Well got the email from Westys on Fri pm, wheels were ready for collection. Popped down today to pick them up and they are looking good - Hope Fatsno hubs front & rear (black). Surly Marge Lite Rims, Surly Marge Lite Rim Tapes (blue) & Hope rear skewer (black). Jason got the parts and Mark did a grand job of building them. That is the first set of builds on the new Hope Fastno hubs for Westys so im the test pilot !
Fitted the tyres,tubes, cassette and on they went. Just a sucker for the hope rear purr ! Alot lighter than the wheelset that came on the Mukluk 2, so thats another 1.3 lbs knocked off the old girl. Shame it was such a wet, cold & windy day. The drive down and back on the A19 was an experience with drivers belting past 80+mph with no lights on and standing water on the road / spray, was pleased to get back home.
That was the highlight of the week as i had a rest day Mon, did the night loop on Tues but legs were empty and crap weather / could not be bothered for the rest of week means miles are well down. Not looking good for tomorrow either with gale force winds, freezing cold and snow forecast. Good luck to the riders who are doing the Nutcracker @ Dalby, think you might need it after 24+hrs solid rain. You can enter on the day £26+ £4 parking (reduced from £7)
Report on the new wheelset after i get a few rides in on them.
The Floaters have been fitted with no problems. Its great fun using Fairy washing up liquid to crack the tyre beads ! They have only done one ride but can report back they clear well of mud and have plenty grip if you dont get too deep in the sticky stuff. They roll well compaired to the Nates. More feedback when we get more miles on them. They will be tested on some Lakeland wet slate soon. 
Talking of tyres, well inner tube inflation really. I have decided to go up market & more modern and invested in a Co2 system. The real reason is you get a bloody sore arm using a mini pump on 4" tyre ! I have gone for Innovation Elite Air Chuck - very light & small, not much for your money but hopefully works perfect. I have also bought an Innovations Cartridge Cross to store upto 4no Co2 canisters ready for use. At the mo I have 16g, see how they go. When i replace them probably go upto 20g ones or have a mix of both. They have been fitted and ready for use. Finger crossed not too soon ;-} 
The E thirteen Chainset has been giving me hassle again. Near the end of the ride at Hamsterley a couple of weeks ago i was getting chain suck but the chain was totally covered in wet thick mud so thought it was that. Checked the chain for wear and it was gone so fitted a new KMC X9 SL Silver chain and the chain suck was even worse so time to strip the rings off. Chirst the big ring must be made out of cheese, never had a ring wear so much in such a short period of time. Not a happy bunny so i ordered up a Middleburn 36t slickshift hardcoat, just waiting for it to land then the beargrease will be back out again. Im using the Middleburn Hardcoat rings on a few of my other bikes and there are no signs of wear after many years use. I will report back on the Middleburn ring & KMC chain. Its the first time i have tried KMC as i have always used Sedis (well sram own them now). 
Onto some happier news Angus has finished building my old Mukluk and is out training on the beast. The original Nate tyres are beasts and heavy going in normal conditions so was on the look out for some cheaper more general condition tyres but not at normal fat tyre prices. BINGO someone at On One had listed their Floater 4" tyres at the wrong price so ordered a pair and they were here the next day. 
Friday was a quick ride around Hamsterley Forest on the way home from the other side of Egglestone, it was dark by the time i got back so was a quick blast in the cold. Nearly 13miles & 1500+ft climbing so was good training
