Project: Roadrunner, the evolution of a personal bike...

I thought after some months of posting pictures & updates on the social media on this, it was time to collate it all into a blog.

So how did it all start, well having returned to cycling 3yrs before I started this project to help overcome my disability (something I am still doing). One thing I found was each bike I bought I ended up pulling them apart & changing it piece by piece to suit me & my cycling ergonomics. So in 2013 I decided it was time to get a bike built up to suit me from the frame upwards. Now I just needed to work out how to go about this & first thing I did was draw up a concept design to get an idea what I wanted.

Why call it Roadrunner, well the idea was to build a bike to be light as possible (for my budget), built to be comfortable to ride & thus be able to do long distance rides which at the time I was finding almost impossible to do on the heavier bikes I have. So it was a road runner, plus I love the cartoon character of the same name. ;-)

Now I looked around at having the bike built for me & as good as they were, custom built just was not affordable for me & not an option. So next best thing was go with buying a 2nd hand frame & build the bike up from there. And at the time I was volunteering at Re-Cycle, a charity that sends bikes to Africa. They managed to find a frame with forks as well as wheel rims for me at a price I could afford. So I bought them & managed to get it all home by bike to start the project.

 

 

Doesn't look much but was a starting point, so next was to get tyres & I decided I wanted hybrid tyres as some of the cycle 'network' was more like dirt tracks. Only ones I found that would fit & made by Schwalbe were the 23x700 Marathons & I was concerned they be too thin a profile for me but there was no room for wider & as I found out from many miles done on them, they were the right choice.

 

So next was to find parts in boxes around the flat to piece it together until I find the parts needed & replace them. Like the saddle, I tried a few & just couldn't find what I wanted so went with what I had used on previous bike for now. And then changed handlebar to a boomerang (ergonomic) one as it felt right to hold & of course the brakes...

 It was slowly starting to take shape, so next was a rear rack as I always use panniers so went for some low profile Tortec Velocity as they were on offer & felt they looked good on the bike.

 

Now whilst I was building this bike, I had won tickets for Nightrider London charity ride. So I needed this bike ready ready faster than I could get it, so got Re-Cycle's mechanic to help (for a fee) build the final pieces of the bike. So the chain, sprockets, bottom bracket & gear mechanism was added to complete the bike & this is how it looked on day I collected it & rode it for the first time.

Its starting to look like what I am aiming to build & riding it for the first time was definitely a joy. Far easier & quicker to ride than my other bikes. Tho of course with all prototypes, you find some snags. Main one which worried me was the panniers kept going into the wheels & I needed to change the rack. So I changed it for a slightly pricier Axiom Streamliner Disc Deluxe Rear Rack which resolved the issues as it supported the whole pannier & moved it further back thus giving a bit more room to pedal.

 And of course as an all weather cyclist, I needed mudguards. So I went for SKS Raceblades as they had to fit around the brakes. 

So now it's May 2104, a month before Nightrider London & just done a 50 mile cycle ride for Pedal 4 the J's on lil Trekr & it was a struggle. Roadrunner was almost ready & after a few more tweaks on setting up I had Roadrunner set up as best as I can get her & she looked good!!

So now Roadrunner was ready, her first long ride was Nightrider London as no chance to do any before then. So in a way this was her maiden voyage & a true test on the design. 

So how did it go, 100km overnight around London on a bike I built & was it's maiden voyage? It was Fantastic!!! Bike was a dream to ride, it did better than I did on the ride but we both completed the 100km with no hitch or issues. Not only was the build a success, this bike was so well balanced it saved me from a nasty tumble as I was going downhill fast & hit a pothole. The bike refused to go down so to me, Roadrunner is a keeper!

So now to try finish what I started, it was time to add what I want on this bike & get a paint job sorted. Since June I went & bought another Boomerang handlebar but in black, a Brooks Cambium saddle for starters...

Then after I was happy & ready do get it done, I stripped her down for a paint job & then rebuilt her again with her new looks & oh boy she looks sexy...

So here's the almost complete Roadrunner, why almost? Well there's a few more bits I like to do, gearing mostly as I like to tweak the gear ratios a bit to get more out of pedaling with less effort.

But for now I am enjoying the rides on her, we've already conquered Box Hill, cycled across the Surrey/Hampshire borders, gone from Chelmsford to Colchester & many more rides. And all this whilst my legs arent doing too good too, so Roadrunner as a design concept becoming a reality has really become a success in my books. She hangs on my wall as my pride & joy & hope eventually she manages to help me finally do a 100 mile ride. :)

Quick review of the Isaw A2

I thought it was time I did a quick review of the Isaw A2 as I have often talked about it again & again & again, time to put it all in a blog & then can just send the link to it. It is being phased out for newer models but some are still around & thought this would be useful for those looking at the brand & model if looking to buy one.

Over a year ago I decided to replace my Contour Roam 2, although a nice action cam it had limitations of a sealed battery lasting 3hrs & very poor night filming. So a follower on Twitter suggested Isaw after I complained about the poor experience I had with GoPro (and very grateful he did too) & sent me footage from the older A1 model & I was impressed. So I went for the current model the A2 which was going for around £100.

This is what came in the box when it arrived, it also can be used with current GoPro mounts too.

I have tried it out on the bike & most often on my helmet. Here's the comparison video of the Isaw A2 to the Contour Roam 2.

As good as the filming, the sound was slightly muffled, even with the open slotted back door. But it was good enough to start with so I tried it for a while & after I was happy with it I modified the case to improve the sound using a microphone foam, old part of a pump & some Sugru. Photo will show the stages of the modification.

 First was to Sugru in a slice of Microphone foam to the slotted back door. This made the door more water resistant.

Next was to work out the location of the mic & how to fit something over it to improve sound when holes are drilled in. This was the mock up to see how to do it...

But I decided I wanted a professional look & found a piece of old bicycle pump & a brainwave occurred.

You can see the holes drilled in line with mic & part of the pump with microphone foam inside Sugru'ed to casing (ensuring Sugru doesn't cover the holes). And the sound quality has vastly improved & the Sugru has held on well as still on there a year later.

So now for the running of the Isaw A2, I run the cam at 720p & not 1080p as the quality is just great & maximises the amount recorded on Memory Card. I can get around 5.5 hours of recording at 720p on a 32Gb Class 10 Micro SD Card. Battery life is around 1.5 hrs each & easily swappable, replacement batteries you can get for around £5 each & separate battery charger for around £10. I managed to record my whole ride whilst doing the Nightrider London 100km ride that took about 9hrs & I used 2x 32Gb cards & less than the 6 batteries I took with me. Footage below if you like to have a look.

    

The Isaw A2 is very reliable, only issue I had was a faulty memory card but once replaced all was running smoothly. They're so good I have bought a 2nd one to mount on the bike for when doing long rides.

So do I recommend Isaw A2, you bet I do & will stick with them until they finally give up the ghost. They are a great action cam to use & as they are slowly disappearing from the shops, I would seriously consider the Isaw for replacements as they are quite reasonably priced for what you get, unlike the GoPro with my experience of them.

Lost the battle but not the war...

As many who follow me know, I've been using cycling to help get me stick free & over 18 months ago I managed it. But last year my knee decided to play up for no apparent reason despite finally stick free for some months, done 2 Charity rides, cycled to Chelmsford & back to see Tour de France & those rides were all over 50 miles each.

 

Then after thinking I had knee sorted out, started a new job which involved a lot of walking & standing, leg had improved greatly. In February, the knee went again & worse than ever & back I went to see specialist. Who had done tests before & with physiotherapist notes to back up results, he diagnosed I had Osteoarthritis. This meant changes are needed to improve the condition but it will never go away, mostly lifestyle changes which reduces strain on the knee like sit with knee straight as much as possible.

But the timing of the knee flaring up was at the worst possible time, it was 2 months before Pedal 4 the J's & 3 months before Nightrider London. And having spent over 6 weeks unable to cycle on the road, both my knee & my level of fitness has been severely reduced. I had done 30 days of biking in April, but it was more of a 5 min run daily on a gentle setting of the turbo trainer & a few short rides at the end of the month.

And now that I'm beginning to cycle again I'm finding it difficult to do, partly coz I dont want to aggravate the knee again & I just don't have the leg strength anymore. The bike is feeling heavy & hard work so looks like I will be looking for an alternative 'lighter' replacement in the near future.

I had to drop out of Pedal for the J's last w/e as I just wasn't ready to cycle that course, but I needed to get things moving so I could do Nightrider London. So this week I decided I needed to start cycling further, so with a friend we went for a long ride around town to clock up the miles & it didn't go as well as I hoped. I really struggled to do 10 - 20 miles easily. This didn't bode well for me to be able to do Nightrider London let alone complete it, so after a few days of deep thought on the mater & a heavy heart I have decided I am unable to do it this year. The risk of doing more harm than good to the knee just wasn't worth it.

So I had emailed the organisers of Nightrider London to see if I can have the booking postponed to next years event so to give me time to get back to the level of fitness required & unfortunately they will not allow that. So on that premise I had to make further decisions as I now lost a good chunk of hard earned cash on an event I pre-booked to ensure I get a spot. It's not something easy to decide or I really want to do but I'm afraid I am no longer going to be doing the Nightrider London ride in the foreseeable future & I will not be pre-booking any similar charity event too as I can't guarantee I am able to do them on the day.

As for now I have to focus on my knee improving & able to manage it to avoid any further stick use if possible. The specialist has made it blatantly clear that I will never be stick free, but with the right management I can minimise the need of sticks. And until I know I can get the knee to be OK for more than 6 months, preferably over a year I think I will need to just work on my cycling distances on my own goals of getting the distances than try raise cash for charity on sponsored rides. Events like Pedal 4 the J's is still open for me to do as I can just turn up on the day & pay before I do it. Those sort of rides I will look out for to do in the foreseeable future.

So for now I may have lost the battle of going stick free, but the war to achieve it as much as possible as I have done for a decade isnt over. I'm just going to need new tactics & equipment as well as support to keep pushing forwards even if it is doing it slightly out of breath...

 

Tale of 2 charity rides...

Ok, it's been a hectic few months & I've not been keeping my blogs going as I should. So as I'm having a quiet few weeks atm I see its time I should update on the charity rides I've been doing.

So to start with Pedal for the J's in Chelmsford, it was near the end of the 30 days of biking & it was touch & go if I was going to get there due to rail engineering works. I had an early start to get to Chelmsford to start the ride by 9am as I was doing the 50 miles route this year & wasnt sure how long it would take. So started with a short bit of cycling to nearest station & managed to get a train without any issues.

Then another quick run through the park to the starting point & even had time to have a coffee before I started with my cycling buddys Pete & Dave who decided to come do the ride with me.

So off we went & the ride went pretty smoothly with a few stops around the route for a cuppa & refuelling.

 

And eventually we completed it & in under 4hrs tho we had lost Dave as he wanted to go ahead & faster than the nice gentle run I was doing with Pete, hey ho each to their own ways...

After that the 3 of us went to have a nice ride along the park to get a coffee at my fav Cycle coffee Shop Athlon Sport. Refuelled with some more food before heading back home & the ride from the station to home was the hardest part. lol

 

These 2 pictures are thanks to Pete & Dave who took them

The next day, I was saw but I did continue the 30 days of biking & after recovering from that ride I had just over a month to get ready for my next one & this one was going to push me even harder than Pedal for the J's, the Nightrider London.

The Nightrider London is slightly different than the Pedal for the J's I have done twice now. For starters as the name kinda gives it away, its at night & starts at 10pm & my starting slot was 12.30am. The other bit is that it is 100km (63miles) around London. All this is definitely putting me out of my comfort zone & to top it all I was riding my latest bike the Roadrunner which I have just had built with help for this sort of ride & is her maiden voyage out. I have ridden Roadrunner around town to get used to the handling, but this was totally different.

So off I went cycling as the sun was setting to catch the train to London with another cycling buddy Leon & what a nice start that was to see the Sun set as I rode along Hilly Fields.

So after a few hours of train time, we got to Alexandra Palace starting point just before midnight.

 

So off we went at 12.30am & took a nice gentle steady pace & right from the start we had hills & I hate hills. But Roadrunner was light & took them in its stride even if it was a bit slow. lol

We stopped when we felt like it to have a break, refuel or just snap some pics along the way as there were some nice views on the route.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And just around 9am we finally made it back to Alexandra Palace to receive a medal & as well earned breakfast.

I might not look it in the pic, but I was happy & overwhelmed that I had managed it & that Roadrunner had proved herself on the road. After we had eaten & rested for a bit, we then headed down the hill towards the station & stopped at a nearby cafe for more refuelling.

And after another few hours of travelling by train, another stop at a cafe in Colchester & then a very slow cycle ride home, I was & still am chuffed I was able to do this one despite my worries.

So after doing these 2 charity rides, how did I do? Well the stats shown below show how well I did.

I am pretty happy in the times I did in both rides & after a couple days I had recovered from the rides with no issues. So I am hoping to continue with these sort of rides in the near future. But due to reoccurring disability rearing its head up again atm, cycling is on hold so might not be until next year & if that is so, I'll be trying to do both again & with my trusty steed Roadrunner with hopefully with a new paint job & additions by then. :)

Oh if anyone want to come along on these rides with me, I be more than happy to cycle with a group as it's much more fun than alone. :)