Superstar Components CNC Nano Thru Pin Pedals – Review

It’s been a good few months since I bought these but better late than never in the old reviewing stakes, I guess.  So here’s my 6 month review of my newish Superstar Components Nano pedals in grey.  I got them before Christmas in a special offer, for the valuetastic price of just £25.81.  Down from the usual selling price of £36.99.

Narrow, Wide, Narrow, Wide… you know how it goes!

I’ve been riding my hardtail mountain bike, aka MuddyGoose, with a single chainring since the summer of 2013. I made the change to simplify things and get rid of the front mech that was often gunked up with mud anyway. I switched initially to a simple DH chainring from FSA with 34 teeth because it was much more cost effective than the narrow/wide rings made by raceface.

Big NYM mtb trek on the horizon

So far my big rides have been up to 6 or 7 hours long. However, I always like to push things a little further each time. How’s 3 days sound?

Roseberry Topping

For a couple of years now I’ve fancied riding off into the North York Moors and exploring the trails over several days; making a big loop of the area. So that’s the plan that I’ve put together.

New KCNC jockey wheels for my SRAM X7 rear mech

You may remember that in March 2013 I fitted a SRAM X7 rear mech as a replacement for my X5 that came with the bike. The X5 needed replacing due to it’s jockey wheels having been worn down to points and one of the reasons I gave for upgrading to X7 was the availability of replacement jockey wheels when the time came round again!

Did a bit of thorn pulling the other night

One of the great advantages of having tubeless tyres is that you can ride over thorns, have them stick into your tyre and still continue your ride. Tubeless tyres don’t magically make those thorns disappear though and in some cases air will slowly seep out from around the thorn. So taking some maintenance time to pull them out is a good idea.

Glad to be back to the off-road commute

Slightly dewy damp trails, beautifully bright sunshine and comfortably warm spring weather. Now that the clouds have paused in their relentless attack of pelting us with precipitation, I can go back off-road for my commute safe in the knowledge that I’m not eroding the trails beyond the point of no return! And after riding cyclepaths and busy roads for so long, or so it seems, the off-road option comes as a great relief.

Introducing my two new cycling blogs

…and so a new blogging tycoon is born…
…even more for you to read & enjoy…

I always find myself in deep water

On went the urban wheels, up went the tyre pressures and off I went into the local lanes of Cambridgeshire. For an on-road ride – that was the plan!

Meet My Wheels

Hubs, spokes, rims, tyres, tubes or tubeless, air pressures etc. There’s a lot to discuss when it comes to the wheels and tyres and when you are riding they are your personal connection to the hard ground that’s rushing by!

So I thought, being as I have two sets of these round items, that I’d give you all an introduction to what I roll on.

Preview of 2014

I couldn’t post a review of 2013 without following up with a preview of 2014 now could I? So what’s on the agenda for my MuddyGoose this year?

Review of 2013

It’s a new year by the way. I’m sure you’re probably unaware of the fact and missed the transition from 2013 to 2014, it’s generally not something celebrated greatly and easily slips by unnoticed. Oh and by the way, I find the Urban Dictionary has the best definition of the word ‘Sarcasm’, just in case you were wondering!

So, time to review the year gone by.

Mountain Biking with a Single Chainring

I made the change to a single chainring quite a few months back. But due to preferring to ride rather than sit inside blogging I didn’t get around to discussing it on here! But it’s a topic of conversation for quite a lot of riders these days so I finally decided to write this post!

Riding the roads from the Exeter Premier Inn

My job takes me far and wide and when I have to stay over somewhere, I like to take my bike with me. Nothing better than having a ride in the evening and then following up with another ride before breakfast!

A watery visit to the hills

You know you’ve had a good wet ride when you sit at your car wringing the water out of your socks. My ride today in the Pentland Hills was just one of those.

Watch this little dude and marvel – Seth Sherlock

So far almost everything on this blog has been self-created. This on the other hand I just had to post, just because it’s so impressive!

Making the switch from flats to SPD pedals

It’s one of those topics. Hotly debated across the internet and splitting mountain bikers right down the middle. Flat pedals or SPD clipless pedals – which is best? So being as you’re asking I’m going to conclusively not answer that question!

Completed the BHF Peak District Charity Ride

On Saturday 28th September I went, along with my support team, up to the Peak District for the British Heart Foundation charity ride. My support team consisted of my wife, two daughters and my parents; a special thanks to them all!

Supporting the BHF by doing a sponsored MTB challenge

This year I decided that I would join the British Heart Foundation (BHF) mountain biking challenge in the Peak District. There are of course many other charities and there are many other charity events but the BHF seemed the right one to pick and this challenge seemed to fit the bill too.

Please read the rest of this post, you’ll also find a link to my JustGiving page where you can go to donate if you wish.

How do I keep my bike clean?

The straight answer to this question really has to be, “I don’t”. But of course if I left it there then this really wouldn’t be much of a blog post, would it!
So what am I getting at here? Well first off as a mountain biker you have three bike cleaning options as I see it.

Feeling Invincible – Awesome ride in the Peaks

This week I managed to get out and have a ride in the Peak District. This was partly in preparation for the British Heart Foundation Peak District MTB Challenge. I wanted to have a bit of a practise on the terrain as it’s far more technical than anything I can ride locally. I also wanted to test my ability to climb the hills with my new single chainring setup (more on that another day).