With just over a week to go I find myself still fettling with the bike and worrying about the rear wheel.
From previous posts you'll know that I swapped out the carbon seat post for a spare aluminium one I had. Well, after several test rides it became clear that the one bolt clamp was not capable of holding my saddle in place and it kept moving during rides.
So, one Wiggle order later and I have a new alu seat post with a 2 bolt clamp. I fitted this to the bike yesterday and attached the saddlebag mount. It gripped the saddle solidly and, using a slightly higher than usual saddle height I managed to get enough clearance to mount the bag.
This week-end was also the time to put on the 25mm tyres and give the bike a good clean and check.
So here it is in (hopefully) its final configuration just before today's test ride.
The test ride went pretty well, I'm still amazed how much speed I can hold even with the loaded saddle bag attached. There were some issues though.
Firstly the seat post gradually worked itself lower and by the time I noticed, the bag was rubbing on the back wheel as it has done previously. It took several re-adjustments and extra tightening during the ride to get the post to remain at the right height - which wasn't the height it started the ride. This was because the higher than normal saddle was causing pain in my left knee.
Thankfully the new seat post has some numbered and lined markings that allowed me to gradually adjust to a comfortable measured height and allow the bag to be attached/removed without having to move the seat post. The amount I had to tighten the seat post clamp to stop it slipping was a bit worrying though and the slippage has already left some gouge marks in the post but they only look superficial.
The 25mm tyres added a bit of extra comfort, rolled well and didn't feel any slower. They also seemed to provide a bit more feedback from the road and more assured handling.
Only 10 days to go now so I really do need to stop fettling and get everything to remain in place. One final thing I'm still debating is whether to order some new wheels this week or at least a new rear one. If there's one reason not to do this it's because I probably won't have the time to test them on a long ride.
Mike
As mentioned on the Bikes and Kit static page we'll both be using Carradice SQR Tour Saddle Bags. These have a 16L capacity and a 10Kg recommended weight limit.
Here's a picture of mine on its test fitting. I swapped the carbon seat post for a spare aluminium one just to be on the safe side. It would be a bit of a disaster if the carbon post cracked while on the ride so better to be safe than sorry.
You can see from the photo that I have barely enough exposed seat post to mount the SQR bracket and as a result I can't easily attach the bag to the bracket as there is not quite enough clearance. This means I have to raise the seat post, attach the bag and then lower the seat post to the correct height.
There's not a huge amount of clearance between the wheel and the bag either. Before today's 60 mile test ride it did take a bit of fine tuning to get the loaded bag onto the bracket and the saddle at the right height and fore/aft position. I had to stop after a mile or so as the wheel was clearly rubbing the bottom of the bag as it bounced around.
Raising the saddle another 5mm or so seemed to resolve the rubbing apart from on extremely bad road surfaces. The additional saddle height didn't seem to affect my knees either. I clearly didn't tighten the saddle clamp enough though as the last 20 miles were a bit uncomfortable and when I got home I noticed that the saddle had moved back about 10mm or more on the rails.
I'm hoping to get away with one set of cycling gear which will be washed and (hopefully) dry each night. I'll also need a T-shirt, long shorts or trousers, underwear, sandles/shoes and a light fleece for evenings. Minimal wash bag, first aid, sun cream, chamois cream, etc.
On the tools and spares front then the two side pockets of the bag should take all that's needed - a couple of spare tubes, multi-tool, chain tool, tube patches, chain links, lube, gloves, cloth and a lock.
On the test ride today all this fitted easily into the bag and the loaded bag weighed just under 5Kg. Given that I've lost just over 2Kg of body weight recently then the net weight difference is not that much. This was reflected in the average speed of my 60 mile test ride - over 17 mph!
I also have a small top tube mounted bag to put my phone, wallet and a couple of gels or energy bars. There's also my jersey pockets to put other small stuff and carry my rain jacket, arm warmers, etc.
Whether the Carradice bag would be big enough and work on my bike were two of my main concerns during the planning of the ride so it's fair to say they are now much less of a concern, it's just the faffing around each morning to get the bag on properly that will need a bit of care.
Mike
