Varun's Bikes, Stayer, Cotic, that singlespeed Rockhopper....

Annoyingly the RRA has no bolt hole on the chainstay bridge and I am NOT drilling it, so advice regarding pipe clamps/similar hacks to get an M5 bolt in there would be welcome.

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/mudguards/mudguard-bridge-fitting-clip-for-chainstay/

Of course SJS has a solution.
Though I think I’d rather like to use something that bolts centrally!!! The rest of it is set up as per so would be a shame to hack this last bit.

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/mudguards/sks-stainless-steel-rear-mudguard-chainstay-bridge-fitting-clip/?geoc=CA

R-clamp pointing down and a spacer.

I’m starting to think the answer (as ever) is ‘look on SJS first.’ I like @cheekysnaker ‘s best so far.

I’ll be considering a bottle dynamo

I guess the Velogical Dynamo comes to mind. Also, @JacqueLucque reviewed it positively some time ago on Bike Radar

I was afraid that would be the best option as it means I could basically rebuild the wheel with a £80ish SP hub and the cost might be similar!
I guess thinking that a bottle dynamo would be cheaper is erroneous especially when considering (lack of) performance.

Yay: gone full commit on the Geoff bars; super comfy bar angle, the option to move around is amazing (especially in changeable techy terrain aka North Wales) and I used the loop loads to strap stuff in. As a result the old grips have been replaced for the full Monty ESI XL 8” jobs. A bit of water and some arm pumping later they slid on perfectly.

Nay: budget has temporarily halted plans to dynamo-up the Raleigh which has resulted in this truly cursed front light setup. Anyone want to sell me a rim brake dynamo hub for under £50? 😅

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Been a while and the school academic year is in full swing. Cue rain, wind and sun, the full spectrum of weather in the span of one week. I was swiftly reminded of how much more tiring it is to ride to and from work ALONG with spending 9+ hours on my feet teaching and planning. Cycling mileage vs during the holidays was no more, but I could barely turn the pedals on the way home. Hey ho, it’s great to be outdoors and 50 minutes in the morning and evening are great for the spirit.

After some months of discomfort I thought I’d finally try a C15 saddle. Initial thoughts on the Stayer were promising. I ride that bike with padded chamois always so it’s hard to say for sure but the slight springiness of the saddle was evident. I’m keen to try one on my Cotic, which sits much more upright - would a C17 be more suitable for that bike?

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The saddle comfort thing came up most recently this weekend just gone; up in Yorkshire for a Bikes and Birdhides birdbiking trip, and coasting along relatively slowly, on very flat terrain but with the added chafeage caused by rain sat on a horrendously hard Charge Spoon camo saddle. I was in agony by the end. Still, we had a great time, it only really rained on Sunday, I got to meet old mates and we even saw a few actual birds.

Additional style points went to Nathan who brought a fiery red singlespeed Raleigh Scorpion 26er (pic 1, upside down) and only regretted this once when he was punctured nine (9!!!!) times and ran out of both tubes and patches. One of my borrowed 27.5” tubes got him home in the end.

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I personally just use a tastefully trimmed ziptie for this. They're really unobtrusive, easy to fix (or replace) in the field and hold securely. I have even combined zipties and spacers when the mudguard doesn't sit flush against the CS bridge.

I was ready to naysay this until I read the bit about zipties and spacers, as I probably will need that for the guards to stay secure. Not-so great experience using zipties on my Rockhopper that caused the guards to constantly slip and rub (more than SKS guards do anyway!)

It’s been three weeks’ fast riding to work and keeping my head down. Which means the SS Rockhopper barely gets used, so I got it out this weekend, playing photographer for Kidical Mass in Coventry. Turns out an upright basket bike with slow AF gearing is actually perfect for following a children’s bike ride at 5kph and taking loads of photographs.

I nearly got pressured into sticking a bike register sticker and one of those horrendous blue paint decals by the sustrans reps there but they gave up after the 10th attempt, thank god. The Rockhopper survives another day.

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I've been mooting about the Cotic lately. I do quite like it but have always felt that its potential was never quite fully realised, either with drop bars, or with the suspension fork originally, or now as a rigid panniered-up useful bike. It's not designed for as thin 27.5" tires and I get a lot of pedal strikes, and tbh it always just feels a bit sluggish. Fine for cruisy tours, not so much for the rolling and bumpy trails and singletrack in Warwickshire.

I ran my Stanton ghetto SS last winter and I quite enjoyed it. I'm gonna do it properly this time, with a tensioner rather than just using the derailleur, and possibly with a decently meaty 1/8" chain as I snapped my old 10s chain on the Stanton.

Tempted to lose the framebag, top tube bag and under-downtube bottle and rack though it'll impact the utility loads. Where does utility truly trump aesthetics?

I keep getting tempted to rebuild the wheels to 29er and RyanBuilds has put up a lot of tasty Velocity rim content lately. That's for another day and another paycheck though!

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rebuild the wheels to 29er

Yes please! Good idea

It’s growing increasingly apparent by the day. During last night’s (very long and painful) brewery ride I had a lot of pedal strikes on pretty tame off-road.

I had a little tinker today and nicked a chain tensioner off the Rockhopper; 36-17 feels like a pretty good ratio. I’ll find out more after a couple days’ commuting, especially if tired and cold legs prefer that or something easier. From prior experience with 34 and 32-18, that was the right gear for like one off-road section but way spinny for 95% of the rest.

I also decided to take the wedge frame bag off and reposition bottle cages. The rack is TBC. Time will tell whether I find the lack of baggage refreshing or frustrating, but at least the bike feels super light now.

Oh, and worn old C17 (a teensy bit wide), bars tilted down a touch and those 27.5” wheels really do look too small from the side profile.

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I also took the covers off the road fixed after a month of disuse. I did not fancy the additional exertion in those first commutes of the September school term, least of all riding a fixie when fighting brain fog from 10+ hours of teaching.

I think it’s about 90% ready for the task, anyway. The rear mudguard stays put thanks to @JacqueLucque ‘s ziptie+spacer idea. Now I just need to print some mudguard flaps and commit to dynamoing it up. Test ride tomorrow or Monday commutes, if I can be bothered anyway.

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Sacked off riding the fixed in favour of testing SS ratios for the Cotic. For gently rolling Warwickshire, 36-17 is pretty bang on. Not too spinny for up to 25kph on the short paved sections, and quite fine on the short climbs near the Kenilworth greenway. Something I noticed immediately along with the lighter weight (partially due to no framebag+bottles, partially the missing dinner plate cassette) was how quiet and smooth it is now. I think the chain must have been rattling loads earlier as I used to always hear something on bumps. A definite keeper setup.

I also took the rear rack off as I was growing a bit fed up of running panniers. The rackless QR saddlebag voile-d onto the saddle isn't exactly optimal, though. Until I can afford another QR bagman or even just the clamp, that's how it is staying and I'll just have to live with the awkward rear light position and bag sway.

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Ok, so I realise now that the rear light is basically pointing downwards, and that Exposure bag clips do exist, so that's in the post now.

Okay, the bike may be covered in muck, the chain is probably knackered and the BB is going squeaky but at least it has shiny new King Cages. Ta @Belgian-Cat for the bling.

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It may be my birthday month and so I may be biased, my fingers are stinging and my bike covered in grime, but man do I love the crisp, clear and golden sunset rides in October.

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I’m with you 100% on crisp Autumn rides being the best.

This is the first time that i notice the dinamo wiring through the three-pack mounts! This bike brings something new and unique everytime

Funny enough it is 100% inspired by @Browndonneur ‘s use of p-clips on his old bike!! And thank you, I think it’s a product of being ridden so much - it’s the bike I reach for 90% of the time. Nearly at 22,000 km soon…..

Took the fixie out today after nearly two months lying dormant, during which period I would take the covers off every other weekend, pump the tires up, spin the wheel a few times, admire and then ride another bike instead. Some thoughts:

• I think I’m as strong as I was back in summer but it’s noticeable how much more carefully I ride this bike in winter with mud/leaves. It took c. 2 kph off my average speed.
  
• Funny enough, it’s still not gloves-on weather though my hands were pretty stiff at the cafe stop. I’d be in trouble if I had a puncture.
  
• I’m still torn between building this up with a dynamo (which it needs) versus building my Cotic up 29er (which it also needs) as my half term project. On past form I’ll probably end up procrastinating and doing neither.
  
• I’d forgotten how high Bluemelses ride -barely half the arc of a front wheel. My VOs on the Stayer are noticeably longer and also better proportioned to keep one’s feet dry. I might experiment with moving the guard mount to behind instead of in front of the fork crown. TBC. Definitely need flaps though.
  
• @Hulsroy ‘s bottles on @Hulsroy ‘s cages - they really do work so well together.
  

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