Road Cycling Essentials

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touch said:
No, i saw a post about it in the features request section of their support forum, but i dont know if they plan on doing it or not.
I dont think it would really be that much use, there would be pages and pages of them. It's hard enough to keep track of KOM segments, i have a couple of pages (lots of hills up here and not as many cyclists) and theres too many to look through and check them all.
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Alright for some :)

I was quite surprised how many serious cyclists there are here in Suffolk, there's a couple of guys who average 600km a week which seems nuts to me! I'll be happy getting in the top 10!
 
Can someone teach me about tubulars please?

I understand that the tyre is a complete sealed unit which holds the air and then it's glued to the rim, but what's the benefit of this?

Tempted to get some 50mm Carbon Tubular rims but would need new tyres too and I'm not sure if it's worthwhile when I could go the 50mm Carbon clincher route.
 
Depends on what your using it for. if your just using them for races then they are proven to be better for their rolling resistance and high pressure,

problem is if you don't look after them they are a ***** to change. glue gets stuck and then your out for a very long time.
 
Rusty_Noob said:
Can someone teach me about tubulars please?

I understand that the tyre is a complete sealed unit which holds the air and then it's glued to the rim, but what's the benefit of this?

Tempted to get some 50mm Carbon Tubular rims but would need new tyres too and I'm not sure if it's worthwhile when I could go the 50mm Carbon clincher route.
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Hi, I found this a good read:

http://www.schwalbe.co.uk/_webedit/uploaded-files/All Files/Technical Info.pdf

Page 12 has all the details, sounds like they're good for racing but not so good for daily use or training.
 
rogan said:
Depends on what your using it for. if your just using them for races then they are proven to be better for their rolling resistance and high pressure
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Proven?

Most recent studies show that rolling resistance is improved by running higher volume tyres at moderate pressure.

The biggest advantage is weight; you don't need the rim to take the air pressure and you don't need a bead bed. As a result you can get tubular wheelsets for a little over 1kg total weight without breaking the bank.

Vittoria make a tubular that fits a clincher rim. Uptake isn't great.
 
MikeHunt79 said:
they're good for racing but not so good for daily use or training.
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This.

The benefits are that they are lighter. Not a huge weight saving from the tyres themselves, but they allow much lighter rims. Clinchers work, as you know, by using the pressure to press the bead of the tyre outwards against the edge of the rims. That means the rims need to be fairly strong to hold up against 120+ psi forcing them out. Tubular tyres completely surround the tube so its only the tyre holding the pressure and the rims can be a lot thinner and lighter around the edges.
This also allows much higher pressures (mine are rated to 170psi).
It also means that the tyre has a rounder profile, which apparently is better to lean into corners (but i wont climb to be good enough to notice the difference in tyre shape).
You dont get pinch punctures with tubs.

The drawbacks are that they are a lot more expensive than clinchers (usually around £70-£80 per tyre for something mid-range) and they are a PITA if you puncture. I got a thorn in one of mine and it made a tiny hole, i filled it with sealant and that seems to have done the trick but if you get a bigger puncture you're stuffed. There are some places where you can send the tyre away and they will cut open the stitching, patch the tube and sew it up again, but it costs about £12 + postage every time you puncture.

As MikeHunt said, they are good for race wheels which get used a couple of times a month or something, but i wouldnt want to use them frequently.
There's a guy in our club actually who has tubs on his cervelo and he rides around with a spare in his pocket and a roll of tub tape :p
 
Hi guys looking for a little bit of help...

So I had been toying with the idea of getting a road bike for a while and after watching it on the Olympics its made my mind up for me.

So with that in mind I am looking for advice on what would be a good starter bike. I know I wont be doing anything that may be considered off road so am confident a road bike fits the bill but there is just the question of which one to start with.

My budget is £600 tops and with that I need to get a helmet and any other essential accessories (I am starting from scratch so please recommend anything you feel I would definitely need).

My work partakes in the bike to work scheme although I don't know what the details of this are and if it is actually worth purchasing through this or directly (again any advice here would be great).

I do know that if I did I would have to get the bike from Halfords so with that in mind had a quick look at their website and noticed the Carrera Vanquish sits within my budget (depending on what accessories I will need). Is something like this what I should be looking for or is there any other bikes I should consider test riding?

Thanks in advance!
 
[DOD]Asprilla;22554703 said:
Most recent studies show that rolling resistance is improved by running higher volume tyres at moderate pressure.
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Thats true, but it's not the whole story.
Narrower tyres are more aerodynamic than wide tyres, and that makes a much bigger difference than rolling resistance at any decent speed. But narrower tyres need a higher pressure so that you dont smack your rims of the bottom of every pot hole.
 
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simoran1 said:
My budget is £600 tops and with that I need to get a helmet and any other essential accessories (I am starting from scratch so please recommend anything you feel I would definitely need).
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A good pair of padded shorts!
(and probably a cycling top with pockets in the back - because a good pair of padded shorts wont have pockets ;))

Have a look at the Boardman range in halfords, they are pretty good spec for the money.
Specialized Allez is usually well recommended at that price range too (i think evanscycles is the best price for them)
 
touch said:
Thats true, but it's not the whole story.
Narrower tyres are more aerodynamic than wide tyres, and that makes a much bigger difference than rolling resistance at any decent speed. But narrower tyres need a higher pressure so that you dont smack your rims of the bottom of every pot hole.
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Thats not strictly true either. The latest Zipps, HEDs, ENVEs and Reynolds all use 23mm wide tyre beds. This generates a wider tyre profile, even with 23mm tyres, and this has found to more aerodynamic.
 
So I bought a road bike just over a week ago, been out once for a 4 mile ride and already the front rim is buggered.

The tyre won't inflate at all, I've popped the tyre in water to see where the air comes out and its through all of the eyelets which I guess means the inner tube has split/burst? There were inflated previously to the recommended 120 PSI
 
Take the tube out and put a new one in. It's a skill you'll have to learn

Check the inside of the tyre for sharps by running your fingers around and check the outside of the tyre for damage.

It will most likely be a puncture from debris rather than a damage rim.
 
I'm more than capable of doing that but if I'm gonna need to replace a tube every 4 miles then something else must be wrong :)

The bike is brand new, purchased a week last friday with less than 4 miles use. Bad luck maybe but i've never had a puncture so quickly and I use my DH bike every weekend!
 
New bike arrived today.

Finished putting it together now, probably need the odd adjustment here and there but hopefully get out for a ride tomorrow night on it. Looking forward to it. :D

Px1.jpg


Px2.jpg
 
MadMossy said:
Ok well that didn't work, my xtools tyre lever snapped trying to get the tyre off.
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Oh dear :p

Road tyres can often be quite tight depending on the rim/tyre/rimtape combo. I split a marathon plus fitting it to a rigida sputnik rim, replaced the tape with veloplugs and was able to fit another marathon by hand. You also might consider getting one of these. Otherwise I find these to be the best plastic levers, reallt strong compared to most.

It's possible if you are used to mountain bikes and such that you aren't used to going round pot holes and debris, road tyres are comparatively fragile.
 
George Hincapie said:
You're being too hard on yourself. When I first started cycling, I used to die doing a local 10 mile loop. Now it's barely a warm up.

Just aim for consistent small improvements - they all add up. Before you know it you'll be knocking huge chunks of time off your routes.
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Cheers for the encouragement!

I've got back on the "horse" this evening and managed 18 miles, including improving on 3 segments on Strava and averaging 15.5mph in spite of seemingly constant headwinds. Quite pleased with that after yesterday's struggle!
 
simoran1 said:
Hi guys looking for a little bit of help...

So I had been toying with the idea of getting a road bike for a while and after watching it on the Olympics its made my mind up for me.

So with that in mind I am looking for advice on what would be a good starter bike. I know I wont be doing anything that may be considered off road so am confident a road bike fits the bill but there is just the question of which one to start with.

My budget is £600 tops and with that I need to get a helmet and any other essential accessories (I am starting from scratch so please recommend anything you feel I would definitely need).

My work partakes in the bike to work scheme although I don't know what the details of this are and if it is actually worth purchasing through this or directly (again any advice here would be great).

I do know that if I did I would have to get the bike from Halfords so with that in mind had a quick look at their website and noticed the Carrera Vanquish sits within my budget (depending on what accessories I will need). Is something like this what I should be looking for or is there any other bikes I should consider test riding?

Thanks in advance!
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Cycle2work is almost certainly worthwhile, unless you can get lots of discounts somehow.

The current Carrera Vanquish didn't get a great write up on Bikeradar. The Boardman Race did, but it costs £650. Maybe keep an eye for that in the sales. There's plenty of other stuff available if you go beyond Halfords.

In terms of essentials, you will need:

- Helmet
- At least one pair of decent padded shorts
- At least one wicking jersey, though you'll likely want more as it gets into winter and you need long sleeved ones and base layers and whatnot
- Wedge bag to carry the following couple of things
- Tyre levers
- Spare inner tube(s)
- Small pump you can carry with you on the bike
- Decent pump for use at home, though if you have a foot pump for the car then you might get away with that
- Bottle cage(s) and bottle(s)
- Lights if you're going to be cycling in the dark

I think that's probably the bare minimum you'll need. There's absolutely shedloads of other guff, but that's probably the essential stuff covered. Other stuff is more "useful" than "essential" when you're starting out.
 
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