From Vimy Ridge to Jon Snow

[tunnels of Vimy Ridge, reminding me of the Subway section in Sassoon's MemWars]

Bromdinium paid a visit to the Imperial War Museum last night for a viewing of Vimy Ridge Heaven to Hell. Not a bad piece of History Channel TV, although the military archaelogists got a bit carried away. Some of the Canucks seemed a bit miffed at the sentimental nationalism, but were pleased to discover that they held the record for the highest VD rate in WWI. Possibly have Lord Owen an over-nasty stare, met a friendly chat from the French embassy, a brace of mad retired colonels, and got invited - B hopes - to Paddy Ashdown's book launch. Documentry wasn't too bad, and the nibbles were top drawer, so a successful evening.



Sparking sunny morning on way in today, and I espied Jon Snow at Pret opposit the NPG. Determined to say hello, as he's a cycling man, so I did. Had a good little chat. He must have thought I was some mad nutter, but was interested in B's day job, and was pleased to report that he had an exclusive interview with an artist for C4 news.

The excuse to stop was a response to a letter in the Guardian:

Jon Snow clearly has a death wish. There he is (Guardian Guide to Cycling,
March 3) in grey hat, grey jacket and grey trousers, on a grey bike with a grey
bag, cycling along in a grey-ish urban location. Jon! We can't see you! I'd
expect the leading light of the CTC to be brighter, and ditch the camouflage.
Being mistaken for Adam Hart-Davis is a small price to pay.

Mike Lewis, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire

B's favourite TV journalist was sat in a day-glo Altura. But according to the great man, this was due to his own fear for his life, rather than Mr. Lewis's advice. Fair enough, given that Bromdinium was almost reversed over by a Mercedes a year ago on St Martin's Lane, a few yards from where we were chatting. At least B. had his dayglo John Brown belt on today.

Wiggle vs. Altura

Did I mention that I had to send the Altura Reflex jacket back?

Can`t fault Wiggle, who even refunded my postage. Two thumbs up to the Portsmouth crew.

What went wrong?

1. drawstring broke after three weeks
2. top drawstring started to fray

Other points:

1. terrible cutting of the fabric
2. stitching started to go around the neck
3. dubious about reliability of zip
4. cut a bit baggy, esp. at the front
5. baffle at top of zip not effective - zip rubs.
6. picks up dirt - esp. oil - like a seabird near Exxon.
7. clammy seam tape.

Still, it was pretty cheap all things considered.

Marathons...

It's tough being a tyre in London. All those potholes, all that smashed glass and, to top it all, shards of flint from gravel paths. What with the rain, it's perhaps no surprise that I've had two punctures in two weeks, both to the rear wheel.

So, en route to work, with a flattening tyre, popped into Evans. The choice wasn't the greatest: Brompton Yellow (my current tyres), Brompton Green (with kevlar) and Marathons. No old-skool Primos, the elusive (and discontinued) Marathon Slicks, no Stelvios. It's taken almost 1500 miles for my Brompton tyres to feel grippy, so I can't wait that long. Don't give much credence to kevlar fibre belts in stopping punctures (seeing as most of them are from shards of glass), but the Marathon seemed thicker. So, after a half and hour of wresting, changing brake blocks while I was at it, it's on the back wheel. (N.B., the trick to get them on is to make sure the wire rims are as far into the central groove as possible, and pull them over/on, rather than push).

Immediate reaction is that the rolling resistance is barely any worse, but the bikes seems much less skittish. Discovered that the new model (above) has a supposedly even better 'snakeskin' tread, but I ended up with the 06 variant (15 quid) More reports later...

Meanwhile, the Altura jacket is showing its flimsyness: the cord around the neck is fraying, some of the stitching is coming undone, and the material is very badly cut behind the zip. It's also got a bit sticky - but as I've been wearing long-sleeved cotton under it, can hardly be blamed.

Altura Reflex Review

This jacket has a lot to live up to. The reviews of its baby sibling, the Altura Crosslite have all been consistently excellent, with ratings of 8, 9 and even 10/10 (there are copies of some of the reviews at the Altura website) and some claiming it even beat paclite jackets for breathability. Here's my test of it.

The Basics: colours, fit, features

Since my Altura Nevis has failed because of the badly designed zip, Wiggle quickly dispatched a replacement within 24 hours (and at £70 after various discounts, very cheaply. Rack price is £99.99). Avoided the temptation to get the better looking but less visible black or blue to keep colleagues and family happy, and will feel something of a canary in a pub.

Still, its not a bad looking jacket. It relies on the stretch of the Altec Reactive fabric (windproof, waterproof, breathable, 20,000 g/m2/24hrs) rather than fancy tailoring and panels like the Nevis, but fits relatively tightly (no-where near as snug as a Gore bikewear affair or my Montane wind proof). Some bagginess in the arms and belly, but nothing too bad. Quite long at the back and okay at the front. Long on the neck, with a small bit of fabric to hid the zip. No fleece round the neck like the Nevis, but fits fine. It's not lined, so you won't get much warmth or lack of weird feeling on your skin. 8/10 for fit.

Comes fully loaded with:

• waterproof zips. Look fairly sturdy (TLL not YKK though), with a stop at the bottom to stop them fraying. Possible to work them with gloves; storm flap gets a bit caught if you're not careful (doesn't seem as bad as the Nevis though).
• Reflective strips. The reason I went for this - as the Nevis Nightvision (NV) is to the Nevis, so the Reflex is to the Crosslite. Not as much bling as the NV, but wide strips around the pockets, Altura branding, and front and side 'landing strips'. If a car can't see this then what's the point.
• Drawstring on neck and tail. Handy for temperature reg. Not the best for one-handed use.
• Rubberised Velcro sleeve closures. Excellent.
• Three waterproof pockets - back, chest, arm. Good for gloves, work pass, light, and iPod, if you cycle deaf.
• Rear vent. All along the shoulder blades.
• All seams taped - I'll come back to this.
• Ripstop fabric. Seems relatively tough. Think merino sweater, rather than (at one end of the toughness spectrum) fleece or (the other) cashmere.
• Lightweight carry pouch. Not attached, but handy. Suspect I'll lose it.

9/10 - no hood attachment, could be tougher?, NV reflection design

The Test Bed

Basically, me coming to work. 4 miles, about 19 minutes, 10 mph average, central London commute. Not the fastest, as a lot of traffic today. 1 degree Celsius with wind chill according to weather.com. Peter Storm coolmax T, Lowe Alpine mid-weight fleece, cotton cords, Goretex lined boots, windstopper gloves. Helmet, not hat. Brompton, yellow tyres, fully laden luggage rack. A bit nippy to start, but started to feel warm about 6 minutes in.

Results

Got to work and had a look. Didn't feel clammy, but running my hand around the inside of the jacket, could feel some dampness (cold). Closer inspection revealed this was mostly along the inch-thick seem tape. Other than that, seemed to breath better than the Nevis and as well as my Montane V2. Oddly, better breathing than the Montane windproof, but it was cold today. Suspect that you would have to work really hard to beat the moisture transfer on this thing and it to build up beyond what is in the fleece, etc. 9/10.

Conclusion

All sounds pretty good, right? So have I made the right decision? Actually, I think I should have gone for the NV yellow. Why? Well, I think I'll miss the side vent - not just to quickly cool down (although as the Reflex is so thin, prob. less of a problem), but to stash gloves, wallet etc. Also, I think the fit is slightly better, more jacket-like than sportswear. And the grey looks really good (not so great to stop cars reversing into you in daylight though). The Crosslite seems to have most of the features, just lacking some of the scotchlite, so that may be a better bet for the club cyclist.

The Altec Reactive fabric is pretty amazing. I suspect it comes from the same factory as Endura's offering - and works like eVent (e.g., small gaps in the material, rather than moisture transfer). I now see why some Goretex stuff comes with breathable seam tape - on such a minimalist jacket you really notice the contrast between the dry fabric and the cold, slightly damp tape. The lining is weird: lots of grey dimples.

However, come spring and autumn, I think I will appreciate the jacket more - it's very light and can be stashed easily in case of a shower.

Overall, 9/10 - but 8/10 for commuting.

Altura/Zyro

The Altura Reflex has arrived. More of a chrome yellow than a day-glo (too sensible to go for the edgy and stylish black) and quite a roomy fit. Lighter than expected, and disappointed to see TLL rather than YKK zips (this was the brand that packed up on the Altura Nevis. Will keep receipt... More to follow. In the meantime, the website for 'Altura' is in fact the parent company, 'Zyro'. Good selection of reviews on the site.