100km Done plus Gore Wear Windstopper C5 Trail Pants

So the Nine Streets turned over the 100km mark since buying it on my way home from work last night.

Very impressed with it so far and loving all the extra quality touches like the decent light set, the mudguards and of course the fabulous paint job.

There’s also something very satisfying about being first away from the lights compared to all the other bikes: something to do with the lack of inertia on the small wheels.

I carry my suit in the Henty Wingman and wear one of my running jackets – currently a Virgin London Marathon training jacket – and on my legs, it’s a pair of “Gore Wear C5 Windstopper 2 in 1 Trail Pants“. These are water resistant as they’re from Gore and very comfortable.

Intriguingly, they say they are:

“A lightweight and windproof 2in1 pant that can be converted between trail-ready baggy shorts or a full length pant when the weather takes a turn for the worse.”

Except I can’t find a way of actually converting them to shorts, other than by – presumably – cutting the bottom bits off or rolling the legs up inside or outside.

I’ve asked on their Facebook page: let’s see if we get a response.

Back on Track?

Lots of travel – business and pleasure, but mainly business – has curtailed my being in the office on days when cycling in and home could be an option.

Since the last update, Evans Cycles have indeed replaced the Wingman’s dry bag under warranty – which was nice – and I’ve been ‘forced’ by others using the various hotel gym’s treadmills to do some cycling (both recumbent and upright) whilst waiting for the treadmills to be freed up to do some running.

I’ve also picked up a slow puncture in the front tyre which means that I have to pump it up every few days; maybe this weekend I might find time to repair/replace the inner tube?

In the meantime, here’s today’s commutes:

Benty Henty

Oh dear!

My Henty Wingman Backpack has a problem: the clips on the 18L Dry Bag that clips inside the garment section appear to just be stuck on – vulcanised maybe? – too the bag itself.  The bag hasn’t had much use as I mainly use the garment section for my suit and I wear trainers to and from the office leaving shoes under my desk at work.

So as you can imagine I’m not impressed. I’ve emailed Evans Cycles who I ordered it from to see if they can send me a replacement Dry Bag; the rest of the garment carrier is fine.  Mind you, Henty do say:

“When it comes to our products, we’ve got your back. We will repair or replace the appropriate part(s) if your Henty product fails as a result of defective materials or workmanship under normal use within four years of purchase.”

Now that’s a pretty impressive guarantee; let’s see if Evans will step up.

Henty Wingman Backpack

This morning was my first commute into the office on the Brompton.

I dressed as normal in a suit, shirt and tie (but still wore my Nike walking/running shoes as I keep formal shoes at the office) and then rode in. The weather forecast was for showers and indeed a little over halfway there the drizzle started, enough to leave a trace on my Garmin and to feel it, but not really enough to make me wet, fortunately.

But that does raise the question of what to wear as winter draws in: when I run, I wear clothes including waterproofs/water resistant jackets that are fine for warm, cool or cold weather. I wear a different suit every day for work, so simply leaving one at the office won’t work for me. So my choices are either to wear the suit into the office and risk getting it wet or carry one in every day and change when I get in. But how to carry the suit? I looked at some of Brompton’s luggage that clips to the block on the frame of the bike, but none really looked right as a suit bag.  I already have a number of suit carriers but none would be suitable to sling over my shoulder without them falling off again or they’d be flapping in the breeze. No, a better alternative was needed, so off I went to the Internet.

The first decent one – according to all the reviews I read – was the Henty Wingman Backpack which rolls the suit to prevent creases rather than the normal folding suit bags.  In addition, some stiffeners in the bag prevent it from folding and hopefully leave the suit and shirt crease-free.  The garment bag takes a suit and a couple of shirts max and is zipped up and a second roll bag then clips in front of it, intended to take your shoes and toiletries, etc. before the whole lot gets rolled up.  I preferred the backpack design to the messenger bag version.  I’ll probably just use the roll bag for waterproofs and additional layers, I expect, plus my wallet, although that can go in the outside pocket. So I’ve ordered one to pick up today and try out tomorrow.

Wingman Backpack Final 20161223 1080p from Henty on Vimeo.

And here’s today’s ride. I forgot to set the Garmin off early enough so it took a few metres until it had located me, so it was actually slightly longer.

Henty Wingman Backpack

This morning was my first commute into the office on the Brompton.

I dressed as normal in a suit, shirt and tie (but still wore my Nike walking/running shoes as I keep formal shoes at the office) and then rode in. The weather forecast was for showers and indeed a little over halfway there the drizzle started, enough to leave a trace on my Garmin and to feel it, but not really enough to make me wet, fortunately.

But that does raise the question of what to wear as winter draws in: when I run, I wear clothes including waterproofs/water resistant jackets that are fine for warm, cool or cold weather. I wear a different suit every day for work, so simply leaving one at the office won’t work for me. So my choices are either to wear the suit into the office and risk getting it wet or carry one in every day and change when I get in. But how to carry the suit? I looked at some of Brompton’s luggage that clips to the block on the frame of the bike, but none really looked right as a suit bag.  I already have a number of suit carriers but none would be suitable to sling over my shoulder without them falling off again or they’d be flapping in the breeze. No, a better alternative was needed, so off I went to the Internet.

The first decent one – according to all the reviews I read – was the Henty Wingman Backpack which rolls the suit to prevent creases rather than the normal folding suit bags.  In addition, some stiffeners in the bag prevent it from folding and hopefully leave the suit and shirt crease-free.  The garment bag takes a suit and a couple of shirts max and is zipped up and a second roll bag then clips in front of it, intended to take your shoes and toiletries, etc. before the whole lot gets rolled up.  I preferred the backpack design to the messenger bag version.  I’ll probably just use the roll bag for waterproofs and additional layers, I expect, plus my wallet, although that can go in the outside pocket. So I’ve ordered one to pick up today and try out tomorrow.

Wingman Backpack Final 20161223 1080p from Henty on Vimeo.

And here’s today’s ride. I forgot to set the Garmin off early enough so it took a few metres until it had located me, so it was actually slightly longer.