45NRTH Fasterkatt Test Ride / Report

Finally got my hands on them. After coming home from the Lakes we had a look down to Stokesley and called in past Westbrook Cycles to see Jason & Mark to collect my boots. When in the Lakes we called in past DC Cycles on the way back from the Zoo and seen the 2014 Wolvhammer & Fasterkatt models, they are fantastic boots and no other cycle boot out there comes near them.
First thoughts out of the box were good, the easiest way to describe them is like a winter mtb boot wrapped in an over shoe cover. Its more tricky to get into them and you have got to make sure that the collar of the inner boot dosent get tucked in on its self. At first i was using the toggle to pull the lacing system tight but after you zip them up the outer cover is that tight i dont need to use the pull chord toggle. The only problem is the over shoe material has no stretch in it and its not the easiest zip to pull up. Not sure if i have fat feet but they could have done with another 1/4" of material to make it easier to get the zip going. Once on they dont feel tight and are very comfy with space to wiggle my toes alittle. When i was in Westys they have the full range of 2014 Northwave Winter Boots on display inc the new extreme gtx model which i also tried on as a comparison. They are a comfy too and i like the new lace system but its the ankle section thats lets these boots down for me.
This morning i stuck a set of cleats on them and went for a quick 25miler blast with them. It was the first hard frost so was an ideal time to try them out. The min temperature was -2.1 degress and when i got back in it was +2.0 degress which was the max temperature during the ride. It was a dry ride with no rain and very little wet ground conditions so cannot comment on the water tightness of the boot yet but i will say that my feet was never cold or too warm. They felt very comfortable to ride in and after a few miles i didnt notice that i had them on. I didnt do alot of walking but the short distance i did walk was on hard ground, the boots were perefct and very easy to walk in. The sole is not too stiff to walk in but are stiff enough for comfortable riding, I could not feel any flex in the sole when riding. There are special pads built within the soles that are designed to grip better on sheet ice, they feel very sticky to the finger so will have to wait until we get some icy conditions to try them out. I should mention what type of winter socks that i use - well i dont like the feel of too thick a sock so have used x-socks winter model for well over 10 years now. They are slightly thicker than a standard mtb sock but thinner than a walking sock. Below are some more photos for your viewing. After after a few more rides i will report back on how they doing.

Fat Biking @ Whinlatter Forest

When on our Lakes hols we took the Fat / Mtb bikes over. Arran wanted to join in this time so decided to do the Altura North Red Loop first to see how he got on with the slippery slate / tree root conditions, no probs at all after the first couple of singletrack sections so continued on. We set off and it had been raining and was cold. The trail conditions were wet under tyre and plenty of puddles but the rain kept off at the start. We climbed upto the top section and took some photos en route. The views were not the best as it was low cloud cover and overcast. After we had a quick drink we started the descents but it went dark and there was a hail shower, luckly we were mostly in the heavly wooded sections and stopped after 10mins or so. There was some weird looking mushrooms at the sides of the trails, must be ideal conditions for them at the mo. After completing the North loop we headed back to visitors centre and had quick look around Cyclewise shop, the shop staff were fasinated with the Fat Bikes and it was answer & question time! We were starting to get get cold by now so we decided to do 1/2 the Blue Route, when we hit Whinlatter pass road we turned left and dropped down to keswick on the cycle route. Arran is desperate for his own Fat Bike everytime he comes out with us but still enjoys his Scott Carbon Scale hardtail. Below are some pics on the morning ride

Guess who didnt have mud guards fitted and went straight through every puddle

 

South Lakes Wild Animal Park (Zoo)

We have been going to the Lakes for many years now and never been to the bottom of the South Lakes area. Arran took a South Lakes Wild Animal Park flyer home from school with a voucher on for a family of four entry £20. Its quite a trek from where we were stopping in Penrith but was easy driving for the Lakes and took 1hr 20min. We were not sure what to expect, a few years ago we went to Edinburgh Zoo and i wasnt impressed and it was bloody expensive to get in but the kids enjoyed it. There was only a dozen cars in the carpark (which is free) when we landed just after 10am. There was approx a 5min wait for tickets but then it was straight into the park. It was fantastic and is a great day out for young and old, we would highly recommend it. The rain kept off but there was a cold wind and chilly at times but the sun came out now and then. There was talks / feed the animals nearly every 30 mins during the day. We feed the giraffes, lets put it this way its the strongest tougue i have every seen, it stripped the branch within seconds. Half of the zoo is an area where you can walk in amongst the animals, literally they are right next to you. Below are some photos of the day.

Lakes Holiday

Last School holidays this year before Christmas so made the most of it and had a short break over in the Lakes. After having a ride at Whinlatter (see seperate post) we had a ride down to Keswick for the rest of the day. We havent been since the beginning of the year so was nice to be back again. We bumped into the owner of KMB when we were packing the Fat Bikes away and had a talk about them. The rep for Kona had called in past a few weeks ago with a demo model to show them. They might be get one in stock!

First time i have seen the TRP Hydro convertor discs in the flesh. Lever feel is ok but they are bulky things.

Keswick Town centre, busy and cold

A bloke died on this fell the day before we got here

Going crazy for food

On the way home we stopped at Hartside, its was 3 degress and that was without the wind chill factor

Then we stopped at Nenthead

Fill your water bottle up!

Not sure what this but its old

NECCL RD5 @ Hetton Lyons this Sat 2nd Nov

45NRTH booties and Beargrease update

They are in stock now in the uk. I got a message from Westbrook Cycles yesterday and mine are in stock and ready ! Report coming up at the end of the week.

UPDATE they have the Wolvhammer model on offer at the mo with11% off rrp and if you go through top cashback you get a further 5.25% off making them the cheapest in the UK. If they have sold out of your size give them a ring and they might be able to order more in. Link here

The 2014 carbon Beargrease has been delayed again and is now looking late Dec so that will probably mean early Jan 2014 :-(  for the uk customers. All the other Mukluk range is in stock now and Pugsley / Moonlander.

Time change, brake change & tyre change

Well the clocks went back an hour last night and yes I forgot all about it, so it was a very early start for me, bloody dark at four oclock in the morning ! time to get on with some jobs.
I bought some TRP CX 9  brakes last year for a Cannondale Caddx bike that i had bought. The standard canti that it came with were crap to say the least. The CX9's have so much power they are unreal. There are three problems though, you have got to have the pads set close to the rim or the brake lever comes back to the bars so if you your wheels are more than a mm out of true they will rub. Problem no2 if you grab a handful of lever then they are too powerful. Problem no3 if you race your cx bike and the course is very muddy they clog up very easy. I swaped them over onto Angus's new Scott Addict CX frameset when we built that and have had no problems at all but with the recent wet weather all the cx courses now are knee deep in the brown stuff so it was time for good old fashioned cantis. On One had some TRP Euro X on special offer so we bought the basic model as they were the best value for money compaired to the more expensive Magnesium model. Fitting was easy but there is no toe in adjustment on the pads so might be noisy until they wear in alittle. Plenty braking power for general cx racing and alot more mud clearance.
Then i had my own CX9 brakes back now so stripped off my very old Avid Shorty 6 cantis from my Litespeed Winter bike and fitted the CX9's. Finally i have stopping power now, the old Avids were ok at scrubbing off some speed but could not bring me to a stop quickly if i needed to. Below are some pics of the various brake swaps

CX9 on the Scott Addict

New Euro X fitted to Scott Addict CX

CX9 fitted to Litespeed, had to adjust the mudguard down slightly for the noodle to clear

Avid Shorty 6 cantis on the Litespeed

CX9 first fitted to the Caad X

Rear brake on the Caad X with Reynolds carbon pads fitted



It is also the time of year to put the Winter Wheels/tyres on the van. Last year i bought a pair of cheapo's from mytyres.co.uk Sunny SN290's to go along with the other pair of Maxxis winter tyres which i have had for a few years and are wearing well. I had a spare pair of steel rims so got the Sunny's fitted and now have a full set of winter tyres for the van. They did not get a proper good testing last winter as we have very little snow, ice or freezing temperatures compaired to the previous couple of winters. They are a little more noisy than the standard road tyres doing motorway driving and didnt notice a drop in mpg's. The snow we did have was no problems and they had alot more grip than the standard tyres. We will just have to wait and see what winter brings us this year.