Winter is here !

Just last Sat my new panaracer Buster X 700 x 35 cross tyres arrived, just in time as my Maxxis mud busters were bald and would have been useless in snow. The very next day I awoke to 15cm or so of fresh snow so the new tyres good a good test whilst riding into the city. They work pretty well and offer plently of grip as well.

 Just before I went off to NZ, I replaced the cables on my 2012 Kona Jake and found out that the right hand barrel adjuster had broken and believe me it was a real mission to try and retrieve the remainder of the thread which was stuck inside the alloy down tube shift  mount. It was really my fault for not checking it sooner and putting some grease on it to stop it corroding during my winter commute with rain, snow and salted roads. In saying that I feel that there is a slight design fault with the 2012 Kona Jake , the shifter mounts should have been positioned further  down the alloy down tube to give them a better routing for the cables & outers. The problem is the head tube on the Jake is rather fat which in turn pushes the cables out at an odd angle . Apart from that I really like bike but with the new Kona Jake 2013 model the gear cables are internally routed through the frame so I guess it was not only I that thought the Jake frame had a problem !.

Because of that I am now considering changing my fame to something like the Surly Cross Check , with braze on down tube mounts, no issues with cable routing on that frame and it can take a huge 700 x 45 c cross tyre perfect for off road adventures or winter commuting, change out the fat tyres to something smaller and you have a road bike with cantilever brakes.

Pictured in this post are my new panaracer buster x cross tyres and my custom made Sag frame bag, my sister in NZ sewed this together for me from a well used Sag med sized messenger bag , it perfect for winter commuting and now I do not need a backpack which is really nice !