Some more new bling - Panracer, Schwable, Ted Liddle's new Guide Book

 

A few more parcel deliveries from Saturday - my new Gravelking tyres for my road Creo. Ted Liddle's Volume 2 guide book and some Schwalbe valve extensions for my spare 27.5"/650b x 2.0" inner tubes.

With the new wheels having a deeper section rim the valves were not long enough on my standard tubes. I have some extenders that screw on the top of the exiting valves but I never seem to have much luck with them so I found these extenders which extend the outer valve and you screw the inner valve core part into the new extension. 

More on all of these in up and coming Fresh Goods Sunday. 

Fresh Goods Sunday - KMC X11 DLC SL 11 speed chain

 

Well this has to be the most expensive chain I have ever bought in my 40 years of cycling by a long way. I know the rrp of bike parts has gone through the roof over the last couple of years but this is just a totally bling item. To be honest I don't really keep my chains that clean on my mtb and gravel bikes so would have been a waste as you would have never seen the red colour after the first ride of cleaning the chain ever 3 months or so. I don't use my road bike as much and on a whole does not get that dirty so was a good excuse to bling it up a little. The standard chain that come with the bike was a Shimano 105 model, nothing wrong with it, smooth and quiet but just looked dull and boring. I have standard using KMC since SRAM bought out Sedis. Again I have never had any problems with Sram chains and normally last a fair while. 

I don't ride to the extremes where I would notice any difference in such a high spec chain. It runs just as smooth and quiet as other chains that I have bought for a quarter of the price. To me the money is for the aesthetics of the bike, not that anyone would notice when you are riding past them. Time will tell how long it lasts / stretches on my e bike. Fitting is like any other Sram / KMC, it comes with a power / missing link for connecting the two ends. Once I reduced the chain down to length the missing link was tight and I had to use my chain link stretchers (see photo below, black handled ones), he opposite to my chain link removers (blue handled ones). The chain comes in lovely little presentation box and so it should with an rrp of £100! 

RRP £99.99 and I paid £77.50 from Merlin Cycles - 22% Discount inc 48hr p&p. 

Manufacturers blurb - 

Features

• 1/2" X 11/128"
• Pin Length: 5.65 mm
• 116 Links
• Weight: Super Light, 243 grams
• Various Colours Available
• Non Directional
• Diamond Like Coating for top Performance
• For Shimano, Campagnolo and SRAM 11-speed derailleur systems

Early Sunday morning spin along the old railway to Bishop n back

 

I fitted my new tyre to the rear wheel on Friday so the bike was ready for a spin. Still busy decorating so did not get out yesterday but the forecast was nice and sunny this morning but a cold wind. Well it sort of started off sunny but with a nearly 20mph Baltic freezing headwind it nearly killed me off going from Bearpark to Bishop along the old railway line. After a couple of miles the little sun that was out had gone. By the time I reached Willington I was going to turn n burn. Not sure what was up as I don't normally feel the cold like that and there was just noting in the legs. I looked towards Bishop way and the sun was trying so I kept on going. I got to the viaduct carpark, turned and headed back. Well it was like taking the handbrake off! it felt like I was flying along. The lines have dried up quite a lot and they were frozen in places. There was hardly a sole out n about apart from a few dog walkers. No problems what so ever with the new wheels but think I need to drop my tyre pressures down a little as it was bouncing in places. When I reached Meadowfield way the sun was blazing away, typical. Below are a few snaps from the 23.5 mile ride. I climbed 800ft with an aveage speed of only 12.4mph. Enjoy and hopefully more soon- 

New Bling week - DT Swiss, Continental, Sunrace & Shimano parts

 

Well the boxes of bling landed on Monday from Fawkes Cycles - DT Swiss HGC 1400 Spline Hybrid Boost 650b / 27.5" Wheelset. These have the same rim profile as my 700c version of the same wheel. I have took my rotors and cassette off my Creo road bike and fitted them to these wheels. 

I also ordered a couple of new 27.5" x 2.0" tubeless tyres. I have fitted my old Specialized Fast Trak 2.0" tyre to the front and the new Conti Cross King 2.0" to the rear. 

A new Sunrace MX8 11 speed 11-42t cassette also landed this week, just waiting for a new pair of Shimano RT-MT900 160mm disc rotors. Not sure when they are going to land, ordered them from Singletrack Cycles 8 days ago. These are going onto my DT Swiss road wheels, I have some spare Ultegra rotors for the time being. 

Also when I gave my road Creo a good clean last week I noticed the tread on the rear tyre is down and starting to form a flat middle section. There is some sealant leaking from various points as well. I will swap them front to back to get some more miles out of them but I have ordered some new Panaracer Gravelking Slick+ TLC 700c x 35mm black. This is a newer model than my current tan wall 32mm ones. 

A very windy, sunny & muddy spin down to Durham, Maiden Castle, Houghall woods n back

 

Again the weather has been poor and the winds have come back yet again. I have started decorating in the house but the sun was out after a snow shower so decided to have a steady spin out on my mtb. The trails are ankle deep in clarts now after all the rain, flooding and snow. Durham was busy as its school holiday week and locals enjoying the sun for a change. 

All in just under 15 miles with 850ft of climbing in 1hr 21mins. Time to wash, dry, lube and charge the bike up ready for its next spin out. Below are a few photos for the ride, enjoy and hopefully more soon in between painting!