A Bike of Many Parts

Helen Lloyd    Helen Lloyd, Planning     cycling, gear, Helen, maintenance, repair, take on africa

It’s a few weeks since I arrived back in the UK. The short cycle from the airport was the least smooth of the whole journey. Nothing to do with the roads this time though. When it came to re-assembling the bike, having been packed in a big box for the flight, the pieces just didn’t seem to fit together. The gear cables wouldn’t connect to the hub so I couldn’t change gear, the brakes barely worked (although that had been an increasing problem over the final weeks) and the forks didn’t fit in quite right into the frame so I had to leave a few of the spacers out. And then there was the wobbly back wheel which nine months after I first noticed it, was now, well, very wobbly. Never mind, I could still cycle. And it wasn’t far.

So for the last few weeks I’ve been without the use of the bike (although fortunately I have a moutain bike too, which is getting well-used instead). Time to get it fixed. First I took the back wheel over to SJS Cycles, where Dave had a quick look at it and said he could have the hubb all fixed up in half an hour. And sure enough, after half an hour, I walked out of the shop with a replacement hubb, and new sprocket fitted too. Very impressed. I also stocked up on three Schwalbe Marathon XR tyres.

Yes I know a bike only has two wheels! In any case the tyres that took me through Africa still have some life in them. But Schwalbe no longer manufacture these tyres and there’s just no other tyre that will stand the test of touring time. These should keep me on the road for a while longer. My legs are bound to give up before the tyres give out.

But the rest wasn’t going to be quite so simple. Simply because I’ve decided to fix the rest of the bike myself.

I thought I had the spare parts I needed. And so on Sunday morning, with multi-tool, pliers and a good supply of WD40, I set about taking off the old parts that needed replacing. On closer inspection, this turned out to be most of the bike bar the frame, wheels and new hubb.

My touring bike - mid-repair

Having removed several layers of bike oil and grease from my hands and body, the afternoon was mostly spent on the internet searching out the replacement parts I need… brake cable set, gear cables, headset bearings, chain, chainring, a new twistshifter assembly and the only part that sounded remotely interesting which was the ‘noodles and boots’ (and they’re nothing but small bent metal tubes that the brake cables fit through).

So until I get the new parts through, the rack is on my mountain bike so I can head off to the hills at the weekends. In the meantime, my trusty tourer is scattered about my room in several rusty or dirty pieces.

I think I forgot to mention – the next tour I’ll be cycling the Great Divide from Canada, through the USA, to Mexico. You can read more about it on my new website, Helen’s Take On…

And over the coming weeks I’ll be posting more on the Togblog about how the preparations for the trip are going.

Blandford Shop re-opens

Gareth    Gareth, General Outdoor, Planning     Blandford Forum, Colin, Gareth, gear, Shop

Most of the people reading this blog will know Webtogs as an Online website and may not be familiar with the fact we have a shop in Blandford Forum thats run by Colin, our shop manager and uber guru mountain bikey action man. The shop has been on the go since day one as it has been important for us to get direct feedback from customers on products. It is however a rather small shop and Colin had been concerned that we were trying to be a bit of a jack of all trades. Keith (our buyer) on the way back from ISPO, started to chew the fat with Colin and together they decided the best way forward was to become a lot more specialised and focus more on footwear and boots.

Both these lads are of the get hands dirty brigade and so just 3 weeks later – they had completely changed the shop and refitted it. Last night James and myself, mosied on down for the grand re-opening. To say we were completely blown away by the change is like saying Karl Marx was a little to the left in politics. Gone was the cramped interior filled with gear left, right and centre, to be replaced by a clean, airy store focussing on boots with good local walking essentials (packs, socks, maps etc).

The highlight of the shop for me has to be the central ramp to ensure that people get a good feel for their boots on an upward and downhill slope, it looks frankly awesome. Colin and the gang have also been going through a training programme to ensure that the fitting service we offer is second to none.

The opening night was brilliant with lots of local people coming in to see the new style and attendance from the local press. All in all it was a cracking night and I very much hope that the shop reaps the success it deserves as we move in to 2009. If you are in the area, pop on down to 47B East Street to check it out or give Colin a call for more information on 01258 455544

The Oscar for best outdoor video goes to…….

Gareth    eCommerce, Gareth, General Outdoor     Gareth, gear, video, webtogs, woods

This week has been a mental one as we have been out and about shooting video for the website and for a video noobie such as myself, it has been a really interesting experience. I’ve long been a big fan of videos on websites when selling stuff as people get a much better idea how things work and what it looks like in the flesh. Shooting the video has also been a great deal of fun with James and Matt acting as the crew and myself somehow ending up in front of the camera. I’m fairly sure this is down to the beard, but I’ll leave you to make up your own minds if this was a good idea when you see them on the site! James did us all proud with his shooting soup (Beef consomee, Tabasco & vodka) which was totally lush along with some old fashioned scooby snacks.

The product videos were relatively easy but the real toughy so far has been the gear guides we are starting to shoot on helping peole to choose Jackets / Boots etc, they took more than a few takes so every time I see those blooper reels, I have a certain amount of sympathy. Whats going to be interesting is to see what everyone thinks of them, do they help people come to a decision or is there anything we could do better? Stay tuned to Webtogs TV

The North Face comes to Webtogs

Gareth    Planning     brand, Brands, face, gear, north, stock

Well, James spent pretty much all weekend putting our brand new first batch of gear live from The North Face. We’re ecstatic about getting these guys live as it’s not every day they approve a new ecommerce retailer to sell their range.

As a bit of background, the North Face brand was established in sunny San Francisco in 1968. The name was chosen as the north face of any mountain is usually the most difficult to climb and this helped reflect the fact that their gear is designed to cope with even the toughest terrain. You may not also know that they have a sibling in “Jansport” which is one of the world’s largest backpack makers.

We’ve got a good starter selection of products online and in-stock now, encompassing the hugely popular North Face jackets and North Face trousers / shorts.

Top 5 Outdoor Gear for Geeks

Gareth    eCommerce, General Outdoor     gear, geeks, outdoor, top5

I’ve been a geek for a good 10 years now (although I love both tech things and women equally!), and I’m passionate for the outdoors. What I’ve managed to do is put together a list of recommended stuff that combines both of these in one place. So here it is, enjoy..

1: Oakley Thump Pro MP3 Sunglasses

Why I like it They’re lightweight, hold 1gb of storage, and look pretty cool when I’m snowboarding. Very easy to take the buds out your ears and use them as a pair of decent shades too.

2: Quicksilver U-Ramp I-PodJacket

Why I like it Buttons down the left hand side are responsive and enables me to control my integrated ipod. Easy to manipulate when moving fast. The Jacket is also a decent outer shell too.

3: Keen Burnside Laptop Pack

Why I like it Has a little pouch to fit my macbook pro into it. Side entry zip is genius for getting into a packed bag with all my RoR programming books. High quality material too.

4: PowerMonkey Explorer

Why I like it A slim clam-shell of solar panels for recharging my gadgets while out and about. Handles my ipod, iphone, and PSP no probs. Takes a couple of hours to charge, but nothing like being able to juice up my stuff while at the top of remote mountain.

5: Space Invaders jacket

Why I like it I had to order this from Denmark and not sure if you can still get it. Even so – it has loads of little pixelated alien dudes from Space Invaders on it. What more can I say!

Ok – that’s what I’ve got for now. Let me know if you agree with it in the comments – but personally these are THE best outdoor tech gear items by far..