Road Cycling Essentials

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Got all week off, so planning on doing at least 50 miles each day, with couple of rest days before my first sportive on Sunday.

Went out this morning and covered some roads I haven't done for quite a while, loads of PBs, so good seeing progress still after a busy summer!

http://www.strava.com/activities/77897092

Just need to figure out what to do tomorrow, might head to the New Forest for a flatter route.
 
Could anyone recommend some climbs or ideally a ~75 mile route starting in Whitehaven? I'm going down late September to cycle with a friend who recently moved there but only really know of Honnister Pass.
 
Another question; is a carbon seatpost a worthwhile upgrade over an aluminium one in terms of comfort? Or should I go "the whole hog" and go for a titanium seatpost?
 
Saundie said:
Another question; is a carbon seatpost a worthwhile upgrade over an aluminium one in terms of comfort? Or should I go "the whole hog" and go for a titanium seatpost?
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I've got 2 alu bikes, one with a carbon seat post and one with an alloy seat post. I don't think it makes any difference!

If you want more comfort use 25mm tyres at a lower pressure. If you want a lighter seat post get a Thomson Elite or Masterpiece.
 
Jinxed myself. Realised wasn't shifting to the 11 cog. Playing with barrel adjuster and then the cable snapped :D

Popped to LBS and they do reams of cable cut to any length. New front shifter cable £1.70 bargain :) New territory fitting cables so hopefully won't be too difficult, need to get it done before evening club ride :eek:
 
[DOD]Asprilla;24837096 said:
If they do reams cut to length, what do they do about the noggin attached to the end to stop it at the shifter end?
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I think they were probably individual cables that they cut for him roughly to the same length as the old one?

Most bike shops i'v seen use these boxes of 100+ individual cables
 
Shamrock said:
I've got 2 alu bikes, one with a carbon seat post and one with an alloy seat post. I don't think it makes any difference!

If you want more comfort use 25mm tyres at a lower pressure. If you want a lighter seat post get a Thomson Elite or Masterpiece.
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I am doing some pre-delivery upgrade deliberation (i.e. I've not even got the bike yet). As the frame is titanium I am leaning strongly towards getting a matching seat post, mostly because I am a bike tart and want it to match. Whether it's worth the £130 premium is another question (the answer is probably yes). As for tyres, I'll probably stick with the Vredestein Fortezza TriComp 700x23c that it'll come with, at least to start with.

Edit: I decided to email VN to ask them if I can add a Ti seatpost to my order. I hope they can accommodate my request.
 
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Lakeland said:
That looks like a great work horse, do you feel the weight of the rack out back? I normally use a rucksack but it can feel very heavy after a hard day at work.
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Lovely frame colour I wish they sell the frame and I would just move my parts over.
I just made the move to panniers after 3 years commuting with a messenger bag and it's brilliant! the first couple of rides will feel different as you can feel the weight at the rear differently when you are doing a stand up start from lights etc. After a couple of rides it you will feel more confident and you then get up to speed quicker and it starts to feel normal again.

If you ride fixed with spds/clips it can cause a small niggle though like stopping with the pedals in the wrong clock position, normally with the rear free from weight it's no problem just grab the front brake and lift the rear wheel and reposition your pedals to a strong position from stop to start, but with panniers you will feel the extra weight when doing this. I can see a problem though if you load the bike with both panniers and with a heavy load I guess if you are not rushing it's ok, but it can be difficult if you are e.g starting from an incline.
 
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chanjy said:
Thought your 9000 kit was meant to use special low friction cables anyway? Wonder if there will be the minutest bit of difference...
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They do, but according to the interwebs you can use other cables.

Made a complete pig of it. Ended up having to disassemble as much of the shifter as I could to get the jammed cable back out :cool:

Had to go back to the LBS and get another shift cable. Decided to look at the Zinn book second time around :rolleyes: All working now. *phew*
 
[DOD]Asprilla;24837096 said:
If they do reams cut to length, what do they do about the noggin attached to the end to stop it at the shifter end?
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Maybe that was the outer they were talking about? No idea they just handed me the shift cable inner with the 'noggin' attached to the end *shrugs*

e: I wasn't paying much attention tbh, was more interested in the used De Rosa 888 Superking frame they had hanging up. Very pretty.
 
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Saundie said:
Whether it's worth the £130 premium is another question (the answer is probably yes). As for tyres, I'll probably stick with the Vredestein Fortezza TriComp 700x23c that it'll come with, at least to start with.
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Terrible tyres unfortunately, mine started cutting up from the very first few rides and were replaced quite swiftly after way too many punctures.
 
chanjy said:
Thought your 9000 kit was meant to use special low friction cables anyway? Wonder if there will be the minutest bit of difference...
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Yep they do, as i said they caused issues on mine and a normal cable is problem free. Go figure. :confused:
 
SoliD said:
Terrible tyres unfortunately, mine started cutting up from the very first few rides and were replaced quite swiftly after way too many punctures.
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I have Vred Fortezza Quattro Tricomps on my winter/wet weather bike and they must have done 1500 miles at least and zero punctures and not really cut up at all (IIRC, not noticed anything bad about them). Bullet proof!

Maybe they are slightly different as they are the "Quattro".
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/vredestein-fortezza-quattro-tricomp-folding-tyre/
 
SoliD said:
Terrible tyres unfortunately, mine started cutting up from the very first few rides and were replaced quite swiftly after way too many punctures.
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InQ said:
I have Vred Fortezza Quattro Tricomps on my winter/wet weather bike and they must have done 1500 miles at least and zero punctures and not really cut up at all (IIRC, not noticed anything bad about them). Bullet proof!

Maybe they are slightly different as they are the "Quattro".
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/vredestein-fortezza-quattro-tricomp-folding-tyre/
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That's not encouraging at all! I didn't have much luck with the Vredestein Fiammante Duocomp tyres that came with the VN Yukon - I replaced them with Continental Grand Prix 4 Seasons which have been fine. The Tricomps are almost twice the price of the Duocomps, so I was rather hoping that they'd be significantly better. I might just buy some more 4 Seasons in 700x25c while Wiggle are still doing them for £64 a pair, and sell the Vredsteins without using them.
 
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