Road Cycling Essentials

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[DOD]Asprilla;25020936 said:
If it helps, I'm 5'10" and ride a 54 CR1 with a 110mm stem and it's about as small as I would go. My back is pretty short too.
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Hmm might be too small for me then as im a shade under 6ft with long torso and arms.


Isn't the CR1 more of a sportive frame where as the R872 more aggressive racey frame?

I think top tube would be fine but the headtube after checking the geo again i think will be too short - The ribble i run it with 2x 10mm spacers so far from slammed.

Shame as i wouldnt of minded the frame the 56 looks like a gate :)
 
Grrrr, went out for a ride, absolutely nailed it for the first 30 mins, checked my phone only to see that strava had crashed and didn't even attempt to recover the ride :mad:.

Gutted as the wind was behind me so would have definitely got some PR's. Serves me right for trying to use wind assistance!

I did manage to upload a manual .gpx of my route so at least it counted the distance towards the Eddy Merckx challenge. Don't panic, I set the speed to 10 mph to ensure I didn't get any cheeky KOM's due to iffy data!
 
J273 said:
Looking for a bit of advice. I know sizing is a personal thing but i cant try a frame-set out.

Ive not long been into road biking 6 months maybe. currently ride a Ribble R872 and ive been offered a Scott CR1 SL frameset (the one going cheap on westbrook) for the price he paid for it and its boxed brand new.

im 5ft 11 and currently ride a 52.5 R872 with a 100mm stem which is a bit of a stretch GEO:http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/assets/images/R872_Geometry.jpg


The CR1's a 54 its not far off geo wise to the R872
GEO:http://dfp2hfrf3mn0u.cloudfront.net/188/18863_original_1.jpg

From the Geo's above do you think ill get away with the 54? - the R872 ive found with the 100mm stem is a bit of a stretch and it has a setback post which i was considering changing to a straight post.

What do you think guys - Could i make it fit or do you think it'll be too small at my height.
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I'm 5ft 8 and have a 52cm (small) CR1 SL with a 110mm stem and no spacers (naughty as i'm supposed to have 5mm according to Scott :D ), fits me perfectly as far as i can tell (comfort etc, not had a bike fit).

I would think a 54 would fit you, plenty of stem options if 100mm is borderline at the moment on the R872. I must admit i thought mine might of been too small but its perfect (the price you pay for the frame you would easily get back on ebay).
 
MilanoChris said:
I think so. There are a lot of canal routes around Gloucester which are dusty and not ideal for road cycling hence I thought of going for a Hybrid.
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you will regret buying a hybrid like I do.
phantom_shadow rides the same route I do and he has 700x23c tyres or whatever are on his road bike.

many of the cycle paths are dusty paths or smooth dirt paths and I see loads of road bikes on them it's rare to see anyone on a mtb or hybrid

getting a road bike next summer for sure :D
probably keep the hybrid for winter though

omfg the bike your looking at has 700x45c tyres! holy slowmobile!

I thought my 700x35c tyres were bad those things must be like tractor wheels.

as you will see on the last page I'm wanting thinner tyres with less rolling resistance

EVERYONE ON HERE TOLD ME TO BUY A ROAD BIKE! I DIDN'T LISTEN! HOPEFULLY YOU WILL

unless you are going over wet grass or really bumpy terrain you won't need a hybrid most people get hybrids because they want to go where mountain bikes do on mtb trails etc.
you do not need front suspension either I ride around 90% of the time with mine locked because it just sucks energy from you that could be used to go faster

the upright riding position on a hybrid is a killer when it's windy as well you will find your self trying to seek a low down road bike position because just ramming your head into the handlebars can add atleast 20% to your speed
 
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Not been getting out in the evenings much now the nights have drawn in a bit ( :( ), but managed to head for 50 miles this morning.

http://app.strava.com/activities/85438986

Felt utterly rubbish though for some reason. Dunno what went wrong - went out a bit hard but nothing too crazy, but after the climb over Eaglesham Moor my legs just wouldn't shut up. Weather was stunning as well - 16deg, beautiful clear blue sky and only a slight breeze. Perfect conditions.

Oh well, will chalk it up as an off day.

On a positive note, that ride took me over 6000km for the year. Not bad given my target for the whole year was to hit 5k.
 
Changed my tyres this evening
put on my GP 4000s 23c's

pumped up to 110 psi


Felt ok when I tested it, and I thought there was a lot of road noise

sound ok to you peeps?
 
Well I attacked that hill arknor wanted me to do, but it won't show up on the segment as I never made it to the top! Started off going around 6mph, about the slowest I can reasonably go before I'm having to apply so much torque my legs start burning. Stopped half way up and went back down again.

http://www.strava.com/activities/85512419

Managed to beat arknor in a few segments but there are plenty where he has beat me as well. You're doing pretty well considering the bigger tyres.

First friday night of most students being back in newcastle and there were 3 sections of path that were just completely covered in glass - very surprised I didn't get any punctures as I am just using the stock tyres that came with the bike and offer no protection.
 
Nice ride in the sun this evening. Had planned on a day out in the bike with the other 'alf but hangovers put that on hold until tomorrow. Decided to squeeze in my usual 30 miler and got PRs all the way climbing out of Glasgow and over Eaglesham Moor. Great seeing a year of cycling having an effect!

http://www.strava.com/activities/85515082
 
Phantom Shadow said:
Well I attacked that hill arknor wanted me to do, but it won't show up on the segment as I never made it to the top! Started off going around 6mph, about the slowest I can reasonably go before I'm having to apply so much torque my legs start burning. Stopped half way up and went back down again.

http://www.strava.com/activities/85512419

Managed to beat arknor in a few segments but there are plenty where he has beat me as well. You're doing pretty well considering the bigger tyres.

First friday night of most students being back in newcastle and there were 3 sections of path that were just completely covered in glass - very surprised I didn't get any punctures as I am just using the stock tyres that came with the bike and offer no protection.
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haha after that hill I have a few more similar to it before I get home lol.

that one feels far worse than the others though even though the elevation data shows the gradients not being much less

as I posted already I did the same route but went to wylam and then looped around for the second time and all the overgrown bushs are gone and the available path is twice as wide because of that :D

you should try it sometime if you want to add a few extra miles to your ride
http://www.strava.com/activities/85472862
if you do it when you reach wylam the first thing you see is a car park you need to enter the car park and head to the far corner and on your left you should be able to see the bridge across the river.

directly on the other side of the bridge is a train station you need to enter the train stations carpark and on the other side you will find the cycle path that heads back to the newburn bridge

other than that it should be almost impossible to get lost
 
tedmaul said:
Not been getting out in the evenings much now the nights have drawn in a bit ( :( ), but managed to head for 50 miles this morning.

http://app.strava.com/activities/85438986

Felt utterly rubbish though for some reason. Dunno what went wrong - went out a bit hard but nothing too crazy, but after the climb over Eaglesham Moor my legs just wouldn't shut up. Weather was stunning as well - 16deg, beautiful clear blue sky and only a slight breeze. Perfect conditions.

Oh well, will chalk it up as an off day.

On a positive note, that ride took me over 6000km for the year. Not bad given my target for the whole year was to hit 5k.
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Good ride mate. I'm going to try and get out tomorrow with it being nice apparently. That's a hilly route, have you ever been up the sorn climb or the transmitter? I think they are south of Darvel. I need to hit these climbs I hear about but haven't ridden yet.

At the garage tonight and been out every weekend previous :( :D


Edit: Just saw Greigs ride today.........wtf lol
 
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arknor said:
if you do it when you reach wylam the first thing you see is a car park you need to enter the car park and head to the far corner and on your left you should be able to see the bridge across the river.

directly on the other side of the bridge is a train station you need to enter the train stations carpark and on the other side you will find the cycle path that heads back to the newburn bridge

other than that it should be almost impossible to get lost
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cheers for the tip, would probably never have found my way around wylam going through car parks and train stations lol. Looking at it should add 6.5 miles to my newburn route making the ride around 30 miles :) Will be good for when I want a slightly longer ride, thanks
 
Jonny ///M said:
Good ride mate. I'm going to try and get out tomorrow with it being nice apparently. That's a hilly route, have you ever been up the sorn climb or the transmitter? I think they are south of Darvel. I need to hit these climbs I hear about but haven't ridden yet.

At the garage tonight and been out every weekend previous :( :D


Edit: Just saw Greigs ride today.........wtf lol
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Yeah, been up transmitter hill behind Darvel/Galston quite a few times. It's a pretty decent climb - steady for the first half and then some steeper ramps towards the top. The descent is narrow and winding in parts, so it's worth watching out for. The pedal scotland 100 mile thing i did a few weeks ago had it as part of the route.

The other one is just to stay on the main road and go right over to Sorn. Only ever done that once, and it was way back in the middle of winter and i bonked horribly and froze in a blizzard coming back from Muirkirk. But er...i'm sure it's a lovely climb in the right conditions! :)

Greig's a beast. Every ride i've ever seen of his is at speeds i can only dream of. He did Pedal Scotland as well i think - he's had the fastest time for about the last 3 years or something. Was about an hour quicker than me! :D

EDIT: Lol, just seen it! That's mental. I don't know what's more impressive - the distance, the climbing, the speed or the fact they didn't get completely lost! :D
 
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MilanoChris said:
I think so. There are a lot of canal routes around Gloucester which are dusty and not ideal for road cycling hence I thought of going for a Hybrid.
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"I have a road bike but need to upgrade to a hybrid" said no one ever. "I have a hybrid but need to upgrade to a road bike" said anyone who's ever bought a hybrid. Go figure :p
 
Hi folks,

Picked up my first road bike today(2014 - Specialized Allez Pro), in fact it is the first bike i have been on in about 15 years. You should have seen me start off, it was hilarious. I was holding onto a wall trying to get my toe clips in whilst pushing myself along, travelled 20 metres up the pavement before deciding to dismount to cross the road.

Managed reasonable speed on some downhills on the way home which scared the bejesus out me! Ah well confidence will come with practice i suppose.

The bike is in the garage at the moment but I don't own a lock. Any recommendations? I was thinking a 'U' lock but not really sure..

Thanks
 
prj1865 said:
Hi folks,

Picked up my first road bike today(2014 - Specialized Allez Pro), in fact it is the first bike i have been on in about 15 years. You should have seen me start off, it was hilarious. I was holding onto a wall trying to get my toe clips in whilst pushing myself along, travelled 20 metres up the pavement before deciding to dismount to cross the road.

Managed reasonable speed on some downhills on the way home which scared the bejesus out me! Ah well confidence will come with practice i suppose.

The bike is in the garage at the moment but I don't own a lock. Any recommendations? I was thinking a 'U' lock but not really sure..

Thanks
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Good work.

Remember to relax at speed otherwise you end up wrestling with the handlebars.

Lock wise, get a decent u-lock but remember that almost every lock can be defeated in under a minute by a determined thief with a pair of bolt croppers. It's mainly about putting off opportunists and ensuring the bike next to yours is an easier target that yours.

Personally I leave my bikes in my garage or the underground garage at work, and even then I wouldn't leave it in the latter overnight.
 
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