New Carlton Thread

George,

Were your ears burning yesterday morning?

They should have been as we were buying some of your ice-cream at a farm shop near Defford. Vanilla with honeycomb that went down well with the nippers.

I will call you one evening next week to catch-up properly.

See you soon.

Jono

Yesterday we started horrendously early making honey and ginger [120ml] tubes, and then moving onto Morello Cherry! Yummmy!

I am begining to get this place ready for visits, but it is difficult to spend anything, as I am on a major saving regimen for some time to come. The cycle tyres are a necessity as getting to work is part of the process!

See you soon!

ATB from George

George,

I had a new taste sensation in Portugal recently. It was Fig and Almond ice-cream. The figs were dried fig pieces with crushed almonds in a vanilla ice-cream base. Sweet but delicious.

ATB

Steve

Dear George,

Thanks for putting up those pictures. 

The cycle taken about lunchtime and the rest this afternoon ...

The first shows the Carlton with her new winter boots. Schwalbe Marathon "Original" 700-28c touring tyres. Well it takes the snap out her accelration, but adding about a kilo to the wheels might be expected to have that effect, but she grips like a Land Rover now by way of compensation. I have a pair of 1970s Record hubs, which next spring, I'll get built up with the same Ambrosio rims, and get some really mean road tyres for them. And the existing pair can be summer spares if there is a puncture before work!

The second is of the Glover's Needle, and Sir Christopher Wren was the architect for it!

The third is of the Cathedral as viewed from the Westside on my way to work. Even my commute is now a pleasure in itself!

The forth is looking upstream at the wier and Diglis Lock.  Also on the way to work,

And the last is looking West towards Saint Johns. It is hard to believe that this view is totally built round in light industry and domestic housing. I am begining to warm to Worcester as a place after almost twenty years of living here, though Herefordshire will always have more attraction for me!

ATB from George

Dear Steve,

I am always trying to get some interesting variants made, and the place is fairly conservative. The lines tend to be very long lived! New ones that are actually taken beyond a development recipe are very rare indeed, but they have been making ice cream since 1926, so perhaps they have the right approach already!

I have an idea for a vanilla base with honeycomb and nibbed pecan nuts! We do a caramel with fresh fig syrup [inserted as a ripple]  and honeycomb pieces, which was a Christmas special which simply grew a life all its own to everybody's surprise. It is lovely. I have a tub in the freezer! But real fig pieces and almonds ... yes, yes, yes!

Dear Jono, 

That Honeycomb ice cream is superb and a real favourite of mine!

ATB from George

After two commutes, having put 90 psi into the tyres on Saturday, I have got what they do beside a narrow tread-free road tyre!

They grip as well in the wet as the summer tyres in the dry!

Interestingly though they are heavy and the angular momentum of the wheels with heavy tyres require more effort for acceleration, once rolling they are not noticeably heavier in rolling resistance at reasonable speed.

They are 700-28c, compared to the road tyres at 700-23c, so a slightly larger tyre. Two sizes larger really, there being an intermediate size of 700-25c.

For about two years I used a pair of Marathons at 700-25c, but I prefer these. The bumps are less abrupt, and there are many sticks and conkers about just now! I may not revert to tread-less tyres after this, except to get a new pair as spares!

This leaves very little clearance on the very close coupled Carlton! No room for mudguards with these on!

ATB from George

This photo shows the front meadow at work. At the end of the field is the River Teme, but apart from a few trees near the bank it is not clear where the river actually is! The Malvern Hills are about seven miles away.

And here is Dglis Lock [on the River Severn], virtually at water level! The wier is on the left channel, and cannot be seen at all.

Contrasted to a similar view on Saturday!

My cycle path to work is about four inches above the river level now!

ATB from George

Crikey George, I hope you have water wings for the Carlton in case they are needed.

I would not ride it through water, even a few inches. I'd turn round, and go round the long way!

The truth is that the river is very dangerous like this, and the eddies and whirlpools, submerged branches, and weed would be a certain way to drown! 

The river has come down a couple of inches as the tidemark on the walls showed, but it would not take much for there to be a very nasty flood, if the rain carries on in Wales for the rest of the week.

The footpath on the City side of the river is several feet under water, and the cellars of all the houses in Diglis must be full by now!

ATB from George

It basically hasn't rained all summer here. Incredibly for Vancouver, things are looking a little dry.

The proper rain (and snow in the mountains) starts in the next month-or-so and runs through until April/May.

The Carlton sitting on 700c-28 Marathon tyres!

ATB from George

Raining now. And how.

Lovely day here though. A bit windy, but the sun is showing its fair face, and its at least 10 degrees C.

I found the big front cog on the way home today, even into the breeze!

ATB from George

My post above was made on what would have been my father's 78th. birthday had he lived beyond 64!

My mother expired in her 68th. year just over two years ago. Neither are mourned in their absence! Both like  mill-stones removed as they quitted their mortal coils ... though both managed exquisite further damage from beyond the grave!

Anyway, I am as happy as a lamb on the fresh green grass of Spring today! For another reason, which is not to do with the Carlton. Mention of the cycle does make this topical

ATB from George

I have been offered an Alpine front crank, 170 mm arms, and 36/50 cogs - Stronglite - and would fit nicely the standard Campagnolo Bottom Bracket. IOS fitting, not JIS on the square spline. Easier on long inclines than my current 42/53, 175 mm crank arm, Campagnolo Record set.

I think I must accept!

Good for my Norwegian mountain touring as planned next year!

I spoke to my aunt yesterday, even if that was in the Bahamas, not the cold north!

ATB from George

Well never mind an Alpine crank  It is going nowhere, so if I have the chance to do the Oslo -> Skurdalen -> Oslo run next year, I'll still get it, but I did do a nice thing for the Carlton today. I took a pair of mint Campag Record hobs - 36 and 36 holes, at 100 and 126 mm axle lengths - to be built up to match my  Campag Triomphe/Chorus hubs of the same spec with the same style Ambrosio rims [DT or Sapim spokes, but in case they are are very fine]. 

These will be fitted with the best lightweight Michelin road tyres - 23 by 700c. This will give me summer and winter wheels for the old cycle, and a quick change if at home before work with a puncture! Big Marathon touring tyres or skinny Mich racers! A nice pairing for the seasons. Also I now have some superb lights. So that there are two on the back and two on the front. The new back one is a beast and it works. Cars now pass on the other side of the white line. I call that a result!

ATB from George

With the frozen patches and seemingly continuous dustings of fresh snow the commute has become a slower affair, though the Marathon tyres are superbly sure footed. I don't really want to fall off the old Carlton just now. 

And this evening I had a lovely super of real home-made Zureck soup! Perfect for the weather we are having! Spelling of Zureck may be dodgy, apologies ...

ATB from George

If you ever feel the need to change bikes a friend a work has just spotted the price of Team GB track bike another forum, about £100K plus wheels, saddle, peddles and a chain!!!!!

Jono

Today were finished a new pair or wheels, same the ones I have except built off mint 1970s Record Hubs [Campag], and fitted with my wheel builder's recommended slick road tyres. My normal wheels are built off early 1980s Campag "Triomph" hubs, which are the 1970s Record hubs without the old style oil lubricators. a point of style only, and directly interchangeable without adjusting the rear derailleur ...

Tomorrow I will pick these up, but not use them till we have some fine weather and dry roads!

One bicycle, and four wheels!

ATB from George

Well, I was never going to be patient, so I tried them out today! My friendly wheel builder was right, the Schalbe Blizzard Sport is a nice tyre for me. Rolls beautifully, and is light! Not so light as Vittorias or some others, but much lighter than Schwalbe Marathons. One hardly needs to worry about 200 grams difference [for the pair, compared to the lightest] on a steel framed cycle!

The new wheels and Blizzards ride deceptively smoothly - much better than the Continental Ultra Sports that I that were in place when I first got the Carlton, getting a puncture once a month in those days!

One little fly in the ointment is that my chain is completely worn out, and does not mate well with the new freewheel unit. Tomorrow, I'll get a new chain, and in time another freewheel for the set of wheels with the Marathon tyres on.

Coming home from work at tea time, I pressed on and certainly made the Carlton go faster than any time since the crash last April. I am getting the old power back. I thought that I might have lost it forever.

ATB from George 

Not gone for the Pro Race 4s then George

The Schwalbe Ultremo ZX is excellent if you are a Schwalbe loyalist...

Dear Svetty,

I explained what I hoped for in a tyre to my friend who built my wheels.

Lightness, but not crazy,

Decently low rolling resistance.

A reputation for not being puncture prone.

Not so hard to get onto the rim that you sob when you have a puncture on a long run.

Not the most expensive.

Five simple hopes, but rarely combined. The Michelins are allegedly bastards to mount, not resistant to cuts and grazes, have about the best rolling resistance, and are not a nice price if you have to replace before being worn out.

Superb if you don't mind the cost, and have the guts to fight a tyre off the rim and back on with a puncture many miles from home ...

If you read the reviews of the Schalbe Blizzards, I reckon my cycle friend gave me good advice, and I hope the tyres live up to the reviews that can be read on-line. He only pumped them up 95 psi, 'coz I am a flyweight! 

Anyway I got a new chain and a different 14-24 tooth six speed freewheel, in place of the one he had fitted, not realising that a 1977 New Record was my derailleur. The largest freewheel cog this venerable old derailleur can hand without fouling the idler cog is 24 tooth, and even then it is mighty close! My old [worn out] freewheel was 13 - 24 tooth [six speed of course] and I don't miss the 13 tooth top cog! My big front sprocket is 53 [and small one 42], and 53 over 13 is a seriously tall gear!

She is going like a bomb again! 

ATB from George

Dear George,

Thanks for posting these pictures, taken as soon as I got home from having the chain and freewheel fitted.

I reckon the old girl gets better looking as the enamel has matured, and the Brooks has developed the patina of use. And yet she is still smart enough to carry some new parts without looking too shabby! You can just see the one scuff on the saddle from the crash last April. A synthetic covering on a saddle would not look nice at all with such a scar, though it hardly spoils the look of the Brooks. Contrary to popular mythology the leather top on the Brooks does really well in these wet days, but anyone who knows that horse saddles and bridles are used in all weathers and survive a lifetime in good condition if cared for would not be surprised by the robustness of the Brooks. Just let it dry naturally, clean any muck off, and proof it occasionally.

At the moment it is quite impossible to keep the frame clean, but I'll give her another wash over the weekend.

It was quite funny talking to my friendly cycle repair person! I asked him how it could possibly be the case that I find an overly large frame entirely comfortable  We experimented and he measured up the frame and my reach and how I fitted to the cranks. Apparently I have found an ideal height for the saddle, and though the Carlton has a quite long top tube [theoretically too long for me], using the North Road Bar brings the reach back about two inches, which just happens to be ideal for my reach. He produced a very modern drop bar that would replicate the reach of the NRB, and said that if I fitted modern brake levers and calipers, I would cope with riding on the hoods. The trouble is that with these archaic brakes I do have, the force required on the levers makes efficient braking in that position all but impossible. That is why I found riding on the hoods so very awkward when I first got the bike.  

I'll stick with the archaic arrangements, and only consider something entirely modern on a different cycle. I am much tempted by a modern cycle that he should me, which never-the-less has a reach that fits me. Many modern bikes would struggle to match my short legs and long arms!

ATB from George