Fitting the Belt

The first prototype build is under way... The eccentric bottom bracket and belt combo has to be the way forward

When Commuting becomes Survival

We had been hearing all weekend about parts of the country with lots of snow. We even went up to Manchester to see some old friends but saw no snow. Yesterday the weather reports showed that it was going to snow overnight. Stu rang me at about 1pm yesterday to arrange riding in together on our MTB's as we did back in February. He seemed to be quite excited. So this morning we woke up to the first snow in Essex this winter. Mark texted me at just gone six and want to meet to ride in. By 6:45 we were all toegther with virgin powdery snow on the back roads to enjoy. This was the fun part of the morning. Mark left us half way through the ride to go back and work from home...

Stu fell off almost as soon as it was two of us and this marked the turning point in the ride. From that point on the roads became slippery and we tip toed our way into work. Past the cars struggling to get up the inclines and stuck at the lights. The only repite from the slippery roads came on a little off road cut through where all of a sudden the a slippery track seemed to make sense.

Now I am sat at my desk and the snow is still coming down. Roll on tonights survival test....

Frames have arrived!

Ripcords

Teflon-coated, stainless steel, Kevlar-reinforced stopping goodness... and in a colour of your choice!

The Beginnings of the Brand

Initial sketches and a slightly more polished version of what may turn out to be the Milk Bikes logo... Let us know what you think!

Schwalbe City Jet Review

When I built up the Beta I ordered some cheap tyres to put on it for commuting. I didn't get the ones I ordered but the Cuty Jets as a replacement. At first I was disappointed. On the first few ride they had felt a bit draggy next to my 23mm road tyres. Not surprising really. I mentioned to Mark that as soon as they wore out I would replace them with something else... He laughed, he also has City Jets on his Beta and they look almost new after nearly 2 years of commuting. I knew I was going to have to ride them for a long time. That said they only add 5mins to a 1hr commute. Their biggest weakness is their grip on wet roads. In 10 months of commuting on minor roads I have only had 2 puntures. This is was really brough home to me when today I have had 3 punctures on my 75 mile Sunday ride and that has made 4 punctures of the week on the 23mm road tyres...

So the City Jets have been great commute tyres cheap, hardwaring and good resistance to punctures all of which is good for the commuter.

Their main weakness is grip in the wet but if you accept this and take it steady on those day then all is good...

Pedal - Cake - Repeat

Had a great Sunday ride today with just one companion. 75 mile loop around Chelmsford. I had planned the route on Saturday and wanted to take some roads that I had not ridden before. I planned it on www.bikehike.co.uk, simplified it so that it would go onto my aging GPS and downloaded it. The eTrex then guided us round without any issues. The route can be found here and is mainly on minor roads and made for a good training ride.

Also on Saturday I decided to make the Guinness (& Chocolate) Cake, the recipe for which can be found at here. This is a good solid cake (it would be good served hot as a pudding with ice cream instead of the icing) and was great to have with a coffee when I got home.

On the bike again tomorrow for the commute, no doubt will have some cake when I get home from work.

Cake anyone....