Road Cycling Essentials

Status
Not open for further replies.
Vonhelmet said:
Looking like 21c for my ride on Sunday. Can only get a small bottle in my second cage on my bike. There's supposed to be water at every feed station, so that's every 25 miles at least. Should be ok.
Click to expand...

Are you doing the cat ?

I am and worried the weather is a bit too warm, plus never done a century before. Just bought some funkier summer arm covers and will be taking sun screen and 2 biggest water bottles I have. Plenty of gels and real food too !
 
I've had a look at weather up here and decided to take the next week off. Planning to do my first century solo on Tuesday setting off from Perth and going North into ski centre territory. Should be some good climbing but I'm a bit intimated by doing the distance and climbing in 25degree heat and blazing sun. I'm also a bit worried about pacing. I've been doing a lot of 20-30 milers pushing quite hard and not too many long distance rides. I'll need to force myself to ca' canny for the start so I don't bonk after 50 miles.
 
Last edited:
fraseredwards said:
Are you doing the cat ?

I am and worried the weather is a bit too warm, plus never done a century before. Just bought some funkier summer arm covers and will be taking sun screen and 2 biggest water bottles I have. Plenty of gels and real food too !
Click to expand...

I'm doing Liverpool Chester Liverpool. Damien is doing the Cat with my neighbour and some other folk.

I actually heard that, as the Cat got rescheduled to the same day as LCL, they both had to adjust their routes a bit to avoid meeting each other around Delamere.
 
Berger said:
Winner!

Took the win in C-Grade today, 37km with 500m climb. It was really windy, I didn't warm up that much but we had a big bunch so sat on the back for the first 5km then moved towards the front. Got to the bottom of the CAT3 and people started looking at each other and the pace slowed.

I attacked off the left after a little crest, so nobody could get an easy tow out the wind and would have to drive their own path. Got a small gap before it steepened up.

I had a look half way up and had perhaps 45 seconds, it kicks up really steep at the top so gained more time there. First over the top, had one rider not too far behind but couldn't tell who it was, thought it was a B grader who had been dropped.

After 5km I wasn't pulling away, realised it was the guy who I was in the team time trial with last week, he's been doing some sneaky training and can pull hard on the flats. I slowed up as I knew I would need the help for the next 15km as it was almost all into a big headwind. We took turns, the chasing group was maybe 500m back in a group of 6 or so but didn't gain any time on us. I was giving it all on my turns to stay away, I always seem to lose out in a bunch sprint and wouldn't be very fresh after being away for so long.

We didn't really contest the sprint, I put a small effort in just incase, got over the line first, then had a sit down for the next 5 minutes.....

Average HR of 177 over 75 minutes with a max of 195! :o

For the hour I was away averaged 180 bpm!
Click to expand...

Congrats!

But if you wanna compete on HR, I think I'll win :p
 
arknor said:
Does anyone know of a website that kinda explains the upgrade paths for various components ? or how do I find out what is compatible with what? like right now I keep thinking about upgrading my chainset but how do I determine which ones would fit my bike?

There must be some kind or website or guide on a forum somewhere surely but I'm struggling to find anything so probably not using the correct search terms I guess.


BTW for GPS if I'm only ever going to go a few miles I might as well just use my phone as long as the battery life is good enough to last right? and then get a proper GPS once I start doing longer rides?

BTW can anyone advise me on some good mud guards for a hybrid? I think I have enough clearance for almost anything
oh and one last thing.
for the heavier rider (around 100kg) am I better off using higher pressures or lower pressure tyres?
Right now the bike the bike has http://www.schwalbe.com/gbl/en/produkte/tour_city/produkt/?ID_Produktgruppe=38&ID_Produkt=145 which say 110-160psi on the tyre lol but I have no Idea what halfords pumped them upto they feel solid but slightly flatten from my weight.

I was looking at the marathons or marathon plus and I think they said 85psi but I'm concerned low psi + fatty = distorted looking rear tyre when riding as it's flattened into the road by my weight.

god knows how the bike is supposed to be able to carry like 140kg + without the rims pressing the tarmac lol
Click to expand...

Upgrade path - Are you using shimano kit? I know they have compatibility charts on their website. I'm on my phone so can't point you to them right now. They show which parts are compatible. Why do you want to upgrade the chain set? I can't imagine that being of any huge benefit, unless you're looking at going from a double to a compact or triple. Or do you mean the cassette?

GPS - yes, a phone is fine for shorter rides, so long as battery life is ok. A proper GPS unit will have a better signal and be more accurate, but it's a lot of money.

Mudguards - Sks chromoplastics if you have proper mudguard mount points, crud road racer mk2 if not.

Tyres - the fatter the tyres, the lower the pressure. Just fill it to within the range on the tyre, and find a pressure you're comfy with. If you are a bit on the heavy side, fill up a bit more. It the tyre is squishing out a bit, fill it a bit more, but this will always happen more on fatter tyres.
 
Shadowness said:
I bought a second pair of the DhB Aeron shorts I was so happy with the first. Especially given the price.

You should be happy with them I think.
Click to expand...

Nope i'm not!
Only 26 mile round trip to work but they felt a tad uncomfy, pad is not as good as the Free Aero ones (understandble given the price difference).
I think my bum area is just a tad fussy as i didnt get on with Assos around my crotch area as well! :D

So these are going on ebay or if anyone on here wants some.....DHB Aeron Pro, medium, black/white version, used for 26 miles.

Instead i've stumped up and got some more Castelli, Free Aero Race kit bibs and matching top in the blue/white combo for a change (have black/white in other stuff).

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/ro...lli-free-aero-race-kit-bib-shorts/castzbbs139

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/ro...free-short-sleeve-jersey-full-zip/castzjss151

If anything although they are supposed to be the same as the normal Free Aero these race bibs seem more comfy, the material is different and i could swear the legs are a bit longer (normal ones are fine though).
 
InQ said:
Nope i'm not!
Only 26 mile round trip to work but they felt a tad uncomfy, pad is not as good as the Free Aero ones (understandble given the price difference).
I think my bum area is just a tad fussy as i didnt get on with Assos around my crotch area as well! :D

So these are going on ebay or if anyone on here wants some.....DHB Aeron Pro, medium, black/white version, used for 26 miles.

Instead i've stumped up and got some more Castelli, Free Aero Race kit bibs and matching top in the blue/white combo for a change (have black/white in other stuff).

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/ro...lli-free-aero-race-kit-bib-shorts/castzbbs139

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/sp/ro...free-short-sleeve-jersey-full-zip/castzjss151

If anything although they are supposed to be the same as the normal Free Aero these race bibs seem more comfy, the material is different and i could swear the legs are a bit longer (normal ones are fine though).
Click to expand...

This will get removed by a mod in short order but... how much do you want for them?
 
Is there a website or tool that I can use to modify a ride I've recorded on my Garmin? I accidentally left it recording while I was in the car, and I don't want to upload it to Strava etc unless I can fix it.
 
Thanks InQ. Strava is performing extremely poorly at the moment, so I'll have to deal with it later. My bike computer says the ride was 115km, and I'm fine with that. Now I must lie down...
 
What shoes/pedals do you guys recommend? Ideally somewhere shop wise for those as I'd like to be able to collect them instore - evans/cycle surgery near me too.

I've been looking at the Shimano 105 SPD-Sl, but not sure on shoes!
 
Ffffffuuuuuuuuuu. Cleaned my bike lat night and just doing some last minute maintenance before heading to my parents. Between last night and now both tubes have punctured. How the hell.
 
syke said:
What shoes/pedals do you guys recommend? Ideally somewhere shop wise for those as I'd like to be able to collect them instore - evans/cycle surgery near me too.

I've been looking at the Shimano 105 SPD-Sl, but not sure on shoes!
Click to expand...

I like Look pedals.

For shoes, go and try them on. You want something that fits like a glove. Giro fit me best.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom