This dusty gravel ride was actually done last year in 2021, just that I didn't get around to writing about it until now. For those who do not know, the trail around Pandan Reservoir is made of light gravel, with small stones that are doable for most bikes.
Using a gravel bike is nice, but it is actually not necessary. Road bikes with wider tires (> 28 mm) are fine as well as I have tested with my Focus Paralane. That said, it is a good place to test out gravel bikes with some fast riding, as it is an unbroken stretch of gravel that you can ride round and round.
Approximate distance for one round is about 6 km, which is easily done on a bike but takes some effort if you are jogging.
One quirk of this gravel trail is the dusty conditions. When the trail is dry, it actually generates quite a bit of dust as you ride over it. The result is a bike that is entirely coated in a fine layer of dust, as you will see below.
Beautiful morning with cloudy weather
After riding a couple of rounds, we returned home and I found that the bike was very dusty. Unlike gravel trails that are more rocky, this trail with fine gravel throws up a lot of dust that sticks to the bike. This means that a good wash is necessary to clean off the dust.
Similarly to the previous time when I rode the Aspero through wet mud, I decided to remove most of the components from the bike to do a thorough cleaning.
Frame is covered in a layer of white dust. Comes off easily with a wet cloth as the frame has a gloss paint job.
A good cleaning is necessary as it is just too dusty. Better than mud though.
GRX derailleur and wheels are covered in white dust as well.
Upon removing the wheels, the dust pattern can be seen clearly. It looks almost like the dry dust was sprayed on the frame like a liquid. Quite fascinating to see.
For the frame, it is relatively easy to wipe off the dust due to the gloss paint job. However, the wheels and tires are much harder to wipe and clean, which is why I decided to give it a proper wash.
Prior to this, I have not really done a good water washing of the wheels before, as I didn't need to. It would be the first time I am washing the hubs under running water, so I hope the sealing is good!
WTB Venture 47 gravel tires on Hunt 650B carbon disc wheels are fantastic. I run them tubeless which makes it even better.
Spraying water on the tires and using a hard bristled brush to scrub the debris out from the tire tread.
Letting the water run down the cassette, and scrubbing with a brush is surprisingly effective at removing grease and dust.
11-42T cassette is super clean after washing! Looks as though I used the Ultrasonic Cleaner.
Waxed the frame to make it shine!
After the wheelset was dry, I decided to service the freehub as well, since the wheels were already off the bike and it was now clean. It is the best time to do some maintenance before putting them back on the bike. No maintenance has been done on these Hunt wheels ever since I got them more than 2.5 years ago, still running well but good to take a look.
36 ratchet teeth in the freehub. Still looks quite clean inside.
6 pawls arranged in 2 sets of 3, for an engagement angle of 5 degrees.
Special sauce to keep the freehub pawls running smoothly. This is the same container of grease that has been in use since 10 years ago!
After wiping the pawls to clean away the old grease, the new grease can be added. Notice that the cassette is still attached to the freehub body, as the whole axle comes out from the hub.
Coating all the ratchet teeth in a thin layer of grease. This is more than enough for smooth operation.
With clean ratchet and pawls, plus plenty of freehub grease, the freehub now runs smoothly and more quietly. Worth doing once in a while to freshen things up.
The problem with me doing bike maintenance is that one thing leads to another, and soon I'm pretty much overhauling most of the bike components.
While cleaning the brakes, I noticed that the brake pads are pretty thin compared to a new set. Well, this is again a good time to replace the brake pads, since the wheels are off anyway.
Used vs new L03 resin brake pads, looks very different to me!
Old brake pad is about halfway done. Still some usage left, but I decided to just replace it now. Been in use since I built up this bike 2 years ago.
A pad spreader is useful to push back the brake caliper pistons when you change to a new brake pad. Else just use a clean flat tool which will do the job as well.
As new brake pads are thicker than the outgoing one, the pistons need to be pushed back slightly to allow the rotor to fit between the new pads.
That was quite a lot of work to service the bike. Not all of them were due to the dusty gravel ride, but it was a good time to clean and do maintenance on the whole bike, since it has been some time since I did a good overhaul.
One other change that I did to the bike was to replace the chain. The old chain was worn out as measured by the chain checker, so I replaced it with a new chain to avoid wearing out the cassette and chain ring.
This time, instead of just putting on a stock new chain, I decided to try waxing the chain. For a completely breakdown of the chain waxing process, check out this other post!
Where to buy the l3 resin brake? Sold out in a lot of places
ReplyDeleteThe new version is L05A
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