Back out into the wind and local gravel tracks

 

It has been a while since I have been out on my bike but I took the day off today to get a few things sorted and also get out for a spin. After the two days of mega strong winds they have finally died down to around 20+mph gusts. I joined onto the old railway line at Langley Park and headed to Broompark picnic area where I went straight onto Stanley Crook then Crook. Once at Crook I took the road up and down to Willington and joined back onto the old railway line at the Coop. From there it is a straight run back to Broompark, turn right and back to Langley Park. The weather was very mixed with the sun in and out more times than enough, strong gusty wind and temperature hovering just over 12 degrees for most of the ride. There was a few others out but not too bad. On the way back in I got stung on my arm by a massive wasp so that was stinging like hell all the way home. My arm has puffed up in size so no doubt I will end up at the doc's for tablets!. Below are a few snaps from the 27 miles in 2hrs 7mins with 1200ft climbing, enjoy and hopefully more soon - 

Fresh Goodies - GT85 & Shimano SPD-SL Cleat Set SM-SH11

 

Well it was time for a Halfords order as I had a £20 voucher to use from Confused.com and the items I wanted were in the sale. I did not have a spare pair of Shimano road cleats in yellow so that was one item. They are £10.99 in the current sale. I also stocked up on some more GT85 which was also in the sale for £3.09 per can. 

So it worked out I pad to pay 26p but claimed 17p Top Cash Back so all four items cost me 9p in total, cheers Confused and Halfords. They were all in stock at my local Durham branch and were ready for collection within an hour. 

Early morning spin down to Durham City Centre & over to Maiden Castle

 

Up and out bright and early this morning before 6am. It was cool and overcast but very little wind for a change. I hopped onto my Trek Marlin+ emtb hardtail for my usual loop down to Durham, over to Maiden Castle and The Trod. I did not do Houghall woods as I had to be back for 7.30am. It was lovely and quiet going out with very few others out n about at that time of morning. Nothing much has changed around the route but it was a lot busier coming back in with dog walkers. All in just over 15 miles in 1hr 15mins with 700ft of climbing. Below are a few snaps from the ride enjoy and hopefully more soon- 

Fresh Goodies - KASK Sintesi WGII Helmet in White & Large

 

New helmet time. I am not sure if my head has changed shape or it has been the recent heat but none of the current helmets seem to fit 100%. I have a more rounder head so struggle with helmets on the width, they always have plenty of room at the front and back. Another thing is I am sick of paying a lot of money for helmets and they don't look or feel any better than the main brands cheaper / budget range. After trying quite a few on over the last few months I found that the cheaper the helmet the wider they tended to be for some reason. I was down in Darlo (Darlington) last Saturday for the car show and some shopping so called into Wheelbase. They had a small but good range of road helmets from various brands inc KASK which I already have which I bought years ago. I opted for the Sintesi model rrp £90 but there was another one for £130 which felt the same on my head tbh. Dave Robinson (former Infinity Cycles owner) was in so I asked for some discount and he gave me 10% which took it down to £81, same as Merlin Cycles etc. 

Again more on this in a Fresh Goods Sunday after a few more hours plonked on top of my head! 

FRESH GOODS SUNDAY - Swiss Stop Disc 35 EXOTherm 2 Brake Pads (Sram)

 

If you have followed my blog for a while you will know that I swapped the original Sram pads out from the Apex calliper's within weeks of buying the bike. The feel and performance was crap. I have been running Absolute Black pads and not had any problems what so ever with them. 

I knew they were nearly coming to the end of there life so shopped around for some new pads. I found some Swiss Stop Exotherm 2 pads going cheap. I have Exotherm pads fitted on my Creo 1 road bike and never had any problems so thought I would buy two pairs. My front pads were worn out so I fitted these with the new retaining bolt and split clip. The pistons in the calliper have not been extending out evenly, see photos below, I cleaned them up and pushed them back so might work more evenly now. I hate these Sram Apex brakes and just love all my different models of Shimano! Time will tell how the Exotherms last in the Sram callipers, as I say I have had no bother with the same pad in Ultegra callipers. As I always say shop around for a good deal as £37.99 is just a mental price to pay for two small pieces of metal with an even smaller brake surface on. 

RRP £37.99 and I paid £22.50 from Team Cycles, Gateshead.  

Manufacturers Blurb - 

Fits

SRAM

Brake Calipers

• Red eTap AXS gen 2 HRD
• Force eTap AXS
• Rival eTap AXS
• Level Ultimate,TLM B1 (2020+),TL,T,Level
• XX
• XO

Avid

Brake Calipers

• Elixir 9,5,3,1,CR,R

Characteristics

Maximum pad life. Minimum brake fade.

EXOTherm2 combines a very durable, easy to modulate compound with a cooling fin equipped back plate to provide consistent, powerful braking in all conditions.

• pad wear rate is much lower than competitors
• smooth, consistent brake performance
• lightweight at 22 grams per pair (Disc 28 EXOTherm2)

performance

0 (worst) - 10 (best)

Initial Bite: 7

Modulation: 9

Longevity: 10

Heat Tolerance: 10

Noise Dry: 9

Noise Wet: 7

PN:P100006272

EAN:7640121225154

Don't worry I have wiped off the excess copper slip