Road Cycling Essentials

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AHarvey said:
need to get a bike, too fat to run for more than a fortnight as it kills my shins, and I can't go swimming because they keep throwing me back in and shouting "save the whale!". nah, not that bad really, but I've got 5 stone to lose to get to my target weight.

it'll be starting out early in the year (earliest I can afford a bike) and will over the next 3 months get into a condition where I can cycle to and from work (18 miles, some long inclines/declines & starts 7am to ends 1am.)

Head is saying, road bike is best, heart is saying fixie bike as I feel it'll be better initially for getting me in shape and then I can upgrade to a road. Head is going to win, so looking for suggestions on a cheap road bike to start with and what things I should be looking for. budget £100-150 to start.

I'll be reading through all 543 pages asap and a few other cycle threads. Also, what are the laws regarding helmets? I know I should wear one, and when I start doing long distance then I would, but I'm a bit of a bugger for not wearing one around town etc if I'm just zipping around.

Also going to need some suggestions on lights + other gear, again, cheap as chips until the bug really hits and I get my bonus in April :)
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you can hardly get an ok set of wheels for that price.. even a used one for 100-150 is not going to happen.. fixie is the only plausible choice at this price and even that will probably come to peaces doing 18mile commute! :)

double the budget(i know that might sound like a lot) but if you do that you can get a brand new triban 3(had mine for 2 months now done 800+ miles and its been perfect)

lights will be around ~30 but then triban 3 comes with a good-ish set from decathlon anyway!

helmet well its up to you, i don't wear one(do ~23 miles a day in london) but it is risky and it is stupid so if you can and want to WEAR IT :) and there's 0 reason not to wear one(i know sounds like?!? from a guy that doesn't wear one)

see if you have cycle to work scheme at your work place as that would help you a LOT!

if not please do double you budget and get something that will at least do the job - if you don't you'll soon be trowing money at a rubbish bike and in the end will get a proper starters bike anyway and by doing so you'll waste even more cash.

my 2p.
 
grudas said:
you can hardly get an ok set of wheels for that price.. even a used one for 100-150 is not going to happen.. fixie is the only plausible choice at this price and even that will probably come to peaces doing 18mile commute! :)

double the budget(i know that might sound like a lot) but if you do that you can get a brand new triban 3(had mine for 2 months now done 800+ miles and its been perfect)

lights will be around ~30 but then triban 3 comes with a good-ish set from decathlon anyway!

helmet well its up to you, i don't wear one(do ~23 miles a day in london) but it is risky and it is stupid so if you can and want to WEAR IT :) and there's 0 reason not to wear one(i know sounds like?!? from a guy that doesn't wear one)

see if you have cycle to work scheme at your work place as that would help you a LOT!

if not please do double you budget and get something that will at least do the job - if you don't you'll soon be trowing money at a rubbish bike and in the end will get a proper starters bike anyway and by doing so you'll waste even more cash.

my 2p.
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Really appreciate the advice :) And as you say about the helmet, I know I should wear one, just hate wearing them around town, despite how I used to ride (stopped for speeding in a 30mph and also managed to destroy about 4 sets of pedals, just snapped them straight off.)

Budget wise it should be an issue if my bonus comes in as I expect + share options in the company so hopefully, I can invest a little more in it. I'll also have to email our HR team regarding the cycle to work scheme. Our head offices are at Piccadilly Circus so I can imagine they have it, but just not sure about it as I'm based in Stoke.
 
rogan said:
never heard such bullsh** in my life
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We've rather a steep bank in my local town, with a slight decline just before, it's very easy to break 30 mph on it. and with the local coppers sat at the swimming baths at the bottom of the bank they came up behind me with the blues on and gave me a lecture about going so fast down there. I can't see what's so hard to understand :rolleyes: Also bare in mind, a speeding cyclist is one of the more interesting things the police deal with around here and when you're 16 and stupid, you don't care a lot about safety. That has changed now I'm 30 and a dad.

If you really like when I get a bike again and get back in to shape I'd be more than willing to try it again on camera?

Rusty_Noob said:
"retarded meme post"
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Ooohhh, someone who thinks memes are clever. :rolleyes:

Again, I don't understand what the issue is. I've explained the speeding thing above and snapping pedals off isn't a bad ass thing, it's down to cheap equipment which is what Grudas was talking about. Having to cycle 4 miles with one pedal (on my new girlfriends dads bike) when I was 16 wasn't fun.

I expected people in this section to be a little more mature and less "GD".

I'd like to thank Grudas again for his helpful post, as for you two, you probably shouldn't have bothered, unless you've some useful info you would like to post regarding my initial query, then i'd very much like to hear it.
 
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To be fair any bike that costs £100-£150 brand new is going to be a steaming pile of **** you'd be better off looking at something 2nd hand locally.
 
Successful day, even though I got soaked again :( Did Bristol - Swindon loop 90 miles and wen't shopping in Swindon bagging £500 worth of clothing for £150 in the sales :)

Just noticed an email from Rapha doing 25% of Softshell jackets too argh. There goes the budget.

Edit: Hmm not sure if I should bother with the Rapha now. I picked up one of these today for £31:

http://www.timberlandonline.co.uk/o...how?pid=1006J&cgid=collections_gift_ideas_men

Waterproof, breathable, really nice cut, has the thermal roubaix kind of liner my winter bib tights use, neoprene cuffs & sealed zip jobbies etc. Pretty much the ideal commuter/wet weather jacket.
 
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uniQ said:
Successful day
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Unsuccessful day for me :(
Wanted to get in a good 70-80 miles to bump up my mileage for the Festive 500 because im working thursday + friday and didnt want to leave it all to the weekend.
Got about 3 miles from home and ended up on my arse round an icy corner. A few bruises but nothing too bad, i picked myself up and carried on slowly. Carried on a bit further and i thought the road was getting better. It was fine riding along at a steady speed but as soon as i tried to stop to speak to somebody i knew who was riding the other way i realised how slippery it was. Didnt fall again, but decided that there was no point carrying on. My mate told me that it only gets worse as you get further from town anyway. So my intended 80 miles turned into a painful 14 with a wrecked overshoe and a nice wee hole in the elbow of my jersey.
I decided that i'd given up on the Festive 500 and went for a walk with the family.

I had some time to think while we were walking and do a bit of maths. I decided that if i could at least get todays 40 miles (the average required each day) then i might still be able to complete the challenge. So i went out in the dark on my mtb and did 38 miles.

I now have 202 miles left to do and 5 days (3 of which i'm working :( ). So it'll be tough, but i think that if i can get 40miles done over thursday and friday that will leave me with 80 each day at the weekend. Today has probably ruined it, but if the weather is good on sat + sun then theres still a small chance.
 
Yeah, i know it pretty well. I live on that side of town so i usually ride down that sort of direction.
I was up that way on christmas morning in fact, went along the side of loch ness to Inverfarigaig then up a wee road to Torness and past loch Ruthven.

Do you have your bike with you? If you can get a couple of hours to yourself i recommend riding down to Fort Augustus and back. The climb out of Fort Augustus in Errogie direction is one of the biggest climbs around here (400m in 5 miles) and it's right on your doorstep. It's a tough climb but you get a great view from the top.
 
touch said:
Unsuccessful day for me :(
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Ack! The ice is lethal. I had a minor off on ice a couple of weeks ago with similar results, a few bruises, torn overshow and a hole in my jacket.

What kind of avg mph are you putting out on a MTB over that distance?
 
I averaged 13mph, but thats probably 1/3 tarmac and 2/3 good forrest track. I wouldnt normally be that fast on 'proper' off road stuff.
 
My chinese light finally turned up just before Christmas after ordering on the 28th October. I fitted it on the bike last night and used it on the commute to work this morning.

I'm quite surprised at the build quality, it's very good. I may need to wrap the battery pack in some tape for extra piece of mind but the battery pack it a lot better quality than I imagined. Not bad for £17.
 
touch said:
Yeah, i know it pretty well. I live on that side of town so i usually ride down that sort of direction.
I was up that way on christmas morning in fact, went along the side of loch ness to Inverfarigaig then up a wee road to Torness and past loch Ruthven.

Do you have your bike with you? If you can get a couple of hours to yourself i recommend riding down to Fort Augustus and back. The climb out of Fort Augustus in Errogie direction is one of the biggest climbs around here (400m in 5 miles) and it's right on your doorstep. It's a tough climb but you get a great view from the top.
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I don't have the bike but I've driven down there and can see how that would be a tough climb, the riding round here would be fantastic. :)
 
Just had a look at the Fort Augustus climb. Seems quite large!

Compared it to what it meant to be the highest climb around here, the Cat and Fiddle. Augustus is the same ascent, but in 2mi less!
 
The Planet X box was indeed a set of carbon wheels :D

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Just waiting for the weather to clear up before trying them out!
 
Im not to sure on the weight with tyres and tubes on, but without they are

Front: 821g
Rear: 975g
Pair: 1796g

£399 delivered from Planet X
 
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