Road Cycling Essentials

uniQ · 1 Jun 2013 at 17:42

Someone give me a quick crash course on fork rake? I've seen a good offer and they come in either 43mm or 49mm rake :confused:

oli collett · 1 Jun 2013 at 17:45

Right some further pics of the damage from earlier

1) The mess:

2) The Frame

The cracks on the frame seem superficial to me but I guess it's difficult to be sure?

Phil99 · 1 Jun 2013 at 18:13

Any OcUK'ers do the Norwich 100 today? Weather was a bit overcast compared to the last couple of years I've done this, but still a nice day to be out on the bike

Had a really good time, though my day was almost ruined by a car driver who decided to pull out on me while I was going along a straight bit of road. They were waiting at a junction to my right. Instead of waiting for me to go past, they decided to pull straight out and try and scoop me up onto their bonnet. Luckily I just about saw this coming in time and accelerated hard and managed to stay ahead :rolleyes:

I wasn't quite sure if he was going to hit me if I slammed on the brakes. What goes through these people's heads? No apology afterwards either, just a blast on the horn as if this was somehow my fault.

Obligatory Strava link: http://www.strava.com/activities/57506216

Managed an average speed of 19.1mph for a moving time of 5hr15 (total time 5hr54 with half way break). Very happy with that, faster than last year

edit: just to add some balance to the above incident with the car, the vast, vast majority of drivers we encountered were very patient and overtook safely

One More Solo · 1 Jun 2013 at 18:15

Good work.

Vonhelmet · 1 Jun 2013 at 18:35

uniQ said:
Someone give me a quick crash course on fork rake? I've seen a good offer and they come in either 43mm or 49mm rake

More rake means quicker steering, as you move the contact patch closer to the steering axis.

Jonny ///M · 1 Jun 2013 at 18:36

oli collett said:
Right some further pics of the damage from earlier

1) The mess:

2) The Frame

The cracks on the frame seem superficial to me but I guess it's difficult to be sure?

Doubt you'll get much sympathy from Ribble to be honest. They can just argue that you must have bent the rear mech hanger which when put into 1st gear has made the mech come into contact with the wheel.

Proving it wasn't that is kind of difficult when the mech hanger is now bent

It does look like full carbon drop outs but I would still be riding that tbh, keep an eye on it to see if it gets worse.

This is why I will never have Di2 as I can't afford £230 rear mechs :cool:

Vonhelmet · 1 Jun 2013 at 18:39

That looks like when I mullered my rear mech. Still not sure how it happened. It can happen if the hanger is bent, and I think you can do it it you misadjust things sufficiently to take the mech into the wheel. Either way, not fun.

R0B75 · 1 Jun 2013 at 19:13

Finally made it home! Wasn't planning on a century today but after the problems I had I sure as hell wasn't going to go through all that and not do one!

http://app.strava.com/activities/57535387 Knackered. By far my hardest ride to date.

Edit: I'll admit Winnats Pass nearly broke me. Its the hill from hell and I don't want to do it ever again! :mad:

oli collett · 1 Jun 2013 at 19:20

Jonny ///M said:
Doubt you'll get much sympathy from Ribble to be honest. They can just argue that you must have bent the rear mech hanger which when put into 1st gear has made the mech come into contact with the wheel.

Proving it wasn't that is kind of difficult when the mech hanger is now bent

It does look like full carbon drop outs but I would still be riding that tbh, keep an eye on it to see if it gets worse.

This is why I will never have Di2 as I can't afford £230 rear mechs

The thing that annoys me is that I've had problems since day 1 of owning the bike. I know that it wasn't set up right in the first place that's for sure.

I'll see what they say anyway. I assume installing a new derailleur will be easy enough?

[Damien] · 1 Jun 2013 at 19:43

R0B75 said:
Finally made it home! Wasn't planning on a century today but after the problems I had I sure as hell wasn't going to go through all that and not do one!

http://app.strava.com/activities/57535387 Knackered. By far my hardest ride to date.

Edit: I'll admit Winnats Pass nearly broke me. Its the hill from hell and I don't want to do it ever again!

I'll be up there at some point. It's on my to do list. I fully expect it to stomp on me mercilessly though.

uniQ · 1 Jun 2013 at 19:47

Vonhelmet said:
More rake means quicker steering, as you move the contact patch closer to the steering axis.

woooosh

43 or 49?

E: wish I hadn't packed my Zinn book up and put it in storage

R0B75 · 1 Jun 2013 at 19:52

[Damien];24378664 said:
I'll be up there at some point. It's on my to do list. I fully expect it to stomp on me mercilessly though.

Thought you were doing it tomorrow on the Tour of The Peak??

I stopped halfway up to chat to a guy who was from near Scarborough who has come over for the Sportive tomorrow and was walking up the hill with his wife doing a bit of recon. He says there are no hills where he lives.... He's going to enjoy tomorrow

davejh666 · 1 Jun 2013 at 19:55

I today purchased a Viking Vuelta road bike. I am moving house soon and going to be biking about 25 miles a day to and from work, as well as the occasional ride out with my father.

The bike seems good, I know it's 'low end' of road biking, but to get me into it and started I am more than happy. A couple of things I am not sure on though, and was wondering if anyone could help me?

I have lid, proper shorts and jersey's etc, but at the moment am just wearing trainers. I am finding it difficult to get my feet in the pedals. I have tried to look at proper shoes, but am confused with what sort I need for the pedals I have, if that makes sense. My trainers seem to 'stick' on the way in. The pedals are listed as: Resin Pedals with toe clips and straps. Can anyone give me some advice as to what sort of shoes I should be looking at?

Also, as I am doing quite a bit of distance for work each day, I am more than a little concerned about getting punctures. The roads I will be traveling on will be small country lanes for about 1/2 the distance, and I really don't want to get a puncture there and have to try to repair it. My Dad has said about Gatorskin tyres, he doesn't use them, but has heard good things about them. Are they good, does anyone have experience with them?

I appreciate these are novice questions, but would appreciate any advice you can give me. Many thanks.

[Damien] · 1 Jun 2013 at 20:01

uniQ said:
woooosh

43 or 49?

Wikipedia said:
Bicycle forks usually have an offset, or rake (not to be confused with a different use of the word rake in the motorcycle world),[1] that places the fork ends forward of the steering axis. This is achieved by curving the blades forward, angling straight blades forward, or by placing the fork ends forward of the centerline of the blades. The latter is used in suspension forks that must have straight blades in order for the suspension mechanism to work. Curved fork blades can also provide some shock absorption.

The purpose of this offset is to reduce 'trail', the distance that the front wheel ground contact point trails behind the point where the steering axis intersects the ground. Too much trail makes a bicycle feel difficult to turn.

Road racing bicycle forks have an offset of 40-45mm.[2] For touring bicycles and other designs, the frame's head angle and wheel size must be taken into account when determining offset, and there is a narrow range of acceptable offsets to give good handling characteristics. The general rule is that a slacker head angle requires a fork with more offset, and small wheels require less offset than large wheels.

Fork offset influences geometric trail, which affects a bicycle's handling characteristics. Increasing offset results in decreased trail, while decreasing offset results in increased trail.

TL;DR: We need some info regarding the bike's geometry before we can help you. It depends on head tube angle & some other bits. In short though -rake = +stability/-responsiveness, +rake = -stability/+responsiveness.

R0B75 said:
Thought you were doing it tomorrow on the Tour of The Peak??

I've had to pull out. Got no way of getting there/back. All my lifts have fell through. I'll do it on my own at some point.

uniQ · 1 Jun 2013 at 20:07

Consumed way to much caffeine today can't absorb walls of text

I'm going 43.

R0B75 · 1 Jun 2013 at 20:07

[Damien];24378762 said:
I've had to pull out. Got no way of getting there/back. All my lifts have fell through. I'll do it on my own at some point.

That's a shame, but if you have a chest infection as well its probably a blessing.

nydryl · 1 Jun 2013 at 20:19

I just had a heart attack tensing a spoke on my singlespeed. Just a quick adjustment to a couple of loose spokes so had the tube and tyre still on. On the third spoke...BOOM. Tube exploded, pushing part of the tyre right off the rim. Right ear is taking quite some time to stop ringing! Maybe I shouldn't do on the fly adjustments.

[Damien] · 1 Jun 2013 at 20:30

uniQ said:
Consumed way to much caffeine today can't absorb walls of text I'm going 43.

More rake = twitchier, less rake = more stable

R0B75 · 1 Jun 2013 at 20:48

Couple of pics from today's ride. Cracking day for riding in the Peaks

Obligatory bike pic

Bottom of Winnats

Top of Winnats

[DOD]Asprilla · 1 Jun 2013 at 20:54

davejh666 said:
I today purchased a Viking Vuelta road bike. I am moving house soon and going to be biking about 25 miles a day to and from work, as well as the occasional ride out with my father.

The bike seems good, I know it's 'low end' of road biking, but to get me into it and started I am more than happy. A couple of things I am not sure on though, and was wondering if anyone could help me?

I have lid, proper shorts and jersey's etc, but at the moment am just wearing trainers. I am finding it difficult to get my feet in the pedals. I have tried to look at proper shoes, but am confused with what sort I need for the pedals I have, if that makes sense. My trainers seem to 'stick' on the way in. The pedals are listed as: Resin Pedals with toe clips and straps. Can anyone give me some advice as to what sort of shoes I should be looking at?

Also, as I am doing quite a bit of distance for work each day, I am more than a little concerned about getting punctures. The roads I will be traveling on will be small country lanes for about 1/2 the distance, and I really don't want to get a puncture there and have to try to repair it. My Dad has said about Gatorskin tyres, he doesn't use them, but has heard good things about them. Are they good, does anyone have experience with them?

I appreciate these are novice questions, but would appreciate any advice you can give me. Many thanks.

If you are starting out with clipless pedals then I always recommend Shimano M520 pedals because they are cheap, durable and they are double sides which makes them easier to get into than every other type of pedal. They use SPD type cleats and so you would need some shoes with a two bolt sole pattern.

Gatorskins aren't bad. I'm not a fan of Continental tyres but I'm always out voted on that so they can't be as bad as I think. If you want the ultimate in road tyre protection the you want Schwalbe Durano Plus.

With puncture protection there is always a down side and it comes in the form of additional weight, poorer comfort, higher rolling resistance and poorer grip.