Sir Lancelot, my Surly Long Haul Trucker received a service today at 5,721 km.  It has been 1,449 km since the last service which is a lot more than ideal. A full service history can be found here.

This service consisted of:

1. Wiping down the chain and re-lubing with an application of Rock and Roll Gold chain lube;
2. Checking of chain wear with a Park Tools CC-3 Chain Wear indicator.  The chain is showing wear at the 0.75 point so a new chain will be fitted at the next service;
3. Checking the tension on all bolts and screws on Sir Lancelot. Found a couple of screws showing signs of loosening, so glad I do this;
4. Cleaning the bike with Nu Finish Car wash with pure orange oil;
5. Checked the 700×28C Continental Grand Prix 4-Season V tires for glass and wear. All looking good.

All looks good and I will give Sir Lancelot another work over before going on tour in April, 2010.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Tags: Bicycle maintenance,Service,Sir Lancelot,Surly Long Haul Trucker
Categories: Bicycle maintenance
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I admit, I am a Brooks saddle tragic and have a Brooks B17N on Froggie and a Brooks B17 on Sir Lancelot and plan to purchase a Swift or a Swallow for Froggie, moving the B17N to Julia.

So the purpose of this post is to share these two videos reminding us of the history and beauty of a Brooks saddle and to share a little on my Brooks Saddle experiences.

With respect to my two saddles, I have had a far more positive experience with the B17 than the B17N. The B17 is currently installed on Sir Lancelot and prior to that served time on Chase, so it has done over 10,000 km now.  As a first time Brooks owner I did make the mistake of over treating it (treated it fairly regularly with Proofide in the early stages which was a mistake, causing it to sag. Re-tensioning has resolved this little issue and I find the saddle very comfortable and suited to the Surly Long Haul Trucker.

The B17N fitted to my Look 555  has proved a less suitable choice of saddle, taking sometime to break-in. I suspect this is in part due to my part-time riding of Froggie (mainly a weekend ride for most of the year during this break-in period) and the riding position on Froggie. I am not sure that the B17N is the right saddle for this bike and will be replacing it with a B15 Swallow Titanium funds permitting or a Swallow or Swift Chrome if the budget does not allow for a high end Swallow.  The B17N will then go to Julia my Giant XTC 2 mountain bike where I suspect the more upright riding position will suit the saddle.

Either way, all my bikes will be Brooks equipped

Popularity: 5% [?]

Tags: B17,B17N,Brooks,Froggie,Julia,Look 555,Sir Lancelot,Surly Long Haul Trucker,Swallow,Swift,XTC 2
Categories: Bicycle gear reviews, Bicycling
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Sir Lancelot, my Surly Long Haul Trucker received a “winter” service today at 4,272km.  Winter services are carried out during winter and spring due to the wet weather riding conditions experienced.

This service consisted of:

1. Degreasing the chain using a Park’s Tool CM-5 Cyclone Chain Scrubber and Australian Export degreaser;
2. Application of Rock and Roll Gold chain lube to the chain;
3. Checking of chain wear with a Park Tools CC-3 Chain Wear indicator -  no issues on this front;
4. Checking the tension on all bolts and screws on Sir Lancelot. 
5. Cleaning the bike. 
6. Removed the Continental Travel Contacts and replaced them with 700×28C Continental Grand Prix 4-Season V tires.
7. Two special nuts which hold the SKS Chromoplastic P50 mudguards on at the rear have dropped out. I have attempted to contact SKS about getting replacements with no reply so far.  Why do business bother to have contact forms if they do not reply? In the meantime I have wired the stays to the guard. Hopefully this will do the trick.
8. Fitted my wired Sigma Sports BC 1606 L bike computer as a temporary measure to replace my out of action Garmin Edge 305.

Due to time constraints service points three and four where not completed with this service.

Popularity: 7% [?]

Tags: Bicycel Maintenance,Surly Long Haul Trucker
Categories: Bicycle maintenance
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