New Firefly Ti stems - LUSH !

Gareth's S-Works Roubaix

Gareth came in for a fitting on Friday evening, and by noon on Monday we had the frame all built up for his final fitting/bike hand-over later today, where we will finalize spacer height and saddle choice.

Its a 56 S-Works Roubaix with SRAM Red Black and the lovely Dura Ace C35 Carbon Clincher wheels.

Looks immense in the flesh, we are really happy with how it has come together.

And the Firefly frame is finished....

This is a brushed Ti frame with polished decals
It is a Di2 frame with the battery hidden in the Firefly Ti post
Will be sweet !

A new Firefly soon to be of this world

The guys at Firefly sent me a picture of Jamie welding Andy's new Ti winter bike
Will be a very cool build indeed!

Bespoke vouchers are here

Without further pomp, here are is a mock-up of our Bespoke Cycling Gift Voucher.
We spent far too much getting them made, but I wanted them to look special.
Its a highly finished voucher with foil blocking on both sides of this duplexed heavy weight, high quality card. Delivered in a bespoke envelope, naturally. A ideal gift this christmas !!

Hutchison Fusion 3 (tubeless tyres) puncture report

I have been riding these tyres on the Dura Ace CL24 wheels since October now. To be honest, unlike some of my customers, I have not been blown away by any performance improvements since going tubeless. So no improvements in ride quality or decrease in rolling resistance (and yes I have played with tyre pressure, my favourite being 90/95psi front and rear).
People who say they ride as good as a tub, have not ridden a 'proper' tub!!

However they have been absolutely bombproof in terms of getting no punctures (I have been using Stans sealant).
On Sundays ride I did notice my rear tyre getting soft after we went through a particularly bad patch of road. Sure enough there was a decent sized hole, and air was escaping. I could see the sealant trying to do its job, but with no success. I pumped it up again but could hear the air escaping. I realised that if you pump the tyre up too quickly then the pressure is too high for the sealant to work.
Sure enough, we re-pumped the tyre to 85 psi and it was fine and we continued our ride with no issues.
This morning I checked the tyre and its still at 85 psi. Result !!

The Fusion 3s are marketed as a road racing tyre and have been cut up quite badly in the 3 months I have ridden them. So I will now take them off and put the heavier training version, the Intensive. That has a harder compound, but a better Kevlar puncture belt so will be perfect for the next 3 months.
I am sure that the sealant will go everywhere we I take it off - Matt will love me for that !

Assos Robocap 607 review

I have been wearing this for a number of weeks now, and it really came into its own on yesterday's (disgusting) ride. There was a real biting wind wherever we went and it cut through my clothes quite badly. My head stayed blissfully warm, but never overheated when we were climbing.
I am a big fan of warm hats; if I have a warm head, feet and hands I am a much happier rider!
Last year I wore the Assos Stinger cap, which was good but was quite big in volume. So much so that it really affected how you wore a helmet underneath.
This years Robocap is much slimmer, and even warmer. Its double thickness around the ears and forehead so its lovely and warm. But the real surprise is just how snug it is. I only need to widen my Giro helmet by one click to fit perfectly.

A nice touch is the reflective bands front and rear, and the hooks on the side that you are meant to thread your glasses through.

Downsides are mainly related to its looks- you either look like a WWII fighter pilot or (more disconcertingly) and extra from the first series of Blackadder.

William's Z1 custom

I love wax Z1's, and the way they are just naturally beautiful. No fancy paint, no shaped tubes. Just beautiful carbon....

This bike is off to Hong Kong and is lovely
It has a Deda Zero 100 cockpit, the new Fizik curve saddle, Record Groupset and Mavic Kysrium SLR wheels

And yes I know a need a better camera - my iPhone 3 is not quite ready to do justice to the frames !