Wanted: Good home for faithful bicycle.

Yep, that’s right. Resurrectio is for sale. After a few good years it’s time for a change and I’ve moved on to a brand new Ridgeback Flight 01 hybrid bike to continue my Everyday journeys.

Here’s the full ad as posted on Ebay:

Custom Saracen ‘Resurrectio’ Touring/Hybrid Bike – Not Surly or Rivendell

Based on a high quality chromo Saracen hybrid frame, this is a bike for the connoisseur and is the ideal commuter and tough touring bike.

The frame itself is 59cm measured from centre to top, with an upsloping top tube. Virtual top tube length is 58cm. I’m 5ft 11ins and it’s a perfect fit. Neatly TIG welded from Tange chromoly, it features mounts for v brakes or cantilevers, two water bottle mounts with rack and mudguard mounts. Forged horizontal dropouts spaced for 135mm hubs. Fender mounts are high quality threaded ones. A quality frame.

The fork is a chromo unicrown fork from SJS cycles, 1 inch threaded, with bosses for racks and mudguards and v brake/canti studs. The frame is finished in metallic dark green with Resurrectio decals from Rivendell – www.rivbike.com  whose bikes the custom build was inspired by.

Frame and fork has clearance for 40mm tyres with mudguards.

The frame has only been used for 2 ½  years but is new old stock from the 1990s – when Saracen still built their frames out of steel and in the UK. The fit and finish is excellent.

The components are as follows:

Handlebars: Tioga flat, 5 degree 58cm in polished aluminium – less than 1 month of use. Bought NOS.

Stem: Nitto Technomic 90mm in cold forged polished aluminium.

Brake levers: Tektro V Brake

Shifters: Sun Race Friction Thumbshifters

Grips: Herman Cork/Rubber anatomic

Headset – TH Industries 1inch threaded

Seatpost – Kalloy 26.4mm microadjust

Saddle – Brooks B17 Standard Honey

Brakes: Tektro V Brake black with adjuster noodles

Front Mech – Shimano Deore LX

Rear Mech – Microshift RD M45

Cassette – Shimano 9 Speed 11-32

Crank – Suntour Superbe 130BCD road triple with SJS Cycles CNC Chainguard replacing outer ring and Stronglight dural 42t and 24t middle and inner rings. Great gear range for touring without much gear ratio duplication. A great setup for commuting, off roading, and touring. Velo Orange market a similar setup.

Bottom Bracket: Shimano Deore cartridge

Pedals – Wellgo DX style platforms in silver

Tyres – Schwalbe Delta Cruiser Cream 700×35

Rims – Mavic A319 in silver – less than a year old

Hubs – Shimano Deore LX in graphite grey

Spokes: DT

Mudguards – SKS 45mm in silver.

The bike is in immaculate condition and has been lovingly looked after from day one. There are a few light scratches on the paintwork, on the top tube and on the seat stay above the drop out but they don’t detract from the overall appeal of the machine.

If you’re interested in acquiring the bike take a look at the listing here:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Custom-Saracen-Resurrectio-Touring-Hybrid-Bike-Not-Surly-Rivendell-/230692937979?pt=UK_Bikes_GL&hash=item35b65ee0fb

October and November to me is always like a hurried set change between acts. The languid ambiance of summer is rudely dismantled by a brutal road crew of wind, hail and rain. And so it was today. I was out of bed at 6am, dark outside and the sound of heavy rain pelting against the roof and windows. The trees outside were whipping around as I filled the kettle and made a quick breakfast.

While the kettle was boiling I got dressed for action – long sleeved base layer and waterproof done up to the neck. Waterproof pants stretched on over big boots, gloves at the ready. In my bag my t-shirt and merino jumper awaited for a quick change once at work.

I poured boiling water into the cafetiere and then checked the bike for punctures; all the while the rain continued to clatter like gravel against the front door. I took my favourite big green mug, added a little milk and then poured the coffee. The next five minutes is my favourite time. The rest of the house still slumbering, the world outside slowly waking up, a cup of coffee warming the hands and the anticipation of a ride ahead. Coffee drunk, I took a cup upstairs to Mrs Everyday Cyclist and kissed her goodbye before making final preparations for lift-off.

Coffee mug on the drainer, bag on back and cinched tight, helmet on, lights on. A red blinky on the back, a repurposed LED torch up front and a white blinky attached to my bag, for a moment the hallway was alight like Christmas. A cursory final squeeze of the tyres and check of the brakes for luck. I opened the door and the drama of the morning weather rushed in – the house took a deep draught of autumn’s brew. I wheeled the bike out, clicked the door shut quietly behind me and at once I was engaged with the elements. Street still dark under sodium light I shot down the hill, spray fizzing from my tyres, wind lashing shoals of heavy raindrops at face and body. But inside by waterproofs, gloves and big boots, I was warm and dry as I pushed on into town, uphill, into the wind, feeling 100 percent alive.

A little like Edward Norton’s character in Fight Club, I have my single-serving commuter friends. My current single serving friend is Coventry Eagle, so called for his honest to goodness bluish-greenish coloured Coventry Eagle hybrid bike, decked out with bags, ‘guards and racks with the focus on function and innovation. Eagle gets on at Manchester and alights at Warrington and over the weeks we’ve had a long, linear, serialised chat, never veering too far away from our obvious common denominator – bikes.

CE has recently converted to bike/train commuting, selling his car a few months ago, buying a cheap second-hand bike and commuting to work on the train in all weathers. His enthusiasm is boundless – he gets up early in the morning, goes for a morning swim (getting to the pool by bike of course) then continues on to the station, where he jumps on the train and cracks open his latest charity shop second hand book buy. Half an hour of blissful escape into fiction and he’s in Manchester, where he rides a few miles to his place of work. At the end of the day it’s reverse and rewind and it’s usually at this point when our paths cross.

We’ve exchanged stories about our work, our families – his daughter is an international level swimmer, and newbie though he may be, his commuting kit is finely honed – a pannier for his swimming kit and a Carradice saddlebag, bungeed to the rack for a sway free ride. He taught me a neat trick to prevent the bike rolling around on the train. He has a short, maybe 6 inch, webbing strap with a buckle, which he uses to apply and lock-on the front brake, stopping the bike rolling around on the carriage. It’s simple and ingenious. Gotta be the front wheel – this way the bike can’t steer, tuck its front wheel under and gracelessly curtsey to the floor. Now I have a similar webbing strap, which is kept snugged around my top tube, ready to steady the bike on the rocking, jostling railway carriage.

Coventry Eagle is a big, happy, outgoing chap who talks to nearly everyone he meets. In our insular single serving world he’s a bit of an anomaly. In the library culture of the train, you tend to speak to your neighbour only when necessary. There’s a fine line between ‘friendly commuter’ and ‘crank’ and my bike friend Coventry Eagle walks that line with aplomb.

Why am I relating this to you? Well, let’s face it; I wouldn’t have struck up this friendship in that parallel universe where Resurrectio and Coventry Eagle drive to work. I’ll have to ask his real name next time I see him, before he does what most of my single serving train friends do; suddenly, one day they change trains, change jobs, change lives and that’s that.

Despite the aforementioned setbacks the bike commuting is still going strong and the thing that strikes me lately is how my responses to commuting’s challenges seem to constantly evolve. I’m unsure why this is. Perhaps I’m just a borne tinkerer? Perhaps my needs and circumstances are constantly, imperceptibly shifting? Perhaps I’m realising that there are many ways to skin the proverbial feline and I’m just trying all of them. Perhaps Derrida’s vive-le-difference is the answer?

Whatever the answer, what I do know is that my current commuting rig is working really well. Resurrectio is currently rigged with Tioga flat bars (£5 NOS from On-One.co.uk) and my 90mm Nitto Technomic stem. Both are highly-polished aluminium and look great together. More importantly they give a great riding position, on and off road. What’s sealed the deal in terms of comfort and style is a pair of Hermann cork/rubber anatomic grips. Less than a tenner from Practicalcycles.co.uk, these grips look for all the world like the grips you get on walking poles in terms of shape and material and offer a very comfortable, grippy perch for the hands. Due to a very shiny handlebar surface I had to glue the grips on with Evostik extra strong glue, but once firmly in place they’ve been excellent, providing plenty of hand support. The great thing is, because my main riding position is so comfortable, I’m not missing the alternative hand positions afforded by other handlebar setups.

Controls are taken care of by Tektro’s great budget v brake levers – everything you need from a lever and nothing you don’t. Sun Race’s bargain friction thumbshifters still grace the bars and work a treat, especially in combination with a new piece of kit on the bike, namely a Microshift RD M-45 rear mech. I’ve been eyeing up Microshift’s stuff for a while, first seeing them on Bike Friday’s bikes and then as aftermarket items on www.rivbike.com.

The rear derailleurs have got a nice design which evokes both Huret’s offerings from the 70s and Shimano’s bang up to date Shadow mechs, with a bit of SRAM style thrown in for good measure. My mech is pitched around the Deore level in terms of quality and shifting is very positive. The main difference in terms of design compared with my outgoing Deore LX mech is the lack of a sprung top knuckle (I’m not sure if that’s the right term derailleur fans – the part I mean is where the mech is attached to the frame where the B limit screw is. At first I thought “How’s that going to work?” Then I connected the chain and realised that the tension created by the spring in the jockey wheel cage is what keeps everything in place. The short of it is a great derailleur at a great price – just £19.99 from an online retailer whose name escapes me right now.

Clothing wise I’ve made a few recent purchases and acquisitions lately that I’m really excited about. One is a great winter merino wool cycling jumper from Muxu (that’s ‘Moo – Shoe’ to you) which the Barcelona based company kindly sent me to long term test. A full review of said item will follow this update but rest assured its good.

The second acquisition was a similar garment from Aldi, their black merino wool mix cycling jersey. At £14.99 this is a real steal. Long sleeves, quarter zip, long arms and torso, a mid weight ‘sweater’ knit in 70/30 acrylic/merino and a rubberised gripper at the back. It’s great. It looks like an office smart jumper; it works like a cycling midlayer. There’s very little to dislike about it.

In terms of carrying my stuff, I’m currently using a standard 25 litre daysack, picked up from Clas Olhson for just 10. In an effort to be visible on the ever darkening roads, and to keep my commuting gear dry, I’m using a hi-vis waterproof rucksack cover (borrowed from my wife’s Brompton bag). I’m not a big fan of hi vis vests and jackets, however, the rucksack cover provides that attention-grabbing high-spot of light on the road, without having to compromise one’s outfit.

My hi vis bag also allows me to wear by stealthy black Karrimor Urban waterproof, safe in the knowledge that I’ll remain visible. The jacket is extremely waterproof, windproof and breathable and packs down small enough to fit into the rucksack. Off the bike, it’s a normal jacket with a normal cut, unlike misshapen cycling specific jackets. Even on deluge days, this jacket, combined with my Regatta overtrousers, keep my completely dry and clean.

I’ll never take for granted how Resurrectio can slip effortlessly from peacetime mode into active service. Yesterday afternoon she was plying the trails, today she’s wafted me quickly to the railway station and on to another day’s work.

Such versatility is a result of basic, adaptable design and component choices that strike the perfect balance between road speed and off road handling.

My current setup is flat bars with V brakes and friction thumbies. Great braking, easy cabling, stiff, strong and an elegant engineering solution.

Current tyres are Schwalbe Land Cruisers. Cheap, tough and equally at home on trail or street.

I’m currently running full mudguards, set up with great clearance so mud isn’t an issue and I keep clean and dry on the commute.

Finally I’m favouring my Swedish Army bag over my Carradice for load lugging, simply because an unladen bike off road is quieter, more whippy and more fun. The old skool external frame design of the pack keeps my back virtually sweat free, dodging the usual issues with wearing packs on the bike.

On a related note, I’m shortly to receive another vintage framed rucksack, this time via the Norwegian Army, which may prove even better than the current one. I’ll keep you posted.

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There it is, just past that gnarled tree, before the gatepost. A slim gap in the brambles and nettles. A snaking path of brown dirt. The brakes go on and I loop back. Dart off the fireroad and onto the swooping track. Gently dropping down in sweeping shallow bends. Eyes beady and peeled, looking for roots and hidden holes.

GPS me and my path would knit a messy cat’s cradle of knotted trails, all within a few square miles of wood. But I’ve lost an hour, discovering and rediscovering lost trails.

In the winter their character changes. They’re stodgy bogs. A hard slog and a full bike clean. But now in summer all that’s left is fine dust on the paintwork, sweat on my forehead and a tingling in my forearms.

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In cycling, there’s nothing like being on a trail on a bike that you’ve got no right to be riding there. Riding off road on skinny tyres and no suspension is a rite that’s probably lost many riders. ‘Cross riders know what I’m talking about. So too do those who grew up in the pre MTB era, when you rode one bike everywhere.

I’ve enjoyed being underbiked all my life. At age 9 I rode my 5 speed Falcon Eddy Merckx over ramps and did cycle speedway before I knew it existed.

When I was fully grown, I rode the Delyn Challenge, on the bridleways of the Clwyds, on lowly Trek hybrid amid hardtails and full bounce bikes. 

One of my favourite road rides on a 23mm tyred road bike took in a rocky unmade road in the Pennines. Another, a rooty singletrack shortcut.

Someone said that the thrill of riding off road was all about finding the edge. It’s a fact that you find the edge faster when you’re underbiked.

So get out there, find a trail and get sketchy.

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Demonstrating the sheer flexibility and adaptability of Resurrectio the Green, I give you Resurrectio the off road bike. Flat bars, stripped to the bone, Schwalbe Land Cruisers (tyres of choice for the 3 Peaks so I’m told) and gear changing handled by Sun Race’s cheap but ever so cheerful ratcheting friction shifters. Ready for some evening bridleway rides with colleagues and some woodland scorching with Tom. This is one versatile frame and fork, to be sure.

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When you were a kid you played out on your bike. You didn’t measure your enjoyment in miles accrued, calories burned or average speed attained. You went out on your bike, had some fun, the came home when you were done. It’s easy to forget that simple raison d’etre in the current age, where even our leisure time seems to be imagined in terms of KPIs.

Last night, my son and I played out in our bikes.  I called down to his house and we went for a spin along the waterfront. A warm breezy evening to be savoured.

We rode to the Pier Head, stopped awhile, admired Liverpool’s Three Graces, watched the Isle of Man Steam Packet ferry boat leave for Douglas. Raced it along the waterfront until we ran out of road and it sailed toward New Brighton.

Then we played some more, racing each other back toward the Liver Building then decided to hunt out a pavement cafe where we refuelled heartily on tea, coffee and massive chocolate brownies (a fulsome recommendation for The Quarter by Blackburne House).

Then we dropped through Chinatown’s gilded arch, back towards the waterfront and caught the tailwind home.

You should try playing out on your bike sometime. It’s fun.

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There’s a huge amount of hogwash flying around out there about cycling specific shoes being ‘essential’ for cycling any distance at all. So much so that manufacturers even make commuter specific models, apparently purposely designed for the daily grind.

The alleged merits of cycling shoes are that their stiff soles and mechanical attachment to the pedal makes for a more efficient pedalling stroke. The funny thing is that us average punters, hell bent on depriving ourselves of our disposable, buy this science without the means of proving or disproving the theory.

But sandals? Surely a step too far? Well I hate to break it to you, but I did a 30 mile, hilly mixed terrain ride last week wearing a pair of Rohan sandals with no issues whatsoever. No chafing, no apparent loss of power and the blissful feeling of the summer air wafting over my delicate pinkies.

I also did Sky Ride Birmingham shod thusly, including a go on Rollapaluza’s roller racing rig, recording 25 seconds dead for 500metres standing start.

I do have a few key recommendations for prospective sandalled bikers. A model with a non exposed toe is good, as is a strap around the back of the Achilles. A grippy sole is also desirable.

So you can ride and ride strong in normal shoes or even sandals. The key is to get grippy pedals with a good, wide footbed.

Forget about the pulling up on the pedal stroke. It’ll only distract you from your power stroke. Think about it. Do you really think you can augment the power of your left leg pushing down by pulling up with your right? At best you can unweight your upcoming leg but you don’t need clips for that.

Forget about stiff soles too. Strong feet, ankles and supportive pedals are all you need.

For more on this Google ‘Rivendell Shoes Ruse’ for further pondering.

ps: I don’t do socks and sandals. I’m saving that for my dotage.

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