Road Cycling Essentials

Status
Not open for further replies.
uniQ said:
And the wheels on the Canyon. Can't wait to take her for a decent spin Tue/Wed :)

canyonzonda2.jpg


canyonzonda.jpg
Click to expand...

Naughty gear to leave the bike in! I'd have the QR heads on the other side too :o

I'm on a compact and thinking of going to a double at some point. Top end will mean I'll be hitting the same speed but be further up the block a bit.

I tend to ignore the top few gears on the 34t ring though as I can spin to easily, on the 39 I'll make a lot more use of the gears in that before moving up to the 53t. I also hate knowing I have an easier gear to go to on the granny gear as it makes me want to use it, on a 39/25 I would need to just push myself harder.
 
I've got the day off tomorrow. I've got to get my daughter to nursery for 9 and pick her up at 12. Hoping I can get out on the bike for a couple of hours and make it up the cat 3 near me. I've only tried it once before and ended up walking. Hopefully I'll make it up this time.
 
pumaz said:
Is there a jack of all trades road bike? would like something fairly comfortable that I can use for long distances as well as climbing and sprints, really getting into watching road cycling and triathlon on eurosport and wouldn't mind doing a shorter (sprint) triathlon myself at some point in the future. This would be my first road bike btw.
Click to expand...


Go to your local bike shop mate and ask to try a few bikes.

I bought my first bike 2 weeks ago after spending weeks looking through the internet. I spoke to the bloke in the shop for a bit, I saw a bike i liked, he took the bike off the stand, I tried it for size (it was an almost perfect fit), he put some pedals on it and sent me out for a ride to see how it felt :)

I loved it, we had a chat on price and I got some pedals and shoes as part of the deal :D

I bought a Giant Defy Composite 3, I'm still amazed at just how comfortable it is, i even managed a 28 mile ride on Sunday, far further than I'd ever ridden before and I found the bike really comfortable to ride (my legs were wrecked, but it was a comfortable ride :))
 
Jonny ///M said:
Naughty gear to leave the bike in! I'd have the QR heads on the other side too :o
Click to expand...

I have been a naughty boy haven't I :( Good shout on the QR though will swap them round when I pick up the bike in a couple of hours. QR Clamp pointing to the rear or upwards? :p

For the icing on the cake I'll take a photo later her lying crank side down in the grass. :eek:

I'm on a compact and thinking of going to a double at some point. Top end will mean I'll be hitting the same speed but be further up the block a bit.

I tend to ignore the top few gears on the 34t ring though as I can spin to easily, on the 39 I'll make a lot more use of the gears in that before moving up to the 53t. I also hate knowing I have an easier gear to go to on the granny gear as it makes me want to use it, on a 39/25 I would need to just push myself harder.
Click to expand...

I think that's a big part of it. If you don't have it you can't use it, when I hit a steep grade and drop to 39/25 I know it's time to dig deep. It's probably why I now love hill climbing so much too as I can crunch endless miles spinning along but get a much bigger sense of achievement when I reach the peak of a challenging hill.
 
Watching Contador and Rodriguez in the Vuelta has really inspired me to want to do more climbing.

Those guys are absolute machines.
 
How long do you guys think i should wait before chasing Canyon up? heard nothing so far from them, after emailed this time yesterday
 
Didn't make it up my big hill today due to a lack of sleep and time! Ended up doing a mostly flat 22 miles this morning. Better than nothing, I guess. Got a PR on a descent, so all is not lost.
 
Last edited:
I've got a donor road bike with full Ultegra groupset that the frame is too small for me so I want to transfer over the groupset, stem, handlebars and a set of brand new Giant PR2 wheels from my Defy to a steel winter bike that I can deck out with full mudguards and potentially a pannier rack for touring/commuting.

I've seen the Planet X Kaffenback swap out frame that looks decent value, if a little heavy, for £180 including the fork.

Are there any pitfalls to swapping the components from my Fondriest to the Kaffenback?

The things I've thought of to date are:

- Seatpost size
- Front deraileaur clamp size (shims?)
- Require long reach brake calipers (Shimano R650?) Will these fit the Kaffenback?
- Which mudguards with (at least 28mm tyres) Crudcatchers/SKS raceblades/A N Other?

Anything else anyone can think of? I can take the frame to my LBS to swap the bottom bracket over and fit the fork and headset.

How much are decent headsets?
 
Kimi said:
How long do you guys think i should wait before chasing Canyon up? heard nothing so far from them, after emailed this time yesterday
Click to expand...

When I have emailed them @ the uk address I have received responses within a couple of hours. Otherwise 24-48 hours as a general rule of thumb is usually a reasonable time to expect a response by.

I would get an email over to the German arm though and cc the uk address again. But I know the UK is only staffed by a couple of guys and they were probably @ Eurobike which has only just wrapped up.
 
Lead_Head said:
I've got a donor road bike with full Ultegra groupset that the frame is too small for me so I want to transfer over the groupset, stem, handlebars and a set of brand new Giant PR2 wheels from my Defy to a steel winter bike that I can deck out with full mudguards and potentially a pannier rack for touring/commuting.

I've seen the Planet X Kaffenback swap out frame that looks decent value, if a little heavy, for £180 including the fork.

Are there any pitfalls to swapping the components from my Fondriest to the Kaffenback?

The things I've thought of to date are:

- Seatpost size
- Front deraileaur clamp size (shims?)
- Require long reach brake calipers (Shimano R650?) Will these fit the Kaffenback?
- Which mudguards with (at least 28mm tyres) Crudcatchers/SKS raceblades/A N Other?

Anything else anyone can think of? I can take the frame to my LBS to swap the bottom bracket over and fit the fork and headset.

How much are decent headsets?
Click to expand...

Headsets come in a few standards & you may also need new brake & gear cables.
 
I took the plunge and bought clipless pedals and shoes today. I've practiced clipping in and out whilst stationary and have a natural tendancy to keep my right foot clipped in when stopping. Now, getting my left foot in once i've set off has caused a few problems with the shoe slipping off the pedal because the cleat missed and I've ended up smacking my knee on the pedal! Why are the undersides of these shoes so slippery?!
 
uniQ said:
When I have emailed them @ the uk address I have received responses within a couple of hours. Otherwise 24-48 hours as a general rule of thumb is usually a reasonable time to expect a response by.

I would get an email over to the German arm though and cc the uk address again. But I know the UK is only staffed by a couple of guys and they were probably @ Eurobike which has only just wrapped up.
Click to expand...

Good point mate, ive heard nothing yet, so if still no answer by the morning ill do that, then ring them at lunch if still nothing..
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom