+1 for White Lightning – I’ve used White Lightning (Clean Ride IIRC) in the dry for years, tried Squirt recently and wasn’t that impressed – too sticky (and it had three weeks to dry!), that and it’s only lasted 15k each time before sounding nasty. Going back to WL unless anyone can recommend anything else that will last 50-60k+ and be dry enough not to make a mess everywhere?
Could just be a dodgy middle ring? A couple of years ago I swapped middle and outer XT rings for Middleburn equivalents (7732 IIRC and 44t outer, slickshift). As 7732 were getting hard to get hold of I got some spare 7732s while I could. The front shifting was fine before but became awful even with a nearly new chain, I investigated and when comparing the (supposedly identical) middle rings I was alarmed at the difference between the width of the teeth. No amount of tweaking would fix the shifting. Suffice to say I went back to XT and the Middleburn all went on fleabay.
13 years ago I watched City at Wembley, in that play-off game against Gillingham to escape the third tier of English football. Quite a remarkable time since then, today will be especially satisfying for City, the single game this season that’s had the biggest bearing on goal difference (+5 City, -5 United) was that result at Old Trafford. So effectively it could be argued the title was won that day in October if it comes down to goal difference.
But may the best teams win, lose or draw graciously today.
The Northernmost Waitrose is now in central Manchester, therefore the borders have shifted. The North now starts in north Manchester. Boggart Hole Clough precisely.
Maybe not so much of an evolutionary dead end – you might be a terminally fussy eater and suffer from reproductive mechanical and biochemical difficulties but you have an ace up your sleeve – becoming cute. So cute that you get the longpigs to look after you and even help out in tender moments with a stick…
LED lights. Before, all we had were halogens or HIDs with huge batteries, I think people take the advances in lighting for granted. Luckily I sold my Lupine Edison 5 about six years ago on eBay for close to £400 just before the LED revolution started, that highlights how much LED tech has moved on. My Edison was complicated and tempremental, and prone to giving you a ‘bit of a tingle’ if you touched the head unit with wet hands. New bulbs might be needed at any time, were £120 and took a fortnight to be fitted and returned.
Proper, reliable LEDs made batteries and lights so much smaller and lighter, and night rides so much less faff. Anything that makes it easier to ride at any hour has to be a good thing.
Avoid them like the plague. The only things I’ve ordered from them (two orders a year apart) both turned up weeks late and damaged due to being badly packed. If you order something and have to enquire as to its whereabouts expect to be met with genuine abuse and lies from the owner.
I rang them last year asking about a frame they had on their website, was met with sarcasm on the phone from Mark Anthony the owner for having the audacity to ask if a) they had the frame in stock on their premises and b) if I could collect. This was a ti frame they had listed as £1500 ish, if they’re abusive on the phone when you’re looking to spend that sort of money with them then that tells you all you need to know.
To be fair one long ride is about all I got out of White Lightning Clean Ride but the easier/less messy application and odour-free-ness of Squirt will swing it for me even if performance / longevity is only the same. There should be plenty reporting back after the weekend anyway.
Been using White Lightning for years on my Klein; just put Squirt on new (+degreased chain) drivetrain on my new build so can compare like with like. First impressions of Squirt are that it’s a lot less messy to apply from the bottle being a bit thicker (not that White Lightning was really messy but there was always a little wastage/dripping) and that Squirt seems a little less ‘waxy’ on the chain (possibly a tiny bit more sticky). With Squirt I repeated the initial application twice, let dry then wiped thoroughly. With White Lightning on a new/degreased chain it’d need up to half a dozen initial applications before I / my rear mech was happy with it.
Jelly babies of the Bassett’s variety used to give me a sickly feeling, whether eaten when out riding or not. Having discovered Waitrose own brand jelly babies which have more flavour and no sickliness I’m a happier bunny.
For the last ten years I’ve lightly scrubbed the factory stuff off the outside of the chain with a bit of degreaser and toothbrush, rinsed very well in warm then boiling water then dried in the oven (gas 1, 5 mins) and wiped while still warm. Two coats of your usual lube, wipe off the excess and it’s fine. The factory stuff is a grit magnet and used to cause chainsuck when left on.
Never had a chain stretch or break within anything like 600 miles.
Sent some runs to Denmark a few years ago, can’t remember exact service (was at Post Office so Parcel Farce), cost about £25, they got lost for three weeks then turned up just after I offered the buyer a refund.
Got a bag of cable donuts in the same size box. Some gear cables a week later did arrive in a jiffy bag, I thought perhaps they’d stopped the madness, then a lizard skins chainstay protector arrived in an even bigger box, padded out with brown paper. The mind boggles.
