Sorry to hear about the punctures Iliya. Another good ride last night (apart from the mechanical problem) which was diagnosed today - I needed a new cassette
So, well diagnosed Amy
This comes as quite an unpleasant surprise since it's only a year old but I'm told there are many variables which lead to cassette wear and I have done many all weather miles in the last year. I change the chain roughly twice a year and will now change it when the chain-wear indicator is at the 75% mark and not wait for the 100% mark. Also degrease more often.
So, just a reminder to others to check chain wear - they stretch surprisingly easily and cause premature cog wear. The result for me yesterday was a chain which jumped on the cassette whenever I needed to put any power down which not only slowed me down but caused mild groin strain
And so as the group pulled away from lights (or on hill climbs) the jumping chain made for very difficult progress and that was after getting my shoes into the pedals which was quite comical with jumping crank-arms.
Did anyone get what speed we were doing behind Andy W (I think) along the Gatwick dual carriageway? It felt like 40mph
Thanks once again guys for waiting for me to check all was well and for doing all the work into that headwind. I stuck to a steady 17mph through Redhill and for most of the return home and the chain didn't jump so much.
Must get a chain wear indicator tool on Keith's 'kit review' thread.