While it seems a lot of areas in the UK are getting snow we are at the moment, up here in the north of Scotland are for now just getting sub zero temps and ice.

So that is great conditions for the Pugsley, especially for a trip to the beach and around the rocky coastline late this afternoon.

The rocks were a bit sketchy between the ice and the low tide leaving the slippery rocks and algae exposed. Not a worry for the old Pugs as we picked our way around for a really pleasant late afternoon ride.

Made it home just on dark which I am glad I did as it was starting to get pretty hard in the ever diminishing light to pick out what was water and what was ice :)

Hope everyone has had a safe and Happy Christmas.

Jamie

Saturday 26th December 2020 - Mercian Tourer shakedown ride.

 I did finally have it out for a ride on Boxing day and then also yesterday had it out for a while for a shakedown ride, not far at all due to all the roads up here being layered in ice, but enough to make sure everything fitted and was working ok. 

Brakes, gears etc were all good and smooth and size felt really good so just need to sort some guards and some replacement hoods and retape the bars and we are good to go. Maybe a bottle cage as well?

The fit felt really good as this is a 19 1/2 inch as opposed to the 21inch of my green Mercian. There are geometry differences between the two with the tourer having a slightly relaxed angles on the seat tube and slightly longer stays. The cockpit felt nice and compact without feeling like I was riding a small bike so will be interesting to get an impression after a long ride. Hard to tell too much on such a short ride but the fact it felt comfortable and didn't want for any adjustments on the contact points is a good starting sign. 

I dug out some of my guards I had in the loft, my blue Bluemels and some Black Sovereigns but neither seemed to suite. I think it may need to be silver.  Will need them soon as the salt, ice, slushy water on the roads mean they are really needed otherwise the frame will rot pretty quickly over the upcoming winter. 

Jamie

19th December 2020 - Mercian build and Surly LHT ride

Finally got round to putting the tourer back together. 

So here are a couple of photos that I managed to take this afternoon before I went out for a ride. 

It still needs finished off, cables cut, chain shortened slightly with the main things being fitting my guards ready for a Scottish winter but most of all fitting new hoods to the Mafac levers. These levers are my nicest Mafacs as they are the smooth slim blades but I put on some Dia Compe hoods a long while back, they looked good and functioned fine but when I fitted them last week I noticed that they don't come right down to the bar. Not sure how in the world I missed that but anyway am sourcing new hoods. This meant that I had to be a bit creative with taping the bars and while it does look very rubbish it will be replaced hopefully by next weekend. The tape will still be white but will be my nice Silva white cork. Thankful that I realised before putting the good bar tape on and was lucky to have this cheaper stuff in the shed to use.

Also had to use my front Shimano derailleur off of the repainted Mercian as the matching XT I bought with the rear is a top pull, which again, I only realised when I fitted it. So hopefully before the end of winter I will have swapped for another XT.  

Mix of parts used as more a creature of function than of looks. 8 speed Dura Ace shifters, XT rear Derailleur, XT front soon, Stronglight triple crankset and Stronglight adjustable bottom bracket, Tange Mercian headset, Nitto B135 randonneur bar with 80mm Nitto stem, Mafac brake levers and Mafac Cantis. 

Current wheels Ultegra hubs on Open pro rims with Jackie Brown Mile Muncher 130mm tyres. These wheels are temp until I finish my Dura Ace 36hole hub to Wolber Gentleman GA rims with the same Jackie Brown tyres.

When the weathers better will take better photos. 

So I then thought with the weather so dry and a nice afternoon I would ride into town on the LHT and drop in at the Bike Shop and see if he had any old hoods that might fit and also to check out some mudguards before fitting the old ones. No luck on either count but was a nice ride and while it was very cold I had  all my gear on so was fine, with the one exception being on a long downhill that my head was freezing through the vents in my helmet, like an ice cream headache :)  I have ridden with my skull cap but I tend to overheat with it too quickly. Should have just pulled my buff up higher.  Anyway it was a really nice ride and after I left the shop I went down around the harbour and seafront before taking the backroads home. I am really liking riding at night lately out in the backroads. 

Hope everyone else has had a nice day and maybe got a ride in. 

Take care, stay safe and have a lovely Christmas no matter where you are. 

Jamie

Sunday 6th December 2020 - Long Haul Trucker testing lights - Quick local ride

 Well after yesterdays trip south and fabulous Fatbike ride I had some chores to do this morning before heading out with the family for a socially distanced lunch at a local cafe. The weather was a bit nicer with the rain stopped. I did manage to get the Pugsley washed, greased and oiled and put away before heading out and when I returned I thought I better hook up the lights from Planet X and take them on a test ride on the Long Haul Trucker, in the interests of safety of course. These may become my new commuting lights rather than use my Trouties for commuting.  Just an excuse to hook up my new lights and have a quiet ride on a Sunday .

So just a short late afternoon ride of an hour and a half up around the backroads towards Thurso. The lights work fantastically well and give a great spread of light. Highly recommend. These were in the Planet X Christmas sale and were heavily discounted. The bonus is the battery is a long charge one that is compatible with my good Troutie lights. The Long Haul Trucker was a pleasure to ride and like the Pugsley it has been about a month or so since I last rode it as I have been giving the Jack Taylor a fair workout lately, but the Trucker is my modern do it all and do it nicely ride. So comfortable and fits like a glove.  Just coming on for 10 years since I built my Trucker and it's done some work over that time and still love riding it.  :) 

Jamie

Saturday 5th December 2020 - Global fat Bike Day - Pugsley

Due to social distancing etc this year and other concerns Brian and I decided to have a pretty low key Global Fat Bike Day for 2020. We did put the details of where we were riding on one of the pages in case anyone wanted to join us but neither of us wanted to join a bigger ride. 

After driving down to Brians early on we had decided to ride up around the hills around Ben Wyvis and on the trails in amongst the Strathpuffer course. We knew we were in for a wet one as it had been raining on and off all week but had been pretty hard for the past 24hours with little let up. So no different from some of the more recent GFBD rides :) 

 Brian was on his carbon Fatty with carbon rims etc so his was going to float regardless :) Plus he had 5.5 tyres as opposed to my slim 4.0 Nates. 

What a great day out, we just plodded away through the hills following trails we knew, taking detours when the tracks looked interesting, surviving on Snickers. I was glad I put my wet trousers on over my Keelas as this and my jacket with my winter boots meant I actually stayed completely dry underneath. 

On one of the steep downhill bends Brian was doing his usual trail archaeology digging to find a handful of studs and a tubeless valve, this meant that whenever I stopped on a downhill I was looking for little shiny studs buried in the ground :)  I didn't even want them but one of those things that once you see them then you start seeing them everywhere :) 

So despite the cold, and it was cold on the face on the high exposed ground and the volume of water it was great to be back out on the Pugsley as well as being back singlespeeding after what seems ages but in reality is only a couple of months. Great day out and well worth the early drive south for sure. Another thoroughly enjoyable GFBD. 

Jamie