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I’ve also had absolutely
I’ve also had absolutely excellent service from SJS for years, as you say, even for small annoying parts they will answer queries and offer advice. Really a great business.
New winter bike! I bought
New winter bike! I bought this Spesh Allez Sprint Comp frame as ‘new other’ from a chap in St Albans in December 2020, then we locked down and it was months before I could organise to get it… Over the spring I built it up with an old Athena group I had off the commuter I no longer needed since we all started WfH, and some Pacenti rims handbuilt on nice old Campag hubs. Then we were supposed to go back to the office so I bought mudguards as a commuter, and then we didn’t go back to the office after all.
Anyway, in December 2021 I signed up for the Festive 500, so I finally put the mudguards on and rode it through mud, fog, rain, fords, bridleways and tracks over the last week to complete the 500. To sum up: this has proved to be a brilliant fun bike, stiff and lively, with plenty of clearance for guards and bigger tyres, and it absolutely flies. Who said winter bikes had to be boring?
I’ve got a 28c Rubino Pro on
I’ve got a 28c Rubino Pro on a wide rim under a mudguard with a Campag D-skeleton brake on the back of my Allez Sprint Comp working just fine. At the front I’ve a 25c under a mudguard and a double pivot caliper and it’s a much tighter fit. Indeed, I’ve had to shim the dropouts by 0.8mm to give enough clearance for the grit carried by the tyre. Give it a try, it might work – though in my experience those Contis come up pretty big.
Some beautiful Pongo cashmere
Some beautiful Pongo cashmere blend winter socks! Perfect for the Festive 500.
Lots of Islington people
Lots of Islington people complained when the design was first put out to comment that cyclists had to go the long way round the junction instead of taking the short and now traffic-free way. But to no avail. As it is, this big area of vomit stained paving has become a problem exactly as we foresaw, with drunks spilling out of the two pubs, a clutter of delivery mopeds and poor drainage. It’s also the most commented on place in Islington’s Commonplace consultation on low traffic neighbourhoods, with dozens (if not hundreds) of complaints about people cycling through… so you’ve been unlucky to come across the policing in response to that.
https://islingtonpeoplefriendlystreets.commonplace.is/comments
I made up a spreadsheet (sad
I made up a spreadsheet (sad but I like MS Excel…) that allows me to test how any N+1 compares to a bike I know fits nicely. It lets me know how many spacers and how long a stem I’d need to get the fit spot on. It’s been really useful in terms of avoiding frames that are too stretched or would need an unsafe pile of spacers under the stem to get a good fit.
I had Campag Athena alloy
I had Campag Athena alloy cranks on my BB86 equipped Canyon back in the day… you need to press in a pair of Campag BB86 cups, but otherwise, it was a doddle, and they certainly never failed in thousands of km of cycling.
You can buy a clamp on cable
You can buy a clamp on cable stop if that’s all you need:
https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/search/?term=clamp+on+cable+stop
Common problem, see https:/
Common problem, see https://www.instagram.com/thanksshimano/
If you’re prepared for a bit
If you’re prepared for a bit of faff, you can set up a shipping forwarder to receive stuff from shops in the EU that no longer ship to the UK, who will apply the right shipping labels and forward on to you. I’ve used this one: https://www.colisexpat.com
I’ve got a pair of their
I’ve got a pair of their Barrier gloves in XL, and the thumbs are a bit short. Must be something they’re known for.
+1 for handbuilts. I only
+1 for handbuilts. I only wish I’d listened to that advice earlier, all the money I wouldn’t have wasted on factory built wheels with irreplaceable rims and unobtainium spokes. The only downside to handbuilts is that they seem to have little resale value. The plus side is you can pick up barely used pairs on the forums for a song.
I’ve been thinking about this
I’ve been thinking about this too over the summer, as I rode around on my 21 year old steel framed Brian Rourke 653 with its lovely curved fork blades. The bike still has a 700x23C on the front on a nice wide 19mm modern rim. Despite this unfashionably narrow tyres – there’s a 25 on the back – the Rourke has an absolutely sublime ride quality.
Meanwhile I see all these modern bikes with super rigid straight carbon forks, necessitated we are told because of the forces from disk brakes, and needing fatter and fatter tyres – and fatter rims to match.
Have we lost the plot with these ever stiffer frames and resulting ever fatter – and heavier – tyres?
I’ve always used a very light
I’ve always used a very light grease on mine. Currently using a tub of Silkolene Pro RG2 synthetic grease that is beautiful stuff and will probably last a lifetime – and cost less than a tenner.
I haven’t had to pay charges,
I haven’t had to pay charges, but I’ve been careful to stay under the £135 limit.