Anyone who's had their ear to the ground will know about my recent purchase of some gravel tyres. For me they are going to be my road bike winter tyres too. I have had them for a few weeks now and on my way up to Scotland for work I found a good opportunity to give them a good and proper testing! In the Yorkshire Dales riding out from Settle. I don't intend this to be a review of my tyres. That will be saved until another day/blog post but I may well mention them a few times all the same. Instead this is my remarks on riding in the Yorkshire Dales, on road, off road and up hills. Including a
Product Reviews
Vittoria Bottle Cage Case/Bag Review
I was glancing through my blog pages the other day and I realised that my focus has been very tyre based. New tyres, tubeless tyres and so on. OK so I broke that pattern by including a new bike build but there's a definite tyre heavy balance on the blog! Well, I've just bought some more tyres, so expect a 'gravel tyre review and opinions' post soon but in the meantime enjoy something a little different! This is my first ever review of a bottle cage case! Bottle Cage Case? I hear you say. What's a bottle cage case! Well, it's not a case to pack away your bottle cages in when their not in use. You can't get them yet
My Kinesis RTD Build
So in my last blog post I wrote about my new frameset and the fact that I had chosen a Kinesis RTD as my new bike. However what I didn't go on to talk about was the build - the parts chosen to complete the bike. So let's delve into the world of bike components and take a look at what I've put together. And I might even indulge you and give you the build weight too. As mentioned in my previous post (or at least I hope it was), the RTD is a frameset only option from Kinesis. If you see it available in your local bike shop, or online as a complete bike it's the bike shop's build, not
New Road Bike – Kinesis RTD Self Build
So it all began with a new pair of tyres. Seems a bit extreme to buy a new bike when all you need is tyres! But that of course is not the whole story. For a while I've been considering a new frameset, I bought cheap carbon originally and in general I've not been impressed with the quality. The geometry is good and the frame is a really decent weight, especially for the £650 I paid for the bike originally. It was the right choice at the time. But a couple of the cable routing covers no longer stay in place, I've taken to taping them in place with black electrical tape, fortunately the frame is black so the colour match
New Tyres for the road bike – Hutchinson Fusion 5 Performance 11storm.
There are only so many miles you can eek out of tyres and I think with my recent set of Hutchinson Fusion 5 All Seasons I had pretty much reached that limit. A long time after they lose their peak performance, run out of tread and square off you start to spot patches of the tyre where there's no longer any rubber and the carcass beneath shows through. This is when you've definitely got your money's worth, for sure! These had a good few miles This tyre was on my front wheel, so it completed significantly more miles than the rear one did. When the rear needed replacing last year I chose to try out a Hutchinson Sector tyre. Just the one
Single chainring on a road bike? Ah, go on then! – SRAM Force 1x Chainring
It has been several years since I reconfigured my mountain bike to run a single chainring and I haven't looked back since. Even running an old 9 speed rear setup alongside the single front, hasn't caused me any issues. So with the advent of SRAM proclaiming the greatness of 1x and now offering single ring conversion options for road bikes it's been something I've been considering for most of this year. September is my birthday month and so having received some birthday money I went ahead and bought myself a SRAM Force 42T X-sync chainring to fit to my existing crank. 1300
New Seatpost – Fizik Cyrano R5 Review
So you fancy an upgrade for your bike? What's it going to be? New wheels, new groupset, saddle, even tyres. It's unlikely to be a seatpost. Of course from time to time you have a need, in my case the saddle clamp on the old one wasn't holding in position anymore; it kept slipping, leaving me mid-ride with a saddle pointing it's nose to the sky. Hence a little research, a bit of shopping around for the best price and finally an order placed for the Fizik Cyrano R5 Seatpost. 1126
Zucci Elite Full Zip Long Sleeve Jersey
Cycling Clothing; it's a huge subject and one where many riders will have very polarised views. How else do you explain being able to buy your jersey for £5 (Sport Direct) or if the notion takes you, being able to buy your jersey for £240 (Rapha). Presumably these jerseys are bought by different kinds of people and it's very unlikely that you'd ever find a wardrobe containing both! Fortunately this huge variation does mean that there truly is something for everybody and this is my review of just one of the many jerseys out there. 958
Update on my Hutchinson Fusion 5 All Season Tyres
It's always nice to receive comments on my blog posts. For one, it lets me know that people are actually out there reading what I write. But it also allows us to open up a bit of two way communication. So when a Jez wrote "I’m about to venture into the tubeless world and am undecided whether to go for these or the Schwalbe pro one tubeless ,id be interested to hear how the Hutch is wearing?", in response to my Hutchinson Fusion 5 tyre review, I just had to write a whole post in reply! But tyre wear might seem a little boring so I'll bundle my latest ride into this one too. 3
Endura Mullet Sunglasses
Late September, what better time to feature a review of a pair of sunglasses? No? Well maybe I should justify it then; just because it's not summer doesn't mean there won't be sunny days, the sun is lower in the sky so sunglasses are more important, these have light reactive lens so can be worn on dull days too? Still not convinced? Well I'm writing the review anyway so tough! 815