Twat?

Am I a money wasting twat? I broke a spoke in the rear wheel of my Xero Tarmac XBR-1 wheels, took it to be fixed (After not being able to get a 'proper' replacement spoke, but I'll get to that later) and got it back all nicely trued. I went out a couple of times on the bike, noticed a clicking noise and a loose spoke, thought 'I'll tighten that a little. Not much but just enough so it isn't quite so loose', discovered doing so puts a wheel completely out of true and then had the very lovely wheel building man point out a crack in the rim to me. Aaargh!

When I got home from collecting the wheel, I rushed into buying a pair of Mavic Ksyrium Elite wheels (Last year's version, on offer at Chain Reaction) and have since ordered a replacement Xero Tarmac XBR-1 rim from Parker International. I've switched the sprockets over from the Xero wheel to the new Mavic one and put the new wheels on my bicycle but this means I'll have a spare wheelset once I get the Xero rear wheel rebuilt. Rather than spending the £240 odd it was for the Mavics, I could have been patient and waited for the £56 (Including shipping) Xero rim to arrive, have the wheel built and stuck it on. Have I done something a bit stupid?

I don't have another bike I could use a ten speed Campagnolo wheel on, so it's not like I can upgrade a different bike by putting the wheels on it. What it does give me, I guess, is a spare wheelset if anything happens to the Mavics and likewise for my good laydee (Whose bicycle currently has Xero Tarmac XBR-1s on it anyway). I thought that maybe I should put different gearing on each wheel and that might be of use but, realistically, it wouldn't advantage me greatly. I like having the gears I already did, find the spacing between gears fine and would miss the lowest gears if I didn't have them.

Getting onto the spoke annoyance; It took ages for me to get a replacement spoke for the broken one on my Xero rear wheel. Even when I did get a replacement, it was only because the guy in the bike shop I got it from cut down a longer spoke and threaded it himself. They're round cross-section straight-pull spokes (ie. They're not bladed and they don't have a 90 degree bend in them at the hubs) in anodised black. The replacement, alas, is silver as it appears DT Swiss isn't too forthcoming in getting such replacement spokes out to people. I'm not moaning about them. I can understand there are so many variables in the world of spokes, it's exceptionally difficult to try to get every variety of spoke available to everyone. All I wish is that I can get a 'proper' replacement spoke for my Xero wheel. If you know of any spare black, round cross-section, 276mm, straight pull, 14/15g gauge, DT Competition spokes knocking about, please don't be backward in letting me share your knowledge.

From putting the Ksyriums on today, I've got to say they seem quite impressive. They appear to be very true and I thought moved more freely than other wheels I've owned. Hopefully this will continue to be the case when my fat arse is on the saddle and they have to suffer the applicable stresses and strains. I hope they're strong wheels and can take some ropey surfaces and possibly the odd light bit of 'pannierage' (No camping for me if I get away, just B&Bs and the like). The Xeros did well and the spoke only broke because I was forgetful, let the hook at one side of the fold down mini-panniers on my rack pack get into the spokes and then cycled a few yards causing it to pull at the spokes. I think that might be what damaged the rim too but I could be wrong.

Hmmm, I wonder if I should use the Xeros as touring wheels and the Mavics for general usage? At least I might get some use from both wheelsets? Then again, the Mavics seem as if they're probably better and I would like to use them when I can.

When I was changing over the wheelset today, I obviously had to put the sprockets on the new Mavic rear wheel. It was astounding quite how minging the cassette had got. What was good about it being a Campagnolo (I just can't bring myself to write 'Campag'. To me, it's like someone who owns a BMW talking about a 'Beamer' or a Cannondale rider referring to their 'Dale'. There's something distasteful about it which sticks in my craw) cassette is that all the sprockets are indeed individual sprockets as opposed to a block made up of numerous sprockets. It let me wipe each of the sprockets and their spacers clean and put a shiny (New looking but old and soon to be replaced) cassette on my new wheel. The sprockets had been completely black with filth. I'm sure that can't be good for the bike either. It then led to my taking the chain off to stick in a tub of petrol (I'll oil it well afterwards, don't worry) and disassembling the right crank and chainrings to give them a thorough clean too. Oh, and I used a bit of cloth to 'floss' the jockey arm and wheels. The muck they gather up is incredible. My bicycle should be lovely and clean for its next journey. I'll have to take a photo.

Going off a bit, I've been using MapMyRide quite a bit since the last babble I did and it's great. About the only problems I've noticed with it are:

• It shows some roads which don't really exist. They may be 'rights of way' but there's no means of cycling along them and it's best to check with an Ordnance Survey map whilst putting the route in. Most roads it has a name on should be okay but it's still worth checking as it claimed one 'named' road existed when it didn't with me.
  
• Make sure you don't go too far ahead when clicking the 'next point'. I've done that, assuming the route will automatically follow the road it's already on, but it can backtrack and then go along a main road or the like because it's a bit shorter. It also has a tendency to go along 'make believe' roads when one gets too far ahead so that's one to keep an eye on.

It really is a marvellous piece of free software and I can't recommend it highly enough. On the off-chance the people involved with it ever read this (They would need to be patient and not easily bored) thank you very much.

On that note, I've realised quite how much I've been going on and should stop. Thanks for reading this and hopefully you'll have been remotely interested in some ramblings, although I doubt it.