George Longstaff Audax build

Thanks fella!

Hey Vesalius I was prompted by your pic in edscoble's thread to ask this:

What's your barbag and does it have a map holder on the top?

I was gonna post it in his thread but that thread's a trainwreck of crossposting and derailing already.

haha! Isn't it just!

The barbag is an ortlieb compact, no provision for maps on this one unfortunately, the larger model does though.

Cheers bud.

No probs :)

Have made a few changes to the bike in recent weeks

1). Swapped the rigida chrina rims for H Plus Son TB14s, nice and shiny, easy to take tyres on and off, and actually feel more comfortable that the previous rim/tyre combo (placebo effect? :p )
Cheapest price from HubJub, laced them myself and got some help from Hovis on here with the truing+tensioning.

2). 2nd hand long cage Ultegra rear derailleur to match the front derailleur/cranks/brakes.

3). Dropped the nose on the Brooks saddle again to nearing 0 degrees, will the saga ever end? On the last ride I felt that it might be nicer tipping it forward some more, so will trial it again and hopefully I won't slip forward like when I first bought it.
The saddle hide is depressing slowly but surely so maybe this affects how I'm sitting on it.
Damn saddle angles :p

4). And finally have bought some aero bars. I've fitted them but will be taking them straight off as they really won't help on a super hilly (6000m elevation) 400km tomorrow. But on flat sections of rides, or into the wind, I tend to adopt a makeshift aero position with my forearms resting on teh handlebars, and it really fucking helps. So I felt I'd give proper aero bars a try, I imagine they'll be much more comfortable and give me more control than my makeshift position.

2nd hand carbon deda ones from eBay, definitely function over fashion with this choice unfortunately.

Astonishingly ugly aero bars, but the rest is just lovely. Just have to use them the whole time so no-one can see. I love this sort of stuff!

Yeah I definitely wouldn't disagree haha, they're ugly and look well out of place on the build.
I'll keep on the lookout for some nice polished silver ones that don't weigh a ton :p

Where is that picture in the park taken ? If you don't mind me asking .

Not at all, it's one of the paths in West Ham park, the North-West corner :)

Did I see this today at the Old Street roundabout, around 3pm?
Lovely!

^^ belated reply: I thought I recognised it! I lived around there a while back.

My turn to apologise! Been away on the Pendle audax this weekend,

^^Not sure that was me, was jumping on a train about that time on friday, although if it was ~12pm then yeah (and thanks!)

If your 400k write up anything to go by, are you gonna keep mum's about the 600?

You seemed to be doing everything first before me!

How's the new saddle treating you on the Pendle Jordan?

Yeah not bad at all thanks Ed, after the pendle is was massively broken in and had to retension it as per the instructions:

New saddles are pre-tensioned at the factory.
Counterclockwise rotation of the tension bolt tightens the
leather and clockwise rotation loosens it. After 100-200 miles,
the saddle may take on a concave shape. Re-tension the
saddle slightly to achieve the original shape of the slot and a hammock feeling for your
sit bones but be careful not to over-tension the leather. Experienced riders often try to
reproduce the stiffer feeling of other leather saddles by over-tensioning which
prematurely stretches the leather and puts pressure on your sit bones. In general, the
leather will stretch like a new pair of shoes and then stop, usually about halfway through
the tension bolt. Always tension the saddle at the beginning of or during a ride. Never
apply tension at the end of a ride.

Provides loads of layback with the VO seat post

http://imageshack.us/a/img838/8779/o8m4.jpg

I want to look into one of those bike packing type saddlebags you promote ed,
like this one you posted on YACF

Now you're talkin'.

If you like I can lend you mine to try out, as in Audax ride you generally want to easily access the saddle whenever wherever (mine allowed that), mind you it would be perfect for the LEL.

Can understand why you're keen on that idea as there's nothing worse than feeling the saddlebag swing while ascending the Passes in the Lake District, definitely rob you of your rhythm.

What do you mean by "access the saddle" ed?

^I reckon he meant saddlebag? (maybe...)

^^And yeah that'd be pretty cool if I could try it out :) which one do you have?
I can get that carradice super c one to sit quite firmly under my saddle, but I know it's one that's notorious for shaking around.

The saddlebag act as a compressor, it work brilliantly once it packed and tightened properly, so you may need extra care to make sure it's tightened appropriately.

Fortunately it's something that you can get used to and able to get better with more experience, the saddlebag I got is from Revelates Design which have a strap inside to keep the stuff compressed while being able to access the saddlebag.