Life in the Bus Lane » Bikes

The long way in

rich — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 07:10:22 +0000

Back to the extended commute to work this morning, the first for a few weeks. I was out of the door on the Bob Jackson just after 7, reached Bitton around 7:30 where I met Andy, and then rode back along the track with him to work at a far more leisurely pace. I did the 12.25 miles in 50 minutes or so, and am now sat at my desk drinking a bottle of Nuun and summoning up the enthusiasm for a day of meetings.

Waiting for bar tape

rich — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 18:55:44 +0000

Back in the Saddle

rich — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 14:58:19 +0000

After a couple of weeks without a proper ride I turned down an afternoon visit to the cinema in favour of a spin on the Bob Jackson. The plan was simple, head out along the cycle track until I’d finished off my first bottle, then turn round and come home again. I made it as far as Fishponds before my bottle of Nuun was empty, had a 10 minute break, then turned round and headed home via a quick visit to Cadence to order some completely unnecessary bling for the bike. As it was, I hardly touched my second bottle on the ride back, so could have pushed on a bit further, however it gives me something new to explore next time.

24 miles in 90-something minutes and back for a bottle of chocolate milk and a shower. Is there a better way to finish off a few days away from work?

Rouleur hate me

rich — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 13:33:21 +0000

I should have seen it as an omen when Rouleur wouldn’t let me order a book last week. Now that my copy has arrived, they’ve just dropped the price by £15.

Cotic Hemlock

rich — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 17:42:56 +0000

It’s almost like they don’t want you to buy anything?

rich — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 20:21:12 +0000

I finally got around to trying to order the 2009 Rouleur Annual today, except I couldn’t. I’ve got an existing account with Rouleur from when I ordered the 2008 Annual last year, and I can log in successfully. However when I try to go through the checkout it get’s stuck at the login page saying "You must set an address for your account before continuing", however there is actually no way of setting an address. I emailed them this morning to ask how to get around the problem, and got no response.

Good job they didn’t reply as it turns out that you can order the exact same item from the same company via the Rapha website for less money, and their checkout process actually works properly. Bonus.

SKS Rennkompressor

rich — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 16:21:13 +0000

A shiny new white 75th anniversary SKS Rennkompressor track pump arrived today, it almost makes it a pleasure to pump up tyres. Far better than the Blackburn I recently bought to replace my 10 year old Joe Blow Sport which is pretty worn out.

Now I just need to rewire my brain to work in bar and not psi.

Overtaking 2009

rich — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 19:37:01 +0000

I’ve already done more miles this year than I managed in 2009, although to be fair that wasn’t a particularly difficult target to beat.

Not a huge amount of riding this week, I did the long commute on Tuesday then fell foul of a summer cold for a few days, but finished the week off with a quick 50 minute run out to Bitton and back tonight. I’m not going to set any time-trial records, but a 16.2mph average isn’t bad for a fat bloke on a moderately geared fixie.

The Jackson is still impressing me, comfortable to ride, and nice and responsive, it kept forcing me to go faster as I span back in along the A36 on the final few miles of the ride.

If I get up early it’ll be an off-road ride with Al and Andy tomorrow, if I have a lie-in it’ll probably be another spin on the Jackson before the TdF coverage.

Bikes

rich — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 14:47:42 +0000

Bob Jackson Vigorelli

Lemond Buenos Aires

Singular Peregrine

Christening the Vigorelli

rich — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 13:37:29 +0000

After waiting for the postie to deliver a new stem this morning and then fitting it, I headed out on the Bob Jackson Vigorelli for it’s first proper ride. I took a gentle spin out along the cycle track to Warmley and back, then looped round town top it up to 25 miles. A couple of minor adjustments to the bar angle aside, the bike feels fantastic. The gearing at 46:18 is slightly higher than anticipated making the hills slightly more painful, but it’s noticeably faster on the flat.