Andrew Bike Guide

The XX Transmission chain on my Arrival 140. 1187 km of Rocky mountain dust and trail shake. This chain has been run from new with Flowerpower chainwax, which has been significantly quieter and cleaner that the chain lubricants that I have used previously. Whilst impressed with the longevity, shifting quality and lack of noise, I have moved to a hot wax system which seems to be even better (in full honest disclosure; my real world experience, based on the first 1000 km, is that the hot wax is marginally better than the drip wax, something that is tested by ; probably 350 km with hot wax versus 300 km with drip wax; one has to decide whether the extra time of the hot wax process is worth it; I plan on riding another 2500-3000 km this year to test it further). One can see the difference in wear on the plates between the inner and outer sides of the chain. As wax runs 'dry' I notice that the chain attracts far less debris and as a result is far cleaner (and quicker to clean between waxes, either method), quieter for longer and appears to be wearing far more slowly.



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flightattendant

After having one of those "do I really need to change my tyres already?" and "I can probably get another 1-200 km out of the front tyre" conversations with myself, I reflected on the two or three crashes, in the past, that might have not happened had I been on newer tyres and added "new tyres and sealant" to my 1000 km, overhaul service, laundry 🧺 list. The upside of fast and grippy 'race' tyres is that they are light, fast and grippy- the downside is that there is not a lot of rubber on each k**b and once they 'go' they are 'gone'. The lack of braking grip on Reclaimer was also a pretty good 'message from the trail' that it was time for new tyres! So a new set of Race tyres for my trusty Revolver 120 for another 1000 km of rolling good times.




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downtowncanmore

Well look what the postie dropped into the box today. 3D printed blue anodised titanium brake levers. They look awesome just sitting in the box. Off to install them and then out for a ride.