LONGTERM RIDES

The many creaks I mentioned in my last update were found and rectified just in time for the Trance X1 to be packed up and taken off on another holiday. It turned out that the lower headset bearing, crown race, main-pivot axle, rear axle and stem-to-steerer interface had all formed a choir, making the bike sound like I’d ridden it much harder than I had. With everything cleaned and greased, we were off.

Rebuilding the steed in Funchal, Madeira, revealed that almost all had gone well on the flight. I say almost because both brake rotors had been bent – the front one so much it wouldn’t complete a full rotation. I managed to pull them back to a point where the rear one was about as straight as before and the front was barely catching, but they’ll both need replacing soon. The rear brake also needs a new set of pads – they went from ‘probably fine for several more weeks’ to howling like banshees even when I wasn’t braking, thanks to conditions being a little moist.

We managed to