Road Cycling Essentials

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Seriously? I get it all time near the station. I'll chain the bike up and as I'm walking off or returning I'll quite often have someone deliberately stick an elbow or shoulder in as they go past. I sometimes get it if I'm in running gear as well, so it's obviously something to do with wearing technical clothing. At first I thought it was people misjudging on the side I'm carrying my crash helmet but after a while I've noticed it's deliberate. If I'm paying attention I can see it coming when someone is about to do it, but if I'm fiddling with my bag or helmet it'll take me by surprise.

No idea what goes through people's minds or why they think it's acceptable behaviour :confused:
 
Robbie G said:
I always unclip right foot first and have never had any topples in a year of wearing clipless. Of course now I've said that I'll stack at the earliest opportunity.

Anyway I used my Fenix LD20 on full blast on the way home last night. It lit up the country lanes fairly well, but it was a drizzly evening and I need something slightly more powerful. Having scoured the flashlight thread, I think I'm going to order three Ultrafire C8 XM-Ls (one helmet, one handlebars, one rear with red filter), a six cell 18650 charger (XSTAR WP6), two more lock blocks, and six Li-ion 18650 cells.

Warning cyclists, that thread is dangerous for the wallet.
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Just bought one. Less than half the price of the LD20 which I was going to get. :)
 
Jonny69 said:
Seriously? I get it all time near the station. I'll chain the bike up and as I'm walking off or returning I'll quite often have someone deliberately stick an elbow or shoulder in as they go past. I sometimes get it if I'm in running gear as well, so it's obviously something to do with wearing technical clothing. At first I thought it was people misjudging on the side I'm carrying my crash helmet but after a while I've noticed it's deliberate. If I'm paying attention I can see it coming when someone is about to do it, but if I'm fiddling with my bag or helmet it'll take me by surprise.

No idea what goes through people's minds or why they think it's acceptable behaviour :confused:
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Sorry, I'd see red and shoulder barge them onto the track.
*puts down keyboard
/rage
 
Jonny69 said:
That video was fantastic. I am going to try that on Oxford Street and see if the crowd parts :D

I'm loving cycling at the moment, even though the weather is noticeably trashing my bikes already. I need to sort out the brakes on my Raleigh. I put the dual pivot calipers on and it's made the braking awful. I'm fairly sure it's the pads to blame, because I've re-used the pads and they land on the rim at a slightly different angle, so the braking is poor. I also need to tweak the back wheel because it's got a slight wobble from hitting a big bump, so the rear brake is wound right out which doesn't help. Also, are dual pivots a complete biatch to centre up or what?

Got damn lucky this morning. I left my Fenix torch on my bike by mistake and merrily jumped on the train. I decided it was too risky to leave it all day but there would be a tiny tiny chance it would still be there is I went back straight away. 45 minutes in Croydon and it was still there. I think I'll have to say the bad weather was the reason :cool:
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Ooof, not bad. I can top that though... I left my bike unlocked outside work on Millbank all day last week and I came back to find it still there. :o It's a miracle because while my bike's probably only worth £300, my colleague's Barracuda POS was nicked from there a few weeks back and that was after they cut his chain.
 
Jonny69 said:
What about the number of people who try and stick an elbow or shoulder in as they walk past when you're wearing anything that resembles bike gear? I'd almost forgotten people do it because I haven't experienced it for ages, but had two ******** do it this morning.
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Never seen nor experienced that sort of behaviour myself either.
 
platypus said:
Did you get the mount btw?
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Yes I did, sorry, I posted this earlier in the thread:

Robbie G said:
It's now attached to my bike handlebars (courtesy platypus) and I'm looking forward to trying it out on the dark lanes coming home from work on Monday night.
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It's working great, thanks very much. I should have emailed you to let you know it arrived!

I'm going to pick up another for my helmet as you suggested.

I'm looking at those fibre flares as a rear light, off to read about them in the big bike thread...
 
To further add to my cycling related woes, the left crank arm fell off my main bike while I was riding home yesterday. I couldn't find the cap as it was dark, and didn't have any tools with me so I had to call home to ask to be picked up. I decided to ride the trusty old Carrera in today, only to discover that it won't work in 4th or 5th gear, which are the ones I used most.

I should have just ridden the Van Nicholas to work instead!
 
Robbie G said:
Yes I did, sorry, I posted this earlier in the thread:



It's working great, thanks very much. I should have emailed you to let you know it arrived!

I'm going to pick up another for my helmet as you suggested.
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Glad to hear it.
I'm looking at those fibre flares as a rear light, off to read about them in the big bike thread...
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I'll take a pic of mine tonight iirc, so you can see just how effective they are.
 
Could someone recommend a good (cheap) front flashing light please?

Been looking at the Knog frog but wasn't sure if there was something better out there. It's really just something to have on at dawn/dusk when my normal light isn't required and as a backup.
 
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platypus said:
You're not really supposed to have a flashing front light.
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I thought it was perfectly legal these days, didn't changes to the Road Traffic Act make provision for them about 10 years ago?

Edit: In the UK, the regulations governing bicycle lights are set out in the Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989[4] and their subsequent amendments, summarized in the Highway Code.[5] The regulations require a white front light, a red rear light, a red rear reflector, and amber/yellow pedal reflectors on the front and rear of both pedals. Reflectors must conform to BS 6102/2 or an equivalent European standard. The situation for lights is more complicated:
a light with a steady mode is considered approved only if it conforms to BS 6102/3 or an equivalent European standard;
a light without a steady mode is considered approved only if it flashes at a constant rate of between 60 to 240 flashes per minute and has a luminous intensity of at least 4 candela;

I have no pedal reflectors and none of my lights conform to British or European standards, but apart from that it's fine.
 
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Just off to pickup my new bike :D

Got a singlespeed Genesis Skyline to cycle to uni and around the city, maybe a bit of training :D
Thats bike number 3 sorted....now to think about a number 4 :p
 
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