Serendipitous Seizures

I fancied escaping the maddening crowd and exploring the backwaters on Ursula. Only to discover a seized front brake calliper. I took this as a sign to switch the bars, stem and brake levers over. Having removed the cable and calliper, I decided to treat the calliper a foamy blast of Motoverde Drivetrain Cleaner to gobble any potential congealed gunk.

Left marinating a few minutes, I flushed the calliper through with warm water and dried with a clean towel. Judicious applications of Muc-Off MO94 Muc-Off MO94 Multi Use Spray | cycling-not-racing (kept well away from pads and rotors). Pumping the calliper’s arm twenty times released everything nicely. I should’ve taken that cue to tackle the rear, but more about that later…This is noteworthy, since I’ve not had any previous issues with the twin-piston cable-operated Spyre.

Ursula in the workstand, I removed the front wheel and cleaned the rotor. Existing gear and brake cables removed, I turned my attentions to removing the Zoom Stem and Soma Condor 2 Shallow Drop Bars SOMA CONDOR 2 SHALLOW DROP BARS | . Locking spacers are a really neat solution to preventing forks sliding out at this stage. However, tying some scrap butyl tube around the fork and top tube is very effective no-cost solution. Inspecting the lower headset race suggested repacking with Juice Lubes Bearing Juice The Juice Lubes Bearing Juice Long Term | cycling-not-racing  was also in order.

I made a replacement lower race boot from scrap butyl and slid that in place before treating the lower cups, races and bearings to a rag dipped in solvent. All good, so a liberal slathering of the green goo followed. The upper bearing still sported a reasonable amount, but I went the solvent rag and generous layering route-rude not to.

Brake cable outers freshly pruned and in situ, I refitted the Spyre SLC calliper and fed the inner wires through front and rear. I realised the rear Spyre had the sulks. Mercifully, we were talking sticky, not seized. Some MO94 Muc-Off MO94 Multi Use Spray | cycling-not-racing therapy later, all was more or less well on the stopology front, so I decided to prune the inner wires, refit the front wheel and quit while I was ahead (and waiting for some fresh gear cables to arrive).

Well, almost. Front brake applied, I rocked Ursula back and forth-zero play in the headset bearings and light, smooth steering. Yep Tomorrow’s another day…

Juice Lubes were kind enough to send me some cleaners and greases. Specifically, their Bike Cleaner, Bike Cleaner Super Concentrate and their Slick Juice Low Friction Grease. I was particularly interested to see how the Slick Juice compared with Peaty’s Speed Grease PEATY'S SPEED GREASE | cycling-not-racing. In essence, it’s a low viscosity mineral oil employing Anhydrous calcium soap as the thickening agent, which prevents washout and other premature deterioration. The mixture is carefully blended, so safe on elastomers, bearing seals and carbon fibre.

The two are similar on the viscosity front. This gave me the perfect excuse to remove and deep clean Ursula’s Deore rings of congealed wax lube, the axle of grease, before treating the latter to some Slick Juice. Unlike Bearing Juice, Slick Juice can also be applied to threaded stuff and contact points, which is convenient and saves time.

The following day, I fitted the new gear cables, got the mechs behaving impeccably-at least in the stand, leaving them to stretch while my inner obsessive tackled those rings.  Cranks off, I blasted the rings with Motoverde Drivetrain CleanerMotoverde Drivetrain Cleaner | cycling-not-racing and left it doing its thing for a few minutes.

Introducing my trusty dish brush lifted the stubborn, entrenched wax and residual grease with modest effort. Time to rinse, dry and refit. An even coating of Slip Grease to the axle, preload and slightly parched pinch bolt threads, everything slid together beautifully.  On a roll, I also fed some to the Leatt Endurance 6.0 Clip in Pedals Leatt Endurance 6.0 Clip in Pedals | cycling-not-racing

Chain gauge in hand, I decided the KMC chain was closer to retirement than first thought, so was replaced like-for like.

Steering, stopping and drivetrain sorted, time to dress the bars. I reached for some Genetic Hi-Gri Handlebar tape  Genetic Hi-Grip Handlebar Tape | cycling-not-racing and wound it on. Warmer weather seemed to improve the elasticity, making it much easier to dress the flared 44cm Ridgeback branded drops. Comfortable coverage with sensible overlap, although not much leftover.

The remainder was used to dress the Genetic Neuron Handlebar Accessory Bar GENETIC NEURON ACCESSORY BAR | cycling-not-racing.  Cables pruned, ends super-glued, time for a quick ten-mile mixed terrain shakedown ride. Well, once the wax chain lube had cured…

The first few miles confirmed my hunch regarding a 45-degree stem was bang on, as was the bar shape and width. Shifts were crisp, light and dependable. The sharp-eyed will note the front mech outer needs pruning. Aesthetics aside, better too long than too short and shifting is reliable enough, so I’ll tackle at my leisure.  

Michael