Winter bike
It’s been a long time coming but my winter bike finally arrived mid November and just in time for the really shitty weather. I won’t go into why it was late and the various mis-communication issues with Canyon apart from to say thank you to Russell at Canyon UK who actually sorted it out in the end. Although even after I got the notification it was in for manufacture I got another email saying it would be delayed further. Confusing and frustrating but we got there in the end. I would probably only order something from their in-stock section if I was doing it again though.
Having got into road riding this year I really wanted to keep going with a similar distance over winter rather than getting fat and slow having worked so hard this summer. I asked around and Andy suggested the Canyon Inflite AL 8.0 S as a good winter bike. It was a bit of a bargain at the time but then the range changed for 2015 and it was even more of a bargain as they had moved to 11spd Shimano 105. Although I wasn’t as keen on the colour I kind of accepted you weren’t actually going to see it that much over winter. Having said that the images they released later showing it being ridden made it look so much nicer and it really does look nice in the metal.
About this time in the year I normally switch to riding the fixed, with mudguards on, around town. The fixed is not a fashion item and is purely utilitarian. With only one gear and no freehub it lasts forever and is perfect for winter although does feel a bit limiting in terms of distance and speed. This year I wanted to have gears and have something to go longer distances on, not that it stopped me earlier in the year on the fixed, but I’ve got a few 200k trips planned and I think gears is sensible.
Anyway essential ingredients include mudguards, wider tyres (28mm) and disc brakes. Having used disc brakes on my MTB for the last 15 years going to a road bike with rim brakes always seemed a bit odd. Whilst they look nicer the experience of riding in the wet with them is also a bit hit and miss. A number of times I’ve grabbed the brakes only to have to wait a few seconds for the water to come off the rim and the pads start to bite. The other thing I hate is all that pad residue that goes everywhere over the frame and forks. Everything about discs seems far more suited for a winter bike. The only thing that might have been useful is some rack mounts on the stays but I think I have a way around that. The other option I’ve seen is to use frame bags and travel much lighter which seems far more appealing for big trips and a potential Addax or LEJOG trip.
And then finally it arrived. It came in an incredibly well packaged box and took 30 mins to get it all out and start assembling it. I was pleasantly surprised at how nice the colour was and also at how much chunkier it was than my steel Condor.
The graphics are also pretty nice and seem to have some form of reflective treatment on. It didn’t feel as heavy as I thought it would and all I needed to do was fit the bars and put the front wheel in.
I love how it looks with the big 28mm tyres on. It looks purposeful and it also seemed a shame to put the mudguards on. I had a go when it first arrived but there was a 50p part missing and also the image of them on their site is incorrect. It took a few days to get my head around how to fit them so abandoned the idea at first. After that it was the usual crap of lights, saddle bag, bottle cages, Garmin mount etc. I also dropped the stem height a bit by flipping the spacers around.
Of course none of this means anything without riding it. I jumped on and rode to work on it the next morning. Oh my word. It went like a rocket which is partly due to that new bike feeling obviously, but it does roll incredibly well no doubt due to the 28mm tyres. It felt more stable but more direct which is presumably due to the aluminium frame. It feels a little short and I need to get a layback post but it feels right. Riding 11spd Shimano 105 after 9spd Tiagra since 2009 feels incredible. The quality of shifting is something else and it takes far less effort to move the chain up the gears. The feel of the levers is amazing although I seem to have a bit of a reach issue on the drops.
I was expecting a winter bike to be heavy and a bit crap but this is neither. There’s an air of quality about it even though it’s at discount prices. They’ve specified decent kit all over. The tyres are decent, the bars have a great shape, the wheels are light and have a nice sound to the freehub, even the inner tubes are branded not OEM. It’s a really really good package.
After doing a week of commuting and the Thursday changing I went down to Brighton to see Chrissy for a proper ride. It was wet, mucky, off road in places and proved to be perfect for it.
It definitely felt like the right choice although I would have loved to have been riding it a few weeks earlier.
Seeing as it’s a winter bike I’ve also accepted that I really do want to be as visible as possible at night in London. I’ve got my usual set of lights, a big USE LED one on the front, a long fibre flare on the back and also another little flashing one slightly lower. I’ve also bought a few of these little 3M reflective tubes that clip onto the spokes to increase visibility from the side. They’re about 99p for a pack of 12 on eBay and they do a decent job of improving side visibility at night. That and the fact that the wheel is in motion suggests it’s a good idea to me. I haven’t covered the wheel entirely but just added a few to get a splash of reflective material as they spin round. I also found some 3M reflective tape in black on eBay that I’ve run around the mudguards occasionally. The nice thing about that is that it doesn’t have the silver reflective tape look during the day but does the reflective job at night. I know I’m a tart but I don’t want to ruin the look of the bike with bits of silver everywhere but do still want to improve my chances of being seen. Hopefully it looks subtle yet ridiculously visible when needed. It’d also be nice to get some of the amazing Michaux bar tape which has 3M reflective material behind the leather but with little holes to expose it enough so that when a light hits it the whole of the bars are illuminated. It’s a bit pricey though and probably not worth it for now.
The other thing I’ve added is a saddle bag. Whilst it’s not the most attractive of things it does mean I have everything I need in there ready to go and don’t have to overlaid my jersey with bits. Riding without a bag was one of the nicest things about road riding but then on longer trips more and more kit needed to be carried & it kind of spoilt it all again. I’ve gone for the Ortlieb Micro one as it seems to be the nicest looking and also I highly rate their stuff. It’s always really well made and entirely waterproof – I also have a set of their panniers. Moving all that crap to a saddle bag makes the jersey pockets feel much lighter and allow room for a jacket and food without trying to squeeze anything else in.
So far I’ve managed to squeeze quite a bit in there including a CO2 canister and adaptor, small first aid kid and sterile gloves, two tubes, patches, spare chain link, spare brake pads and a multitool. So the only thing I need to do is grab some gels / bars and my pump and jump on the bike and go. That is if I can stomach the rain and cold.
It’s had a fair bit of use so far and everything seems to be working well. The only thing that didn’t fair so well was the Conti tyres which I shredded in 800kms. I’ve changed to a set of Michelin Pro4 Endurance tyres which are much much better and have lasted longer and show less signs of damage in the tread. Unfortunately they only come in a 25mm not 28mm. The Conti’s came up as 31mm for their stated 28mm size and were confidence inspiring, especially round the rough lanes of Kent. However the Michelins are far nicer in the wet and cornering generally. They’re due to bring out a 28mm version in the New Year according to the distributor which will be going on as soon as I can get a set. The only other issue is that the rear guard has developed a rattle which needs fixing with a slither of neoprene. Strava tells me I’ve done 1200km on it so far which isn’t that much. I’ve hit my targets for this year and also been working on a competition at work which meant Dec has seen less riding. I’m not doing Festive 500 but will be back on it in earnest after Christmas day with a few longer rides round Kent.
I think this will be used as a do everything bike and for commuting and wet winter rides. It’ll be nice to keep the other bike purely for dry days, races and the Thursday chain gang. A perfect, but enjoyable, workhorse.
