Bike Report 1

Bryan (who rode across Canada last year and kindly helped me with some of my planning stuff) has asked about how my bike is doing and commented that I hadn’t said anything about it so far. Well, there’s not much to report, everything’s been fine…I shouldn’t have written that of course…Thanks Bryan for all the mechanicals coming my way over the next few days… :)

For the record:

The tyres are holding up well. I’ve not needed to mend any holes. The rear might even get to 6,400km without a swap around. (I’ve a spare waiting in Montreal). I’m also carrying a spare so can just swap the rear only if the tread goes. I think the front could do the whole trip. I don’t think these tyres would last as long as M+, but they roll a whole lot better!

The Ergon grips are excellent. I’ve no hand issues, despite not using bar ends. I’m in the habit of practicing regular hand (and shoulder and feet) exercises on the bike to avoid problems, though.

The Brooks saddle is good but not perfect. It’s comfortable enough on a daily basis to avoid any “saddle issues” (I’ve no chafing or soreness. My excellent padded Assos shorts and liberal use of “Chamois Creme” also contribute significantly to this), but it’s still “a bit of a trial” sitting in the saddle all day on this bike with it’s more upright position. After about 80km, I need to relieve pressure every couple of km by standing for a minute or so. Hence my comment before about wishing to avoid 140km+ days. My legs and fitness could cope with it pretty easily, but my arse (and willpower and sense of humour) would struggle.

(I might want to do a bit more work on my saddle comfort before another long trip. I’ve got a Selle An-Atomica to try out and maybe the Brooks B17 Narrow might be a better shape for me…).

The transmission is fine, I’ve just moved the eccentric BB once so far to take up chain slack. It’s probably due other tweak soon. I’ve wiped and oiled the chain a grand total of one time, so far! I’m changing the chain (and reversing sprocket and chainring) in Montreal for essentially brand new transmission. I reckon the chain could do the whole trip if needed, though. I could do the Rohloff service anytime from now, but may leave it until Montreal, as well.

I’ve got a very slight amount of bearing play in the right SPD pedal. Should be OK, but monitoring it. Bottom bracket is fine.

I broke my Cateye cycling computer mount on about day 3! (The bike fell and took out the mount on a bench). The computer is still working and has been kept attached to the mount with various elastic band arrangements. My ingenuity knows no bounds! My current “best solution” is a little ponytail fabric elastic band. I’ve found a couple of these on the floor. They work really well!