Road Cycling Essentials

6thElement · 29 Jan 2013 at 22:56

memphisto said:
112 miles and 12'000 feet of climbing over some seriously brutal climbs

Pfft, I do mountain bike races with that mileage and climbing

For my road bike wheels I wouldn't want a lower spoke count than my Easton EA90 SL's, 24F/28R. Lower spoke count means that if a spoke breaks the wheel immediately goes too far out of true to spin in a road bike fork/frame/brakes. Which is what happened to me with my previous wheels, thankfully I was able to walk a couple of miles to public transport.

touch · 29 Jan 2013 at 23:15

memphisto said:
and any tips on completing this ridiculous ride ?

Wear MTB shoes/cleats if you have them. Hardknott is tough enough to ride up on it's own, never mind after 80 (they lie, it's more like 95

) miles and 7 significant climbs. There is a good chance you'll have to walk up some of it, and it's very difficult to walk up in road cleats (yes, i know this first hand

)

memphisto · 29 Jan 2013 at 23:19

touch said:
Wear MTB shoes/cleats if you have them. Hardknott is tough enough to ride up on it's own, never mind after 80 (they lie, it's more like 95 ) miles and 7 significant climbs. There is a good chance you'll have to walk up some of it, and it's very difficult to walk up in road cleats (yes, i know this first hand )

good advice, i aim to either need to buy a new pair of cleats after the ride or where some mtb shoes for the walking, i dont intend to get off my bike till at least hardknott but am fully aware i will be getting of the bike at that point lol

i take it you've done the whitton before ?

touch · 29 Jan 2013 at 23:28

I did it 3 years ago i think. I would like to do it again at some point as I'm a lot fitter now than i was at the time.
There is also another ocuker doing it this year. can't remember his name just now but he posted about it a few pages back.

PermaChanged · 30 Jan 2013 at 00:08

[DOD]Asprilla;23655833 said:
Define 'good'.

I wouldn't ride anything with 16 spokes on any of the roads near me and I'm 70kg.

I started riding 20/20 (Mavic Aksiums) at about 105kg, even done a a few crits on them.

We've got decent enough roads in Guernsey that I'd be comfortable on a 16/24 wheelset, but I'm only going to get them when I drop down to 90kg.

Vonhelmet · 30 Jan 2013 at 00:12

I don't think I'm more than 80kg these days, but it's a while since I've weighed myself. I'd like to push down to more like 70kg if I could... I'm only 5'7" ish but fairly broad across the shoulders. I've also only got dinky short legs, which probably isn't that great for cycling and also goes some way to explaining my comedy low saddle.

Saytan · 30 Jan 2013 at 08:25

i ride 32/32, because that's the right number of spokes for a wheel to have. build cost was around £200 all in (though I did build them myself), and they compete well enough on weight with the £400 factory stuff.

[Damien] · 30 Jan 2013 at 09:10

Vonhelmet said:
I don't think I'm more than 80kg these days, but it's a while since I've weighed myself. I'd like to push down to more like 70kg if I could... I'm only 5'7" ish but fairly broad across the shoulders. I've also only got dinky short legs, which probably isn't that great for cycling and also goes some way to explaining my comedy low saddle.

Welcome to the short legs club

I've had to return a set of bib shorts that are for people 5'10-6'2 (I'm 5'9) because they tried to slice me in half from the bottom up. Also finding t-shirts that are long enough to fit properly sucks. Having a long torso and short legs is no fun...

I've cleared 700 miles on the challenge this morning. I should hit 750 by Thursday night and then that's it. It's been fun!

grudas · 30 Jan 2013 at 09:34

lost my ride home yesterday on motoactv after smashing right in front of my house so im 10 miles down.. boo.

but the good thing is that hub rebuild has shut my hubs up and now they are silent again(wonder how long that will last)

rogan · 30 Jan 2013 at 10:23

Saytan said:
i ride 32/32, because that's the right number of spokes for a wheel to have. build cost was around £200 all in (though I did build them myself), and they compete well enough on weight with the £400 factory stuff.

what a silly thing to say.

To the previous Q, 16/20 is fine, rs30's are solid and excellent wheels for the money.

chanjy · 30 Jan 2013 at 12:28

Not that silly. The RS30 is fine because the rim is super tough (and thus heavy). Heavy rim = why bother with so few spokes? The weight of the rim counters any benefit from reducing spoke count. It's for posing :rolleyes:

The problem is that if you snap a spoke you are walking home. 32/32 you can probably still get back on your bike!

[DOD]Asprilla · 30 Jan 2013 at 12:37

I ride 32/32 or 28/28 at 70kg.

Lower spoke counts offer no practical benefits since they generally result in heavier rims and higher spoke tension. I just don't think there is a need for it.

Shadowness · 30 Jan 2013 at 12:39

Does anyone have any recommendations for bike covers?

Moving to a new house at the weekend, and I think the only sensible place I can leave my bike is in the back garden under a cover. We will have a basement area, but the stairs are WAY too fiddly to get down there with a bike....and I really don't want to be doing that routine every morning and evening.

[DOD]Asprilla · 30 Jan 2013 at 12:44

Shadowness said:
Does anyone have any recommendations for bike covers?

Moving to a new house at the weekend, and I think the only sensible place I can leave my bike is in the back garden under a cover. We will have a basement area, but the stairs are WAY too fiddly to get down there with a bike....and I really don't want to be doing that routine every morning and evening.

http://www.gardenbuildingsdirect.co.uk/Bike-Storage

Or similar.

Saytan · 30 Jan 2013 at 12:45

[DOD]Asprilla;23659783 said:
I ride 32/32 or 28/28 at 70kg.

Lower spoke counts offer no practical benefits since they generally result in heavier rims and higher spoke tension. I just don't think there is a need for it.

This. If i was competing I might go down to 28s.

Vonhelmet · 30 Jan 2013 at 12:46

chanjy said:
Not that silly. The RS30 is fine because the rim is super tough (and thus heavy). Heavy rim = why bother with so few spokes? The weight of the rim counters any benefit from reducing spoke count. It's for posing

The problem is that if you snap a spoke you are walking home. 32/32 you can probably still get back on your bike!

Hmmm.

I've done some back of an envelope calculations and, assuming 6g a spoke (is that reasonable?) on the handbuilt Mavic Open Sport/Shimano Tiagra set that Saytan pointed to earlier, the weight of that set would be 861g for the front and 1063g for the rear. That's compared to 858g and 1085g for the RS30s. So basically there's next to nothing to pick between them.

I know people say that rotational mass is the problem with wheels, so moving a bit of mass away from the rims to the spokes would be beneficial, which would suggest that the handbuilt set was a slightly better bet on that front.

The Planet-X AL30s, on the other hand, weigh in at just 761g and 961g and they are 20/24, so that kinda wins on weight and gives a bit more comfort in terms of spoke count, but they're also a bit more expensive...

I think I'm drawn to the handbuilts at that stage, but hey, there's still a month of deliberating to do before my birthday!

Vonhelmet · 30 Jan 2013 at 12:47

[DOD]Asprilla;23659827 said:
http://www.gardenbuildingsdirect.co.uk/Bike-Storage

Or similar.

I've been looking at their site and thinking of picking up one of their sheds for £100 plus a bit more for extras. The only thing concerning me slightly is my home insurance which says bikes are only insured in an outbuilding if they're fixed to something immovable, which leaves me wondering just how immovable that something would have to be, like whether it would be enough to fit some kind of hoop to the inside of the shed and lock it to that, or what.

The joys of insurance...

Mind you, my bike is currently in my neighbour's shed and not secured to anything, so I imagine that's even more of an insurance black hole, so maybe I needn't worry!

Shadowness · 30 Jan 2013 at 13:01

[DOD]Asprilla;23659827 said:
http://www.gardenbuildingsdirect.co.uk/Bike-Storage

Or similar.

Thanks for the suggestion, but as it's only a terraced house in the centre of Cheltenham, the garden is a decent size, but one of those would be a bit OTT I think.

[DOD]Asprilla · 30 Jan 2013 at 13:02

Vonhelmet said:
Hmmm.

I've done some back of an envelope calculations and, assuming 6g a spoke (is that reasonable?) on the handbuilt Mavic Open Sport/Shimano Tiagra set that Saytan pointed to earlier, the weight of that set would be 861g for the front and 1063g for the rear. That's compared to 858g and 1085g for the RS30s. So basically there's next to nothing to pick between them.

I know people say that rotational mass is the problem with wheels, so moving a bit of mass away from the rims to the spokes would be beneficial, which would suggest that the handbuilt set was a slightly better bet on that front.

The Planet-X AL30s, on the other hand, weigh in at just 761g and 961g and they are 20/24, so that kinda wins on weight and gives a bit more comfort in terms of spoke count, but they're also a bit more expensive...

I think I'm drawn to the handbuilts at that stage, but hey, there's still a month of deliberating to do before my birthday!

Register on BikeRadar forums and speak to Ugo.Saintlucia over there. If you start a 'what wheels' thread in the road section he'll chip in. He's built wheels for loads of people of the board and gives great advice freely. He'll usually even point you at a decent wheel builder closer to you.

Vonhelmet said:
I've been looking at their site and thinking of picking up one of their sheds for £100 plus a bit more for extras. The only thing concerning me slightly is my home insurance which says bikes are only insured in an outbuilding if they're fixed to something immovable, which leaves me wondering just how immovable that something would have to be, like whether it would be enough to fit some kind of hoop to the inside of the shed and lock it to that, or what.

The joys of insurance...

Mind you, my bike is currently in my neighbour's shed and not secured to anything, so I imagine that's even more of an insurance black hole, so maybe I needn't worry!

Cut though the bottom of the shed and fit a ground anchor into the ground below it.

[Damien] · 30 Jan 2013 at 13:03

Vonhelmet said:
Mind you, my bike is currently in my neighbour's shed and not secured to anything, so I imagine that's even more of an insurance black hole, so maybe I needn't worry!

brb, getting a new bike

When's your birthday?

Edit: Trying to register at bikeradar but it keeps telling me to do a captcha thing that doesn't even exist. Stupid thing.