Carlton Thread.

Nice looking bike George.

Has it been resprayed as I can't spot any Carlton decals on it?

Great to see the Campag super record chainset.I have one on a bike not in use and must get it on my commute bike which is a Raleigh 531 c racer in pillar box red.

Best wishes Ian

Dear Ian,

Thanks for the comment I had the bike re-enamelled more than three years ago now, and there is only one Carlton sticker - on the front.

It really changes her character to put the big heavy tiyes on. It adds a good two pounds to the weight compared to skinny road tyres, but it makes her very foot-sure in the wet. In summer form carrying no extra weight [light tyres, and no lights] she weights in just a shave less than 22 lbs. Nt bad for an old one!

The group-set is mostly Super Record from the 70s and 80s, but with Gran Sport brakes from the 60s and last generation "C" Record friction shifters, which really are very nice to use.

The wheels are modern Ambrosio rims built on vintage Campagnolo hubs that roll for longer than you can hold the cycle off the floor! The summer wheels are built on Super Records, and the winter ones on Triomphes.

ATB from George

Isaac Newton might have a view on this. That Brooks must add a couple of pounds too G?

Nice to see a bike lovingly maintained though (point deducted for the handlebars ).

George, I'm using Campy retrofriction levers on my 1999 US Postal. With an 8 speed Record Ti derailleur. Regina CX/CX-S 7 speed freewheel. Handmade wheels - Campy hubs w/Omega V rims. I will run this bike forever. It's timeless equipment. Never really needed indexed gears. That said, I do have 9 speed indexed on my other road bikes. That's about as modern as I'm willing to go.

Another point deducted for having the wrong-sized frame.

Dear Winky,

The weight of the Brooks is about 540 grams, or a pound and quarter. I could save half of that with a modern and for me uncomfortable one.  So in its stripped down summer form it would come out at nearer to twenty-one and half pound, than a fraction shy of twenty-two!

I don't worry that a good meal the evening before can make as much difference!! It is my one concession to weight that is not the lightest in the running gear. As the pictures show this now well run in saddle has suffered no ill-effects from rain, mud and use in the wet. Just like horse saddlery good leather can last more than a human lifespan if cleaned and washed with saddle soap or proprietary proofing.

In my life I have had two bikes that were clearly one or two sizes too large for me, and two that were actually a nominal proper fit. Both these proper fitting cycle suited me not one bit!

Certainly no bike shop would willingly sell me a cycle as big as the Carlton actually is, but it is the most responsive, and also relaxing [on occasion] cycle that I have ever used, and causes me no aches even after a long ride!

Dear Dave,

I find that friction gears are second nature, and because the changes are moved slower than the spring loaded effort of an indexed system that the results are just as reliable. This is not a bike to compete on. I have never competed with anyone but myself [in time terms on known and repeated journeys], but it is a bike that not only works as my commute in all seasons, and yet is so nice to use that I have fun with it as well!

Dear Marky Mark,

Those North Road handlebars are very comfortable, and allow for excellent safety as well as the brakes fall to hand without riding on the hoods, which I cannot do. I get cramps in the thumbs and fingers trying to brake from on the hoods, and the dropped position is hardly the best position for slow speed control in traffic with modern drop bars. The North Road bar is the one that was general on road bikes before the modern drop bar started to take over in the 1930s at least.

They would not be competitive [and neither would the rest of the bike] in modern road racing and time trialling, but that is not why I keep and cherish the Carlton. It is fun and also a practical commuter. Unlike its analogous old style sports car, it is immensely reliable though. And simple to keep in tiptop state of repair.

I have not yet got round to getting some bar ends for it though. Small diameter tube makes this awkward.

Anyway, its just a bit of fun.

ATB from George

Concerning a mad-cap scheme to ride this venerable cycle from Oslo to a lovely valley not eight km. from Geilo in the "Central Massive" of Norway next summer - and back again a week later.

My aunt is terribly cautious. She really does not quite think it is a good idea, but then Amundsen riding on ski to the South Pole was hardly a sensible notion. Scott walking it was clearly less sensible ....

But she told me that it is only 144 miles, though my research shows that it is actually 151 miles.

I had misremembered the distance as I was working on the distance from my late grandparents' house on the east side of the Oslofjord to the south and so further ...

Two by 75 miles does not sound quite as terrifying as two days of 90 miles!

I shall work my Aunt round!

I shall set the bike up with the tough Marathon tyres rather than the skinny ones, and with a top light set, even for day running. It is not a race but an endurance test!

This is the destination!

 I took this picture [joined pair of exposures] in the first week of September 2000. At six am. The air temperature was zero.

ATB from George

Unlike the gears

What is the aphorism? This is old and therefore good; this is new and therefore better?

Dear Mark,

You are quite right. The gears levers are a long way from being easily at hand, but once you get used to downtube shifters, it becomes second nature. Of course they are very close to the front tyre, and so potentially you could end up making contact ...

But changing gear on a cycle in voluntary, and so it hardly matters if the levers fall to hand. For safety the brakes need to be close by.

Dear Lionel,

Old is good and new is better.

Not always. There were some dogs of bikes from the old days, and some dogs of bikes in shops new today. An old but fine bike can be far more pleasant to use than a new but low quality modern bike. Most of the old bikes that were not up to much have long since been thrown out ...

ATB from George

Today i had my first bicycle ride since, er, May? or was it June? i can’t remember but anyway - today was a fine sunny autumn day to get out and ride.

After the usual hunting around for my kit, spare inner tube, tyre levers, rain jacket all folded up tight and stuffed into rear pockets, i was ready to pump up the tyres.

Going was very pleasant, a light cool wind in an odd direction [couldn’t quite make it out] but it never made me struggle, kept in a small gear 42x15 with occasional 17 or 19 going up the couple of inclines, [only hump back bridges but gosh i am unfit!]

Nothing stressful, cadence around 80rpm, fairly flat 14mile course i’ve done a few hundred times over the years. Took me 58 minutes today, highly enjoyable though, with time to view the scenery, will have to get out more often now i remember how good it feels : )

Debs

Dear Debs,

Thanks for your nice post.

ATB from George

My fantastic Norwegian Aunt has prevailed. I am not going to take the Carlton to Norway next summer for that marathon up to the mountains and back.

She simply asked me how happy I would be if she were doing it , while I waited by the phone for a call from a hospital to inform of some dreadful crash on the road ...

Point taken. The tunnels are very narrow and lorries drive through them all too fast for a cycle. Of course they see the oncoming cars because the headlights must be on, but this scenario is not a small cause of fatalities among cyclists in those tunnels each year.

Still going to Norway for a more restful holiday though!

ATB from George

That is such f&^%$ng bollocks. Live a little, man. Or just stay nice and safe in bed. Cycle touring is not some death defying thrill stunt. Sheesh!

Dear Winki,

The plan was made two years ago for September 2012, but last year [this time of year] was only six months after my broken tibia, so was postponed. I have to respect my aunt's strictures as she is my host in Norway. And I could not afford to go if staying other than with family.

Perhaps the solution is to cycle in France or Italy in the next couple of years?

Norway has few major roads and even fewer minor roads to avoid the major ones. The traffic is funnelled. It may not be fast by UK standards, but the roads are very poor from the sight-line POV, and a good surface and reasonable reflexes cannot make up for the mistake of a forty tonne Volvo or Scania driver, who never saw you at 40 or 50 kph [kpt in Norway where t stands for time, and means hour]. My aunt is [or at leas was] worried. I have already resigned the idea.

I'd rather enjoy some fishing in Skurdalen than upsetting my favourite relative.

ATB from George

Bad Mouse Smell

A couple of Sundays ago, while getting ready for my first bicycle ride in 3 months, i couldn't help but notice a very bad dead animal smell [like something the cat dragged in some time ago…?] a few moments later i discovered the mummified corpse of the deceased rattling around inside one of my cycle-shoes.

After laying the departed mouse to rest in the garden, it became very apparent that the cycle shoe in question [one of the most comfortable pairs of blue Shimano SPD shoes that ever caressed my feet, at a cost of 70 quid] stunk pretty bad of the dead mouse smell, and could not be used on this occasion.

Filling a bucket with water + disinfectant, I submerged both shoes in the bucket to soak, and i put on an alternative pair of cycle-shoes to wear for my ride.

After my ride i removed the stinky shoes from the bucket but to my disappointment the bad mouse smell was as bad as ever : (

So for a second time - hot water and a stronger dose of disinfectant, this soak lasting the time it took me to go for a bath, get dry and change into warm clothing.

But later, upon examination, the bad mouse smell was still fiercely present, perhaps getting worse i wondered, as the stench blew my hat off!

So for third time lucky... very hot water with some non-bio washing power and rubber gloves on to give those shoes a good thrumping in the bucket for a few minutes, and then leave to soak for two hours.

I almost forgot about them in the bucket out on the patio, but rubber gloves on yet again to take them out of bucket, hose them off and hang them up on the washing line taking care not to sniff them this time because I was hungry and about to start lunch.

However the next day the shoes ponged as bad as ever, the sort of smell that burns the nostrils, scars the memory, and gives your hair a parting.

The dead mouse smell lives on in the shoes…

The shoes are in the dustbin : (

Debs

Debs,

Perhaps you accidentally borrowed a pair of my wife's shoes. She's a beautiful, feminine, delicate, extremely hygienic woman but her feet don't half pong. Unfortunately she can't smell it as clearly as I can.

Tom,

It is very odd how some people have the misfortune of pungent foot odour discord whilst [most] of us do not.

I’m lucky to have strong healthy feet of the non nasty niff variety, so I’m quite sure that’s not what the wee little beastie died of.

And the gift of having a refined and sensitive nose is not always such a lucky ability either :/

Debs

Debs

Shame about your shoes. Might I suggest putting them in the washing machine? It worked for my sons shabby trainers although they didn't contain a dead mouse!  Wrap them in an old towel to protect the drum during the spin cycle.

That's not a bad idea, Rich.

Just wondering how high to go with temperature (?) I’m thinking a 40° wash would be as hot as the shoe construction may cope with, but nothing to lose…

except that dead mouse smell is so extremely offensive i worry if the stench will contaminate the washing machine - although i would nuke it after with a very hot bleach and salt wash n rinse cycle.

Debs

Febreze can work wonders.

http://cyclingtips.com.au/2013...roadtripping-norway/

Cycling in Norway....Doesn't look too bad to me.

Dear Winki,

The real problem is not the quality of the roads, but rather that my route is from Oslo to point half way along the most significant road-route from Oslo within Norway, being to Bergen. Okay the routes from Oslo to Sweden, Denmark and Germany are more significant, but getting up to Skurdalen would have been as quiet as the grave in 1946, but today the same tunnels serve a very busy route, whichever valley you choose on the way.

I do hope to take the Carlton though, for shorter routes, Flam and so on where cycles are catered for, near enough to Skurdalen for my aunt to hire a bike for a day with me whilst in the mountains!

ATB from George