Something different

Today I swapped two wheels for two feet and went for a walk in the local Ochil Hills. From Tillicoultry I climbed The Law. From the top of The Law walkers can go left onto Ben Cleuch (the tallest of the Ochils at 721 metres) or right onto Andrew Gannel. I decided to head left to the summit of Ben Cleuch where I would pause for lunch. After a windy lunch I back tracked towards The Law and descended into Tilly via Andrew Gannel. It was good to be out in the hills on a great day but I couldn't help myself picking out lines for when I'm there next on two wheels!

Sheep and The Law

Ben Cleuch as seen from The Law

Baaaaa

Summer?

Today marked the first short sleeved ride of the year! It's been dry and warm the past few days meaning the trails are fast. 
Thinking back to this time last year, we still had snow on the ground! Is this a promise of things to come?


So dig out the short sleeved tops, put away the leg warmers and get out there!

I am awesome

That's right; awesome. I am awesome at coming off the bike! After a whole week of dry weather I get a day off work and it rains. The result is those fine, dry trails are now as wet as a wet thing. Not to be put off I waited until after lunch when the rain had eased to explore some new trails. What I found was quite exciting! A whole range of very steep and sometimes quite techy trails that with a little bit of thought can be linked up to make a good run. Unfortunately they are so loose with today's rain that I came off. Quite a spectacular looking result but I landed on my feet and managed to run to a halt. We're both fine. Next time I won't brake as much on the loose stuff!

It gets steep

Night riding

I've finally gathered the courage to get out riding at night since I'm at work during the day. With a Lezyne Superdrive LED light mounted on the bar and Alpkit Gamma headtorch mounted to my helmet the trails are lit up bright enough to ride. Riding the trails you're used to in daylight at night is quite different. The biggest difficulty I find is the inability to see well round corners and far down the trail. When night riding it's a good idea to have a helmet mounted light so when you turn your head to look into corners before you hit them, the corner is lit up (the bar mounted light won't illuminate the corner until you're turning into it). It's also a good idea to always use a red light on the back just in case you need to head onto the road.

So get yourself some lights and go out at night. Don't be scared!

Buy or build?

Are you looking to get a new touring bike? Why not try build your own? If you have a good knowledge of how bikes work and what you want from your bike you can do it! It's easier than you might think.

My fourth complete build

For me building bikes will always be better than buying one new. The whole build process is much more rewarding than going into a bike shop and walking out with a new bike. Aside from the satisfaction of building your own bike, there are two reasons why you should give building serious thought. The first is that building, not buying, can work out cheaper. Secondly, you won't have to take off components you don't like to swap for those you do (stock bars can be too narrow, saddles are often uncomfortable and pedals are usually not clipless).


For your first build the chances are you'll do something wrong. Make a spec list before you purchase any parts and ask around the local bike club or bike shop for their approval. They may even have some of the items on your shopping list lying around in the garage you can have for a good price. Don't think you must buy everything new. A looked after used handlebar will last just as long as a new one. Avoid things that wear out such as tyres, chains, cassettes etc. Used brakes are fine to buy but factor in the cost of new pads if necessary. 


If you have never built a complete bike before I would recommend you fully understand how bikes work and how to maintain them. The best way to gain knowledge of bike building is to start by upgrading the bikes you currently have. Start off easy, things like replacing your bar tape/grips or brake pads. Then move on to giving your gears and brakes a service to see how they work. There are many useful websites such as Park Tool Repair Help and Sheldon Brown if you want to do it on your own or ask if an experienced rider from your local bike club can help.

Getting your gears shifting smoothly is easy, honestly!

Soon enough you'll get the bug and you won't want to stop building new bikes. Don't worry if you don't. It's not for everyone. I know many riders that dread the slightest bit of bike maintenance. If you'd rather leave it all to a bike shop, that's fine.


Also, you don't have to do everything. I don't fit headset cups into the frame as I don't have a press as they're very expensive and if you don't get the cups in just right you can damage the frame. I leave this to a decent bike shop. Everything else I will do myself.


I hope this has inspired you to think about custom builds or upgrading components yourself. Don't forget you've always got your local bike shop/club to help you out if you get stuck. They'll be just as happy as you when the build is finished.