized 2000 pro race shoe, and a Specialized 2006 carbon soled race shoe.

Thanks to Julie of 2Pure, and Pearce Cycles for the opportunity to try these pedals.

First some background – The last time I got the chance to test an Epic and an FSR back to back, side by side, was in 2004 (we also rode a 2004 Enduro that day). At that time the FSR had 100mm at both ends, and I loved it so much I bought one. The Epic also had 100mm both ends, and I didn’t like it at all. Since then I have owned a 2005 FSR, which I had a love/hate relationship with, before going back to a Stumpjumper Hardtail for 2006.

My testing partner for the day was my brother ‘Supawal’. The great thing about testing with Supawal is that we ride almost identical set-up, so swithching bikes mid test was a simple matter of switching bikes! Technically we are of similar ability, so differences in bike should show more. We chose Mortimer Forest as our test venue, as it has a good mix of trails and terrains.

Both test bikes looked sexy in their colours. I’ve often prefereed the colours of the test bikes to the colours of the production bikes. The FSR was a lovely purple colour, while the Epic looked hot in mustard yellow. After checking tyre/shock pressures, setting saddle heights we loaded them into the van. Both bikes felt light, the Epic especially. I’d say the 2007 Epic with it’s E5 frame is only slightly heavier than my 2005 M4 Stumpy HT.

Continue reading →