Road Cycling Essentials

George Hincapie · 27 Jun 2012 at 10:08

uniQ said:
Haven't seen Firefly/Crisp frames will have a google in a mo, cheers.

[DOD]Asprilla · 27 Jun 2012 at 10:31

George Hincapie said:

Yup, it's a stunner.

It's also steel rather than Ti.

I'd still kill for it.

Draeger · 27 Jun 2012 at 10:31

Have been playing around with the angle of my bars just out of interest. Finding that in this slightly more tilted upwards position that it feels a tiny bit more comfortable although it draws the angle of the drops upwards a fair bit. However, I'm almost always riding on the hoods so it doesn't really matter to me, they are still useable. Still feeling a bit too stretched out reach wise since I fitted the new MOst carbon stem. It's a 120mm job and the previous OEM one was a 110mm. I think I'm going to try an 80-90mm one and see if it sits me a bit more upright so I take a little less weight on my hands and wrists.

Saytan · 27 Jun 2012 at 10:39

why not flip the stem you have? a little more height and a little less reach

touch · 27 Jun 2012 at 10:41

Your gear cables look very stretched with the bars at that angle.

George Hincapie · 27 Jun 2012 at 11:00

Draeger said:
I think I'm going to try an 80-90mm one and see if it sits me a bit more upright so I take a little less weight on my hands and wrists.

A word of advice. Don't fit a stem that's too short. I wouldn't go below 90mm personally, as it has a tendency to make the handling very twitchy.

George Hincapie · 27 Jun 2012 at 11:01

[DOD]Asprilla;22224398 said:
Yup, it's a stunner.

It's also steel rather than Ti.

I'd still kill for it.

I'm sure they could do it in Ti if you wanted. The material wasn't the issue, it was more to illustrate the quality of the finish. A beautiful paint job.

Draeger · 27 Jun 2012 at 11:01

touch said:
Your gear cables look very stretched with the bars at that angle.

They look stretched in the pic but there's a bit of slack in them, pic exaggerates it a little.

Saytan said:
why not flip the stem you have? a little more height and a little less reach

I'll maybe give that a pop. Still feel the stem is a little long for me though. I'll be honest and admit that I bought it because it looked the dogs danglies ( think we've all bought something before for looks instead of functionality

) and didn't appreciate just how much extra reach would result in a stem that was only really the next size up from the one I already had. I'm just going through one of those daft fiddling stages where you move and adjust things around and usually eventually put everything back to how it was!!!.

uniQ · 27 Jun 2012 at 11:28

[DOD]Asprilla;22223997 said:
It's my commuter / winter bike rather than my weekender.

What an awesome commuter. Do want!

George Hincapie said:
snip

Om nom. Stunning indeed! Also just realised I saw a few of the Crisp bikes at Bespoked Bristol. Also stunning but probably outside my budget.

Enigma have some sale bikes within my budget that fit the bill.

But I've also seen the CAAD 10 Dura Ace for £1.7k sure it's Alu but seems like a hell of a lot of a bike for the money, and with end of year sales looming around the corner. So many choices/possibilities. :eek:

George Hincapie · 27 Jun 2012 at 11:41

Enigma have test bikes, so if you can visit they'll let you take out whatever you like.

VeNT · 27 Jun 2012 at 12:14

I'm sore!

http://app.strava.com/rides/11803155

topgun06 · 27 Jun 2012 at 12:30

Congrats VeNT. How long have you been cycling for?

VeNT · 27 Jun 2012 at 12:47

just over a month
he wants to go again next week!

topgun06 · 27 Jun 2012 at 13:01

Nice! Keep it up and you shall soon get used to it!

jamief · 27 Jun 2012 at 13:22

Hi guys. Currently have a GT Aggressor (bought in 2008ish through a cycle to work scheme). Didn't see much use until this year, so got it serviced and have been using every couple of days for the past few months. Slowly building up my distances! However I think I'll be doing road cycling for the forseeable future - can I switch the tyres for something that isn't offroad? It often feels like the tyres are causing a lot of resistance!

Also is there anything else I can (fairly cheaply) change to help with road cycling?

VeNT · 27 Jun 2012 at 13:34

higher pressure in the tyres?
lock out the forks
tbh anything you do to it, the frames still going to be heavy etc.

George Hincapie · 27 Jun 2012 at 13:35

jamief said:
Hi guys. Currently have a GT Aggressor (bought in 2008ish through a cycle to work scheme). Didn't see much use until this year, so got it serviced and have been using every couple of days for the past few months. Slowly building up my distances! However I think I'll be doing road cycling for the forseeable future - can I switch the tyres for something that isn't offroad? It often feels like the tyres are causing a lot of resistance!

Also is there anything else I can (fairly cheaply) change to help with road cycling?

You could try Specialized Armadillos. They have low rolling resistance (for an MTB tyre) and are puncture resistant.

Shamrock · 27 Jun 2012 at 13:48

Well, after getting my hybrid bike stolen earlier this year (gutted) I've finally saved up to buy a new bike. Hoping to order this in the next week or so:

Rose Xeon CRS-5000
Campag Chorus 11 groupset
Mavic Cosmic Carbone SL wheelset
Conti GP4000s tyres
Selle Italia SLR XC seat
3T ARX Team stem
3T Ergonova Team carbon handlebars
fi'z:ik Microtex bar tape

touch · 27 Jun 2012 at 13:52

VeNT said:
tbh anything you do to it, the frames still going to be heavy etc.

This.
Slick tyres will make a good difference and are reasonably cheap. Anything else (clipless pedals, etc) will be more expensive for less gain.

jamief · 27 Jun 2012 at 13:53

VeNT said:
higher pressure in the tyres?
lock out the forks
tbh anything you do to it, the frames still going to be heavy etc.

Forks are locked out. Will try pumping tyres up a bit more. Saw these (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kenda-Kwe...sure_cycling_bikeparts_SR&hash=item484522aac6) recommended elsewhere - any good?