Saturday, April 10, 2010

Brooks, Lezyne, and Group RIdes

I received my Black Brooks B.17 Champion Standard bike saddle as well as my Lezyne Pressure Drive mini pump (along with a pair of shorts for Alanna) from REI.com. The shipping was $45 to Canada, and then I got charged $35 for customs. Needless to say while I never had a problem dealing with REI the shipping and customs charges are just way too much. They have a very large selection of bike products and I only purchased what MEC did not have, from them. VeloOrange.com is another place (also US based), I might try them if need be to see if their shipping is cheaper. But if I can I buy my stuff locally or from MEC.ca. I wish there was another Canadian place with a large selection.

I applied Brooks Proofide to the saddle and let it sit overnight, then buffed it off the top surface this morning. I sat on it and it didn't feel like it would be that uncomfortable, but I will only be able to really tell once I've put some miles on it. Hopefully the break in period isn't too hard on my butt. Here is a few pics of the Brooks to drool over, or cringe over in pain. One or the other.


The Lezyne Pressure Drive mini pump is WAY smaller than I thought! However is it 100% made out of CNC'ed aluminum, is light, and uses a hose so there is no pressure on the valve. I have yet to try it out, but it seems very sturdy and reliable, and the hose storage is genius. My only concern is the number of strokes it will take to go from flat to 90psi, supposedly it is rated to 120psi. I had a little bit of a hard time understanding how the pump worked and how the hose was stored and how big it was etc. from pictures online, so I'll try and get some detailed pics in.


The last pic is of the inside of the piston tube. As you can see it is hollow. The hose screws in here and is covered with the dust cap when not in use. You take it out and screw it into the other end to pump. One end of the hose is presta, and the other end is schrader.

So the saddle seems moderately comfortable on first sit, will try first ride on it tomorrow. The pump seems well built and rugged, but we'll see how the pumping action performs when I get a flat.

So until I get my Arkel GT-54 panniers (hopefully Monday) here are a couple of pics to tide you over. I still have lots more camping/touring gear to get, but for the most part the bike is complete.

As I mentioned I will be going on a ride tomorrow. A guy I met via a group ride and myself have started up a facebook group in an attempt to get an organized group ride every Sunday.

Bike the Street - NL

Tomorrow we will be heading up to Middle cove beach via Marine Drive. Should be a really nice ride. Maybe I'll try and take some pics.


View Group Ride - Outer Cove 20km in a larger map

7 comments:

  1. Saddle looks awesome!

    Best of luck on the ride, it sucks exams are going to kill me. I'll be in full swing when I finish on April 16th.

    Cheers,
    - MR

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  2. I have to agree with Matt, exams are also going to kill me, but you know that.

    I'll be out next weekend :)

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  3. looks like you might have the saddle up a little high in the front, IIRC the general consensus is to have it ever so slightly nose down, to force you onto your 'sit' bones. they take some playing around to get just right. I'm running the same saddle on my surly pacer.

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  4. I've actual heard the opposite Eastern. From what I've read, nose up keeps you seated on the wide part of the saddle.

    After proofiding the saddle and buffing it off I actually found it a little slippery and was slipping forward. Halfway through the ride posted above I actually titled the nose up even further! I felt no discomfort until about 30kms in (on my way home). Then the discomfort I felt was only mild and comparable to how my other saddle felt after 20mins, let alone 30kms. This guy agrees with my tilt http://sbseven-shaun-canada-2010.blogspot.com/2010/01/my-brooks-saddle-peace-at-last.html

    but whatever is comfortable for you! How about seeing some pics of that pacer? You can shoot me an email at h.newman.iii via gmail dot you know what.

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  5. cool, glad its worked out for you. I think I may have shown you a picture sometime ago, but I'll check if I have one here @ work.

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  6. I think I had you confused w/ another blog I follow, he has a surly touring bike also. anyway, here's the post I did on my surly, on my blog:

    http://uglyeaston.blogspot.com/2009/09/my-ugly-bicycle.html

    see ya,
    Keith

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  7. Hahaha no it was me, I even commented on that post. lol

    Thanks again anyway.

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