Advert for a Cresswell Micro

Circa 1997:

Torrid Time for Micro in Belgium

Everything should have been perfect. They had announced cold weather but dry & sunny, no rain or snow on the horizon. Cycled from home to my local station : perfect. Train from Paris to Bruxelles: perfect. Connection made at Bruxelles : perfect. Upon arrival at the nearest station to the office, intended to take the shuttle bus to the office, the Micro could travel in the boot. Fifteen people for eight places. No other option than for the dude with the bike to use it. A colleague kindly offered to carry my luggage in the bus to the office. Set off in the sunshine to the office. Had almost arrived when heard a swish swish swish noise and pedalling became mighty difficult. Stopped to inspect; the tyre had blown off the rim on the back wheel. The swishing noise was the "bulge" going past the brakes. No other option than to walk the remaining 200 or so metres.
After work, to the shuttle bus back to the station, where there was a cycle shop conveniently located just around the corner. Unfortunately no 16" tyres on offer, so had to make do with a pump (8 euros). Took the train back to the station near the hotel, pushed the bike the mile or so downhill to the hotel. After checking in, had a look at the tyre which by now I had deflated, and pumped up the bike and luckily the tyre stayed on.
Next day, decided to cycle to work. After one kilometre, felt something odd at the back wheel - a puncture. Pushed the bike back to the hotel where it spent the day in the nice warm room. Walked up the hill to the station, bike-less admittedly, then took train & shuttle to the office.
After work, shuttle back to station & conveniently-located bike shop in order to purchase one repair kit, one 15mm spanner to get the back wheel off and some rather fetching fluo pink tyre levers. Train back to station near hotel and one mile downhill trudge home.
Repaired puncture, fairly easily it has to be said. Checked that no spoke heads were poking through as well. Took bike for a spin - about one kilometre from the hotel, punctured again. Pushed Micro back to hotel. Repaired puncture #2 and left bike in room. Was a new hole, the original mend had held up.
Next morning, sent bag ahead in taxi with a colleague, then decided to cycle to the office. Just short of the intermediate station (the one around the corner from the conveniently-located bike shop) swish swish swish again - tyre off rim. Nothing else to do but push. Shuttle bus to office, from office as well in the evening for the two-train journey home to Paris. Arriving at local station I managed to get a lift thus avoiding a three kilometre uphill trudge with bag and poorly Micro.
Last night, took the tyre right off & inspected closely. Bead seems to be in some kind of trouble and part of it has shot through the inner rubber casing, exposing two inches of rather nasty sharp nail (see photo)

So what has gone wrong ? Was there a fault in the manufacture of the tyre ? I have a suspicion that the tyre was fractionally too big for the rim. I had already done 30km or so with the tyre.
Maybe I'm too heavy, combined with the weight of the rucksack. The official Schwalbe site says 75km max load for the 16" Marathon, but I know that riders as big as me have done lots of kilometres on Schwalbe-fitted Bromptons, often fully loaded.
Next step is to take the tyre back from whence it did come and try and work out a solution. Meanwhile the original tyre is back on...

The week on a Cresswell Micro

Spring is not quite here yet, but the rain has held off and there is no sign of snow for the moment, so the Micro has seen a fair bit of use over the last seven days. Mostly replacing the 20kg+ supermarket bike on the bread run in the mornings - I took two days off work at the end of the week. Replaced the saddle as well during the week for one I originally bought for a renovation project that never got beyond the drawing board state. The new one is on rails with an adapter clip, which means that I have gained about 15mm saddle height.
One of the main issues I have now with the Micro is with the seat tube/saddle interface. I experienced some severe creaking recently from this area, so resolved this issue with a light oiling. However, a new problem occurs of the seat post gradually slipping down into the frame each time I go over a bump. Added to this the seat post emerges black and oily once out of the frame. So, it's remove the oil, leaving the minimum to prevent creaking. I have tightened the quick release as far as possible, so we'll see if this holds up....