Monthly Archives: April 2018

Marv’s Law of Punctures…revisited…again

Dear Rouleurs,

This is the first blog MMT has written on his shiny new IPad Pro.  MMT did the MS Cycle 2018 a few weekends ago. MMT has really enjoyed doing this ride over the last few years. It’s the only time a cyclist can legally cross the Westgate Bridge. As MMT rides almost exclusively an the south eastern side of Melbourne, the ride has enormous novelty value. MMT will write up a blog about the event, sometime soon.

No, the real reason MMT has drafted up this short blog is that his started to get punctures… again… sigh. In fact, he’s had 2 in 3 days.  Its been at least 18 months since MMT has had one. MMT was beginning to think that the Bontrager AW3 tyres were impervious to punctures.

The first occurred as MMT was furiously pedaling up Kensington Road in Flemington.  It is bloody annoying getting a flat halfway up a steep hill, in the bloody rain mind you. Judging by Strava, that hill is somewhere between 5% and 7%. MMT didn’t see what it was that caused the rear flat.  It probably was a piece of glass or metal, maybe a nail.

The second flat occurred this morning need Beacon Cove store. MMT had finished his morning ride and was… luckily… only about 3/4 of a kilometre from home. Another rear tyre flat, this one occurred with a spectacular bang. MMT had exactly nailed a small but sharp piece of bitumen, resulting in pinch flat. A nearby pedestrian asked MMT if he was ok. The tyre popping must have been very loud. As a nearby pedestrian asked if I was ok.

Sunday’s puncture took 20 minutes to fix, so MNT pushed his beloved Trek back home. This was going to be much quicker. Later that day MMT purchased a new tyre at Cycles Galleria.  Removal of the old tyre revealed a hole the size of a 10 cent piece.

So I feel like I’ve rediscovered Marv’s law of punctures, all over again.

Until next time, ride safe.

Marv

Marv’s March Ride Log

Dear Rouelurs,

With the good weather and MMT’s return to better health, March 2018 was an excellent month for riding the roads around Melbourne.  MMT did 825km, which is his second highest total, only exceeded by December 2017.  That month included the Festive 500.  This means MMT is doing about 200km a week. This is not bad for 48 year old FLAB/Clydesdale (Fat Lad At the Back).  Come to think of it, I should write a blog about FLABs.  Any how, here’s March’s Log:

MMT’s March 2018 log can be found here.

The highlight of the month, was Team MMT’s visit to Sydney, where he managed early morning 3 rides around the eastern suburbs of Sydney.  MMT hired another bike from Livelo, a very nice Bianche. See photo below, taken one overcast morning at Clovelly Beach.

Hmm deja vu,  actually MMT probably write a review of that bike. My only gripe being that Livelo seem to keep providing MMT with the XS or S sized framed bikes, which look like clown bikes given my frame.

This month’s Strava Suffer score graph is still showing that Thursdays and Saturdays are the days MMT is out doing hard work. This dropped off a bit towards the end of the month as life/other commitments got in the way.

The graph is starting to take a different shape. As MMT has been doing medium length rides as a opposed to his usual 70-80 km slog on a Saturday morning. Unfortunately, MMT has also missed a few RCC rides as well.

Until next time, ride safe.

MMT

Product Review: Bontrager Velocis Helmet

Dear Roulers,

Its been awhile since MMT has put together a product review. MMT has bought literally hundreds if not thousands of dollars of new kit for his cycling addiction since his last review. Lazy, lazy, lazy…however, one of the pieces he did buy, that really stood out was his new helmet.

First spied on the heads of the Trek-Segafredo racers in the 2017 Tour de France, it obvious that the Bontrager Velocis MIPs helmet looks very different from the previous model. The new model has received something of an aerodynamic facelift – and in MMT’s opinion, it looks awesome.

     
 Back View  Side View  Front View

According to some reviews that MTT read, the new version Bontrager Velocis MIPS now:

  • looks rounder than previous ones but has kept the same teardrop shape at the rear, and
  • the cluttered venting of the previous model has been replaced with a more sophisticated and uniform pattern of vents.

Three sizeable channels help push airflow through and out the back help keep the rider cool when riding. In fact, when the helmet is on the rider’s head the space for air is visibly large.  It is impressive to see an aero helmet that doesn’t compromise heat management. In fact, MMT wonders if he’ll need to wear a woollen cap under this helmet in winter given the effectiveness of the vents.  MMT digresses..

The fit of the helmet has also been reworked, and the Velocis now comes with a two-way Boa Dial, for a greater degree of fit flexibility. It brings the same minute adjustment as it does on shoes and minimises pressure points – although these do vary depending on the shape of your head.

MMT has read reviews that the fit may be an issue for smaller heads or those that split the sizing gaps (54cm, 56cm, 58cm). Fortunately, MMT’s ‘moon’-sized head didn’t suffer from this issue.  He has found the length of the straps a bit irritating, with the ‘leftover’ chin strapping requiring  a careful pre-ride tucking in.

MMT’s biggest gripe… and honestly its pretty minor in the scheme of things…, with the helmet, is that given its price, $AUD 265, its  weight of 284g, is really heavy.  There are much cheaper and lighter helmets on the market.

That aside MMT luurrvvves his new helmet. Now that winter is coming and daylight savings has ended, he’s a bit annoyed that it really dark on his evening commute.  He’ll have to swap back to his old Specialized helmet that has a 650  lumen spotlight fitted.  MMT give this helmet 4 and half Marvs.

Until next time, ride safely.

Marv