Having done quite well in the black Friday/cyber Monday stuff this year I’ve got some upgrade to carry out over the winter:

Zee brakes for the hard tail

170mm debonair air spring and Charger 2.1 RC2 damper for the Yari’s on the Mega

So what’s everyone else got planned?

What are your winter upgrades?

Warm fleece

New wetsuit.

On the SS commuter: Putoline chain wax, new Land Cruiser tyres, regreased: headset & wheels, new brake blocks, Halo clickster freewheel, new chain. Sorted.

I stuck some reflective tape on my mudhugger after someone commented I wasn’t visible enough on the little road section to my local trails (despite my lights). Job done.

A wheelset for the Occam. Already have rims so just deciding on hubs. That’s a winter evening taken care of building those.

Full mudguardage on the fatbike. Silent sine time today reprofiling a rear mudhugger to cope with the wider tyres.

Possibly putting together a SS hardtail with spiky tyres for when it’s really ice.

Personally, learning the front crawl and some Gaelic.

Mudhuggers back and front, not the prettiest solution on the rear but certainly very effective.
2.35 Magic Mary on the front which has turned out to be brilliant so doing something similar on the back next week.

Got a mudhugger on the rear and just ordered a RapidRacerProducts Proguard Max for the front to replace a tiny little front guard.

Bought a new light, which arrived a couple of days ago:

Ravemen PR1600 bike light – Mini Review

and might upgrade my Stumpjumper to 1x in the New Yr.

Very tempted to buy a road bike more suited to our pot-holed crappy roads; adventure road/gravel whatever – but think an n+1 is probably not really required at the mo.

Shimano Steps E8000

Fit the mudhugger rear guard I bought a few weeks back, buy a more suitable front tyre.

Mudhugger on the front

Bit of chain oil on the dropper actuator where the cable connection is

Clean the chain

Hard tails are ace

Compressionless cables for the SSCX – my brakes now actually work.

1) Putoline. Now after the filthiest of rides I just hose the mud off and put the bike away. Doesn’t need a proper clean or lube and there’s no grit in the chain. Drivetrain silent every time even in absolute clag. Best thing ever.

2) Knee length sealskins. No more cold mud splattering on shins, just warmth and dryness.

Putoline. Now after the filthiest of rides I just hose the mud off and put the bike away. Doesn’t need a proper clean or lube and there’s no grit in the chain. Drivetrain silent every time even in absolute clag. Best thing ever.

I really need to try it. The only maintenance I need to do on my bike is the chain which I have to clean and relube every weekend.

Two new Stanton Sherpas, one before and one after Christmas. It’s complicated…….

Two bargains from Merlin for me. Deore m6000 brakes for 80ish and sram x01 cranks for 150. I was tempted by the xt brakes for 125 but was worried by the many complaints of wandering bite point. Deore have always been very reliable for me.

Also replaced some frame bearings on the spesh and got the shock serviced by a local guy. Two thumbs up for wharncliffe cycle tech.

Full length waterproof troos (Royal Storm). Absolute revelation, warm, flexible, not particularly rustly (less so than shorts). It’s nice setting out knowing that I am suited and booted for anything the current season is chucking about. After about five minutes I don’t even notice I’ve got them on.

Depending on how badly by bb shell is knackered either a new bb or a new bike.

New Scandal 🙂

Pair of 5.10 freeriders and a pair of shimano gr7’s.

Everything else ive bought recently has just been maintenance related.

I really need to try it. The only maintenance I need to do on my bike is the chain which I have to clean and relube every weekend.

Usuall offer, if anyone wants to try it, just bring a chain (or two, three, four). After rides I just give the bike a quick hose down to remove the loose mud, the drivechain stays clean.

Managed to kill two reverbs since the end of september, one with a bit of grit lodged in the seal and the other has ingested a load of mud/grit past the seal.
Two new oneup posts, one 210mm for the big bike and 180mm for the trail bike.

In the new year its new brakes for both bikes, had a play with some cura’s, so they are on the list.

XTR mech for the big bike, sram type 3 mechs lose their tension far too quickly.

The Sweep RL2 at 120mm on my first generation Transmitter is being swapped for a Sweep RC at 140mm with one of those MRP Ramp Control cartridges. I was going to build a whole new bike, but the colours of the latest Transmitter frame didn’t inspire me – I had a red one in a box for two months then took it back. Meanwhile shopping from Pace is like waiting for Godot or I’d have had an RC627 frame three months ago.

I’d buy a 2020 FlareMAX tomorrow, but I can’t afford it. Maybe in the spring time 🙂

Loads this year, but all road related…

New winter road bike:

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2hVzaQd]Specialized Diverge[/url] by Ben Freeman, on Flickr

Changed the commuter’s fork so I could fit a disc brake, currently battling with a 10 yr old Magura Louise which was fine yesterday and this morning has decided to fill with air and barely worked. Also stuck 28mm tyres on the commuter to cope better with crap on the roads….

TOGS

Flex MTB Togs

Must put a front mudguard on.

TOGS

Never heard of them, when did they appear?

Togs

Is that a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist? Kinda like inboard bar ends, but only for thumbs 🤔

TOGS have been about for a couple of years now I’d say, though not many UK sellers, I’d fancied trying some for a while as I quite often ride with my thumbs over the bars on the uphill, on longer rides, or on the road to vary my hand position. I get cold hands easily, and broke a metacarpal last year, which only just seems about right, so thought I’d give them a go, and they were a bit cheaper to pick up in the USA while I was there last month.

Had one ride with them and I’m impressed, can use that over the bar thumb position, but actually have some control and leverage on the bars, and brake effectively. And if you don’t do them too tight you can just swivel them out of the way if needs be, though you shouldn’t need to.

Put proper winter rubber on both bikes (Specialized Hilbilly on the hardtail and Maxxis Shorty on the full suss).

Also fitted a riser bar to my full suspension bike; have no logical reason for doing that in winter, but I had a day off and just was in the mood.

Long enough that there’s plenty of Chinese copies on ebay etc.

Is that a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist?

The logic of riding with your thumb over the bar is two fold.

1) It naturally keeps your weight pushing down on the bars which makes climbing easier.

2) It takes the strain off the ligaments in your thumb. Obviously you can’t ride really technical stuff like that but it’s good to give them a rest on really long rides and save your hands for the downhills.

In terms of usefulness and application, it’s a bit like riding on the tops of drop bars.

A few quid and more hours than I wanted to spend on the conversion of my tiny garage (2.4m by 2.6m) into a proper bike store and workshop.

It’s currently still a work in progress.

Removed seat, drivetrain and all offroad capabilities!

Will fit pogies, full front guard and StVZO light. Job done. See you next spring.

RRP Proguard Max, to replace the tiny plastic mudguard.

Total revelation. All those wasted years, cleaning mud off my face…

RRP Proguard Max

+1, it stays on the bike all year round. Can ride without glasses even in minging weather.

New turbo.
5-8 hours a week most of this year and after a 6 week injury I’m going to get back on it 10-12 hours a week.

The upgrade..? Me!

3x Eewings for both bikes and a spare set, for ya know n+1

Nahhhh just messing!
Although…
🤣

ASICS Cumulus GTX shoes and some new running tights.
I commute in the winter but have little or no interest in getting out there for leisure unless it’s one of those clear, cool days that we rarely get over a weekend.

A Solaris Max frame.

Does that count as an upgrade?

New wheels so I can run 28 tyres tubeless.
Maybe another bike in February.

Michelin mud enduro front 29er. A proper mud tyre, not some half arsed effort like a shorty or Mary. **** me it’s good. So good that I can’t work out what to put on the back that would complement it. The der baron project on the back at the moment is totally outgunned.

Nothing witner specific beyond my old rear mudhugger fitted.

I have just splashed out on Black Friday discounted One Up bar and stem combo that does indeed feel different and more compliant.

Saddle and rear tyre aren’t so much upgrades as wear and tear replacements.