Transcontinental Race No. 7 - TCR7 - #TCRN07 - 2019

I got one of those wipperman chains with the weird quick link, and it doesn't seem to need piers or other tricks. Have had it apart a few times for waxing and it just pops apart by hand. Maybe different if crudded up with grit and old lube I don't know.

Time to up the procurement activity: am having issues with my old Garmins not charging while in use, so just ordered a 1030. It sounds pretty good and I like the idea of the integrated battery pack - although it may not work as may not want to mount it in the right place..

Next I need to buy a few more pairs of shoes as that is my current panic.

I've got a new light on the way from Germany, and I need to fit my recent 'urgent' rush purchases that have been sitting in the hall for a few weeks: new extenstions, seatpost and stem.

#buymorestuffthanyouneedforTCR

The 1030 battery life is nice, as is the more normal USB slot location. But the screen contrast and the screen redraw rates are shit (you've probably seen my whinging about them on twatter). So I run the screen brighter than I did with the 1000 and I'm still trying to get used to it being slow when dealing with multi lane RABs. Screen redraws while its loading a route is also shit so be aware of that - you can swipe to a non-map screen and back again to get it to refresh a lot of the time.

I put a new saddle on for last weekend's 600 and prefer it to the one I had so it's staying and so I've had to put a shorter stem on last night. I'd still like to get some SPD shoes but I'm running out of time for that so what I might do is carry a pair of shoes or something on top of the saddle bag.

Just ordered a whole new groupset!
Spendingmoneylikeitsgoignoutoffashion.gif

What did you go for?

Do you use their battery pack?

Etap

Nope. I already have external battery packs that cost far less than Garmin's £100 external.

OK, and they work fine? I've got a few battery packs myself...

I've started having issues with any battery pack putting my ancient garmins into 'data' mode whenever I connect. If the 1030 doesn't do this with standard kit that would be cool.

Yeah, all the Garmins I've owned have worked fine with any external pack I've used. The 1000 was the only tricky one coz you needed an L-shaped USB to clear the bar it was mounted to.

What ancient Garmins are you talking about? You can probably avoid this with a USB data blocker - I've got a couple of these myself. Useful for using public USB charging when you don't want you phone contracting any malware from the "please hack my phone" charging spots.

https://portablepowersupplies.co.uk/home/portapow-data-blocker-usb-adaptor

The fear...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48437262

Travel insurance.

I'm having issues even when using one of those

Take two bikes

Which Garmin?

I already do - it's just in the form of body fat.

705s. They used to work fine - done charging on the go on PBP, TCR, IndyPac, audaxes, etc. But they don't work any more. I've got three of the buggers so it seems like some systemic thing as it has happened on all of them at the same time, like Garmin has saboutaged the firmware to make luddites like me upgrade.

Ah, they really are old. I bet the connectors are worn or have corrosion on them. You can try isopropyl alcohol swabbing inside the connector. I also got some mileage out of my 800 when it got wet and the connectors oxidised, by scraping them with a fucking stabby thing, what do you call, a pin! Scrape the things with a pin and try the connector again.

Oh, I'm getting a clicking in just a single cog on my setup (and sloppy shifting in high gears but that's probably to be expected). I can't see anything wrong with it though so I'm going to have to pull it all down and see if anything changes when I put it back together.

I've ordered the new one now - will just use them as paperweights

I use my 800 for commuting and my 1000 for other bikes if I can't be arsed swapping the 1030 on.

Is that with wolf tooth?

I had a cassette lockring work loose the other day. Still shifted ok but rattled a bit...

No WT, just the R8000 RD. 40T stock is pushing well past its limits but it's functional.

It's not a loose cassette. I've done that before. #lejog

Yes, the old ones are fine for sub-15 hour rides. It's only above 400km where I have to recharge.

I used to have one in miles for time trialling, when I used to do time trialling.