The perfect cycling glove?

I think I might have stumbled across the perfect cycling glove. I say cycling glove as I don't think it is strictly a cycling glove - possible a general purpose sports type. I say perfect as it has elements making it almost the Holy Grail of gloves used while cycling - the ability to use ones iPhone with gloves on!

They are made by Head, are lightweight and of a stretchy material that provides a surprising amount of warmth.




The fingers and palms have a layer of rubber bubbles that give a great deal of grip. This is great for cycling. There are also no bulky seams which results in a very compact glove.





The Head stitching and top of the finger, light up on the dark when light is shined upon them.




The clever bit is the finger and thumb. Both are covered in a small patch of material that mimics fingers, this allowing you to use your iPhone or any other touch screen. Very clever and very useful!

I bought them for £9.99 from Costco but I believe some running shops and cycling shops stock them. I have to say that Costco didn't have any more in stock a week after I bought them (a work colleague wanted a pair) and I have not seen them since. If however you can find a pair, they really are good for the winter commute.

There are tyre and then there are tyres!

Regular readers will know that I recently bought a pair of rather fine, Schwalbe Marathon Plus London Edition tyres. You will also know that last Saturday I went over to Mick's lovely home, where he gave a masterclass on tyre removal and fitting. Today I bought another pair!

I have had these tyres on my beloved Orange Brompton for coming up to a week and I have to say I am very impressed. When pumped up to their near maximum 95 psi I cannot really detect any noticeable difference when compared to the slightly slimmer profiled ordinary Marathon tyres - which I like a great deal!

My new tyres

These tyres are getting ever harder to find for the Brompton and I would hazard a guess that it will not be that long until they are gone. Schwalbe may of course decide to make some more or have them as a permanent special edition, although I very much doubt it.

The London Edition's on my Orange Brompton

I really like the look of these tyres and they remind me even more of the Kojak's insofar as they have Schwalbe in big letters and seem blacker than the standard Marathon tyres. This preoccupation with how they look is rather flippant but believe me they look VERY good on.

I managed to walk into a central London cycle shop and got a pretty good deal. I bought one and got the other half price. The manager of the shop in question chatted enthusiastically about Brompton bikes as he is part of the fold. He mentioned someone out there who writes a blog about his Orange Brompton and that he really enjoyed reading it. When I gave him one of my business cards, thus revealing that I was in fact the very same, he was rather happy. He called over a colleague to be introduced to Orange Brompton. It was all quite strange and I can't say I particularly enjoyed my five minutes of fame.

A couple Scwalbe inner tubes were placed into my bag, despite my protestations. I offered to mention the shop on my blog but he decline - perhaps due to the freebie? Anyway, many thanks.

If you have a Brompton and want a great winter tyre or if you just like the idea of having a good puncture resistant tyre all year round, you could do worse. The storage life of these tyres is officially five years, so I will be able to store them away for a while.  So, get them while you can, as I think they won't be around for too much longer!

Brompton Touch Up Paint

When I was at Mick's house and had my beloved Orange Brompton on his excellent work stand, we soon discovered areas where the paint had come off - mainly due to rubbing cables or scuff marks. My Orange Brompton is over two years old now and although I do look after it, there are certain areas that needed the odd bit of paint.

Mick had a supply of paint for all of his Brompton bikes and luckily one of his was black. The rear triangle on my Brompton had a few scuff marks and a dab of paint did the trick. When I left it soon dawned on me that I would need to get some of this paint for myself.

I placed an order with Brilliant Bikes and my three little 10ml pots of paint arrived today. The colours are:

• Pure Orange (funny enough my favourite of the bunch)
• Jet Black
• Clear Lacquer

When you open the paint up there is a little brush, with which you can dab a small amount of paint on to the affected area. Over time I suspect you would have to apply again to the same area but it does provide instant gratification to see a scuff not gone totally, but much less noticeable.

The paint cost £6 per pot and should last ages as so little is required. I certainly wish that I had bought some ages ago and would recommend you out there buying some for your beloved Brompton.