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  • Excellent ride today in filthy conditions – in praise of my Charge Plug commuter
  • 13thfloormonk
    Full Member

    Had the Charge Plug out today on 125km of the Central Belt’s finest backroads, ice, rain, mud, overflowing field drainage, potholes, the works.

    Am loving having my Garmin Edge 25 on the handlebars showing me where to go now, means I never have to ride the same road twice and can plot some needlessly convoluted routes exploring the narrowest and twistiest backroads.

    (I’ve posted this pic plenty before but I’m so happy with the bike right now I thought it deserved to be posted again)

    The Charge handled it all impeccably, testament to the whole endurance road/gravel/adventure niche I guess. 600g 38c tyres are a godsend, not sure I want to go back to 25s on my summer bike now. 🙁

    A new DHB Blok Windproof jacket with an spare waterproof eVent shell in the back pocket dealt with the worst of the weather as well (several prolonged downpours in 3-4C temps, could have been awful).

    Thing is, for the whole ride I was struck by how well the cheap Tektro Mini-vs on the bike coped with the conditions. The only concession to performance I’ve made is to fit some Swisstop blue pads to the front brake, but otherwise they’re just standard. The braking was powerful, controllable (I had to scrub some speed on a couple of descents liberally sprinkled with black ice, a good test of modulation) and consistent, even in the wet. Most importantly (to me, and unlike any disc brake I’ve ever owned) they were silent when braking, even in clarty wet cold conditions on the sort of short descents that would never get a disc brake hot.

    Sorely tempted to try and shave some weight off the Charge with a spare QR front wheel I’ve got kicking about (I think that would chop off 300g) a carbon seatpost and a narrower chain, the stock chain looks like something a street rider would use for grinding on! Fitting some 28c GP4000s for summer duties would be fun also, but by that stage I think my fancy new road bike would be completely redundant. Guess I could pimp up the brakes as well 8)

    mucker
    Full Member

    Glad you had a good ride, you’re a braver man than me, bloody awful weather today.

    13thfloormonk
    Full Member

    Aye, I spent the holidays waiting for a weather window that never came, I had to get out.

    It’s a cliche but the right clothing made all the difference, just had to back off the pace a little when I had the waterproof on over the windproof over a short sleeve base layer, but never got cold and barely felt damp.

    Shame my Endura Stingray ‘omni-fog’ glasses couldn’t cope, I guess I was creating my own humid little ecosystem! 😀

    5 year old Altura Night Vision gloves are amazing as well, still seemingly completely waterproof, with space inside for my usual fingerless mitts and some thin liner gloves if needs be.

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    Kryton57
    Full Member

    Similalry impressed with my Charge SS “Grinduro”. Just seems to cope with everything, as do the WTB Nanos that adorn it. Im not tempted to change anything.

    Before Christmas I rode around the London Canals / Marshes system, stopped at a pleasant canal side cafe for lunch and returned home after. It was cold and wet, but one of the best rides I’d had for ages!

    13thfloormonk
    Full Member

    I could imagine the Grinduro being fun, my New Year’s Day ride took in more Fife coastal singletrack than I’d meant it to, lots of slithering about on the mud with my slick tyres, but for the faster gravelly bits I was definitely starting to cut some MTB shapes again, even pre-jumping into a small downslope when I briefly forgot what bike I was actually on…

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