14th October 2012

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14th 44-46F, 7-8C, overcast, light wind, rain or showers forecast all day. I set off to test my new clothing armed with two cheese sandwiches. Better grab a large box of tissues while I pour out my woes.

Where shall I  start? It started raining only two miles from home and didn't let up until just before I returned home four hours later. The winter jacket was soon getting soggy so it went into the bag and on went the Aldi jacket.

Though very comfortable, the Bontrager Race bib shorts were at least as impractical as I had long feared. How do people cope with those silly braces? Every time I stopped in a field entrance it felt as if I was peeing out of my Adams apple! By the time I had reached the supermarket checkouts my voice had risen so high I sounded as if I'd been inhaling helium! ;-)

Despite the thin rubber GripGrab overshoes and mudguards my socks were soon sopping wet. Probably from rainwater running in rivulets down my hairy legs and in through the overshoe cuffs. The secondhand Aldi jacket began to feel chilly on my forearms, back and shoulders before long. It's obviously not fully waterproof but thankfully is was wind-proof enough to keep me fairly comfortable despite everything. I haven't put on my long ski underwear yet, this year, because it hasn't been cold enough. I might have been more comfortable with some extra layers once the damp got in.

Campagnolo Ergo Chorus 11 speed lever.

My brand new £40+ GripGrab Polaris gloves are more comfortable than the thin Sealskinz when dry. Probably thanks to a thin layer of insulating padding. Yet they suffer from exactly the same problems as the SealSkinz. Once my hands are the slightest bit damp it feels as if the soft lining is going to come out with my fingers! Getting them back on with damp or wet hands becomes incredibly difficult!

All the crap on the back of the gloves is a waste of space, bulk and expense. (I notice the latest iteration has cleared to a decorative strap and Velcro) Who needs adjustable decorative straps where the Velcro never (ever) meets? Or adjustable drawstring with massive plastic stops and lock button unless fighting a blizzard? What is the point of that silly (single) gel pad? It doesn't meet any normal human function. I certainly doesn't rest on any handlebars yet invented. Nor probably anywhere ski sticks need any padding. But at least the palms are grippy. So that's all right then.

I'd bought the XXLs, (12s) which I'd never seen on the rack before. They fitted comfortably when dry. But I still struggled to get my hands into and out of them when the slightest bit damp. Just from riding in cool air! Just taking off the wet gloves and putting them back on is guaranteed to get your hands really wet. Once wet inside, these gloves offer no real insulation, at all. My hands were literally aching with the cold before very long. It was this which forced me to abandon my ride rather than struggle on. Another expensive glove failure! What do they wear on expeditions? Or where the humble touring cyclists is a long way from home? What am I supposed to do now? Go back to the £5 Thinsulate, supermarket gloves?

As I rode, on cursing the endless rain, I was looking over my sunglasses so I could see where I was going. So the rain was stinging my eyes and I couldn't see which gear I was in when I glanced down. I might just as well have removed the sunglasses.

Then I punctured. I hadn't gone off road but still managed to pick up a flint. I rode on to the nearest village by hanging well off the opposite side to protect the rim. There I found a shop roof overhang where at least I could work in the semi-dry. Trying to fit a new tube with damp hands covered in fine road grit from the flat tyre is not a pleasant exercise!

The Brooks B17 'Select' leather saddle continues to twist sideways. Try as I might, I could not keep the leather from darkening all over with the damp today. Proofide is not a great water proofer. As I know from experience with my other leather saddles. Drying the leather with tissue when I got home had no visible effect. So I left it in the shed to dry on its own. I suppose one should put the Brooks raincoat on top of the saddle and leave it there. Though I have no idea how long it would last if used like that all winter.

The psychopaths were out driving at 60 in 30mph limits (equiv) and passing as closely as they dared without damaging their paintwork. Special thanks must go to that bright yellow Sl'eazy van. For overtaking me at high speed at the traffic lights in that village. I was grateful for the free shower as I still had places which were not yet properly wet. At least, not until that moment.

I didn't even remember to eat or drink anything. A young chap asked me if I needed a spare tube while I was working on my punctured tyre outside the shop. I thanked him very politely for his kindness in asking. This was the only high point of the entire morning. Oh, apart from buying some baggy, but cheap, skiing underwear from a supermarket to wear on the trike. 29, fairly moist, miles. Am I having fun yet?

15th 40-50F, 4-10C, light winds, mostly clear, cool and dry. Which gloves shall I wear today? Eeny meeny miny... no. I wore the gloves I bought from the motorcycle shop, for the first time. They were quite comfortable at 40F and showed no sign of sweatiness as it climbed to 50F. No problems with bulk or stiffness. A slight tendency to feel slippery but this was probably between the fleece liner and an inner waterproof layer. The other gloves were still wet from yesterday. As is the Carradice saddlebag.

Brooks B17 Select after 360 miles.

My legs were tired today so I limited myself to a circle around a few village shops. The weather conditions were fine for a longer ride but my legs were unusually achy. I've adjusted the handlebars and saddle some more without much gain. You would not believe the mud on the roads. 2" thick for miles! Only 24 miles.

The parcel I was expecting from DHL came with the post after lunch. Perhaps that explains why the DHL tracking hadn't been updated since arriving in Denmark on Friday. Not to worry. That's still only a three working day delivery from Rose bikes in Germany.

16th 46-50F, 8-10C, windy, overcast. I rode to Assens to shop and try out my Shimergo gear system. The gears were amazing. What I thought was indexing with the Shimano bar-ends was not remotely on a par with the Ergo levers. Click, and the chain is on the next sprocket instantly. No hesitation. No over or undershoot. Perfect in every gear! The indexing is far better than the Shimano bar-ends ever were. The Shimano levers used to hurt my hand sometimes it was so hard to move them onto the biggest sprocket.

A couple of times I had tried to change gear with the levers apparently locked up. My thick gloves happened to be resting on the other lever at the time. As soon as I realised what I was doing wrong I was more careful about hand placement.

It will take a little time to get used to the front changer. The Shimano bar-end was friction controlled and it was pure guesswork where to put the lever. If I overshot I just had to drag the lever back a little. The Ergo makes a lot of small clicks with absolutely precise cage movement every time.

Two clicks is usually a perfect change. Either lever can be clicked once to move the cage left or right afterwards if the cage should drag on the chain. Practice will provide a double click in one longer lever movement. I shall just have to concentrate on perfecting the change. Or get a Campag front changer?


A load of shopping, fighting the wind, a heavy sky threatening rain and strangely achy legs brought me home after only 19 miles. I also have a sore throat when I swallow. 

As much as I like the Ergo levers the reach is as bad as the old quill stem and then some. I had already moved the Brooks 'Select' saddle forwards again. Measurement showed that the bars were now providing a 100mm forward projection. (Centre to centre) No wonder I'm stretched out! 

I've just found a cheap and cheerful compact bar online from Bontrager. Shallow drop and only 70mm reach. I'll see if I can find one in Odense to confirm it will do the job. There are several Bontrager outlets over there. I still can't understand why I suddenly feel so overstretched. I spent 3 years and 20k+ miles on the trike. Though mostly with my hands on the bends or tops. Perhaps my spine is stiffening up with age? I can still touch my toes. (just)  

17th 46-50F, 8-10C, windy, overcast clearing to sunny periods. I wore a pair of my new skiing tights. They fit well but needed to allow a  bit of knee room with a knees up.  I rode to Odense to look for some compact racing handlebars. The first large shop had no stock. Nor any sign of brains! I've mentioned the bullshitting manager before. 

Onto BikeBuster in the centre of town. Probably the best performance bike shop in Odense. With active cyclists offering advice full of hands-on racing experience. They had a whole range of compact bars to choose from! I bought a gorgeous pair of highly polished Ritchey alloy bars with a large, swaged centre in the shortest reach they had. About 70mm forwards projection with nice sharp bends to keep the levers high and near the tops. A nice shallow drop for touring. 

Then I had to ask for their shortest stem to match the new oversize 31.6mm centre section. A very pretty, white, Scott, gentle riser stem, but 80mm? Bugger! Out to the trike on the pavement to compare the overall reach. Whoopee! It looks like it should be a full inch shorter to the hoods with the new combination. Another 50 squid the poorer. Hopefully more comfortable now. We shall see. I've run out of handlebar tape! False alarm. I just found some more in a drawer.

Love the Ergo levers! I'm actually using most of the gears now and maintaining my cadence far better. Before this I used to change gear at the chainwheels more than the cassette. With big changes to cadence and the load on my knees it wasn't good. Usually it involved a change at the rear cogs as well. Now I can go up and down the sprockets, all on the 34T middle chainwheel, without effort or delay. Never a missed gear! Perfection is (Shim)Ergo shaped. I even use the small chainwheel now to maintain high cadence on the hills. It's no longer a case of plodding on but to actively seek to keep the revs high.

Fortunately it was mostly a cross headwind on the way home. So I wasn't gone very long today. The usual headwind can add an hour to the journey. 

Just a few of the many cuts to my Continental GP4000S after only 500 miles.

Note the manufacturing moulding strip is still present if you doubt the mileage. .

 Are these even safe to ride on?

Not a pretty sight.

Was somebody asleep when they were "hand mixing" their magic rubber?

These have not been off-road. Just riding on ordinary tarmac roads and rural lanes.

I have just emailed Continental to see what they have to say. (18:10:12 16.40 pm)





Punctured again ½ a mile from home but rode on. That's four punctures to the new tyres already! Only 500 miles. The blue ones lasted for nearly 4000 miles before puncturing and they still looked great. Something's very wrong with these GP4000S! Perhaps they forgot the Vectran? Or even the rubber? If they didn't owe me nearly £100 I'd take the damned things off and throw them away!! Then buy another set of the ordinary blue GP4000. Shame they aren't available in 25mm. The 25mm run much more smoothly than 23mm and need lower, more comfortable pressures for safety. I'm still running the 'S' at about 85psi. I can't believe, for a moment, that higher pressures will protect the tyres from these cuts and piercing punctures. 

I've completely lost confidence in these GP4000S. Complete crap on present performance! Any cheapo tyre would have performed better than this on puncture resistance! When a flint gets through it leaves a damned great hole in the rubber. Grit on the road fills the hole and eats its way through to the inner tube. The blue treads on the 4000s were completely unblemished for nearly 4,000  thousand miles! Somebody forgot the essential ingredient in the 4000S. They were supposed to be better, on all counts, than the common or garden 4000.

I never had a piercing puncture on Bontrager Race Lites and was getting twice the mileage of the highly respected GP4000s. It was always a pinch flat due to running too low pressures. The treads lasted twice as long as even the beautiful blue GP4000. I found a pair of wheels in the shed with slightly worn Bontrager Race-Lites and they still looked very good indeed. If only I had run the Race-Lites at high enough pressures to avoid pinch flats! I would never have become involved in Continentals. Though I really liked the security offered by the blue 4000.

When I were a lad, you could buy liquid black rubber solution in a small tube to fill holes in the  treads of tubulars. To make them last longer. I wonder if it is still available? I'd better email Continental and ask for the price of their 5 litre tub!! 

Talking of crap: I just had to slit the stitching on the Brooks saddle cover. I hadn't looked at it until now. It had been sewn up wrongly under the nose. So it wouldn't go over the nose of the new saddle at all! Imagine if you were caught in a heavy shower and whipped out your genuine Brooks saddle cover. And found it wouldn't even go on your lovely new saddle! You're a hundred miles from home and have to continue riding it while the leather is wet. Arrggh! :-)    

More crappy workmanship! I wonder if Carradice subcontracts to Brooks on sewing these saddle rain hats? Still no response from Brooks to my email requesting saddle care instructions. They must be too busy fielding complaints about broken rails, lopsided leather and broken tension studs. Is the omission of such bog standard information on their website deliberate? 40 miles. Still waiting for my Spa Cycles Nidd saddle. It's two weeks today from ordering. They did say 2-3 weeks so I can't really complain. I'm just wondering about the state of the bananas on the boat which is carrying my saddle.   

Pm. Stripped off all the old handlebar stuff (again) and fitted the pretty new bars and oversize Scott Ahead stem. The Gel strips went under the new sports bandage tape. Suddenly it's looking superb! IMO. This is the first pair of new handlebars I have bought since I was 16! (That was back in the last century!) :-)

Got to do something about the twin computers though. My old home-made bracket is far too thick to fit the gap in the handlebar clamping faceplate. The thinner aluminium sheet is far too prone to metal fatigue. Didn't like the computers on the tops because it forced my hands onto the bends. Which is why I made the computer bracket in the first place.

In the end I zip-tied the computers tight against the new stem on the bulging centre of the new bars. Thanks to the much sharper bends on these Ritchey bars there is masses of room for my huge, winter-gloved hands on the tops now. The bars are also about an inch wider overall than the last pair. Which is all good new for me.

More to the point though, the shorter reach means I can now relax on the hoods. Mission accomplished. (we hope) It was wet and dark by the time I had finished repairing several recently punctured, brand new tubes. The Schwalbe inner tubes were so heavily ribbed I had to use a G-cramp to press the patches into place over the ribs!

If the new handlebars are as successful as hoped I shall finally be able to use my real, old fashioned, cloth, handlebar tape. I've been keeping it safe for the right moment. The way the tops of the bars run straight onto the Ergo hoods, it should all be very comfy. I may even struggle to stay awake in my mobile 'armchair' on longer rides. ;-)

Still haven't done the tape properly in these shots. I want to be sure I have finished playing with the set-up first. For now, the sports injury, binding tape provides a fairly tidy appearance (from a distance) and plenty of grip at low cost.

18th 51-55F, 11-13C, breezy, overcast. Like an idiot I wore tights again. At today's higher temperatures  I was sweating like a proverbial wotsit inside a winter cycling jacket. I blame all those pensioners who asked me if my legs weren't cold at 40F! Though admittedly I felt better dressed in the black tights.

I stopped half way and tilted the bars upwards slightly more. To make the entire top bends and levers horizontal. This worked well and avoided having to to tip my wrists downwards and hands upwards when on the hoods. Now they rest on the level. The saddle clamp is now in the middle of the rails again. The 'Select' is getting steadily more tanned but is still very pretty. I kept the revs up between 90-100rpm as much as possible to get a good workout.

I have worn the GripGrab Polaris gloves again for the last couple of days. My wife had cool washed them at 30 degrees after they were soaked on that horribly wet Sunday. They are rather bulky, a bit sweaty above 50F, lack any cycling padding, at all, but are passable for colder weather. Supposed to be good down to -5C. The salesman said they were okay to -10C. We shall see later on when it get properly cold. The outer material seems fairly waterproof. One just has to be very careful about not getting them wet inside just from having wet hands! That's when the trouble starts. Only a 25 miles shopping trip today. (The long way round)

Brooks has emailed me giving me basic advice on my new saddle.

"Maintenance is rather simple. Ride the saddle frequently, apply Proofide once or twice a year to protect the leather from moisture and drying out. Avoid riding the saddle when soaking wet." 

I just hope I can remember all of that. :-)

Click on any image for an enlargement.

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Shimergo

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15th Pm. Two hours into EVA we have a successful Shimergo! Campagnolo Ergo 11 speed, dual-action levers. Bolted straight onto my existing Shimano Tiagra 3 x 9 changers and Shimano/Sram 9 sp cassette. (In place of the Shimano 9 sp bar-end levers)  

It took a while to remove all the old and frayed brake and gear cables. Plus two layers of cloth sticky tape which I had only just applied. I tipped the new (secondhand) handlebars up a bit to achieve a straight line running from the bars onto the tops of the very long Ergo levers. 

NOTE: I realise now that I should have clicked the thumb gear levers to the end of their travel so that the cables fed directly upwards through the mechanism. Instead of which I tried to fit them with the levers exactly as they arrived. But when did I ever read the instructions?!? Dogh!  

There is a choice of route for the cables where they exit the tops of the lever hoods: Either in front of or behind the handlebars. Choose one of these options carefully before cutting the supplied outers to length. Some handlebars are provided with indented slots to house the cables. This makes for a more comfortable grip than a taped-over cable running along the surface of plain, round bars.  These slots can be found on both sides of some bars to allow a greater choice of cable routing.

It started raining halfway through my lever conversion. So I had to tidy everything back into the shed and then work in the open doorway to have enough light. Then it stopped raining again and I could continue outside on the work stand. Now my back hurts from lifting the trike so high and doing it several times to boot! I could have removed the saddlebag to reduce the weight but I was in too much of a hurry to get on with the job.

The new cables were fed through their casings and frame stops to the changers and tightened. Amazingly it all worked perfectly straight out of the box. (well, several Campag bags in this case) 

Rather surprisingly, I had to make a few minor adjustments to the changer end stops. There had been a lot of friction with the old Shimano bar-end levers because I had used very old recycled outers. The new cable freedom sent the chain off both ends of the cassette and the chainrings! Easily fixed with a screwdriver to the end stop screws on the Tiagra changers. 

The Campag cables are of superb quality. With longitudinally oriented armoured, stiff plastic outers for the gears and larger conventional outers for the brakes. Both are marked with the Campag logo in what looks like real gold leaf! Both types of cable are lined with some sort of low friction plastic which works very well. 

It made a nice change from the floppy, crappy outers I had borrowed from several old bikes! Campag also has much tidier cable routing than Shimano. This is sometimes referred to as the Shimano washing lines. Room for a couple of pairs of racing shorts blowing in your self-made headwind!  

Later Ergo levers do not need cable ferrules but it pays to smooth the ends of any cut casings with a fine file. (After using a dedicated cable cutter) A sharp point can be used to gently clear any closure of  the low friction plastic liner. 

I ran both gear cables along the single grooves in the alloy, dropped handlebars. With the brake cables tucked in just below them and all taped in tightly with electrical tape. I'll tape the bars properly with cloth sports injury tape tomorrow. It is promised to rain and blow again. So I should have time before my ride. I shall also add the gel strips under the tape. Though I'm not sure the gel does anything more than bulk the bar out to make it more comfortable. The gel is fairly dense and will become even denser once tightly wrapped in handlebar tape.

I only had time to ride down the road and back to check how the gears performed. It turned dark and windy again and looked like more rain. Now the sun is smiling under the clouds from over on the horizon! Grrr! 

The Ergo brake levers proved very powerful and progressive compared with the old Shimano single action. Which I had removed to make room for the Ergos. Presumably the result of careful design of the leverage and pivot points by Campag. They offer a neat quick-release button for the brakes to allow easy wheel removal. Or greater clearance in the case of a wheel running out of true. 

The gears now seem to work much better with the Ergo levers than with the 9-speed, Shimano bar-end levers. The left lever has a lot of clicks for easy trimming of the front changer cage position. Effortless in practice even after a only hundred yards of playing with the levers. It will soon seem like second nature.

I had been looking everywhere for a slightly longer stem. With the amazing length of the rubber covered hoods on these Campag Ergo levers I needn't have bothered. I'll now have to rethink my riding position all over again! The saddle will certainly have to move forward to compensate.

The Campag Ergo levers are unusual in having three levers. The usual, long, curvy, conventional lever for the brake. Designed to be within easy reach of the drops too. Another long lever behind the brake lever changes down though the gears by sideways movements. (lower gears = bigger sprockets) The thumb lever changes up. (higher gears = smaller sprockets) 

The front changer lever works the opposite way as far as gear ratios are concerned. With the long lever lifting the chain onto bigger chainrings. The thumb lever moving the chain onto smaller chainrings. (Including triples without modification!) 

Both levers can move the chain quickly through several gears at a time if held down. Handy for when you suddenly need a high gear while going downhill fast and find yourself twiddling like a lunatic in completely the wrong gear. Or if you meet a "wall" around a blind corner and suddenly need a "granny" gear to keep going. 

Ergo levers can be rebuilt with different internal spare parts which changes the number of speeds they will handle. 11 speed cassettes with Campag spacing and Shimano splines are available, at a price. No doubt more affordable after-market, 11 speed cassettes will appear eventually with more useful touring ratios than Campag offer. But still with Shimano spline/Shimano spacing for Shimano changers.

Sram gear changers have a different cable pull ratio so are not ideal fodder for the direct swaps which readily suit Shimano. As do Campag changers. So if you want to use their changers you have to re-space your Shimano cassettes! Or buy and fit a Campag fit wheel and cassette. Or buy affordable cassettes already re-spaced in 10 speeds from people like Ambrosio. Available in Shimano or Campag spline, Shimano or Campag sprocket spacing. 

I have a Trykit 2WD, Shimano spline, free-hub body on my trike. I cannot fit a Campag body because there are no Campag 2WD freehubs available from Trykit. So I must make the best of the existing Shimano splines. I chose the Shimergo (Shimano-Campag Ergo) route to avoid Shimano lever redundancy. Shimano offer no small spares for repairing their dysfunctional levers. So, unless you can fix them yourself, the lever immediately becomes very expensive scrap! 

Campag levers are not cheap but I have it on good authority that they are all but identical internally. So just choose within your own price range. Any differences are largely cosmetic except for the Ultrashift at the top end of Campag's range. Alloy is the standard lever material at the bottom end. With pretty carbon fibre at the more expensive end of the Campag ranges. 

There are supposed to be some titanium parts inside the Super Record if that floats your luxury yacht. All have the names of the particular Campag group running along the brake lever. "11" for 11 speed is printed across the centre of the group name graphics. Earlier examples have the number of gears at the tip of the brake lever. Some have the speed logo across the top of the lever. The 10 speed levers are an example of this.

Remember that 10 speed Ergo levers are still available and provide 10 gears with Shimano changers and Shimano cassettes straight out of the Campag box/bag.  

Another advantage of the Campag Ergo levers is that the brake levers do not rock sideways while changing gear. I suppose it might even be possible to reverse the lever internals for left-handed riders, but I'm only guessing.   

The centre-pull brake will have to go! Which is why I haven't clipped the cable off yet. I need a smart side-pull with long enough reach. Not an easy task!  Though the Tektro R559 looks a possible candidate. I'd prefer the R725 but it's much shorter reach. 

Shimergo offers the ability to swap Shimano wheels at will. Provided they have the correct number of Shimano sprockets of course. Campagnolo equipped road racers suffer if a neutral service vehicle offers a Shimano wheel after a puncture or crash. The all-Campag rider cannot accept anything other than Campagnolo wheels. This could easily cost the rider the race if he must wait for his own team car carrying Campag wheels. But remember that the team cars are pulled from the front of the race as it reaches its final stages.

This variation in cassette sprocket spacing (between manufacturers of cassettes with identical numbers of gears) does nobody any favours. It is pure bullshit IMO! Riders worried about obtaining Campag spare wheels will be afraid to take the risk of not having a wheel when desperately needed. 

Those who would like to use Campag are denied easy access to their equipment. By virtue(?) of its relatively high price and rarity despite having the unique advantage of 11 gears. A potter around the better bike shops in my area of Denmark proved this rarity of Campag equipment. Even a shop with quite a number of Campag-equipped racing bikes had none of the higher end stuff. It was only available to order with "day prices" at that! I had no choice. I either paid their "day price"or I ordered online. I chose the latter because I could pick and choose at leisure going entirely on price from dealers right across Europe and the UK. 

Can you imagine such non-standardisation being tolerated across other industries? If they (the manufacturers) think they are protecting their unique identity with non-standard sprocket spacings and cable pull ratios they have obviously forgotten who pays their wages. The customer always has a choice and will go elsewhere. A bicycle component manufacturer is no different from a shop or supermarket in this respect. If you are rude to your customers or deny them a freedom of choice they will walk.  The shop then closes down through lack of customers. Particularly when times are hard. As they are right now.

Complete freedom to mix and match components would allow amateur riders to use the finest component from each manufacturer. Each component earns its keep or is discarded. Being forced to accept a non-industry standard group set just to be able to use one respected component is a nonsense in an Internet connected world. The customer will choose the standardised component every time. Sponsored teams are another matter entirely. While they do bring publicity they do not ensure purchases from the amateur cyclist at their favourite LBS. 

Campagnolo was once the revered manufacturer of racing bike bits. In my youth there was little or no choice if you wanted the best. You just chose a Campag group within your budget. Now their rivals have completely dwarfed Campag. Not least in range and price. Campag pretends it is still the only racing component manufacturer. While cheerfully ignoring the paltry number of winners using their equipment on the pro circuit. Shimergo laughs in the face of this blinkered foolishness! While Sram steadily undercuts Shimano's  monopoly.

Anyone interested in trying a Shimergo set-up should do a proper search online for more details. There are quite a number of bike forum discussions and a website or two. Though some of the information is well out of date thanks to the arrival of 11 speed Ergo levers. As usual the forum discussions always wander from the core subject. So sorting the wheat from the chaff is very time consuming and pointlessly difficult. 

Here's a video of Shimergo in action.  It was at full  stretch to reach the lever while turning the crank. This explains a couple of sloppy changes. It all works perfectly on the road.


To save you some time in your research: 
11 speed Campag Ergo levers work well with  9 speed Shimano cassettes and changers. But NOT 10 speed without cable clamp re-routing. (Hubbub)
10 speed Campag Ergo levers work well with 10 speed Shimano cassettes and changers. But NOT 9 speed without cable clamp re-routing. Do an online search for Hubbub.

Mixing up the different manufacturer's kit with any other gear combinations gets much more complicated! So do your homework before placing an order for expensive Campag levers if you have any other plans! It all hangs on the length of cable pull per click of the levers. This must be properly matched to the overall width and sprocket spacing of the cassette in conjunction with the rear changer. The gear changer plays its own role in moving by a certain fixed distance from one cog to the next on each tug of the cable by the control lever. But remember, the changer is not indexed. Only the gear lever is indexed. Campagnolo, Shimano and Sram changers and levers all do their own thing with the all of the above! 


Get any of this wrong and the gears will never index properly. This has nothing to do with the end stop screws of the gear changers. The end stops remain unchanged since they must match the cassette width or the chain simply overshoots. Adjusting the end stops has NO effect on the individual sprocket indexing. Only the gear levers can do that and they are not adjustable. 

If you set up a wrongly matched system on the first sprocket you will overshoot (or undershoot) on all the consecutive gears. Set up in the middle of the cassette and both ends can go horribly wrong! 

Shimano and Sram both make much wider ratio cassettes than Campag's much more modest range. The latter are designed purely for road racing. Though they are now represented by a very small minority of professional riders. So Shimergo allows some very serious touring ratios in combination with suitable Shimano changers. Road or MTB. Simultaneously Shimergo provides the excellent (and repairable) Ergo gear/brake levers into the bargain. 

The loss of one or two gears, over the promised full 11 speeds by the Ergo lever, is no real disadvantage. Not if you can actually climb those nasty, big hills!  If you cannot live without your full compliment of gears, to match the lever graphics, then just do a Shimergo 10: Campag Ergo 10 speed levers with Shimano 10 speed cassettes and 10 speed Shimano changers. 

Note that the "big guys" (Shimano) haven't yet caught up with Campag's unique 11 speed ranges right across the board of all their various groups. So complaining about the missing gears from a Shimergo set-up seems just a bit silly. Nobody else can offer 11 indexed gears except Campagnolo! 

But note: Shimano has now come out with a completely incompatible Dura-Ace 11 speed at prices which makes even Campag top end stuff look foolishly expensive. Strictly for the sponsored pros. Or investment bankers desperate to shed some bonus money on bling. No doubt the levers will still fall to pieces and remain unrepairable to ensure the naive can brag (or moan) about their expenditure on cycling. The majority racing bike sales are just for posers' chest wigs/medallions anyway.

Sram now has an 11 gear MTB system using a single chainwheel and enormous sprockets. Up to 42T! It is also completely incompatible with anything previously offered. 

PPS: The exact choice of which Campag Ergo levers to buy is not all about bling. The models from Chorus and above allow rapid gear changes right across the cassette with a simple lever depression and hold. Lower order levers are limited to one gear  change at a time in sequence. You pays your money and makes your choice. Hopefully only once!


                                               Click on any image for an enlargement.

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10th October 2012

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REMEMBER TO CHECK YOUR WHEEL NUTS ON A REGULAR BASIS!


As I walked the trike to his stable, after my ride yesterday, it felt very strange. There was an unusual knocking. As if the axle bearings were loose. I checked and one wheel nut was literally hanging by a thread! The wheel itself was slopping about unrestrained. I hadn't noticed it on my ride. It must have been when I fixed the puncture on the side of the narrow gauge, Ringe-Korinth puncture magnet. I had obviously failed to tighten the nut properly.

Go and check your wheel nuts or bolts. Do it now! Choose a particular day or time to check them so you don't ever forget. The consequences of losing a wheel are too awful to contemplate! Let's be careful out there!

10th 41F, 6C, heavy overcast with light winds. Promised to be brighter but with showers later.  It stayed dry and cleared to sunshine. Going quite well and the new position doesn't feel so strange today. The handlebars are about the same height as the saddle now.  Which they have never been before on any of my bikes or trikes. The bars are also nearer.  I have no problem (at all) lifting my hands from the bars or hoods. Neither when in motion or standing still. So I don't know why I feel as if I am leaning so hard on the bars. 

The gears seem to be messed up recently. I keep winding the adjuster in and out, on the rear changer, but it is still skipping between gears and failing to change. Having fitted a new cable this is rather irritating. I'd like to change from bar-end levers to dual action, indexed, road gear/brake levers. This seems like a logical progression now that the hoods are far more accessible. I've been getting the runaround by online dealers trying to flog old stock as new. Then bullshitting me that there's no difference between old and new. The internet cannot lie. (if you gather enough evidence)  Watch this space for interesting developments. 

The B17 'Select' saddle was okay again. Just odd moments when I noticed discomfort. Mostly it just feels supportive or goes unnoticed. The latter is always the desirable state. I emailed Brooks for care instructions as an attachment but no reply yet. I was surprised to see a pre-aged symbol on the packaging. So there is probably no need for a long break-in period. The leather is already turning darker and gently wrinkly in places. It seems (almost) a shame to sully such perfection by actually riding it. :-) 

Imagine being able to ride for as long as one's strength and patience holds out without the torture of a nasty saddle under you. I may yet manage a 100 miles in one day. Provided the wind is gentle with me.  

I have noticed small cuts on my new GP4000S tyres. I'm not sure whether they are new. Or the signs of the damaging flints on that disastrous day on the narrow gauge cycle path to Ringe!  The blue tyres took thousands of miles to show any damage at all. I much preferred the look of the blue tyres too. The black rubber shows every mark and spot of mud or debris! They look downright scruffy all of the time! With a brown, muddy  tide mark all up the sidewalls. The blue GP4000s seemed largely self cleaning and always looked very smart. Right to the bitter end.

I should add that anybody contemplating using wider 25mm should go ahead if comfort is their desire. They are far more forgiving than the 23mm on rough surfaces. They will also tolerate lower pressures without the same danger of pinch flats. If only Continental did them in blue they'd be absolutely perfect! I shall definitely change back to blue (or red?) next time. Blue is cool.  

Two days after changing to my thicker, winter socks they are causing sore heels!  My heels often get dry in winter since I took up cycling more seriously. I didn't know whether to blame the socks until now.  Thankfully the New Ventus GPS logger has behaved itself much better than the last one. 22.5 miles. Should I round up or down? 

11th 42F, 6C, overcast, dry. I was out in the shed before dawn to change the handlebars for something more modern. They came with a recycled racing bike. It has the flat section on the drops below the brakes instead of a gentle curve. It is also more shallow. So it should be much more comfortable on the drops into a gale or going downhill. The drops sections are also shorter. Making the bar-end gear changers more accessible so they fall naturally to the hands. Without bending the elbow or straining to reach them.  

I was also able to rescue the trapped cables from two pairs of rather old, dual action, Shimano road levers. Probably 7 speed. I could never get them to work. There is still one trapped gear cable which won't move in or out.  It's amazing what one can rescue from a discarded machine.  Somebody would probably be glad of the light, Cinelli Proxima 24" frame. They don't seem to fetch much in the online small ads services. 

 There is no eBay(DK). So it is more difficult to sell anything outside Denmark from over here.  A swap for something more useful might be possible. A better front wheel would be nice. As the £5 flea-market Shimano is getting too untidy.  I can hear the bearings 'roaring' continuously as I ride along. The blade spokes are also orange with rust and the vinyl rim graphics are lifting.

I want to try a longer ride today as the wind is forecast very light for a change. I can't see any movement even in the birches. I rode up the coastal lanes to Fredericia via Middelfart. Had a nice chat with several bike shop people. Bought a proper mirror (Zefal Cyclops), some gel strips for my new (secondhand) bars and my first ever pair of bib shorts with some serious padding. I can hardly believe how poor even my 'best' shorts are in the padding department.  A skimpy layer of foam under a bit of J-cloth would be a good description and much too flattering at that. It's no wonder I suffer for my cause. :-) 

Despite everything, I have safely passed 8,000 miles for the year and very nearly reached 13,ooo km. The Brooks was mostly fine today with occasions when it became uncomfortable. My weather stayed dry until I was within 5 miles of home but still wasn't actually raining. My wife said it had been tipping down for hours! No wonder the roads were wet. I had a perfect, sunny day. Even the windmills were standing still. So I must have been making my own headwind, as usual. 

I'll have to wait a little while for the saddle to settle down before I attempt a 100 mile ride in my new shorts. My new position on the trike seems to make more sense during each ride. It just needs fine tuning. With the saddle set as far back as possible I'm not getting the power down like I used to. Though I spent the entire day comfortably on the hoods there is not the same effortless momentum when I reach a hill. It's as if I come to a halt and have to start pedalling from scratch. 

With the old stem (and more forward position) I would pedal hard in a high gear until I needed to change down slightly. Then kept changing down until the 34t chainring was needed.  Fuzzy logic suggests that a slightly longer stem needs a more forward saddle position to balance things out again. I keep looking but I haven't found a suitable stem yet. I went back to my usual spring-summer-autumn socks and suffered no discomfort today. Proof enough of the unquestionable guilt of winter socks, methinks. 

I missed my mirror today. Having removed it during the handlebar swap and not refitting it.  The cheapo mirror tended to vibrate and  rotate regardless of my efforts to cure it. It still worked though if I kept adjusting it.  My old fart's reactions are so slow that just glancing behind me is not enough. Turning round to look properly is even more dangerous! Many of my favourite lanes are too narrow for much more than a trike and a car. Some of them are bus routes. I usually pull into a house or farm drive if one presents itself to let large vehicles pass. Only 66 miles today.  

12th 41-46F, 5-8C, clear, dark and misty with light winds. Another early start. A neighbour started his engine outside our house before 6am. Then left it running while he banged the car doors repeatedly. Nothing like the peace and quiet of the countryside. My usual, cheapo, Gel gloves were borderline too cold. 

I nearly didn't survive the first five miles today. As I was riding through the woods a builder's lorry came speeding the opposite way. He was carrying a mini-excavator on a four wheel trailer which was making a hell of a racket! Just as he drew alongside me the violently rattling trailer wheel came right off! It arced over to my side and then turned right and crashed out of sight into the woods on the opposite side.  Had I arrived two seconds later that wheel would have hit me at over 60 mph! I believe the speed limit for trailers is only 40mph. The national speed limit is 50mph. How ironic that my trike wheel was loose only days before. 

The Zefal Cyclops mirror really is excellent.   It has just enough curvature to be able to see cars approaching from a distance. While being able to monitor if they are overtaking safely. The view is slightly smaller than life-size but it is a perfect balance between a wide view and image size. It helps that Denmark has a law requiring headlights on in the daytime. A mirror makes for a much more relaxing ride. 

I have been promising myself one of these mirrors for three years but always baulked at the cost. It looks an awful lot smarter than my £2.50 kiddy's round mirrors which I have been using.  The joints on the articulated pillar work well too without any vibration being transmitted to the view. I just hope the screws continue to hold without coming loose. By taping a short section of thin-wall alloy tube just below the left brake lever I could use the bar-end expansion plug provided.  This nicely avoids any obstruction to my hands. Neither while on the hoods or on the drops. 

I had their much smaller mirror with the rubber band fixing a few years back but it had deteriorated quickly in bad weather. Particularly as it is perfectly lined up with spray from the back tyre. That mirror was rather small for use on dropped bars. The Cyclops is much larger but rather more egg-shaped.  It can be folded neatly out of the way into the curve of the bars. I have added Gel strips to the bottoms of the bars. I'll save the tops for a couple of days as I'm expecting something in the post.

Talking of which: Still no answer from Brooks in response to my request for a saddle care leaflet. Or even a link to the care instructions on their website. (I couldn't find any) Perhaps they have been reading my blog? 

After 150 miles

My saddle now seems to have become asymmetrical in form and much softer only on the left side. With the left skirt sticking out from the rail!  It may not be long for this world if this continues. It's such a shame when it looked so perfect in the box.  It is already the most comfortable saddle I have ever ridden. I'll see how it goes before I start panicking. Leather is a natural material so it may just be settling down from first use. I have only put 150 miles on it in four days. It should be able to cope with that.  If the worst comes to the worst I could lace it at the bottom of the skirts.  Though it would be a tragedy to sully such beauty. Only 17 miles. 

13th 46-52F, 8-11C, windy, overcast but turning brighter. I rode to Ringe to look in the bike shops while keeping a safe distance from the narrow gauge cycle path. It is difficult to tell how wide a blast radius WMD flints can reach in a gale. As I felt my throat had been cut I had to have a Danish pastry in Ringe. I wore two pairs of thinly padded shorts and they worked very well with the rapidly softening Brooks. No discomfort at all until the very last couple of miles.  Still no word from Brooks to my email requesting care instructions. The saddle is looking only slightly more asymmetric after 200 miles. Though, so far, I don't notice it when riding along.  

After 205 miles

Coming back into the wind was very hard work. Six hours to do 55 miles including photography and lots of shops. I was doing a quick change act with various jackets, cardigans and gloves. I saw my third black squirrel in as many days. This one was road kill. I hadn't seen any squirrels for ages.

I also saw a medium-sized  bird of prey with long, narrow, 'fingered' wings.  Slightly smaller than a buzzard.  It flew very low over me and landed in the field alongside the road. Mostly shades of brown with a white base to the top of  its tail. The Hen Harrier looks rather like this but I have no idea how big they are. Another bird was slightly lighter in colour and fell out of a tree as I passed underneath on a remote rural lane! It hardly had time to glance at me before it darted through the hedge and disappeared. I'm not sure which of us was more surprised! Perhaps it had dropped onto some prey but hadn't seen me.  

I bought a nice big set of  T-shaped Allen and Torx head tools for about a £tenner equiv. in Lidls. I've been wanting a set of these for ages. Plus a nylon cover for the car for the winter. Both then had to be carried all the way home of course.  Luckily I had my big, lightweight, zip-up bag stowed in the Carradice micro-Camper. The poor car never gets any exercise any more. Which is more than I can say for me. I was starving by the time I reached home! Haven't stopped eating since. Still no 70mm stem. Safely past 13,000km for the year. 

Click on any image for an enlargement.

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