New Merida Helmet

Today I got for myself a new helmet from Exadsports in Pune for Rs 2241. My relationship with them being very old I buy stuff from them directly rather than through a dealer. When it started they did not have any dealer for cycling products in Calcutta.

It's a shiny black Merida. The precise name of the model is like this - Merida Helmet Slider II K60 Black Shiny 58-63 cm. This is the largest size. They have this in two other sizes, I believe. My head size is 58. 

My other Merida helmet has hideous green graphics on it. This thankfully is more dignified with the Merida branding being in white. I adjusted the strap right away and it fits me nice and tight. There is a dialling knob behind the head which can be adjusted to fine tune the fit of the helmet. 

The straps are thankfully black. This will hide the discolouration that happens in the other helmet's white strap  after two rides. 

The new helmet came with a hood which I took off promptly. Those are meant for mountain bikers. I don't need them. There are two inserts that came for this purpose. I put them in the holes on either side of the helmet where the hood was stuck.

The Merida helmets are all CE marked. So that ensures some minimum level of protection as per EU standard. I hope their strength is not tested ever. The following is written in the literature that came with the helmet.

Product confirms to regulation 2016/425/EU and standard EN 1078 : 2012+A1:2012 this is personal protective equipment category II.

When you ride every day in the heat and sweat of Calcutta it becomes very difficult to manage with just one helmet or gloves. If it is monsoon and it's raining, or cloudy, the sweaty straps don't dry up properly and they stink. You wish you had a second one to wear alternately. I normally let my helmet and gloves dry out in the sun so that they don't stink. But in the rainy season that is not always possible. This second helmet, hopefully, will mitigate that problem. 

Merida makes very affordable accessories with acceptable quality. If I ever go abroad and have a lot of money I might splurge a bit on a Giro or Kask. For now let me wear these Meridas ;-)

The Most Unsung Component

Today I noticed a particular component on my LHT. Never knew it was there. Initially I thought it was a part of my front brake. It is attached to the steerer tube like a spacer, the front brake cable runs through it. I checked the Tektro website but it is not mentioned anywhere there as part of the brake. I checked Sheldon Brown's website for cantilever rim brakes. No mention of it anywhere in the diagram. 

Then I went for a close inspection on my bike itself and found the logo PS marked on the side. Is it a Problem Solver? I had read about the brand this afternoon in the aboutcycling website. I checked the PS website. 

Problem Solver is a smallish but specialised company in the US that makes this type of products that no one else makes. These are very practical, utility oriented products that solve a lot of practical problems for the cyclist. For example, on their site I found they have a strip that one can attach on the brake lever so that brakes don't slip out from a sweaty palm - or is it the other way round? The hand perhaps slips on the brake. This is my perpetual problem. I could certainly do with one for my LHT.

This particular item for example holds the front brake cable away from the frame and keeps it taut. Takes the space of one 5 mm spacer on the steerer tube.

Back to the product. The logo couldn't be found anywhere on their site but under the products section I found the part listed. It's called a Cross Cable Hanger. Check it out here .

I wonder if it is sold by anyone here in India. I don't know how people manage their cable with similar braking system without this item. Why is this not well known as a component? I have no clue.

July 19, 2020

Last night I had asked the owner of Happy Earth if he knew anyone who sold or stocked Problem Solvers in India. I had a feeling and I told him as well that if anyone at all did, it would probably be him :-) 

He replies saying he used to but they are very difficult to do business with as in they don't ever have stock of anything in ready supply. So sourcing their products from Taiwan doesn't make sense. They buy on individual customer requests provided there is stock in the US.

He told me one other interesting thing. It is a sister concern of Surly as are Issi or Salsa or Whisky etc. They all operate out of the same office. This was news to me. They are all part of the same QBP group. Check out their website here . The full form of QBP is apparently - Quality Bicycle Products. 

Adjusting A Mudguard

I belong to the old school. I call them mudguards (and not fenders) because that is exactly what they do, guard you and the bike against mud on a rainy day. 

Mezda's new bike came with a pair of unbranded plastic mudguards. Ritabrata had installed the rear one but found the front one fouled against the tyre. I had a feeling I should be able to fix it. So I brought it home and to cut a very long story short - I fitted it successfully today. 

Mezda came to my house with the bike and together we did the job over about an hour and a half. The stays were a little too long. And these are not adjustable stays like my SKS had. This is just one piece of a stay that runs from this side to that around the mudguard. It was longer than it should be by about 3 inches on either side. 

So what I did was to bend it like a bow and then fitted it. The precise amount of bend was calculated through eye estimation and a bit of trial and error after that. I did the basic bending by holding and pressing the stay over the wooden railing of our stair case. After that I had to do some fine tuning by hand. After a lot of trial and error it finally allowed the wheel to move freely. Oh what a relief when that finally happened.

A beaming Mezda after fitting the mudguard on his front wheel 

Mezda went for a short spin near our house. Found it wasn't fouling. And then he rode home without a problem. It's a distance of 5 kms (or perhaps 3.5 if you take the short cut through Mahavirtala). Hopefully the issue is solved once and for all. 

The tools needed for the job were these - Allen keys of 4 and 5 mm size, wrenches in size 9 and 10. The fender and the carrier (I do not call them racks) are perhaps the only two items in a cycle that require nuts. 

Incidentally I also had to adjust the pad fitment of the front brake. It was sitting on the tyre itself. This happened possibly because we had to turn the bike over a few times and also take the front wheel off and the manipulation one has to do with the brake - it's a linear pull rim brake. I once again noted the pathetic quality of the materials vis--a-vis my bike. I know this is an unfair comparison but I cannot help it. These cheap things work but working on them is very frustrating and difficult. 

Such small jobs done successfully give me a tremendous sense of accomplishment. 

How To Fix A Handlebar Rattle

Last night Mezda bought a new bicycle. The Psynyde from Pune. It's a general commuter bike. I think they call it Cycletowork. He took delivery from Stay Tuned. After a short ride he thought he would prefer the handlebar raised a bit. Rito said he had a spacer that came with the bike and added it to the handle. Mezda was satisfied and rode the bike home. 

Later in the evening when I went to his house he said there was a rattle from the handle. Indeed there was a play there in the head/steerer tube. Since he does not keep any hex wrench or any tool at home I asked him to come to my house the next morning, which is today.

I had read or even seen video about how to do this but since I never personally faced this issue I didn't bother to look very carefully about all the minute steps. Generally I knew in such a situation you just tighten the top cap of the head. Because the cap's job is to keep the spacers etc compressed down and tight. 

So that was the first thing I did. Tightened the screw on the top cap. It didn't improve matters at all. I took the screw off and tightened it again. Nothing much happened. The rattle was still there. Finally I learnt from a youtube video that you have to do a few things step by step. It's not just plain and simple tightening of the bolt. I am going to write them down lest I forget later. 

1. First loosen the pinch bolts attached to the stem but you need not take them off.

2. Now, tighten the top cap screw. 

3. Hold the front brake and try to move the bike forward. Does it rattle? Tighten more till it stops rattling.

4. Tighten the pinch bolts back. You are good to go.

It solved Mezda's problem. I also felt a sense of accomplishment to learn a new thing and help someone out. 

I did not take the handle out of the steerer tube. That is something I will learn later.

Today I also realised why my bike is so many times more expensive than an average bicycle (many people ask me and I cannot really answer this). I really saw, for the first time why a cheap bike is cheap. The head, for example, including the spacers, is completely plastic in Mezda's bike. I was pretty stunned by this. I never knew heads could be made of plastic. These are perhaps not toy plastic but some technical plastic like my mudguard is but plastic is plastic, regardless of what type of plastic it is. I realised why they say - steel is real. 

The steel head of my bike, whose photograph is there on the top (only the top cap) is from Cane Creek. I have no idea who made Mezda's bike's head. It's pathetic.

The four bolts that attach the handlebar to the stem come out from the other end on the rider's side in this bike. I have never seen this before. Of course I haven't seen too many such bikes very closely.

The screw that I drove into the head cap is of very cheap quality. You realise this the moment you touch it or try to screw it in, provided you have touched something that is well made. 

The pedals are nice. Thin but wide. They are made by Psynyde. The carrier they have given is also nice quality, given that it came free with the bike. The pedals were free too. Mezda got all the attachments for free :-) The carrier, mudguards, side stand and bottle cage.

A Dream Project

I want to one day build a cycle of my own. Here is the dream. 

Frame - Surly Ogre - Rs 49,000 Buy here 

Crank - Shimano Deore - Rs 9,500 Buy here or here

Cassette - Shimano Alivio 9 speed - Rs 2,441 Buy here

(Hubs - Shimano Deore Center Lock Disc Hub Set HB M 6000 Buy here)  - If complete wheel set is purchased then this is not necessary

Bottom Bracket - To Be Researched 

Chain - KMC 9 speed - Rs 1000

Wheel Set With Hubs - Shimano Deore 9 speed hub/ Ryde Sputnik Rims With DT Swiss spokes £ 170 - Buy here

Front and Rear Derailleur - 

Hydraulic Brakes -

Rotors - 

Shifters - 

Head Set - Cane Creek

Stem - 

Handlebar - 

Grips -

Seat Post - 

Seat Post Collar - 

Chain Wear Indicator

I got for myself a chain wear indicator from Ritabrata last Sunday, that is yesterday. Just for fun. It's Birzman branded. Both the chains seemed just fine :-) when I measured with the stick. But both had some gunk which the clean tip of the indicator picked up. 

Must keep it stored with a thin coat of WD 40 because the literature says it should be kept in a dry place. This is dropping broad hint that the unit might pick up some rust. Calcutta being so humid I am sure it will, sooner or later. My Crank Brothers multi tool has. It doesn't hurt anything but I hate working with a rusty tool. 

I had never heard the name of Birzman before. Must do some internet research on the brand and see what else they make. It is possibly Taiwanese and is following the same product strategy as Park Tools (American). That is what Ice Toolz is doing as well. They have more or less the exact same products as Park Tools at a much cheaper cost. 

Continental Gator Skin

700c x 25 @ 3K each from Stay Tuned

Having decided to keep the Merida Scultura 200 for good as a weekend rider for fast ego boost rides, I decided to invest in a pair of good tyres. I know what a pair of good tyres, properly filled, can do to biking comfort. This I learnt after installing the Schwalbe Marathon Tour Plus on my Surly LHT. They improved the ride quality by several notches. 

Today I brought home two Continental Gator Skins from Ritabrata for the Merida. These are reputed to be very good and puncture protection is quite fabled. They are not so fast but puncture protection and long life are two important factors. I am glad that they are now available in Calcutta. Unlike the Schwalbe these were properly packed and are relatively new. The Schwalbes never came in such original packaging. I think the packaging was thrown away to hide the old import date. But that's a different story.

The Continental tyres are folding, as you can see from the image to the left. Made in Germany. Size 700cx25. They have other non-folding rigid variety also as well as ones with wire beads. I am not sure if they are available here in India. My previous Maxxis tyres that came OE with the bike are 23. These new ones cost me, post discount, 3K each. I am yet to install them. I intend to ride this bike on the weekends for fast rides. So I can wait till the next weekend. I am in two minds whether to put them in with the spare Schwalbe tubes I have. Keeping tubes packed for too long might not be good for them. 

I plan to go for at least one brevet event and use this cycle if I find the comfort of the tyres to be good on the highway. Doing the brevets with the LHT might be a tall ask for me. After last Sunday's low pressure ride to Salt Lake I am not too sure how safe it will be for me to attempt those ten hour events. Right now there is no question of going anywhere. Everything has come to a crushing halt. 

I will make few more posts. After the installation - detailing the problems, if any and other observations. After the first ride - because comfort is a very relative thing and we forget or tend to take it for granted after a few rides. And the last one - after about 1000 km, whenever that comes.

July 29, 2020 - The installation (Velo 9 reads 775 Km)

Today being a complete lock-down day I installed the two Gatorskins on the Red Roadie. As usual installing a new tyre being difficult, this was also a little difficult. Folding tyres have this habit of losing their shape a bit. This was no exception. There were a few places which were out of true and the tyres were deshaped. But once the tube was properly inflated those crease marks went away. 

There was a paper stuck with the tyre under the plastic band with which it is tied. That paper has all the legal warnings etc in almost all European languages. Basically a useless piece of legal document. The place where the paper was in contact with the tyre had gone a little off colour. Possibly some mild acid or some chemical from the paper had leached. 

Anyway, with some effort the tyres were both installed. On the front wheel I put the new Schwalbe tube I had sitting in my saddle bag for long (it really has a very long presta valve because at the time I bought it that was the only thing they had at the Giant store on Bentinck Street). The older tube came OE with the bike. It has a patch repair done by me under the tube. I rolled it up and intend to keep it as my spare tube in the saddle bag for the city rides. If I ever go out of town on a brevet I will perhaps carry a new extra tube. 

The rear tyre had a Maxxis tube earlier changed by me. I have kept it. I had planned to buy a new Continental tube from Ritabrata last night but that didn't happen. Neither did he pick up the phone nor did he answer my message. I can take that later. This will do for now. 

I cannot ride the bike with the new tyres tonight due to the lock down. Will ride it tomorrow and report it. 

Tonight I also changed the two pedals. I had the smaller pedals on it that Happy Earth gave me with the Surly. I removed them and installed the ones I had bought from Firefox store when the Merida came. I think it's a Wellgo. Incidentally I also did two small videos showing how to install and take off the pedal. I will put it up on youtube once and for all so that I don't forget.  

I will also change the saddle and install the Probiker one. Later gator :-)

The Gatorskins had a tough feeling to the touch. It's not the rubbery feeling at all, like you would expect in a tyre. It's more plastic than rubber. The tread pattern is very distinctive. Like some tribal art or motiff. 

July 30, 2020 In Which Direction?

While installing I ensured that the first letter G was to the left so that the tire rolls in a logical way while going forward. I did not think these were directional tyres. But now I find it is mentioned on a forum that they indeed have a directional arrow (though many believe it is just a marketing gimmick). Will have to go back home and check it out for myself. If the arrow is in the opposite direction I have to take them off and change the direction.

Later The Same Night

Yes indeed they have a directional arrow. It was a real challenge to find it out. A very very subtle arrow on just one side of the wall (unless I missed the other side). I had to find it out with a flashlight. And of course I had installed them the wrong way. Didn't get it right even by mistake. So I had to change them.  No matter who says what, if the company says it should be installed in a certain way, I would instal it in that way only. 

For the front tire I just reversed the skewer and turned the wheel over. So that did not require the tyre to be taken off and reinstalled. The rear one cannot be given the same treatment. Had to take it off the rim and reinstall the tyre. This second time was much smoother than the maiden attempt. It got installed pretty easily. Funnily Gatrorskin still reads the same way :-) I didn't notice that they wrote the name in two directions. So no matter how you install it the name would read left to right.

There is a very subtle difference in the tread, depending on the correct and incorrect direction. There are two triangles. One large and the other small on the sides. Now that the installation is done correctly the smaller triangle is ahead of the larger one. Big deal? I have no idea. But Continental's design team doesn't think the direction is important enough. No one would notice the arrow and the tread is not as obvious as the Schwalbe Marathon, for example. 

Tonight I also installed the Probiker saddle. 

July 31, 2020 - The First Ride

 

Tonight I went for a short spin around Peep Inn and Menoka. Just a little over 2 Km. It was a lovely feeling. In terms of comfort over bumps and potholes it is not a patch on the Surly or the Schwalbes but as against my Maxxis Detonator they are a marked improvement. Tomorrow I intend taking it out in the morning. Will write a longer post about the impression after that.

I am measuring this bike on the Velo 9. I also intend to measure the tyres on Connect. Added it as a gear. I intend to keep the Garmin 130 exclusively for the LHT. 

Comments After 1373 Km - January 15, 2021

It's been quite some time since I wrote the above. The tyres have been since used more than I had initially expected to. These days, with Monisha going to work almost every day of the week, I am not getting a chance to use the LHT so much (I used to commute to work with it earlier during her WFH phase). So I ride the Red Roadie in the evenings - about 35 km each night from 8.30 to 10.30 pm almost every night of the working week. That's how the mileage shot up relatively quicker than anticipated for me. 

Another major reason for this higher than expected mileage is the tyre itself. They are so much more comfortable than my 23 mm Maxxis tyres and much faster than my Schwalbe Marathon Plus Tour that I feel more partial towards the Red Roadie now. My average speed now comes to around 20 kmph. This I think is fairly decent given potholes and assholes on the roads of Calcutta, not to speak of the massive traffic on most roads. On the Schwalbes my average is 15 kmph.

To make the bike more comfortable I recently fitted it with my Brooks saddle from the LHT. Now a good thing has just become even better :-)

I do not know how good this tyre is on wet roads. I have seen many reviewers talk about poor grip on wet surfaces. But I don't normally ride in wet weather. So that's not a major concern for me. I had one fall when the tyre skidded on a plastic road divider and another time I almost skidded on a tram line in front of Triangular Park because I didn't realise there was a small groove just on the side of the track. These are not the tyre's fault. These are my fault. I should not have tried to cross any of these from the side keeping the wheel parallel to the object I was trying to cross.  

Touch wood there has not been any incident of puncture on the road so far. I have in fact stopped carrying my pump on these city rides. The pump in any case is useless for high pressure tubes. I think there is a Presta/Schrader adapter somewhere in the saddle bag. I can perhaps get it filled at any tyre inflation point. But I will check tonight how the pump behaves if the tube didn't have any air in it. If it can take me to 40 I am good for a slow careful ride home. But can I really change the tube in the night, sitting by the road side? I don't want to think about all these really and banish these thoughts from my head.

A very important thing in the world of tyres in India has happened. The Modi government has banned the import of tyres from abroad. This now means that in India you can now only buy Ralson tyres for your cycles. There might be other local brands. I am not aware of them. I am lucky that I have German tyres on both my bikes. But this pair of Gatorskins might require replacement later this year if my current rate of biking is sustained over the next few months (today in mid January I have already done a good 400 kms and the tyre is already close to 1.5K).

I intend to request one of my nephews or nieces to bring me the folding tyres. Let me see who comes next. Bringing the tyres for personal use is not illegal. One never knows. The policy might be changed also. Technically it is not a ban. They have made a licensing provision. If you want to import you have to apply for permission. Reality is that these licenses are not being issued and nothing is available in the market legally. EU has apparently sought clarification. But it may not yield anything much because India's tyre imports are mostly from China and Korea so EU is not really affected. 

I spoke to Minku, one of the largest tyre traders of Calcutta. But only car and motorcycle tyres. He said companies like Michelin and Pirelli who did not have any manufacturing base here in India are affected. Their tyres are not available in the market. No wonder EU enquired about the ban. 

Michelin's India website has a big notice on the home page that they are facing supply shortages due to the import restrictions. I wonder what their sales staff are doing.  

German cycling tyres have very few takers in India. I am one of those :-(