..........................................................................................................................................................................................................

crankalicious science friction chain lube

it has become increasingly noticeable over the years, that, aside from residing at the centre of the known universe, islay also occupies a unique meteorological niche in that universe. though i cannot claim to be fully awake when my alarm switches on each morning, just priort to being informed as to various happenings around the world, the met office happily regales us with the climatic conditions that may or may not brighten the day to follow. we are located some 25 miles north of northern ireland and goodness knows how many cubits west of scotland, yet it often appears that the forecasts for one or other of those regions seem not to apply to this portion of the hebrides.

thus, when planning the following morning's velocipedinal wardrobe, sartorial dilemmas abound. by way of a perhaps poor example, having donned bibtights, long-sleeve jersey and outer shell for an exploratory expedition this past saturday, i found my garmentage to be just a tad on the warm side, particularly since the promised rainfall did not materialise until well after teatime later that same day. on the basis that said rainfall would continue overnight (which, to be fair, it did), i laid out similar garb for the sunday morning ride. i cannot deny that there was sporadic precipitation throughout the mornings perambulations, but very much against recent trends, the ambient temperature had warmed just a tad.

sufficiently, in fact, to create that well-known boil-in-the-bag sensation, but clad in a jacket that in truth, was just too bulky to roll up and stuff in a back pocket.

still, as my mother was always want of saying when i was knee high to a chainset, "pride bears no pain", a saying that probably has little relevance here. unfortunately, this state of affairs is not an isolated incident, for more than just yours truly has declared a state of overheating on arriving at debbie's ready for the day's explorations. but, in the face of often persistent, soaking drizzle (or even mizzle), one scarcely wishes to find oneself rusting due to incorrect or inappropriate mode of dress. and, at the risk of stating the obvious, it is likely not only the cyclists who will feel the wrath of ferrous oxide. it ill behoves any of us to forget the iniquities visited upon the bicycle chain, but it seems many of us do.

thus, the attentive cyclist will not only clean his/her chain with unfailing regularity, but fearlessly apply an approprite lube to keep it running smoothly and prevent the rather scary looking orange rusty coating that often greets the opening of the bike shed door. essex-based crankalicious offer a range of bike-care products hand-made near stansted airport, one of which is the cleverly named science friction ceramic chain lubricant. as luck would have it, the chorus groupset on my ritchey logic received a brand new, shiny chain at the same time as a box contianing a range of crankalicious products arrived at the croft for review.

and even better, providing the ideal opportunity to give several drops of science friction a hard time, it rained quite a lot. despite being told to do so by the instructions on the £10, 100ml bottle, i inadvertently neglected to wipe the excess lube after application, resulting in a less than shiny chain 'pon my return from an extensive training ride (i know you believe me implicitly). subsequently wiped with a rag, the ceramic lube appears to have clung tenaciously for an appreciable period of time, to each bushing along the length of the campagnolo chain, offering a pleasantly quiet ride and fending off rainwater and splashy puddles with aplomb.

a tenner is hardly a colossal amount to offer peace of mind when the weather turns foul, as it inevitably will over the coming months. you may already have your favoured lubes on a shelf in the bike shed, but if you've yet to try crankalicious' 'science friction', might i humbly suggest that you clear a small space on the selfsame shelf.

crankalicious science friction chainlube

sunday 15 september 2018

..........................................................................................................................................................................................................