Stupid New Years Resolution!
Discussion
Thumbsnap was back, until I tried a photo and it went again. 
Good old Facebook eh?
Anyway 4,500 miles of road crap and chain lube removed with a WD40 and an old tooth brush. I've replaced the spokes with ones from the old cats arse rear wheel for now but I will be replacing the rim and spokes as soon as I can afford it. Interesting to see the gears that haven't been used as well. I hope Atomlab still make bombproof double walls in 26 inch fitment. The wheel is as straight as it has been in months but is still nowhere near true and it never will be I'm afraid until I replace all the crap spokes with decent ones. If I'm doing that I may as well replace the rim with one that won't buckle as soon as you think "pothole". Why these DT Swiss wheels are fitted to a cross country bike is beyond me. I've done nothing on the bike that's anywhere near the amount of stress I'd put it through off road.
So a little over a year and a little over 4,500 miles would I buy the same bike again?
Yes and no; yes because when it was all good and the weather was pleasant enough not to worry about the weight of the thing it was a nice ride, no because within a month the forks stopped locking out, six months the rear wheel was knackered due to "lightweight (f
king useless)" spoke nipples, ten months before rear shock stopped locking out and due to the frame design there's no way of fitting a larger crankset to compensate the slow top speed. Don't get me wrong the Camber Comp has been and is a really good bike but for £1,695 I'd expect a great one. 
Good old Facebook eh?
Anyway 4,500 miles of road crap and chain lube removed with a WD40 and an old tooth brush. I've replaced the spokes with ones from the old cats arse rear wheel for now but I will be replacing the rim and spokes as soon as I can afford it. Interesting to see the gears that haven't been used as well. I hope Atomlab still make bombproof double walls in 26 inch fitment. The wheel is as straight as it has been in months but is still nowhere near true and it never will be I'm afraid until I replace all the crap spokes with decent ones. If I'm doing that I may as well replace the rim with one that won't buckle as soon as you think "pothole". Why these DT Swiss wheels are fitted to a cross country bike is beyond me. I've done nothing on the bike that's anywhere near the amount of stress I'd put it through off road.
So a little over a year and a little over 4,500 miles would I buy the same bike again?
Yes and no; yes because when it was all good and the weather was pleasant enough not to worry about the weight of the thing it was a nice ride, no because within a month the forks stopped locking out, six months the rear wheel was knackered due to "lightweight (f
king useless)" spoke nipples, ten months before rear shock stopped locking out and due to the frame design there's no way of fitting a larger crankset to compensate the slow top speed. Don't get me wrong the Camber Comp has been and is a really good bike but for £1,695 I'd expect a great one. 
156 miles...
I was going great guns on the way home today. Slick tyres tail wind down hill then...
BANG!
...missing man hole cover just as I reached flat out. The car behind me had to nearly hit the curb the other side of the road to avoid me as I held the bike on the front wheel and rotated two hundred degrees before the now nowhere straight wheel found the floor again. The driver stopped and thanked me because if I hadn't hit the hole in the road he would have. We both put the cover back and carried on out merry way. Another hour or so of straightening tonight then.
I was going great guns on the way home today. Slick tyres tail wind down hill then...
BANG!
...missing man hole cover just as I reached flat out. The car behind me had to nearly hit the curb the other side of the road to avoid me as I held the bike on the front wheel and rotated two hundred degrees before the now nowhere straight wheel found the floor again. The driver stopped and thanked me because if I hadn't hit the hole in the road he would have. We both put the cover back and carried on out merry way. Another hour or so of straightening tonight then.
I've had this Cree 1800 Lumen front light on my bike for six months now and am very happy with it.
The battery straps neatly to my frame.
As well as having high (1800 Lumen), low (700 Lumen) and strobe it also has a belt attachment for the battery pack...
...and a kind of upside down Sumo jock strap for your head.
The headlight itself is a well focused beam, here at twenty meters...
...and again at fifty...
...but as well as being a superb bike light working on cars in the dark is now a whole lot easier.
Just a very useful thing to have around the house. When we had a power cut last week the light aimed at the ceiling illuminated a fairly large room (on the low setting) for five hours without killing the battery. I use it on my daily commute to work and only need to recharge it every three days. A great bit of kit and worth every Penny of the £39.99 I paid for it, best of all they're now on eBay for £25 as the £40 lights are 3000 Lumens.
The battery straps neatly to my frame.
As well as having high (1800 Lumen), low (700 Lumen) and strobe it also has a belt attachment for the battery pack...
...and a kind of upside down Sumo jock strap for your head.
The headlight itself is a well focused beam, here at twenty meters...
...and again at fifty...
...but as well as being a superb bike light working on cars in the dark is now a whole lot easier.
Just a very useful thing to have around the house. When we had a power cut last week the light aimed at the ceiling illuminated a fairly large room (on the low setting) for five hours without killing the battery. I use it on my daily commute to work and only need to recharge it every three days. A great bit of kit and worth every Penny of the £39.99 I paid for it, best of all they're now on eBay for £25 as the £40 lights are 3000 Lumens.
236 miles...
It took fifty three minutes to get to work. In the worst of it my back tyre broke traction as I was pedaling against the wind. I spent the first ten hours of my shift looking forward to the tailwind home; but then the direction changed and it took fifty minutes to get home. Just over eleven miles per hour average is still pretty respectable in forty mile per hour winds.
Dreading tonight.
Looking forward to the challenge as usual but will leave a fair bit earlier though.
It took fifty three minutes to get to work. In the worst of it my back tyre broke traction as I was pedaling against the wind. I spent the first ten hours of my shift looking forward to the tailwind home; but then the direction changed and it took fifty minutes to get home. Just over eleven miles per hour average is still pretty respectable in forty mile per hour winds.
Dreading tonight.
Looking forward to the challenge as usual but will leave a fair bit earlier though.
563 miles.
A bit of a delay in my updates. Well apart form moaning about the weather and inconsiderate drivers there's not a great deal to share and even I'm getting fed up of that so...
...I found a quarter inch long bit of glass in my rear tyre the other day and because I thought I could use it as an excuse to get a lift home I pulled it out. The tyre was unaffected and I've done a hundred miles since then.
I'm cycling to work this month no matter what the weather (apart from fog) because I can't afford to fill my car with petrol let alone give the DVLA their twenty pieces of silver for renting the log book from them. My work is as usual getting in the way of play. The company I worked for lost the contract on the site so now I work for someone else. This transition means two things. 1/ I won't be paid again for another six weeks and 2/ My previous employers decided to take £400 out of my last pay cheque.
I literally have £4.00 to last until the March 15th.
Life's little tests eh?
A bit of a delay in my updates. Well apart form moaning about the weather and inconsiderate drivers there's not a great deal to share and even I'm getting fed up of that so...
...I found a quarter inch long bit of glass in my rear tyre the other day and because I thought I could use it as an excuse to get a lift home I pulled it out. The tyre was unaffected and I've done a hundred miles since then.
I'm cycling to work this month no matter what the weather (apart from fog) because I can't afford to fill my car with petrol let alone give the DVLA their twenty pieces of silver for renting the log book from them. My work is as usual getting in the way of play. The company I worked for lost the contract on the site so now I work for someone else. This transition means two things. 1/ I won't be paid again for another six weeks and 2/ My previous employers decided to take £400 out of my last pay cheque.
I literally have £4.00 to last until the March 15th.
Life's little tests eh?
589 miles.
Following another near miss SMIDSY I've put my spare rear light on my bag...
...so that's flashing red lights on my mud guard, helmet and bag with a constant red light on my seat post. Hopefully this will be enough.
I was discussing SMIDSY events with a fellow commuter and he has a rather unique way of dealing with close overtakers. He has a six inch metal bar with a roughly ground point at the end. He took great pleasure in telling me how he has gouged the side of HGV trailers and vans with it. He's fed up of reporting dangerous drivers to the non-existent Police so has taken the law into his own hands. On the scale of things though I hardly feel thousands of Pounds of criminal damage can be a justifiable punishment for Careless Driving.
Following another near miss SMIDSY I've put my spare rear light on my bag...
...so that's flashing red lights on my mud guard, helmet and bag with a constant red light on my seat post. Hopefully this will be enough.
I was discussing SMIDSY events with a fellow commuter and he has a rather unique way of dealing with close overtakers. He has a six inch metal bar with a roughly ground point at the end. He took great pleasure in telling me how he has gouged the side of HGV trailers and vans with it. He's fed up of reporting dangerous drivers to the non-existent Police so has taken the law into his own hands. On the scale of things though I hardly feel thousands of Pounds of criminal damage can be a justifiable punishment for Careless Driving.
588 miles.
Okay I'm going to moan about the weather.
Will it make up it's bloody mind? Lazy wind this morning it decided to go through instead of round me and virtually every other turn I was faced with a different kind of precipitation. Snow, rain, hale, sleet or nothing but the road was slippery as there were a few flakes on the ground freezing the water already on the surface. Perfect for slick tyres in a head wind. For one reason or another I had only three hours sleep in the forty eight hour period leading up to my ride home so I was too knackered to loose traction this time. Cycling to work was the survivalist option. Cardiovascular activity elevated my heart rate and blood Oxygen levels keeping me awake. Basically to ensure I didn't fall asleep at the wheel I used two instead.
Okay I'm going to moan about the weather.
Will it make up it's bloody mind? Lazy wind this morning it decided to go through instead of round me and virtually every other turn I was faced with a different kind of precipitation. Snow, rain, hale, sleet or nothing but the road was slippery as there were a few flakes on the ground freezing the water already on the surface. Perfect for slick tyres in a head wind. For one reason or another I had only three hours sleep in the forty eight hour period leading up to my ride home so I was too knackered to loose traction this time. Cycling to work was the survivalist option. Cardiovascular activity elevated my heart rate and blood Oxygen levels keeping me awake. Basically to ensure I didn't fall asleep at the wheel I used two instead.
716 miles
It's time to say goodbye to an old friend...
...and in with the new.
My fog light idea is taking shape.
I found these at work...
...and thought I'd try a lens on my light...
...superb fit but...
...still too pink. There must be a 200+ Lumen rear light for poor weather conditions.
It's time to say goodbye to an old friend...
...and in with the new.
My fog light idea is taking shape.
I found these at work...
...and thought I'd try a lens on my light...
...superb fit but...
...still too pink. There must be a 200+ Lumen rear light for poor weather conditions.
It's way over my budget for lights, but a guy I work with is about to order one of these:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/hope-district-rear-light-i...
I'm interested to see what it's like for that price!
I have two lights, one of which is a Radbot 1000: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/pdw-radbot-1000-1-watt-led... and I'm very impressed with it. I got mine from Amazon and it was a bit cheaper.
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/hope-district-rear-light-i...
I'm interested to see what it's like for that price!
I have two lights, one of which is a Radbot 1000: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/pdw-radbot-1000-1-watt-led... and I'm very impressed with it. I got mine from Amazon and it was a bit cheaper.
I thought this one...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140861230498?ssPageName=...
...was expensive.
It's light enough when I set off and when I get home not to need lights at all and it'll soon be warm enough not to need a mask so by the time the payday fairies visit I won't need any new lights anyway.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140861230498?ssPageName=...
...was expensive.
It's light enough when I set off and when I get home not to need lights at all and it'll soon be warm enough not to need a mask so by the time the payday fairies visit I won't need any new lights anyway.
769 miles.
Between snow showers and ice instead of roads my new masks holes are smaller than my old one so it was like cycling whilst being trapped in a box. I've cut slits between some of the holes so my diaphragm doesn't get as much of a work out. Having said that I haven't had hicups for a while.
The rear wheel snapped another couple of spokes and it's so cold my fork tubes are free of the seals so I have no suspension whatsoever. It'll soon be Spring.
Between snow showers and ice instead of roads my new masks holes are smaller than my old one so it was like cycling whilst being trapped in a box. I've cut slits between some of the holes so my diaphragm doesn't get as much of a work out. Having said that I haven't had hicups for a while.
The rear wheel snapped another couple of spokes and it's so cold my fork tubes are free of the seals so I have no suspension whatsoever. It'll soon be Spring.
912 miles.
I was hoping the batteries in my lights would last another week for it to be too light to need them for a while but having seen tonight's forecast I've put my knobblies on and fitted new ones. Should be an interesting home in the morning. It was near gale force winds today a bit of a flurry, tomorrow promises to be a blizzard.
I was hoping the batteries in my lights would last another week for it to be too light to need them for a while but having seen tonight's forecast I've put my knobblies on and fitted new ones. Should be an interesting home in the morning. It was near gale force winds today a bit of a flurry, tomorrow promises to be a blizzard.
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