Fresh Goods Sunday - Bontrager XXX BarStem Blendr Duo Base. Part 1

 

If you follow my blog you will know I have purchased a Trek Procaliber 9.8 hardtail xc mtb. This came with a combined carbon stem/flat bar set up. In all my 40+ years of cycling this set up has come and gone, been in fashion and gone out of fashion more times that I can remember. Now from memory I am sure this is a first for me and tbh, if it did not come as standard on the bike from factory I would not purchase a combo stem/bar for several reasons. Anyway due to the shape of the stem / bars near to the stem you cannot mount a normal Garmin bracket but Bontrager has thought of this and there is a tiny small grub screw at the front of the bars right in the middle. You can remove this and fit a “Base” to which you can fit several different types of brackets to. The “Base” comes in a duo, which this model is and a single. The quality of the Base is very good and the plastic feels strong and sturdy. The shape at the rear fits against the bars perfectly with no gaps. Once the new bigger fixing bolt is nipped up its going no where. 

Part 2 and 3 will follow in the coming weeks with the Bontrager Garmin ‘on top’ bracket and a USE Exposure light bracket. 

As for value for money well the rrp is eye watering for a lump of plastic and a few bolts and two nuts but they have got you by the short n curlies as no one else makes one. Shop around from some small discount but unless its part of a bigger order or if you find a local Trek / Bontrager dealer with stock you will have to pay p&p as well. 

RRP £13.99 and I paid £0.00 from my Rewards points @ Team Cycles (Triton Cycles £12.59) 

Manufacturers blurb - 

Blendr add-on to bar/stem

Interface solution between Bontrager XXX bar/stem and Blendr XXX mounts

Clean up your Bontrager XXX bar/stem cockpit with Blendr bases.

Blendr works with this simple formula: Stem + Base + Mount. Add accessory.

Product details

1. Blendr works with this simple formula: Stem + Base + Mount. Add accessory.
2. Bases for use with the XXX Integrated Road Handlebar/Stem
3. Add any accessory mount (sold separately) for an elegant, integrated look

A Fresh Goodies delivery - Stans, Cannondale bar tape & grips, ParkTool grease & some man cave tinkering time

 

This weeks goodies landed very quickly - bottle of Stans, Cannondale bar tape and grips, 2no tubes of Park Tool grease. More on these over coming weeks / months of Fresh Goods Sunday 

Also it was time for a catch up on some bikes- I washed, dried and oiled my Spec Creo road, Creo gravel and my Trek Procaliber. I also caught up with a few jobs as well - 

Creo Road - fitted my Ass Saver rear guard. 

Trek - took a link out of the chain and fitted a new speed link, more on this soon in a Fresh Goods Sunday. 

Also found and fitted my old Crud Catcher front and rear mudguards. 

Creo Gravel - injected some more Stans in the rear tyre after the puncture and did a couple of turns on the tensioners / four springs on the Ritchey spd pedals. 

A local road ride mainly in the sun for a change

 

Well the sun has come back out for a brief few hours today and I just caught the tail end it. What a difference it makes when you are spinning away on the pedals. After the slop fest on my gravel bike the other day I took the road bike out today and it was a lot better. The roads were dryish to start with but near the end I had some rain and could see it was pouring down in the distance where I was heading. By the time I had got there the shower had gone but the roads were soaking! I took my Ass Saver off over the summer and forgot to refit it! It offers some protection, better than nothing so that was a job to do when I got back in. I mainly kept to quite back roads / country lanes but one section of a busier road it was like a race track. Below are a few photos from the ride. Enjoy and hopefully more soon- 

Slop fest loop around Co Durham's old railway lines

 

Well it was going to be nothing else apart from a complete slop fest. It has never stopped raining and the lines are not draining very well. In hindsight I should have took the road bike for a spin but I had my gravel bike with me. It was one of my simple routes taking in the old line to Bishop then over the viaduct, through the market place and up Durham road. A third of the way up I turn right and pick up the track / old line to Spenny. Through Spenny then the back way to Tudhoe / Croxdale, Sunderland Bridge and up the long climb to Brandon to pick up the old line again. It stopped dry for the ride, overcast, cloudy and cold. All in just under 22 miles with 950ft of climbing. Below are a few snaps from the ride, enjoy and hopefully more soon - 

A ride in the freezing fog and ice - C2C on the Trek Procaliber

 

Well that is the first hard frost of the winter season. It was minus -2 degrees when I fired up the van this morning and it was pure white. Not only that it was thick fog as well. I ride was from Annfield Plain up the C2C to Whitehall carpark n back. The line was up the naff's in places and I still haven't sorted any mud guards for the Trek! this is now a priority for the bike and myself! It was a short fast ride apart from going through the real wet sections. There was not that many others out in the freezing fog. The Garmim was reading minus -1 degrees on the way up. The sun burnt through on the way back down in places, but the temperature was still hovering just above freezing. There was quite a lot of ice and frost to keep an eye on as well. Below are a few snaps and a short video clip from the ride, enjoy and hopefully more soon-