Overhaul

Over the Xmas/NY break I upgraded my old road bike with a new groupset (all of the mechanical bits: shifters/brakes, derailleurs, crankset, cassette, chain, and cables). The old groupset was 9-speed, and the new one is 10-speed, which means I can now easily swap wheels with my race bike and my time-trial bike as all of them are now 10-speed.

I started by unscrewing, unbolting, disassembling and removing the old groupset. I had done a fair bit of bike maintenance before but I had never removed a bottom bracket (the crankshaft assembly). Once removed, I cleaned up the old groupset, and given that it was still perfectly operable I sold it on to another club member for use on a commuter bike:


Removing the old bottom bracket and installing the new one turned out to be not particularly difficult after all. The most time consuming part was figuring out which tools I needed to unscrew the old and screw in the new. Buying the tools and doing it myself turned out to be cheaper than paying a bike shop to do it for me! The new crankshaft is hollow and you can see right through it:


Setting up the derailleurs was something I already had plenty of experience with and didn't present any difficulties. However, I had never cut a chain to length before. After a bit of experimentation with the highest and lowest gears I figured out how many links the chain needed to have, and I used my chain breaker tool to remove the surplus links and install it onto the bike:


The bar wrap turned out quite nice, if I do say so myself. It's only the second time I've done it but I reckon I've learned how to do it properly. The new shifters allowed me to route the cables down the handlebars, making for a very tidy appearance:


I took it out for it's first spin today. I carried a bunch of tools with me in case I needed to make adjustments, but it turned out not to need any. Gear shifting was perfect: positive and fast, even under power. This will now be my main bike for winter & wet-weather training, as if I'm going to slide & crash I'd rather do so with an aluminium frame than with the carbon frame of my race bike

Dover

I finally caved in and bought a bicycle GPS, a Garmin Edge 705. In retrospect I should have bought one earlier in the summer, as it really does takes all the hassle out of navigation. I will now be able to go on many interesting cross-country jaunts that I had put off due to the hassle of preparing navigation notes.

I broke it in on a ride down to Dover. I set it to keep me off major roads, and it took me on very quiet back-country lanes, and sometimes I didn't see a car for half an hour. The downside of staying off the main roads was that it was very very hilly. The 110 km route had more vertical elevation gain than some 100-mile rides I have done. Ouch.

Things I saw from my balcony

I was watching the Olympic athletics when I noticed something unusual whirring through the sky. Grabbed the camera, and took some snaps:



Apparently you can go for a flight on it, to see London from the air.

New bike! (yes another one)

But haven't I just bought a new bike, you ask? Yes, but that was a road bike (and it's lovely). This one is a completely different type of beast - a Time Trial machine. It's made for one thing only, going very fast in a straight line. It's not good up steep or long hills, or around twisty bits, but over a flat or gently undulating course no road bike can come close.

It's a Planet X Stealth Pro Carbon. It's the same frame Cadel Evans rode in the final 2007 Tour de France Time Trial to a podium finish.

Everything about it is designed for maximum aerodynamic efficiency. The tubes of the frame are aerofoil shaped, and so are the seat post, handlebars and forks. The riding position puts me completely flat, presenting as small as possible a profile to the wind.

The wheels are deep section, that is they have an extended rim that helps reduce drag from the spokes. Additionally, the rear wheel is faired into the frame to further minimise drag.

Next likely purchase: a pointy helmet!

New Flat!

I have moved! I am now living in a late 60s high-rise about half a mile closer to the tube station than my old place. I'm on the 15th floor, which is a new experience for me (never lived this high before). It's a 2 bed place, so I can put up visitors from afar if any of you ever come over.

From my balcony I have a nice view out over the Thames, and can see from the Gherkin to the north, through Canary Wharf to the east, and onwards down to Crystal Palace in the south.

Pics:


I have taken the whole week off to finish my training for the weekend after next's Etape du Tour, and I took some snaps today while out riding through Kent. Summer has fully kicked in and I have been able to rack up 380km in the last five days:

*Observation: If you look at Balcony pic 5 and Kent pic 4, you can see the Crystal Palace transmitter tower, from opposite sides :-)

Snow - in April!

Woke up this morning and looked outside. Snow! This is very unusual for April. At least this week the weather had the decency to start snowing BEFORE I had headed out for a ride (unlike two weeks ago, when I got snowed on mid-ride).

I took these looking out of my living room window:




Then I walked down to Tower Bridge and took some more photos:

New Bike!

New bike! It's a Focus Cayo Pro. I had been planning to buy a new bike for the upcoming cyclosportive season and this one fit my requirements nicely.

It has a full carbon monocoque frame (that means it's made from one continuous piece of carbon fibre, as opposed to individual carbon tubes glued together). It has a "compact" 50/34 chainset, which is well suited to long steep alpine ascents like the ones I will take on in Europe this year. My existing bike's 53/39 chainset would be too highly geared for such terrain. Besides, I had ridden nearly 14,000km on my existing bike, and felt that I had earned an upgrade :-)

At 7.7kg it weights 1.8kg less than my existing bike, so climbing should be a little bit easier. It's lower at the handlebars too, meaning I will be able to get a completely horizontal flat back when riding on the drops. This will give me better aerodynamics, and therefore more speed into the wind.

Now I have to wait four long days until the weekend...

Photos (the "before" shots):