Wednesday, 30 June 2010

THE MISSING WHEEL

I spoke to the bike shop again today. Madison have "credited me with a new wheel" but as yet we don't know how much this is! I have asked if they will also credit me with the front wheel, as it's part of a set, and I'm now left with a fairly useless wheel. I've also asked if the old wheel can be returned because my new freehub body is on there. We shall see, though I don't hold out much hope on the latter, really, as they've probably binned the wheel by now.
I've asked if new rims can be built around my old large-flange Dura-Ace hubs. Yes, Dura-Ace. Very old Dura-Ace, but still in excellent condition. This is currently being looked into, as it will involve more spokes (both front and rear are 36 spoke hubs), so somewhere along the line I expect this to cost me money, which I don't actually have.
Using the old hubs means I have to go back to using a 6 speed freewheel block rather than an 8 speed cassette. I intend to take the Stronglight triple chainset off and replace with smaller rings anyway as I just do not use big gears anymore, so I don't see any problem with losing a few gears along the way. It will lighten the load. Imagine, a mere 18 gears!


THE BRUNEL RIDE

The yearly Brunel Cycle Ride runs, obviously enough, between Johnston and Neyland in Pembrokeshire, along the course of an old railway line now called The Brunel Cycle Trail. In previous years I've had the thankless task of helping to organise the event and get people there to help and to marshall. This year I declined, making it clear that I would be there with my children and that having an enjoyable time with them would be my sole intention.
Getting there is hard work. From Pembroke Dock one has to cycle over the Cleddau bridge (Pont Cleddau) and the smaller Westfield Bridge. There is a very nice wide cycle path alongside the main A477 across both bridges and despite the steep hill to the bridge the ride is very pleasant. After crossing Westfield Bridge, the Brunel Trail can be accessed via The Zigzag. This is a gravel path which descends with steps down a very steep embankment. To get me, my children and our cycles down there is a logistical nightmare and very strenuous. It involves leaving two cycles and a child at the top, descending halfway with the other child and their cycle. I then leave that child on a bench while I return to the top for the two other bikes and the other child. These I take all the way down, then return for the first child. Much of the gravel has been washed from beneath the concrete steps by rain, making the steps very high for little legs. Pembrokeshire County Council have apparently secured £250,000 of funding to improve access here, but frankly I'll believe it when I see it.
Rather than use the Zigzag, we continue half a mile or so up the road to Honeyborough Roundabout, where we turn off the main road and cycle down into the village of Neyland. The road itself is quite dangerous with fast and heavy traffic, but we can get off the road quite quickly and onto Neyland Vale, a traffic-free route down to the river. The whole ride is probably an extra 2 miles, but worth the effort.
We had been told that this year's ride was to start and finish at Johnston School, so we had timed our arrival so we could meet with the riders as they turned around at Neyland Marina and ride back with them. As it turned out, everyone stopped for refreshments, and then straggled back when they felt ready,so we headed off with the lead party. The ride is about 4 miles with a very slight uphill gradient the whole way, and Jasmine (10) and Dylan (7) were both red-faced and sweating by the time we arrived.
The return is a lovely downhill coast, so I suggested seeing how far along the trail we could go without having to pedal. This slowed the pace nicely. We discovered that the only times we needed to pedal was where the trail crossed roads and we had to slow down to pass through gates.
When we returned to Neyland we took the same route back, though I did offer them the option of the Zigzag as we came past. They preferred to cycle.
Altogether, we probably covered around 14 miles on a Sunday morning.
Please click on the title to take you to my flickr page for some photos of the event.

Tuesday, 29 June 2010

THE ONGOING SAGA OF THE WHEEL

Realising I hadn't heard back from the bikeshop regarding the damaged rear wheel, I spoke to them today to be told that Madison have "credited" me with a rear wheel, as they accept that the wheel should not be in that condition, but they do not actually have a replacement wheel for me! (They're one of the UK's major cycling wholesalers, and they don't have any wheels???)
The shop are happy to build me a new wheel, with better components, but it's not going to look anything like the front wheel. I don't much like the wheels anyway, the spokes are very difficult to adjust, being aeroblade spokes (flattened so as to be aerodynamic). So, they've ordered the parts for a new wheel. We'll see how long this bit takes. I shall also endeavour to get the old wheel back so I can reclaim the brand new freehub body I put on it.

Tuesday, 22 June 2010

TECHNICAL PROBLEMS FURTHERED...

Turns out it was the rim on my rear wheel splitting in 2... cracks were spreading laterally from the spoke eyelets. I took the wheel back to Bierspool Cycles, where I bought it around a year ago. They sent it back to Madison, the suppliers, but they haven't returned it yet. Bierspool did "lend" me a wheel, with which to do my Big Ride (more later); the wheel they "lent" me was the old wheel I'd left with them when I'd bought the current set. The bearings had completely gone. They'd since put a new axle and bearings in, but as predicted, there was a lot of wear on the hub races, and the axle worked itself loose during the second day of riding. It got me there and back, which is what mattered.