Tweaking the format

New look for the Genesis Day One

I've been riding the Genesis Day One Alfine 11 for a couple of weeks now, but have only just been able to add the extra goodies that I ordered when I bought it.
I always strip a new bike down to make sure everything is properly greased and that my portable toolkit is sufficient for road side repairs.  I adjusted the front stem height by moving the spacers from below the stem to above, and was pleased to see that the bearings were healthy.
The Day One is a good looking bike, the Reynolds 853 white tubing is complemented by light tan seat and bar tape, albeit made of plastic. On all the pictures I had seen of the bike, the wheels were plain black but mine had some awful stickers which I think really cheapened the design. I took both wheels off and removed the tyres. The sticker came off quite easily but the sticky "sub tape" wouldn't budge. Some white spirit didn't help but it did make the residue into a sludgey soft glue that rubbed off with a bit of effort. One advantage of disc brakes is that your rims remain un-marked so I do think this is worthwhile.
The Continental Gator-skin tyres are very tight on the rims - I usually can take tyres off without tyre levers but these were too tight, so I will include a plastic tyre lever in my kit.
The disk brakes were quite simple to adjust. Loosen the fixing bolts, and cable clamp then dial in the inboard adjustment (needs a torx T25 but you can just about do it by hand if you need to), then the outboard pad. With both sides dialled in, the wheel should be locked. Torque the clamping bolts down gradually and then squeeze the brake arm slightly before tightening the cable clamp. Next, slacken off the pads until they dont rub and check that the brakes work.
I love the completely silent running of the bike, there is no chain or gear noise at all and it is quite eerie spinning along with just a slight noise from your tyres on the road.
Using Sheldon Brown's gear calculator confirmed that the Day One was slightly higher lower geared than my road bike with a 53 front triple and 18-28 cassette. Im unlikely to need the top gear but I know that some of the hills around here need a low gear, so I bought a 20 tooth rear cog to replace the standard 18. Fitting it was quite simple with only a minor fight offered from the split spring. I did have to slacken the chain off which meant I had to reverse the anti-rotation washers, at least until I put a new chain on.

Lovely Apple Green Brooks B17

Very expensive Brooks leather bar tape

Next up was a new Brooks B17 saddle. You can get the standard B17 in many different colours so I went for a lovely apple green and added some very expensive matching Brooks leather bar tape.
I left the original brown tape above the hoods, and wound some reversed black electrical tape over the top. The Brooks tape is no worse than normal tape to fit, if anything it has a little more give and flexes around the bend more easily. Getting the gorgeous cork and oak end cap in was tricky and I would say is a one off operation - they wont be coming out in one piece!
I hope the B17 will be as easy to run in as my B17s was on my Brompton (i.e. zero breaking in!)
You will see from the picture that I have mounted my Garmin 800 on a genuine Garmin centre mount. Its an ideal location and fits in with the clean lines.

Shimano A530 pedals

After my accident, I am a little wary of clipping in when the conditions get a bit slippery. I think a suitable answer is the Shimano A530 SPD pedals.
These have traditional SPD clips on one side and a wide, clip free pedal on the other,
Cycle Gear agreed to upgrade the 520 pedals that come as standard but there was a bit of confusion around the models (my fault - between the A530 and the M530 in white)
I'm very happy with the A530s, they feel almost the same as my 520s and in plain pedal mode they give a wide and firm base. I'm sure they will be great if we get any more slippery mornings but I hope there won't be too many now that we are officially into spring.
The other change I had made was to fit a pair of Crud 2 mudguards. In not going to show the details of these because I have already taken them off! I want a really minimal pair of mudguards but the problem that you have with disk brakes is getting the mudguard stays to go around the brake calliper. The Crud 2s are very close fitting and I haven't been able to get them to remain in place but not rub. Work in progress, but I'm probably not going to use mudguards.
I've also opted to not fit bottle cages. For the time being, I'm trying a backpack for hydration. Im very impressed with my chosen solution, but will post a separate review when Ive put some miles in.

I get knocked down!

Shimano M520

You have to take the decision at some point to go for clipless pedals on a road bike. Various sources state that clipless pedals are 20% more efficient than just using normal pedals or pedals with a strap. The idea is that you transfer energy more efficiently and utilise the upstroke as well as the downstroke to drive you forward. It's quite a jump, as you need to fit new pedals as well as buy special shoes.
You also have some decisions to make. I was advised to go for an MTB style of cleat as they are smaller and usually allow you to actually walk in the shoes without slipping all over the place. "Proper" road cleats are quite large and the shoes have a rigid and very slippy sole.
Shimano make some very nice pedals and the price can vary from £20 up to ten times that price. At the bottom end of the range is the Shimano M520, which is also very light and reliable - its rare to find a win win situation in road bike kit, but unless you are going for ultra lightweight then the 520's offer a very functional and good value option.

Shimano M087 MTB shoe

Shoes are very personal and it all depends on the shape and size of your feet. I have large, wide feet so I tried several pairs on before going for some similar to the Shimano M087s. There are many shoes which have velcro straps, but some of the Shimano styles add a ratchet type of strap which is really easy to adjust when you are cycling.
Using clipless shoes can be very amusing! I was told that I would fall off quite regularly at first, even if I set them at the loosest setting. Unclipping early helps, but I have fallen off at least once on every ride so far.
On a ride at Whitby, I stopped by a cattle grid and lent over to steady myself against the gate. My front wheel slipped away from me and I went down hard! I twisted my hip and bruised my leg as well as adding some lovely graze marks. I was concerned about the hip as my family all suffer from poor hip joints and I always try to look after mine! It took about a week to settle down.

Broken iPhone!

Another more serious accident happened on a very steep hill in Huddersfield. There were some roadworks on the road and when the lights changed the car in front of me didn't set off. I had got ready to go and with me being on a hill, I didn't have enough time to get my feet out of the cleats before I lost balance. I fell onto my left side and hit my hand quite heavily. For quite a few hours afterwards, the pain was at times excruciating.  Unfortunately, this wasnt all! My iPhone was damaged, the rear case was smashed to smithereens, spoling an otherwise great ride.
I suppose I will eventually get used to them!