I’ve just had to take a hacksaw to my mountain bike’s steerer tube. Haven’t done this before so quite scary…

All because my fancy new stem was shallower than the old one and so the steerer tube poked out the top a smidge rather than being a smidge below. I could of put another spacer underneath but a) I didn’t want to do that and b) I didn’t have one the right size. So I wrapped some paper round the tube to get a perfectly square line, took it slow & steady with the hacksaw and all seems to be good.

I now have a cnc’d stem and carbon fibre handlebars on my MTB. Much poshness that’ll probably make naff all difference to anything! Actually not true as the new bars are 50mm (overall) wider than the old ones so I might crash into trees more, at least until I get used to them.

Also, I’ve had some thoughts about my old road bike (well it’ll be “old” road bike if/when the new one arrives)…

As you probably know from the stem down it is pure road bike but it has flat bars. It has an aluminium frame, nice strong 32 spoke Mavic CXP33 rims, carbon (wrapped) bars , carbon forks, carbon seatpost and pannier mounts on the rear. With the new road bike coming and the MTB – the only bike “missing” is something I could use for a bit of touring and/or riding that takes in some cycle paths. If you’ve read John’s blog you’ll know he’s doing NCN5 this year and, if I’m free, I’d like to the Reading-Oxford section with him. There are also some other cycle path based events happening near me. Apparently these paths aren’t always suitable for a road bike.

So I’m thinking of tweaking the “old” road bike to make it a bit more suitable, which is actually limited to nothing more than putting a 28mm tyre on I think. This is the max the CXP33 rims will take and very probably the most that would still clear the frame (not a lot of clearance, it’s not a hybrid you know ;>). I think that will make it a little more comfortable/less fragile when the terrain becomes a little less smooth?

Then in the summer I might do some simple touring if I can – just cycle 80-100 miles, camp one night and cycle home. I’ve done a lot of mountaineering in the past and think I have everything I need except a weeny tent (Gelert Solo looks good though, very small, light and only £25 if you shop around) and a rack/pannier (my Dad stole my last set) which I’d hope to get for another £25 (ebay?) so even if I get to do it just do it once a year, at that level of investment it’d be okay.

I now await your comments…

Update: This afternoon I finally got round to dismantling the rear Land Rover tub (that’s the whole of the rear basically) that’s been a garden ornament for about six months. This should earn brownie points with the wife, or at least stop me losing so many.