I’ve been running a day-glow yellow Freestyle Gore-Tex Paclite jacket for about 10 years and it’s been excellent, but it’s finally started leaking at the seams and looks really grubby now.

With the January sale on Wiggle, I bagged this jacket at nearly 40% off, which to me seemed more reasonable than the insane RRP of £200.

I’ve been using it for six months now and it’s proven utterly brilliant at keeping the elements out in all weathers, to the point that my base layer and this jacket have replaced my old faithful Endura Windchill jacket and a couple of thinner layers on rides.

Like the old Pac-lite version it’s made to fold small, and the XL version takes up about double the space of an MTB inner tube, so it can just sit in my Rucksack during the warmer months without me needing to remove essentials like Jelly Babies and flapjacks from it.

It hasn’t exactly been a dry winter/spring this year and with a fortnightly wash in Nixwak Tech Wash, has kept this working as if it were still new; the couple of minor off’s I’ve had have not resulted in any tears to the fabric.

What has proven a nightmare is the waterproof zips, the pull tags are so small and have plastic covers on them, so it’s impossible to use then with any kind of glove on, during the winter months this proved a little tiresome when you want to quickly deal with some simple heat management.

Is it worth £200? I’m not sure it is, but if you can get it for nearer £150 then I’d highly recommend it, based on the last six months of heavy usage I’m going to get many years out of this jacket so it’s long-term value is great.

Good

• Great fit with long sleeves
• Works brilliantly on a day long ride in pouring rain
• Reflective bits really stand out at night
• Removes sweat better than any other jacket I’ve used
• Packs down to a tiny bundle

Bad

• Really expensive on RRP (£200!)
• Zips are impossible to use with gloves on
• Velcro cuffs don’t stick for long

So last Sunday I took part in the 50km route of Gorrick’s Test Valley Tour – Hot Challenge, it was a very different affair to the Wiggle Super Series and really relaxed with a lot of friendly people.

The route got a little technical in a few places, but nothing too taxing, even better this is the first challenge I’ve not had to get off of the bike to push up a hill.

After finishing the family joined me and we had a nice picnic together, we even sampled the excellent BBQ that was on offer, so a nice day was had by all.

Really recommend taking part in this if you get the chance, I’ll definitely be going to the Cold Challenge in October.

My old XT bottom bracket finally gave seized up and needed replacing, I was looking at the Hope Steel Bearing one, but didn’t have the spare cash to get one at the time, so decided to go with a very cheap gap stop, which is why I got this Token MTB TK878EX Hollowtech bottom bracket which cost me a total of £17!

Build quality seemed good and there’s a wide choice of colours if that’s your thing, installation was also very easy (as it should be for this kind of fitting) and once fitted it was really smooth; on the scales it weighs in at 105g.

I’ve now ridden it through a large amount of mud, deep puddles and snow, as well as given it a good blast using a pressure washer a few times, I was surprised to see it held up well for 6 months of some awful conditions, a couple of months later however, it really started to show that it was a on the cheaper end of the scale in build and the seals just didn’t work as well as they should.

Once the late winter decided it should snow again and the temperatures dropped along with it, the Token BB ended up freezing and I had to bring it inside to thaw it out, which clearly showed that the seals were not doing the job anymore.

Taking it apart showed that there was a huge cake of mud inside and stuck to the sealed bearings.

So the big question is, if paying £17 is worth it against £30 for a Shimano XT one, based on the fact that my last XT BB lasted 2.5 years, it’s not worth it as an investment, however the Token BB is probably worth it if you’re heavily cash strapped and need something to get you through a season.

Good

• Cheap
• Great colour choice
• Smooth to begin with
• Bearing are replaceable

Bad

• Not a long term investment
• Seals aren’t up to the challenge
• Replacement bearings are nearly as much as a new BB
• Anodising comes off when fitting

Glasses fogging has long been an issue for me and since I switched to a pair of Oakley Jawbones with vented lenses, I’ve been forced to remove them every time I stop for more than a few seconds, which is annoying.

I found the Muc-Off Anti-Fog Treatment spray by accident when looking for the bike cleaner spray, I’ve used something similar to the inside screen of my car, so I was interested to find out how it would work here.

The bottle itself is small and easy to chuck in your bag, before each ride you just need to spray the inside of the glasses with a thin coat and after leaving it there for a minute wipe off with a lens cloth.

I’ve now been using this spray for six months and it’s been tested in a variety of conditions over 3 seasons and has performed very well, the only issues have been during long rides where it was very humid and hovering at about 5c-10c, I tend to run quite hot when on the bike, so while the lens had some minor condensation on it, it wasn’t so bad as that I had to stop or remove the sunglasses, but it was noticable.

Because you use so little the spray will also last about a year if you use it weekly, for the cost of the bottle, it’s very low risk and will last you ages, it definitely makes a difference compared to not using any.