Road Cycling Essentials

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Firestar_3x said:
My Garmin 500 is fantastic, couldn't be doing messing around with the phone every time i want to go for a ride, good price too at the moment, £220ish with both sensors.
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I agree. Many of the people I cycle with use the apps on their phones. They manage well enough but it just seems like a bit of a pain.

The fact the the Garmin is right there in front of you just makes it so much easier. The Auto pause/resume feature is a great help too!
 
I'm thinking of getting a flat bar fixie on the cycle to work scheme that kicks in next month to help improve my bike handling and riding skills. It'd be used as a general hack about and commute to work (obviously :o )

Any recommendations? I was looking at the On-One Macinato but I think I'd prefer the flat bar. I quite like the Fixie Inc Peacemaker but it's very expensive and I won't be able to get it on the Cycle to Work scheme, any alternatives with belt drives? Trek do a District and make an amazing carbon frame belt drive but at £2.5k that's ridiculous.
 
Vonhelmet said:
I've just done some searching on ebay and it looks like you can easily pay north of £100 for a dynamo and mount. And then you have to pedal against a dynamo.
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I've got a SA dynohub on one of my bikes. It's very liberating to be able to just switch on the lights and not have to carry anything else with you. You won't notice having to pedal against it, it only puts out a couple of Watts.
 
Hummmm interesting little app. I'll have a look at it. In the past I remember trying extra hard up some segments only for them to be missed off as the GPS plotted me off course.

Anyone else used this?
 
Yeah, I don't think it's perfect. It stretches or compresses your total route to take in the amendments so I'm guessing that can do weird stuff with the timings and distance. I can't get it work at all though. It goes through the motions but when I reupload it it's as it was originally.

I reckon I'll just have to wait for the weather to clear up a bit, or get a proper GPS.
 
So i have my new bike and now true wheels;

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Just had a quick go and it seems very fast compared to my old MTB and the brakes seem shocking!!

A question for Bryton owners, mine seems to be over reading the speed - im using a Garmin cadence sensor and have set the wheel size as per the manual but im sure its too fast - any owners got any ideas??
 
Shocking good or shocking bad? If shocking bad, bear in mind you have to pull them harder than you do with a disc because of less mechanical advantage, but should otherwise pull the bike up just as well :)
 
Bad!

I do probably need to adjust but as im used to my hydraulic formula discs and zoo much power with just a single finger pull it was a bit :o esp when on the hoods!
 
Shimmyhill said:
Bad!

I do probably need to adjust but as im used to my hydraulic formula discs and zoo much power with just a single finger pull it was a bit :o esp when on the hoods!
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Yup, ditto on my new bike. Only mine's a CX so I've got cantilever brakes. They're a bit underwhelming on the hoods but ok on the drops. I've not died yet despite all this rain but I've not had to pull an emergency stop yet and I'm not optimistic. I miss my discs...

I've ordered some kool stop pads so hopefully they'll help.

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Rusty_Noob said:
caliper-brake.jpg


Is the brake release lever down on the caliper? The part on the left in the above picture.
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It is indeed, i knew that that was for releasing the wheels as i had to take them off to get them trued - clever little thing!

I have centred the blocks and they are pretty close to the rim, i think its just getting used to them and having to pull the lever harder esp on the hoods!
 
Shimmyhill said:
It is indeed, i knew that that was for releasing the wheels as i had to take them off to get them trued - clever little thing!

I have centred the blocks and they are pretty close to the rim, i think its just getting used to them and having to pull the lever harder esp on the hoods!
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at least you got it sorted before any majory accidents !

Just read the TREK manual online and lol it says after everything, Warning, faliure to do this nut up or ride properly you may fall off
 
Lead_Head said:
I'm thinking of getting a flat bar fixie
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Get drops or bull bars not flats!


Shimmyhill said:
Just had a quick go and it seems very fast compared to my old MTB and the brakes seem shocking!!
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Invest into some decent pads they can make a huge difference. I used to run cheap pads on my commuter which barely stopped. Now run Dura Ace or Koolstop on both my road bikes and the difference is night and day.
 
Hi guys, ok here in Manchester it is poring rain 24/7....... How should I go about maintaining my bike through the winter .... I have some GT 85 but not much else..... Should I wipe down my bike of water after each cycle so the frame is free of water ? :/ seems a bit over the top no ?. And if its going to be wet all winter should I be lubing up the chain on a weekly basis ? anything else im missing ?

Sorry for the noob questions but I want to make sure my new bike is kept in pristine condition :)))

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/allez-compact-2013-road-bike-ec040963#features
 
What's the frame made of? You should clean it down regularly, though if it's aluminium then at least it won't rust like steel would. Also probably best to clean the drivetrain regularly, so you don't wear out the chain and gears.
 
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