Gideon's bike life - Genesis, Graham Weigh, Cinelli, Land Shark & Ritchey

Been off this week, visiting some family down in Norfolk so not much progress on the build.

The weather has been pretty grim this week, but thankfully it was fine on Monday & Tuesday when we were riding down - Leeds to Kings Lynn, with a night in Lincoln. I considered trackpacking it for a while, but just ended up on the roadie because I didn't have enough time to sort it out. Was so damn flat, it'd have been totally doable.

Anyway, picked up the Hope calipers from the office after getting off the train back (which was typically delayed by an hour). They're really nice. Turns out I need an adaptor for the front. Faff! I've given the levers & calipers to @Tor to try & get bled at EBC. Hopefully will have this built by next weekend.

PS. If anyone is interested in the Ultegra flat mount calipers I bought by mistake, I've put up a sales thread.

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Cracking bank holiday weekend bikepacking up to Swaledale for a friend's birthday. Did Trapping Hill, Tan Hill, Lamps Moss, Buttertubs & Fleet Moss. What weather for it!

Always get a bit nervous heavily packed with the Donohue & these carbon forks, but I didn't die so that's a plus. Disc brakes would've been nice with for descending (was the only person with rim brakes), but that's a little bit closer now as I've finally got the brakes bled for the Ritchey so can build it later today.

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Nearly done at last. Need a longer chain (this one came pre-sized with the second-hand groupset) & to rebleed the front brake as I pulled the lever by accident without the bleeding blocks in, what a plonker. Excited to ride it now, feels like it's taken much longer than it should to get it up & running.

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It looks like a lot of fun with those fat slicks!
I'm still trying to decide whether I like the brake track on the wheels or not.

Yeah! I love these big slicks, loads of fun. Thinking maybe of those aqua green Gravel King SKs to give it some colour (& some grip) in future, not yet fully decided.

I'm not a huge fan of the brake track on the rim, but I did get these wheels for free. Two friends were riding Hope 20Five wheels at the weekend & I was eyeing them up. Think I can manage to get them at trade so am thinking of getting some of those in future, it deserves some nicer wheels.

You could always use a big marker pen to black out the brake tracks for now? Although I wonder how well it'd last if muddy/wet.

A friend of mine really rates the Gravel King SKs - though it seems you have to run them tubeless unless you like stopping to fix flats.
I had loads of fun riding a 140k gravel race in the rain on Schwalbe Big Apples.

Tried that before on the fixed & it didn't survive the rain.

Ritchey looks great. FWIW i've had good results using electrical tape to black out brake tracks. Depends how tacky the tape is but i never had it come unstuck and the usual satin finish of black tape matches black ano well.

In contrast, the only puncture I have had is from a massive nail that would've destroyed anything. very happy with my gravel kings non tubeless for commuting.

Another bloody holdup. Bleed kit didn't come with a tiny adaptor I need, so got to wait again for another part to get this working. Frustrated again, urgh.

After more time & more mistakes than I'd anticipated, it's finally finished!

Went for a short off road ten mile loop yesterday afternoon to bed it in & it feels great! It's much more lively than the Croix de Fer, quite pleased!

The front brake, which I topped up myself with fluid, isn't perfect, but it's a lot better than it was before. It's been good to learn about some of the hydro stuff.

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It really is a cracking looking bike. Even better with some dirt on it.
How you manage that saddle to bar drop is beyond me though!

Lovely!

Cheers! Feels pretty comfy with this setup at the mo, will probably need to tweak the fit after riding it for a bit more.

Though in all honesty, a size up would probably be the correct size for me - Donohue & MASH are 58cm; Graham Weigh, Croix de Fer & this are 56cm. I can make this fit comfortably enough though, & I've not had any fit-related pain with my smaller bikes as I've scaled finishing kit to make it work.

Flew too close to the rad sun on my second ride ever with the Ritchey. Unfamiliar rock garden, too tight pedals & new bike excitedness. Nothing a scratch on the frame (or me, somehow) but the front wheel is knackered.

Guess I'll have to expedite getting some nicer wheels. Think I'll steer clear of rock gardens for the while! Going to borrow the front wheel from the Croix de Fer for tomorrow's flat ride out to Easingwold, that should be fine.

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That'll polish out.

Bought a house recently & while looking, we were deliberately after a house with a 'bike room'. Looks like it already needs extending.

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Look at all that space in the air, seems you need some double decker storage

That ritchey is just an head turning bike!
All black is always a good option.

What bartape are u using?

Thanks! Got some admiration on yesterday's Easingwold ride, seems all my friends were out on their Sunday best too.

The bar tape is Supercaz Super Sticky Kush. Really nice stuff.

That's an idea we haven't considered, might look into it for the meantime. Current main thought is extending this room to at least twice the width as we have no use for so much driveway - that way we can have a proper workshop too. A bit further down the line though.

Booked train tickets to Glasgow last night to do the Second City Divide
in late September with some friends. Not going all the way to Manchester, but peeling off somewhere near Colne to come back home to Leeds, ideally in time for the UCI World Championship finals towards the end of the week.

Planning on riding it on the Ritchey, with a minimal bikepacking setup. Figured it'd be better to go for a bivvy & a tarp as there's no point taking a tent if we're going to be making use of bothies. Hoping the weather will be kind!

In the meantime, I need to get a bivvy bag & tarp for me; new wheels & mud tyres (in case) for the Ritchey.

First time bikepacking on the Ritchey this weekend, up in Langstrothdale & then over to Ribblesdale. Bike performed really well - not slamming the stem on this has definitely made the bar bag much more comfortable to ride with, plus it's made all of my other bikes feel ridiculously aggressive.

Got to see a stream train passing over the Ribblehead viaduct & the start of the Three Peaks Cyclocross race, so that was neat.

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Duplicate.