Road Cycling Essentials

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memphisto said:
So if you were doing that type of ride how many gels / sweets would you consume ?
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On all rides I aim for 400 cal/hr. However, on longer rides I've noticed that may not be enough (indicating a deficit which doesn't become apparent until after hour 4). The next 70+ mile ride I do I'm going to go for 400 cal/45 mins. Should be about right.

To give you some idea, 400 cals is a Torq (or similar sized) bar.
 
Stupid question on all these gels and bars... What's wrong with just eating mars bars all the way round? My guess would be it's the wrong sort of carbs... Am I right?
 
Vonhelmet said:
Stupid question on all these gels and bars... What's wrong with just eating mars bars all the way round? My guess would be it's the wrong sort of carbs... Am I right?
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Just harder to digest really, though a bit of solid food always goes down well after a few hours of gels and energy drinks.

Gels usually have a specific blend of carbs to ensure your body is being fuelled as efficiently as possible. :)
 
George Hincapie said:
On all rides I aim for 400 cal/hr. However, on longer rides I've noticed that may not be enough (indicating a deficit which doesn't become apparent until after hour 4). The next 70+ mile ride I do I'm going to go for 400 cal/45 mins. Should be about right.

To give you some idea, 400 cals is a Torq (or similar sized) bar.
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damn i need to up my food intake during rides lol

I only had 3 30 ml gels (80 cals each) a pack of cliff shots (200 cals), half a energy bar, a couple of bits of kendal mintcake and 750ml PSP Fuel !

so probably enough for 1 hour of cycling on a 6.5 hour ride !

Will definitely load up a lot more for this ride now !
 
Vonhelmet said:
Going back to gears... I've read that we pedal best at about 90-120 rpm. If you're in too high a gear going up a hill then your cadence is going to be well down and you'll tire yourself out trying to force the pedals round. Likewise if you're in too low a gear on the flat then your cadence will be way up and you'll be pedalling like a maniac and doing about 3mph, and again you'll get tired.
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120rpm is a bit high for most people. Usually around 85-95 is most efficient.

Road cycling is an endurance sport, not a power sport and so for cyclists making use of slow twitch rather that fast twitch muscle fibres, they will tire more slowly at low gear high rpm than the other way round.
 
On food; I find 400cal / hr to be a huge amount. I aim for about half that.

I prefer constantly nibbling a bar to a shot / gel as they tend to give me a sugar high / crash.
 
Vonhelmet said:
And yes - watch the angle of the chain. On my 15 gear bike I'm trying to discipline myself to use the top 3 on the cassette when I'm on the top chainring, the middle 3 on the middle one, and the bottom 3 on the bottom one. If I'm going to have to change the cassette outside that range then I'll change the chainring up or down one and go the other way with the cassette. I've no idea if that is anything like a sensible way of doing things, but I know it's bad to have the chain at a silly angle, so it's got to be worth something.
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if im reading that right on the big ring at the front you use the large 3 on the back, the middle u use the middle 3 and on the smallest chainring you use the three smallest cogs on the cassette ?

if that is simply to top the chain angle simply do not worry about it. the only gears that you should probably avoid are big to big and little to little any other gear will be fine.

use the full cassette as well in each chainring on the front other than the aforementioned avoidables.
 
uniQ said:
25mm all day. I have a set of 23mm Conti GP4000s on my Canyon atm as they didn't have 25mm when I needed them. Have a replacement set of 25mm 4000s ready to go back on as soon as they need replacing now though.
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What's so bad about the 23mm and how much do you weigh? From what I've read the GP4000s 23mm is actually wider than most 23s anyway (some have compared it to 23mm Conti Gatorskin). Also it seems like a lot of other factors come into play (such as rider weight, road surface and pressure used) as to whether people notice a difference between them for comfort.

Which Canyon have you got by the way? I was seriously eyeing up the Aeroad CF 8.0 for around the same price as this Rose, but they are out of stock until the 2013 models are released and I'm keen to buy now.
 
Vonhelmet said:
Stupid question on all these gels and bars... What's wrong with just eating mars bars all the way round? My guess would be it's the wrong sort of carbs... Am I right?
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Nothing wrong with that at all. I've never used gels. Bananas, Mars bars and pasties work for me. One of the hardcore cyclists at work swears by cheese sandwiches. This is the man who ran a 3:03 in the London marathon :)
 
Shamrock said:
Which Canyon have you got by the way? I was seriously eyeing up the Aeroad CF 8.0 for around the same price as this Rose, but they are out of stock until the 2013 models are released and I'm keen to buy now.
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I have an aeroad. Its a brilliant bike. Very fast on flat roads but also deceptively quick up hills too. I was a bit disappointed when i first got it because it felt like i was climbing slower than i did on my old bike but i realised when i uploaded the rides to Strava that it was actually slightly faster. I think it just feels slower on the hills because it's so much faster on the flat.
It's quite a handful in a crosswind tho. Even after i swapped the cosmic carbones for fulcrum 7s with much narrower rims, the shape of the frame still catches crosswinds. It's also the first bike i'v ever had speed-wobble on. I think this is down to the weight of it rather than the speed because it usually happens when i'm cold and shivering and i think maybe the lighter bike is more effected by these slight movements of the rider. It's not a huge problem though, it comes on slowly and a quick squeeze of the top tube between your knees soon sorts it out.
 
memphisto said:
if im reading that right on the big ring at the front you use the large 3 on the back, the middle u use the middle 3 and on the smallest chainring you use the three smallest cogs on the cassette ?
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Big ring at front => 3 smallest at back.
Middle ring at front => 3 middle at back.
Small ring at front => 3 big at back.

memphisto said:
if that is simply to top the chain angle simply do not worry about it. the only gears that you should probably avoid are big to big and little to little any other gear will be fine.
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Fair enough! I guess I'm also wondering about how the gears "cross over", like how the same ratios could appear on each chainring, depending on what you have at the cassette.

memphisto said:
use the full cassette as well in each chainring on the front other than the aforementioned avoidables.
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I'll give it a go and see how I get on.
 
Vonhelmet said:
gears "cross over", like how the same ratios could appear on each chainring, depending on what you have at the cassette.
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There is a good gear ratio calculator on sheldon brown's site that can do this for you. You soon work out what your ratios are like anyway. For example, i know that if i drop from the big ring at the front to the little ring, i can drop 3 sprockets down the cassette at the same time* to get the same ratio.


*Some people say that you shouldnt change both at the same time, but i dont see any problem with it, so i do it anyway.
 
touch said:
There is a good gear ratio calculator on sheldon brown's site that can do this for you. You soon work out what your ratios are like anyway. For example, i know that if i drop from the big ring at the front to the little ring, i can drop 3 sprockets down the cassette at the same time* to get the same ratio.


*Some people say that you shouldnt change both at the same time, but i dont see any problem with it, so i do it anyway.
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Same really but I tend to go from small ring + 6/7th gear to big ring and shift up two and that feels pretty similar.

Try explaining this to customers everyday on new bikes :o

I'd say stay away from the hardest 3 gears in the smallest ring at the front, use the middle of the block in the middle ring but you can run most gears most of the time in that as the chain line isn't that extreme then lastly avoid the three biggest rear cogs when in the big ring at the front.

Some people still cross chain and will always do it but it will just cost them money on chains in the long run.

Edit: Von, say the smallest ring on your bike is a 22t at the front and an 11t at the rear making it 2:1. You'll get the exact same ration running the middle 32t ring with the 16t cog at the back which will be around the middle of the block. So same ratio but so much better for the drivetrain.
 
[DOD]Asprilla;22230291 said:
On food; I find 400cal / hr to be a huge amount. I aim for about half that.

I prefer constantly nibbling a bar to a shot / gel as they tend to give me a sugar high / crash.
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It's really not. I can get through 400 calories in 40 mins if I'm spanking it. Calorie requirements differ from person to person though obviously.
 
Shamrock said:
What's so bad about the 23mm and how much do you weigh? From what I've read the GP4000s 23mm is actually wider than most 23s anyway (some have compared it to 23mm Conti Gatorskin). Also it seems like a lot of other factors come into play (such as rider weight, road surface and pressure used) as to whether people notice a difference between them for comfort.

Which Canyon have you got by the way? I was seriously eyeing up the Aeroad CF 8.0 for around the same price as this Rose, but they are out of stock until the 2013 models are released and I'm keen to buy now.
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I weigh 136lb. Nothing is terribly bad about 23mm. I personally find no difference in overall speed/performance but do notice an improvement in comfort (I like to ride long distances and spend 6+ hours in the saddle on a good ride). But unless you're riding at pro or semi-pro level the difference is going to be negligible if noticeable at all imo so I wouldn't put much thought into it.

AFAIK the weight difference between 4000s 23 & 25mm is around 15g ea but they also make more contact giving less rolling resistance. So it balances out. The PSI you inflate the tyre too is going to make a bigger difference.

Rose & Canyon's both make great bikes. I would be seriously tempted to wait a month now though the sales generally begin around the end of the Tour and August. Last years Canyon sale began on the 9th of August.
 
Nutrition is an interesting topic at the moment for me. I'm due my first 100 miler in a few weeks. What can you suggest for food to stuff in my back pocket? Everyone I've spoken to suggests different foods.

- gels,
- cake,
- zero energy tablets
- cheese sandwiches!

I'm looking forward to the ride but at the same time don't want to make myself ill and burn out. The other guys are pretty quick compared to me so I'm hoping loading up on the kcals will help me keep up.

Where do you guys get your gels from?
 
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