24 September 2026

Langley Park to Bishop Auckland n back inc pit stop at Infinity Cycles.

 


No ride yesterday due to the rain and other jobs to sort out so back out today for a spin. I hoped onto the old railway line at Langley Park and headed over to Broompark picnic area. I did the bedding in procedure on the new Sram disc pads and the front brake was still squealing. At the crossroads I turned left and headed for Bishop. When I reached Meadowfield sports centre's fields I crossed over to Infinity Cycles at Langley Moor for some advice. After putting the bike / front wheel onto the brake bedding in machine he popped the bike into the stand and cleaned the disc and re aligned the calliper and the thing was still squealing. I asked if facing the mounts might solve it, failing that there is only the calliper and adapter left. He checked the face of the bosses and took off a small amount on the bottom one, back on the roller machine, realigned the calliper and cleaned the disc again and it sounded a lot better. 
From there I crossed back over onto the old railway line to Bishop in the sun and a headwind now. The squealing was a lot better so looks like the facing tool has sorted it. After a loop around the market place and a quick stop for a bit to eat & drink I headed back to Langley Park with a tailwind. All in 27.5miles in 1hr 59mins with 920ft of climbing. Below are a few snaps from the ride, enjoy and hopefully more soon- 








23 September 2026

Specialized S-Works Creo 2 - Front Brake Squeal - LOUD!!

 


The front brake started squealing on my S-Works Creo 2 front brake a few weeks before it went into Infinity Cycles to get the rear wheel sorted out. I tried sanding and cleaning the DT Swiss pads and swapping front to back but it did not work. I tried rubbing down both sides of the disc braking surface on both discs, cleaning them with Isopropyl Alcohol and swapping front to rear and it did not work .I took the calliper off the adaptor and the adaptor off the forks and cleaned everything down and refitting, still did not stop the squealing. 
I fitted the original Sram pads and realigned the calliper ready for breaking in on the first ride as per Sram instructions. Some how I don't think its going to work! That just leaves a problem with the adaptor or calliper. I did Google if facing the boss mounts would stop any squeal and come back with mixed results but it be the next thing to try. More on the next Blog after I do the Sram bedding in procedure. 



22 September 2026

A local ride of two halves due to closure on the old railway line - gravel and country roads from the Durham Beast

 


The photo above is my life behind the bars in the sun! It has been a while since I have been out but today I made the effort for a steady spin out within the local area. I had planned an out n back along the old railway lines from Langley Park but the line was closing at 8am from the start of the woods leaving Langley Park to Malton picnic area for resurfacing so I could not get back the same way. SO when I reached Consett I did a loop over to the park  at Blackhill then over to Hownsgill viaduct before hitting the old roads from the Durham Beast back to Langley Park. It was a good test of legs and lungs on the steep climbs. I was loving the descents on the back country lanes. The gravel tyres were singing along! 
Below are a few snaps from the ride inc the route map. All in 31.5 miles in 2hrs 25 mins with 2400ft of climbing. Enjoy and hopefully more soon- 
































20 September 2026

Fresh Goods Sunday - Schwalbe G-ONE R RaceGuard TLR 700 x 40c ADDIX GREEN Tyre

 


When I bought the S-Works Creo 2 it come with Specialized Tracer 700c x 50mm tan walls. Firstly I don't like tan wall tyres and my second set of wheels for my first Creo 2 has 47mm tyres fitted which come out at just under 50mm and 51mm. I will be using the S-Works mainly in the summer / dry weather so I wanted a narrower tyre with not too big a knobble pattern on. I found a pair of these Schwalbe G-One's on CDNE bike sales which were removed from a new bike and just like new. After the third ride I got a cut to the rear tyre which was approx 6mm long and would not seal. I shopped around for a replacement as I did not want odd tyres on a brand new bike and Merlin Cycles had them in stock and in the sale. They are very tight fitting on the Royal wheelset but once aired up they sealed ok. You can defo noticed the difference in comfort coming from 2.2" and 50mm tyres, these have very little give so going to play with the pressures. Grip and cornering has been spot on and touch wood no more cuts to the tyre. The are about bang on the manufacturers claimed weight of 490g, see photos below. It is too early to tell how long they will last tread wear wise but at the moment there is no problems. 

RRP £49.99 and I paid £32.52 from Merlin Cycles inc 48hr p&p. Discount 35% 
First two was from CDNE bikes sales for £45 inc p&p. Discount 55% 

Manufacturer's blurb - 

NEW: Schwalbe G-ONE R – our all-rounder for speed and control. The new version offers an excellent price-performance ratio. 

Your race tire for varied terrain  

  • Works everywhere: whether on forest paths, off-road trails, or asphalt 
  • Offers a balanced ratio between speed and control 
  • Thanks to boomerang tread patterns and angled side knobs, it provides plenty of grip even when wet 
  • Maximum cornering traction thanks to paired outer blocks 
  • Race carcass for good puncture protection and high speed
  • RaceGuard insert for reliable puncture protection under the tread
  • ADDIX Green for good performance and durability with a clear focus on environmental friendliness 
  • Tubeless-Ready 

The G-ONE R is made with fairly traded natural rubber (Fair Rubber). Additionally, we use recycled carbon black from our own tire recycling in the ADDIX Green tread compound – saving 80% CO₂eq compared to the industrial carbon black previously used.  

ETRTO:
40-622
Inch:
28x1.50
Line:
Schwalbe
Weight:
490 g
Französische Bezeichnung:
700x40C
Version:
RACE, RaceGuard
Compound:
ADDIX Green
Color:
Black
Bead:
Folding
E-Bike:
E-25
Epi:
67
Load (kg):
100 kg
Seal:
TLR
Tread:
HS610
max. Bar:
4.5 Bar
max. Psi:
65 PSI
EAN:
4026495957663