More Winter tyre swapping - Nobby Nic & Dirt Wizards

I was up and into the man cave early this morning for some bike fettling that I have been meaning to get sorted for a while. I had a couple of hours spare before I had to go down to Chester Le Street so adjusted the Ultegra front mech on the Norco Search as it was rubbing on the outer plate of the mech when the chain was in big ring on the front and near the bottom of the cassette on the back. In the end it only need the cable tension adjusted via the in line adjuster, much better.
Then it was onto the Krampgrease - removed the Surly Knard 29 x 3" tyres and fitted the Surly 29" Dirt Wizards. Not sure why but they do air up narrower than the Knards but other shed loads more grip in the wet / mud.
After bike two it was onto the Beast of the 'N' East. I swapped the Rocket Ron for a 27.5 x 3" Nobby Nic but have decided to leave the Panaracer on the front for now as its a half way house between a Nobby Nic and Rocket Ron.
Time to hit some trails and get them muddy!

 

Just one draw of bike fettling tools collected over 30+ years

Local road ride up in them hills around Tow Law

Todays local road ride on the Norco Search was around the country lanes of Co Durham, Tow Law way. It was warm to start with but I soon cooled down when I reached the heights of Tow Law with a real strong headwind nearly all the way back down. The weather was overcast / cloudy and the turbines spinning like crazy. Below are a few pics from the ride, enjoy and hopefully more soon.

Fresh Goods Sunday - BBB Optiview Sunglasses nose piece BSG-33

I have tried several different manufacturers of sports glasses with optical inserts. The main problem I tend to have to the noise pieces tend to fail rendering the glasses not fit to wear unless you can purchase replacement parts. I am sick of buying expensive ones so bought some cheaper BBB models a couple of years ago. They have performed well but again the nose piece is a weak point and one side snapped off along time ago then the other side failed. I was on the hunt for a replacement part, the new distributor (Windwave) does not stock them so tried the old distributor (Greyville Enterprises) and they had stock! so when I was in Bishop I called in past Inspiral Cycles to see if they had an account with them. Yes was the answer so I ordered two so I would have a spare one. They landed within a week and a simple very small screw and the job is sorted and I can now wear my cycling glasses again.
RRP £5.95

BSG-Z-33-2973283350

BSG-33 OPTIVIEW ADJUSTABLE NOSE PIECE

EAN-13 Barcode: 8716683055535

Looks like its time to strip them back down again for a good clean!

Sunday morning loop upto Consett & batck on the Mason

This mornings ride was not the planned ride but a longer more local one instead. I was up and out before 7.30am to a beautiful morning but a fresh wind. I headed down the cycle track to Chester Le Street and around the riverside. Then along the road to Birtley in the cycle lane to join onto the C2C. Once on the C2C I turned left and headed straight up to Consett. It was tough going in places and getting colder. The Garmin was reading around 10 degrees and never got much above that. At the coal truck junction I turned left and straight down to Bearpark which was nice and fast but a headwind in places. The lines were quite quiet this morning, not sure why but all the better for me. Once at Baxters Farm I turned off the line and took the back way over the fields to Whitesmocks, around the back of New College and home via the Carrs. All in 38 miles, 2hrs 53min.
Below is a selection of some photos, enjoy and hopefully more soon -

Home and time to wash myself, bike kit in the washer and wash and lube the bike. Then on with some jobs around the house.