Frank Kinlan's Blog

First post of the year, the end of 2011 proved to be a very subdued affair with very few prepared to set fire to £10 notes this year (fireworks).
I was in work New Years Day so no ride, proved to be an eventful block in work.

Tuesday: First day off, had a good go at the kitchen with the first all important corner unit going in. Didn’t like what I saw on the scales so time to get back on the plan.
On the website front the Dummies Guide  has taken off hit wise with the site having over 200,000 visitors so it’s time for a few changes.

Wednesday:  It was hard to resist going out for a ride but first things first.
Rather than watch paint dry it was time  for a BLT at the Eureka Cafe.
Signed up for the Wild Wales again, online and with PayPal now. RFID sign in last year just goes to show how far the CTC has advanced.

http://www.wildwaleschallenge.com

Late on I found out where all the traffic was coming from, 4th on a Google search for Garmin Edge 800. That is up against some very big hitters.
Called in at Vita with the newsagent across the road biting  the dust, things are going to get a lot worse before they get better.

Saw some of Springy’s work, would get a Google +1 from me.
More changes afoot.

Thursday:  Signed up for the Vita Cycles club, quite a productive session on the kitchen with  one of those fancy complicated corner storage units getting installed. It has to be millimeter perfect and you only get one chance.

Friday: Out for a bit of a ride, called in at Wheelbase to see if the tub puncture sealer was in , which it wasn’t and headed out for a loop around the Wirral. Took things fairly steady as I wasn’t getting a wind assist anywhere.  Good to see the Counsel sweeping the roads of all the hedge cutting over the last few days.
Went around the Marine Lake  at new Brighton which was a bad move as I had to wade through drifting sand that was about 4 feet thick with shoes with Keo cleats on.  It was like getting stuck in the Dakar.
Crunch time came in West Kirby, do I take the Grange Road climb out of West Kirby or do I wimp out.
I opted for the climb but boy was it a struggle, came 10th on a Strava segment which wasn’t too bad.
Strava.com is the latest cycling/running site where you can compare your times over a given “segment”.You can upload your entire history at one go to see how your doing.

It’s given me the chance to enter the “Col du Rest Hill” as a segment. Anyone that does it and uploads to Strava will get a time. It starts just after the bend, at a telegraph pole and finishes at the 30mph speed limit sign, 10m before the junction. Average gradient 5.6%.

Saturday: Work, no ride.
Sunday: Work, no ride.

Last weekend I had trouble walking after straining my thigh, an Ibruprofen later and I’m feeling a lot lot better, well at least until it wears off. It dawns on me just how powerful a drug it is. Then I recall riders taking the stuff before a ride and wonder how much damage they are doing to themselves.

Sorted the bike out Saturday night putting the Crud Roadracer 2,s on the back as gales and rain are forecast.  Sunday morning had me up early, looking out the window and putting the front one on too. This proved to be a mistake as apart from the road being flooded at the bottom of Rest Hill things dried out pretty quickly.

The mistake is Crud roadracers are a very tight fit on a Trek Madone and I’m subjected to an annoying rustle as every little piece of grit forces it’s way through the tight clearance on anything but the smoothest of surfaces.

Arrived at the Eureka around 9 with only about 6 in there at that time. It wasn’t to last with the Northend and CTC turning up in force.

I left the Eureka at 9:45 heading out to the Ice Cream Farm along the closed Capenhurst Lane.  Once out in the lanes the traffic was non existant, the sun was up and the wind was dying down. Things were pretty damn good.

Turned up at the ICF bang on 11 to meet up with Paul and the grandkids.
Headed out of the ICF towards Bruera and Saighton, where after passing a group on mountain bikes The Sunlight finally passed me.

 

They offered me a wheel so I tagged along on the back and got the camera out and took a few pictures. Just about hung on on the rise into Chester.

 

 

 

Tagged along with the CTC on the trip back to the Eureka and got held up by the cows crossing the lane going to get milked. One stood there looking at us for a couple of minutes, must be the dayglo jackets.

Another chance to test the MagicShine copy at the end of the ride, low light photography being an art I haven’t mastered. The 30 mph signs don’t come out well in this picture.

Not been a good week having picked up a groin strain. Haven’t been near the bike since Wednesday week, compounded by picking up another strain getting out of the Mini.
Paul had a Google Developer Conference in Berlin where he met up with the ClimbtheAlps.com developer, Dennis Wegewijs. It now has the 2012 Etape route in it. The views are unbelievable in Streetview.

In my current position I’ll have to give both of them a miss. 

I’ve had a set of MagicShine Bike Lights from DealExteme for about a year now and It’s now time to drag them out and make use of them.

The original 808 light was a copy of a Lupine Tesla 4 but at about a fifth of the price. I paid $75 for mine which is about £50.  For that you get a light that pumps out about 600-700 lumens on high mode from a single SSC P7 Led.

****** In ALL cases remove the screw that holds the handlebar clamp to the light body and apply some “Loctite”, nutlock or other threadlock compound.
Even a secure looking mount will work loose. As always you get what you pay for and in this case it won’t include threadlock.******

Comes with a 4400 mA/Hr battery that is supposedly  good for 3 hours.
Quality is good for the price but there are a few area where money has been saved. On the first generation the battery pack was not waterproof and it is fairly likely they were using unprotected cells. It led to a battery back recall in the US.
Shorting out unprotected Li-ion cells is not reccomended as there are explosive levels of energy involved.

Battery care, don’t let your battery go completly flat, ABOVE ALL don’t remove the charger from the wall while still connected to the battery. It will discharge to a level below  which  it will refuse to take a charge. It’s important other family members know this so as not to unplug the charger to plug in their phone.
This goes for ANY Li-Ion system.

The LED runs at 2800 mA which will quickly bring out any weaknesses in the heatsinking or the battery.  In use on a moving bike the light remains cool to the touch only heating up when stationary.

 

http://www.dealextreme.com/p/p7-water-resistant-ssc-p7-3-mode-1200-lumen-white-led-bike-light-with-battery-pack-set-82734

The above is a copy of the Magicshine 808 copy. The leads are not compatible with the Magicshine being 7.2 mm instead of 8.4 mm on the Magicshine. Waterproofing on the battery is poor and needs looking at before it gets wet. Beam is very similar to a MagicShine if not brighter. 3 modes including an insane  strobe mode, no annoying SOS mode.  Head unit looks well made and the mount looks like it is properly screwed on unlike the Magicshine which fell apart.
See update above, they all fall apart.

Swapping the leads would make it compatible with the Magicshine accessories.

Terrible picture above but you can ride an unlit path at a normal speed and the light is whiter than a car halogen light which are yellow in comparison.

Parts are dirt cheap, a couple of $ for leads, headbands. Upgraded battery packs are available that are waterproof and have a battery charge indicator.

Plenty of chatter about these lights on various forums as you’ll never see them in a magazine light shootout.

For  good reviews and beamshots of the lower price high power lights see Torcheys site below.
http://www.torchythebatteryboy.com/p/bike-light-database.html

Wednesday: Work, last day glorious weather to boot.
Thursday: Spin class at the Oval, laid another section of tiles in the kitchen, another glorious day. Called in at Aldi to see the Winter Cycling Offers.
Friday: Weather too good to miss so went out on a 40 mile Wirral ride.
Ended up at the Eureka where the Doc needed the use of the Lezyme tool to tighten a Mavic spoke.
Headed out to Liverpool where a gang from work were celebrating 30 of them getting finished up.
It was a really good turn out with 50 plus turning up, 3 blokes with 0ver 120 years service with the company. Not likely to be repeated by anyone I know these days.
The website was called “shit”, thanks Ian. Things move on, the original site is still all there in the pages across the top of the screen.(Jobs to do, check links still work)
Got the last bus home on what proved to be a really good day.
Saturday: Lie in then more work on the kitchen floor. Strange how you don’t associate Mapei Cycling Team with grout. This was triggered by seeing one of the old guys in the replica kit yesterday and reading the instructions off the bag and seeing the colours.
Sunday: Rain, record breaking temps over, glad I got a ride in.
Went to see Harry Potter in 3D before it finishes at the cinema.  An eyewatering £19.30 for 2. I normally go midweek for an early showing when prices are about half that for an empty cinema.

I’ve been posting about these for a few years now and the quality just improves year on year.
This years Winter Cycling Jacket has features found on really high end kit. The first thing that stood out was the thumb loops in the cuffs. No more gap between the glove and the cuff.
Comes with two rear pockets ,one of them zipped. The zipped pocket comes with an anchored lanyard to close the zip.
Water and wind repellant on the front  with Roubaix like inserts on the back and sides.
Gel on the waist seam will stop it riding up on a ride.

My only disappointment  was the lack of bibtights. The tights looked good with a decent pad.

The Winter Gloves don’t seem to have changed from a few years ago, good but there are more specific gloves out there if you are prepared to spend the money.

The Lighting set for £6.49 will get you seen and is better than no lights at all. If your on a roadbike you really need to be looking at something more specific again.

As I was coming out I bumped into a woman who was after shoes for her husband. At £20 they are about half the price of other entry level shoes.
SPD only and no pedals to match this year. It’s all a bit bonkers when you consider Look Keo cleats are £19.99 a set and last about 5 minutes.