Road Cycling Essentials

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Got a new saddle on the way, went for a Specialized Toupe, hopefully the channel will ease a bit of pressure and numbing which can occur on longer rides!

Went with the Pro carbon railed model, may as well make it a proper upgrade :)

If I get along with it I'll have a Fizik Arione in white up for grabs if anyone is interested.
 
Berger said:
Too much weird stuff being said in here for my liking! Get a grip, it's only a cheap and now nasty looking road bike....!
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That may be the case, but we all had to start somewhere. My first bike as an adult was a horrible Carrera Subway from Halfords. The Decathlon Riverside looks a heck of a lot better than that monstrosity I rode around on for 6 months. Remember, we're not all hardcore racers like you! :D
 
I need some advice please.

Currently ride MTB shoes & pedals on my road bike. Time has come where I need to buy new shoes but wondering whether I should buy another pair of MTB shoes or replace everything with SPD-SL?

Would I notice a benefit changing?
 
Ugh, what a crap ride to work this morning. I got a roofing tack stuck in my front wheel about 10 miles into my commute, which snakebited my tube. I think "oh well" and take out my spare tube. I go to stick a bit of air in my new tube before I put it in the tyre, and there's a gash in the side of it which looks like a manufacturing defect. I then go to repair the snakebited tube instead but with the distance between the holes and my terrible puncture kit (inflexible patches and weak glue) it was having none of it.

End result: 3 mile walk to work. :mad:


daveski said:
I need some advice please.

Currently ride MTB shoes & pedals on my road bike. Time has come where I need to buy new shoes but wondering whether I should buy another pair of MTB shoes or replace everything with SPD-SL?

Would I notice a benefit changing?
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If you commute in them, stick with SPD. If not, SPD-SL. I'm lucky I use SPD shoes because at least my cleats are recessed if I have to go hiking in them...
 
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[Damien];24314195 said:
If you commute in them, stick with SPD. If not, SPD-SL. I'm lucky I use SPD shoes because at least my cleats are recessed if I have to go hiking in them...
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Yeah I do commute and have to walk from the bike shed to the office. The shoes I currently have make that walk easier.

I do a lot of other miles too though and having no SPD-SL experience I wasn't sure if I'd get a benefit on longer rides.
 
I reckon if you're after one set of shoes to do both jobs, stick with what you have. If you have enough money to have two pairs of shoes and have a bike for commuting and one for the weekend then consider sticking SPD-SL on the weekend bike. I'm about to get my 2nd bike but I'm sticking with SPD on the new bike for now until I've got some spare cash to get some decent shoes, then I might get SPD-SL and get some new pedals.
 
Stick with SPD - commuting and walking is so much easier. Should see my work colleague walking downhill to the bike shed in SPD-SL, a little awkward to say the least.
 
Berger said:
It's a fine bike for the money. Everyone here has a different budget and taste.

I'm not a fan of your custom paint job and graphics, but talking of lubing up and taking it to bed goes a bit far.
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well paint/graphics is all taste really i like it and thats all i care about :) ofc ill show pictures of it.. i love my things! :) and thats all i can afford.. and tbh i can leave it locked up in rubbish areas and not worry too much! :)

it was a joke obviously lol. - and it wasn't by me either!

Rusty_Noob said:
Is that not true of any bike? :D
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+1

olv said:
Bikes are clearly androgynous objects. None of this weird he/she malarky.
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HE SHE WHAT YOU?! yeah end of day its IT lol
 
One of the biggest pluses of spd-sl is being able to cycle around in trainers comfortably when you need to. I don't find walking in the cleats an issue at all and I walk to and from the bike shed everyday. Commuting with them takes practice initially as it can be easy to slip out when setting off in a hurry (and you only need to crunch your nuts on your saddle a couple of times to learn to take more care) but I think my pedalling has improved, not that this is the greatest incentive or best way to improve your pedalling. But it's a totally none issue now, and learning to track stand removes a lot of the hassles of unclipping, a good way to pass the time at traffic lights.

Saying that I haven't used regular SPDs but they don't use them in the peloton so they must be rubbish right? :p
 
Finished with 6 rides in 7 days! Feeling slightly delusional right now. Mentally & Physically broken definitely pushed myself beyond what I thought I was capable of doing in a week!

Sitting in the top 10 and one of the first 7 people in the UK to finish not bad considering I started on the third day of the challenge :)

My itinerary for the past week:
Day1 103mi 6294ft
Day2 103mi 5495ft
Day3 71.8mi 9115ft
Day4 43.2mi 2229ft
Day5 Rest Day
Day6 102.6mi 8172ft
Day7 88.3mi 5904ft

Total: 511.9mi 37209ft

castelli-battaglia-in-montagna-v2-100.png
 
Nice work uniQ!

Are you using a Garmin to determine the elevation gain? I've looked at my last 2 rides and I now think the elevation data is dubious. On Sunday the route is only 4700ft of climbing according to Bike Toaster, but my Garmin said I did 7100ft.:confused:
 
olv said:
Bikes are clearly androgynous objects. None of this weird he/she malarky.
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I bloody well hope so, otherwise I feel a bit awkward riding my "Scott" every weekend.

uniQ - fantastic effort, well done. Distances I can only dream of at this stage! Still, I'm home alone this weekend and aiming to make a big final dent in the May Massive challenge, I'd be delighted with 750km as my month has been a bit disrupted with exams and family issues.
 
uniQ said:
Finished with 6 rides in 7 days! Feeling slightly delusional right now. Mentally & Physically broken definitely pushed myself beyond what I thought I was capable of doing in a week!

Sitting in the top 10 and one of the first 7 people in the UK to finish not bad considering I started on the third day of the challenge :)

My itinerary for the past week:
Day1 103mi 6294ft
Day2 103mi 5495ft
Day3 71.8mi 9115ft
Day4 43.2mi 2229ft
Day5 Rest Day
Day6 102.6mi 8172ft
Day7 88.3mi 5904ft

Total: 511.9mi 37209ft

castelli-battaglia-in-montagna-v2-100.png
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well done! epic effort :eek:
 
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