Just like a YouTube video, but not?

Welcome to my first non-YouTube-video?

Whilst this blog is going well with good reader feedback, I’ve been considering complementing it with a YouTube channel, partly because it brings a different energy to what I’m doing and creating, and partly because I’ve been inspired by many of those people already doing it. Looking into the detail of setting my own YouTube channel, the concept seems relatively simple and the equipment required to get started can be basic and fairly cheap. However, it’s apparent that there is a large amount of time and work in creating a different type of content, and in the amount of time polishing video work to ensure that it is actually worth watching. I clearly don’t have that time at the moment, and I don’t have enough content thought through either, so this post is a hybrid-YouTube-blog-type-thing. Read on……

My first video was supposed to be set around replacing the rubber HeadShok boot that my friend Roc Fu has started making and selling for Cannondale owners like me. It’s a great product and so easy to fit, so I thought it would be simple to show the actual fitting, as well as talking about some other stuff associated with that activity in the shed. I made a few false starts with it, and then I thought? I could mix the same photo of the inside of the shed into a kind of script, just like I would if I was talking about it on a video, so here goes.

The high energy introduction and welcome part of the video can be skipped here, and what you see in the feature photo is my trusty Cannondale and one of the benches in the shed, which is full of stuff, so here’s a look at all of the ‘Interesting’ stuff in the photo, just as it would be seen in a YouTube video.

Fat Tire Flyer mug of tea and Yorkshire Curd Tart….Mmmmmmmm

No.1: Hydration Part 1 – Hydration is a critical part of fueling the body, particularly at ‘pre-project stage’, as the start of any project requires some setting-up of workspace, tools, the bike etc and a little planning prior to ‘job start’, and it’s always a good idea to start with a drink and a snack. The iconic Fat Tire Flyer logo’d mug (what do you mean you don’t have one? See link at bottom to get one) here contains some tasty and very hot, Camellia Sinensis, to give it its Latin name, or phrased another way, Tea. Apparently, if a person drinks more than 5 cups of tea a day, it is classed as an addiction, and used in excess, can cause constipation, palpitations, irritability and insomnia. This dosage in the mug is just enough to ‘excite the Projecteers soul’. The food fuel on the plate is a Yorkshire curd tart and was purchased from that top cafe, Bettys in York. Curd tart is an amazing tasting desert and if you Google it, you’ll find lots of recipes for it, and all claiming to be the best. I’d already taken a bite out of this one just walking to the shed, it’s so good. Sometime ago, we were eating in Bettys with some friends and one of the party was so excited about the prospect of his curd tart, he got confused and asked the waitress for a turd cart instead?.

Clamped securely, My Super V is ready for some light surgery

Number 2: 1999 Cannondale Super V – I bought this bike brand new and it is a brilliant MTB that does everything, at least, reasonably well. This bike is the reason for this non-YouTube-post because it needs a new HeadShok boot, and I’ve had a new one arrive in the post from my friend in China, Roc Fu.

The new rubber boot photographed moments before fitting

Number 3: HeadShok boot – Roc Fu is responding to the need for those replacement parts that we all need for our older bikes and is improving them so they’re better than they were new. He has designed this part so that it’s is super quick to replace and also very strong. The consequences of this boot splitting and water and dirt getting in are disastrous and terminal for that great HeadShok suspension so it needs a secure boot. I was going to film how quick it is to strip down and replace the boot and then rebuild it, but I ended up writing about it instead. See the ‘before-and-after’ photo at the end of this post and Roc’s Improve Part logo and link in the sidebar.

The hammer. Soft on one side and hard on the other side

Number 4: Hammer – This hammer is a great addition to the shed toolbox and just what I need to pop out the HeadShok and forks to fit the new rubber boot. I got this hammer from my friend Stefan who said he’d had it from one of the many old bike shops that he has cleared out. Apparently, the previous bike shop owner used it as a way to ensure timely payment for work from unreliable customers. After the first ‘cash overdue’ verbal warning was made, the second warning would involve the threat of the soft, rubber end of the hammer, and the third and last warning, was a potential meeting with the hard end of the hammer. True or not, I think it would have been an effective method of financial control. The other thing is that it is Swiss designed and made, so it works really well.

An antique engineering work of art that still has an important place in the shed today

Number 5: Antique Work stand – This work stand is Swiss, from 1948, and will happily clamp and hold two very heavy bikes so that they can be worked on by the shop mechanics. It isn’t bolted to my shed floor as it is so heavy that it will hold a modern bike or two really easily. I’ve even clamped my ebike in it and it hasn’t moved. I love it and it is so well made, and the adjustability of it is amazing.

Champagne Cider. Refreshingly great shed hydration.

Number 6: Hydration Part 2. – Homemade Champagne Cider. Continuing the importance of hydration, this fabulously crisp drink is made from our apples from the garden, which are crushed and squeezed, then we add champagne yeast, hence the name, followed by fermentation and bottling in used champagne bottles. It has to be decanted very carefully into a jug so that any small amount of sediment in the bottom of the bottle, remains in the bottle. This makes for a crystal-clear and slightly sparkling drink. There are two decorated, pottery mugs next to the jug which come from Alsace, France, and these are the perfect things to drink our cider from. At the time of the photo, the bottle obviously hadn’t been opened, but it was later. If this had been a YouTube video, I could’ve demonstrated this paragraph really easily, including the tasting experience.

Number 7: Swiss Army Rucksack – This rucksack is one of those classic, Swiss designs that you continue to appreciate with use. This particular design was used in the 1970s and 80s by the Swiss army and they are completely waterproof, are more comfortable the more weight they have in them, and of amazing quality. This is the standard size which is about 35 litres capacity, and there is one bigger version which would extend to about double capacity of the standard one. My wife has a few of these for sale and you can see and buy one (or more) here https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/274881923958

Before and after, and ready to roll again on those great Terra One Rider T1 tyres

And Finally, HeadShok boots old and new – whilst this clearly isn’t a video, it is always good to see the ‘before-and-after’ images of what got me into the shed on this occasion. The pictures above show how the original boot on the left had gone fat, saggy and fragile in comparison to the easily fitted new boot from Roc Fu. It was so quick to fit that I had only just finished my first hydration Tea phase, before swiftly moving on to the second Cider phase. In summary, I think this could’ve been a good YouTube video if I’d have stuck at it. Instead, I used the time for hydrating and riding?

Need Fat Tire Flyer Merch’? Get stuff in Europe from here https://www.thebikecabin.com/fat-tire-flyer-uk-products?page=4 and in the USA from here http://fattireflyer.com/

‘The photo’ by the Author?