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.  

Saturday Morning ride out on the Fat Bikes

First day of the School Holidays and woke up to a dry morning after heavy overnight rain. The sun was trying to come out but failed so was overcast, coolish with little wind. Had a gentle ride over to Broompark to join onto the old line to Consett. Took it steady going up taking a few photos along the way and called in past Knitsley farm shop for some goodies then into the cafe for a refuel. Nearly £20 later we escaped for a faster spin back down to Broompark then home. Here a gallery of some photos from the mornings ride. We also bumped into an old friend Griff out with his brother on his old Merlin Rocklobster, its still going strong by the looks of it.

Subway under a foot of water

Plenty of leaves falling now

Parked up for a quick drink break

Always remember to duck when taking the singletrack on the left!

Modern art!

Food break, fantastic shop & cafe, not been in since the summer school hols

Still plenty of deep puddles en route

Mud shovel guards working a treat today

This is just one of the breads they sell, full english breakfast bread £3, check out the sausages, well meaty



New Fat Bike Stuff

Pugs Ltd Edt £2k coming to the Uk late Dec 13 / Early Jan 14



On One carbon fat fork £200, 1 1/8" straight steerer, for sale before crimbo



New coloured rims from Surly, coming Feb 14, I like the look of the gold or polised marge lite

http://www.ison-distribution.com/english/searchresults.php?group=561

Muk 2014 models are in the uk now

This muk 2014 model as well are in the shops now

Very mixed weather riding this week

What a week of mixed weather from pouring rain/flooding, blowing a gale, freezing cold to glourious sunshine and some heat. I have managed four rides this week Tuesday 17mile road, Wednesday 19mile road & 18mile offroad & Thursday 17miles offroad. The best one by far was yesterdays as there was no rain, little wind and the sun was out. The lines had dried up after the flooding on Wednesday morning but still damp in places. Below is some photos from the ride from the phone camera. It was very busy with walkers, cyclists, horse riders & dog walkers. Everyone was making the most of the sun after days of dreadful weather. I took the Beargrease out as it was still dirty from the night ride on Wednesday from Meadowfiled to Bishop Auckland and back along the flooded lines.

Enjoy and keep up the riding.  

Aftermath of cx training @ Meadowfield

The bikes having a rest !

Check out the balustrading on the side of the bridge

A more modern balustrading to a bridge

Soot stained iron work & handmade rivots

Arched brick soffit to a bridge, you will not see many of these left today

A typical row of a few houses between two Durham Villages

Water still foamed up after the storms

This bridge has been removed

Nice stone corbles to bridge piers

Finally at the top

On the way back now

Followed this hot air ballon all the way back down the valley which was heading towards Durham

  

Salsa Bling and general news

Well the fleet of Salsa bikes has expanded again. Another box has landed and its looking good! I cannot say anymore at this point in time but keep checking back for a few sneaky updates. Also this week the first Salsa Carbon Beargrease has hit the UK shores and Ison have it in their hot sweaty hands. Below is some pics on the X9 model that is doing the rounds at the moment. Bikeradar put it on the scales and is just over the 29lbs mark but didnt mention what size it was. Plenty of areas to shave a good few pounds of that beauty and make it a flying machine.
As for riding well Sunday was spent cleaning cars, vans, bikes & the house! The rain has put a right dampner on it but got a quick 17 miler in on the Litespeed winter road bike today, raining but not heavy, windy but not gale force, coldish but not freezing.
I have also found some reviews of the 45NRTH Winter boot that i wrote about last week here and also here

Rallycross @ Croft Racing Circuit

We have been to a few Rallycross events at Croft now over the years and they are a fantastic action packed day out. The forecast was not looking the best but that was good as it made the circuit very testing for the drivers and there was plenty of crashes in the practice laps & Round 1 & 2 in the morning. After lunch it had dried up but the gravel sections were chopping up & very bumpy making the cars come off the ground along the back straight. Below is some photos of the days action, and a gallery here

One of the pit areas

These were mental flying around the circuit

A retro classic from my era! I remeber watching this going through Hamsterley Forest one year

580bhp beast of a machine

Something alittle different as well

Check out the size of this rig

Best pit bike of the day

Angus had his own BBQ! this was the most expensive horrible looking takeaway food i have seen

Who forgot to fasten their bonnet down!

This was on his first practice lap, they were coming off like skittles

Typical Croft weather

This was the loudest car of the day, popping and banging, not to mention the flames coming out of the exhaust

Paul from Coronation Street & Andy from Emmerdale

Clipped a tyre bundle



Local company but not racing on Saturday