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oops
i believe i may have mentioned on at least one occasion, that the poor ritchey logic has been left in situ since at least november last year, while the cyclocross bike has fulfilled my weekly pedalling demands. there are several reasons for this, including the fact that i was enduring my annual obsessiveness with cyclocross from belgium and the netherlands, and that the state of islay's roads tends to favour the wider, sturdier tyres that are de rigeur for the ardent cyclocrosser. the hebridean winter appears to be never ending, bringing lashings of rain and sub-zero temperatures emanating predominantly from the east and often brought by particularly strong winds.
from my above descriptions, it wouldn't be too hard to infer that a salt-laden, damp atmosphere has pervaded for what seems like an endless period of time, a series of factors that are very unlikely to foster benevolent curcumstances upon the moving parts of a bicycle. if that was indeed your inference, give yourselves a hearty slap on the back.
in the light of brighter and arguably warmer circumstances on sunday morning, i thought i'd change it up, leave the 'cross bike in the shed and ride out on my road bike, machinery that currently wears a slightly rust-inflected chain, yet surprisingly well-inflated tyres. the freehub definitely demonstrated a certain tardy approach to rotation, but spinning the cranks and a quick skoosh of wd40 eased the pain sufficiently to allow yours truly to head out for a circuitous ride to debbie's for lunch. predominantly due to the position the bicycle had sat for those four months, there was light rubbing from the rear brake shoes, but a few dabs with the brake lever and a lessening of the rubber-on-alloy squeals, gave the impression that all was surprisingly well with the world.
that was, until reaching the hilltop adjacent to bowmore round church graveyard, when i attempted to shift into a more appropriate gear. all then came to nought. no matter whether changing up or down, the chain refused to move from the third largest sprocket. i stopped and attempted to pull the carbon derailleur outwards, thinking it to simply be sticking just tad. that elicited no change whatsoever, so i opted to return to the croft and use up more of my can of wd40. that failed to achieve anything positive, so i loosened the cable pinch bolt on the gear mech and a spin of the cranks shifted the chain to the smallest sprocket. however, it seems that the sticking point may be the inside of the cable adjuster at the back of the gear mech, since even with the assistance of a pair of pliers, i was unable to pull the cable any tighter, or, indeed, remove the cable from the mech.
such random ministrations were hardly taking me any closer to my latté and toastie at debbie's, so i abandoned the ritchey in favour of the 'cross bike once again, and headed into the wide blue yonder.
since that point, i have been congratulating myself and tom ritchey for having the brake and gear cables routed externally, making it a relatively simple task to eventually replace the cables. i'm of the opinion that if one cable is suffering the slings and arrows of winter's discontent, there's a good chance that they all are, so i will replace the whole lot as soon as is practical. additionally, though the chain has not seen action since last year, in the light of those few rust spots, it seems prudent to change that too. you would, of course, be within your rights to snigger and point out that electric gears, which hardly rely on moving steel cables, would be unlilely to suffer such iniquities in the first place. however, i have little faith that electronics would have remained untouched over a similar period, and with no insight into the vicissitudes of the electron, i confess i'd have no idea where to begin, and no access to a local bike shop that might.
the physical problems outlined above are not entirely unknown; similar combinations have been experienced in previous years. however, what does bother me is that the ritchey has lain unloved for quite so long, when a bit of preventative maintenance would likely have forestalled any hint of the problems currently experienced. the absolute worst part is that i believe i advised that very solution just over a month past, yet seemingly ignored it myself. as mentioned, i count myself fortunate that the remedy ought not only to be relatively simple, but satisfyingly economic, which, in the light of yesterday's treatise on e-bike maintenance, is of great comfort.
but it surely well behoves me to pay attention to my own advice?
monday 23 february 2026
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................at your service
though the need has drastically diminished, and there is a friend of mine locally who has far more time than yours truly, i try to avoid any form of bike servicing these days. long gone are the times when i had accounts with cycle parts wholesalers and could acquire the necessary, and also long departed, are the days when i had time, or a bike shed that was still in the sort of condition that allowed me to work on bicycles 'indoors'. two major factors have contrived to make that the case: since covid, i have taken on additional work anad responsibilities at my place of work, and secondly, the technology has changed so much, that i'd need to invest heavily in self-training and tools, if i wanted to provide the sort of services required by contemporary bicycles, particularly the now ubiquitous e-bike.
however, the latter state of affairs might well be fortuitous, particularly having read an article on bicycleretailer.com where the online publication queried several dealers regarding how their cycle shops handle e-bike servicing? the responses were perhaps predictable, but in the process, highlighted potential problems for owners of non-mainstream e-bikes, and some of the conditions that have been apparently dropped upon the bike shops from a great height. i should point out that bicycle retailer is a north american publication, but i tend to think the responses would likely be reflected on this side of the pond were a similar survey to be conducted.
for many, servicing is only offered on brands which they stock, whether the bicycle in question was actually purchased from them or not. few were willing to entertain e-bike repairs on items purchased direct from a manufacturer or via online sales. it's probably worth my pointing out that such strictures are frequently applied to similarly purchased acoustic bikes. one bike shop was keen to point out that even with the e-bikes they stocked from reputable manufacturers, their insurance company and the local fire department had very specific guidelines with regards to storage of batteries. that's something that didn't apply to bike shops in the halcyon days of yore.
additionally, in a market "overrun with cheap low-end e-bikes", one retailer had decided that it wasn't worth the trouble or risk to their reputation to service anything they didn't stock or sell. additionally, should any repair fail to satisfy in the long-term, they were likely to open themselves to unwarranted liabilities. of course, cheap bicycles and cheap e-bikes are unlikely to go away in the foreseeable future, so there are bike shops who will offer servicing, but as one said, "We service the 'bicycle' items such as flats, brakes, tyres, and tuning of direct-to-consumer brands, but nothing more. We do not service electrical items." and as we have discussed on many occasions over recent years, e-bikes of all flavours, inevitably need firmware updates, which, in the majority of cases, can only be handled by authorised dealers, which might leave purchasers of cheap e-bikes somewhat high-and-dry. it's tempting to say that's their own fault, but what if that's the best they could afford, or hardly made aware that system updates might be a requirement?
it would be a bit of an overstatement to say that e-bikes are effectively computers with pedals, but there's nothing to say that the industry isn't heading that way. after all, how often do apple and microsoft issue system updates for their respective operating systems? basically, the industry is still changing, and depending on your point of view, not necessarily for the better.
i spent almost all of my friday, sat in the visitor centre of kilchoman distillery, attending a tourism summit, during which one of the presenters highlighted the environmental necessity of offering alternatives to car transport on the island for visitors who may have arrived by aeroplane, or as foot passengers on the ferry. while that could reasonably involve acoustic bicycles, in reality, given the activity level of the modern holidaymaker, it's more likely to be e-bikes they're looking for. and since those who hire bikes of any hue seem less inclined to take reasonable care, repairs are likely to feature highly. on the island, the hirers tend to take care of their own servicing, but i'd imagine that, at some point, those repairs might be outwith their capabilities, and that's likely to be the case for many e-bike hirers.
when it comes to acquiring spare parts for the more anonymous brands, one service department siad that it can take several months for those to arrive, and the cost of any repair could easily outweigh the original price of the bicycle. this is not to suggest that bike shops across the world are ill-equipped to handle the vicissitudes of the e-bike market, but there's no doubt that those have been more or less forced upon them, by a wholesale change in the market. but i also wonder whether the owners of e-bikes are similarly aware that servicing costs, if they even bother to have their machines serviced, are of an order higher than they paid for the bikes they once rode to school, or that replacement batteries can be several hundred pounds, and without which, they're left with some very heavy bikes to ride.
it seems eminently possible that some e-bikes are of an age where they now require new batteries, even those bought cheaply. reputable brands will require manufacturer-approved replacements, but owners of cheap bikes are quite likely to look for cheap batteries, and we've already seen the results; it's no wonder that the majority of bike shops won't service or repair those.
plain sailing, it is not.
sunday 22 february 2026
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................the wheel, reinvented
the bicycle, as we know it, is well over 100 years old. depending on who you ask and which nationality you happen to be, will usually signify who you believe to be the inventor. as a person of scottish origin, it suits my purposes to believe that the attribution of kirkpatrick macmillan in 1939 as being the final word on the subject. granted, mr macmillan apparently adapted the treadle, a means of propulsion that had reputedly been common knowledge since the middle ages. nonetheless, the resulting machine featured two wheels driven by human power which would seem to fit the definition of a bicycle, even if at slight variance with the pedal-driven, double-diamond with which we are familar today.
over almost two centuries, not unnaturally, there have been many developments, some of which are a tad less important than others. there has been the introduction of derailleur gearing, internal hub gears, inflatable tyres, cassettes as replacements for freewheels; i'm sure you catch my drift. many others might better be described as refinements, such as integrating the downtube gear-levers up into the brake levers, the endless re-invention of the bottom bracket, a similar process applied to the headset, including an increase in diameter, and monocoque carbon fibre as, at present, the ultimate replacement for a replica wooden hobby-horse. of course, the frame material could change once again if we're not careful.
but as with many instances of contemporary life, invention, if not actually coming to a complete halt, has to slow at some point in its career. the only aaspect of the modern bicycle that seems intent on continuation, is the price tag attached to the bars on the shop floor, the numbers of which appear on an endlessly upward trajectory. each successive year's models often differ from their predecessors only by way of the frame colour, downtube typeface, or cosmetically altered groupsets. as we discussed only recently, even budget bicycles these days are so good, that any improvements tend to be as a result of having to be seen to be doing something.
oh, for the halcyon days of yore, when bicycles stayed pretty much the same year after year.
the more astute amongst you may have noticed that my mention of the various accoutrements appended to the humble bicycle neglected to include the saddle. though there are several components without which a bicycle would scarcely be a bicycle, and quite probably unable to work, other than those oddly conceived trials bikes which are actually sold without saddles or seatposts, it's hard to think of any bicycle that you and i would desire, arriving without a saddle. essentially (and i apologise in advance to those whose entire career consists of designing saddles), a bicycle saddle is a relatively simple concept, the only variation in which would seem a necessary range of sizes to accommodate a similar range of human bottoms.
yet, despite that last simplistic apprecation, there are already thousands of different saddles available to the velocipedinal credit card or paypal account. brooks' website lists 33 different leather saddles, alongside a dozen of their non-leather cambium range. selle italia features 20 road saddles, with a similar number offered by san marco. and fizik look down with righteous indignation upon their italian counterparts with an impressive 27 road saddles. and it is the latter which concern today's monologue.
in 2003, fizik introduced the arione saddle, the 300mm length of which hit the upper limit of the uci's regulations, commending it to many of the professional classes, and subject to such wholesale approbation, also to the great unwashed. it is probably a bit pointless to mention that there have been hundreds of saddles to reach the market since the arrival of the arione, the most recent of which can tout having been 3d-printed, as if that were a worthy commendation on its own. yet, despite the plethora of saddles outlined above, several of which many of us would struggle to differentiate, fizik has opted to re-launch an arione, "reimagined with contemporary materials and advanced construction methods", once again, as if that was a pertinent recommendation. (there are ten variations available, ranging from £100 - £300).
there will be those keen to continue the hobby of being early adopters, who will remainder the saddle currently atop their undoubtedly carbon seatpost, in favour of adopting the avant garde and replacing it with one of the latest ariones, if only in the search for bragging rights. but fizik's release of a new arione surely signifies that either they have run out of new names or new ideas? at the risk of displaying my luddite tendencies once again, many of brooks' leather saddles have scarcely changed since john boultbee brooks' patent of 1882. so, other than our defined need for 'new', do we really need another bicycle saddle, even if on the pretence that it reinvents the wheel?
and even if as the result of additive manufacturing.
saturday 21 february 2026
..........................................................................................................................................................................................................cycling climbs of scotland - a road cyclist's guide (second edition). simon warren. vertebrate publishing paperback 142pp illus. £16.95
at the moment, even cycling on a flat road is something of an uphill struggle. those who opted to remain indoors and zwift their way to fitness, must be regularly patting themselves on the back in congratulation for their acute perspicacity in having the great good sense to remain indoors, warm, dry and presumably sweaty. though xcweather confidently displays the daily temperatures in numbers that are reputed to be above zero degrees, the additional column that displays just what the temperature actually feels like, has scarcely been seen without the preceding minus sign for several weeks. add to that a persistent cold easterly wind, and you have the very ingredients that define the aforementioned 'uphill struggle'.
but of course, author and uphill obsessive, simon warren, writes purely of physical gradients, leaving the theoretical or metaphorical far behind. but on the off chance that you're suffering a quick burst of deja vu, and thinking that surely this book is not brand new and hot off the presses, let me appraise you of this potential dichotomy. cycling climbs of scotland by the selfsame author, was originally published in may of 2017, though under the frances lincoln imprint. this time round, mr warren's allegiance has been moved to adventure publisher, vertebrate whose publication of markus stitz' gravel rides around loch lomond and the trossachs was recently reviewed in these very black and yellow pixels.
i still possess a pristine copy of the original cycling climbs, but i have to admit that it is in an obscure and currently unreachable part of the croft, so i'd be fibbing if i said i could alert you to the differences between the original 2017 version and the current edition under review (i am a great fan of ascendancy, but more in a theoretical manner than actually attempting to ride up serious hills myself). but differences there are, the book having been updated by mr warren in advance of its current publication date. it should be no particular surprise to anyone that, even in scotland, things have changed a bit in the past nine years.
the original, clearly laid out format, however, remains pretty much the same. alongside the author's keenly observed photography, are descriptions of the location of each climb, timings for the ascent, a brief factfile including map reference, length, altitude gain allied to the average and maximum gradients. those are augmented by the author's grading system, ranging from two out of ten to a rather alarming eleven out of ten (bealach na ba with a maximum gradient of 20%).
"the holy grail. anything you have read or been told about this amazing road is true"
allegedly, this winter will eventually come to an end, morphing into the foothills of spring, meaning there's only a few weeks left to plan your assault on the hills of scotland, which would incur ridicule and folly were you to do so without a copy of this book by your side. legend has it that following a winter such as the one we currently experience, summer will be glorious. if you actually believe that (but even if you don't), purchase a copy of this book and start the necessary preparations.
we can talk about the possible folly at a later date.
wednesday 18 february 2026
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